Finishing What Was Begun

Recognizing that my blogging has been spotty, at best, for the past couple years I am writing this post mostly for my own purposes. My intention is to pick back up with blogging when my day job becomes a bit less demanding, or I retire. Whichever happens first :o) All that being said, I didn't want to close out the year without documenting that the wedding quilt I was making for my son G, and his bride, C did in fact get completed and gifted.

All Points North Wedding Quilt

When fabrics were chosen and purchased, and I thought I knew where the design was headed. Along the way things changed up a bit. My initial plan had been to use my Boxed Star quilt block. However, after making up a test block I soon realized that Boxed Star was not going to be the best choice for these fabrics. So, I changed over to my All Points North block and never looked back.

This quilt ended up measuring out at 80" square. Much too large for me to consider quilting on my small domestic machine. So I worked with a local long arm quilter to pick out an all-over pattern that seemed a best fit. I wanted the blocks to remain the focal point, and the quilting to be present, but not too dense. This picture might give the best perspective on the size of the quilt:

Quilt top before being sent to for long arm quilting

It was so special to be able to make this quilt for this sweet couple, and I hope it will be cherished throughout their lives. Here's a peak at them opening it up. I never did get a picture of them with it all spread out.

The quilt back is a soft flannel

Rebranding - Bluebell Ridge Handworks

I began my online life at a time when the recommendation was to create an online persona that did not include the use of your name or a photo of what you actually looked like. That was 2010 and living online was looked at with quite a wary eye. Fast forward to 2019 where it's difficult to imagine not having an online presence. In fact, in many careers it is pretty much essential to your job. Mine included.

For these past ten years my online persona has been Blue.Ridge.Girl and I named this blog Shadows of the Blue Ridge (read about that here). These names have served me well; however, looking forward I feel the need to make a change. I am renaming this blog: Bluebell Ridge Handworks.

Again, I think it's fun to learn where a name comes from. Well, we live on the top of a small, sandy mountain which is part of the Ridge and Valley Appalachian Mountains. I'd never heard of a sandy mountain before, but that's exactly what our soil is like: sand and rocks. After purchasing our lot we set about choosing a location for our house to be built. It was during this process my husband discovered Virginia Bluebells growing right on top of the mountain close to our chosen house site. This was such a surprise to us because Virginia Bluebells are most often found in moist woods and river bottoms. Neither of which describe our sandy mountain soil.

Since this is such a distinct and fun part of our new home it seems to be a good way to continue building my online identity. In the future I'd like to share not only my creative adventures, but also a bit of the peaceful pleasures we've discovered come with living in a log home.

I'll be changing over the blog name and address, as well as my Instagram and flickr account names in the next few days.

Let's have a look at a few more of these beautiful mountaintop Virginia Bluebells - some of them remain pink even after opening!