Pumpkin Quilt & Alaina's Pillowcase

I have finally finished the Thimbleberries Pumpkin Quilt! I had the top finished since last year but missed the season so I put it away for a while. Then I wanted to get this machine quilting thing down pat before I quilted it. Then I realized I needed to quilt it with stipples, something I had never done before. But with Halloween looming, I buckled down and figured it out to finish, and I love the result! I also love stippling! Quilting this really was quite fun. I also have a table runner with the same fabric and pattern. The top is finished and it is basted, but quilting will have to wait until late next week. I have a baby quilt to finish first.

Here is the quilt hanging up:

This is a closeup of the stippling:

Here is a closeup of the border quilting from the back. I used brown thread for the border and it can't be seen at all on the front, which I guess happens and is ok. But when my quilting turns out nicely it would be nice for it show up a bit. I might do the table runner border with dark gold.

Alaina had a talent night on Wednesday for her church activity. Because I wasn't sure she would be comfortable performing anything, (more on that below) I helped her sew a pillowcase with a tres easy pattern I got a few years ago in Young Women. I pinned everything for her, but she sewed every stitch. She did a great job: was patient, methodical, and paid attention to her seam allowance. Because the fabric was yellow which is Bryn's favorite color, she gave it to Bryn afterwards. I had already made custom pillowcases for Alaina and Claire a few years ago so Bryn was thrilled to have one, and made by her sister for her was even better.

Well, we also worked on Alaina's 10-step blocking karate form for the talent night. We practiced it, talked about performing it, suggested Kevin or I do it with her, etc. But when she got home from school Wednesday, she flew into a tantrum.

"It's tonight? I don't want to do it!! No!! Nooooooooooooooo!" Well, what would any rational parent do in this situation? Probably something along the lines of "Ok. You don't have to." But I knew that most, if not all, the other girls would be performing something, and that if she did not she would feel left out and cry about it later. So Kevin and I gently pushed her, pointing out that fact. More crying. Lots of wailing. We bribed her with a treat afterwards. Nothing. I even started crying, too. Why? Because I am easily frustrated and Alaina frustrates me easily. (Am I forgetting that she is 8? Probably.) So Alaina was crying, I was crying, and in retrospect I should have acted like a normal parent. Someday I might be a normal parent. So after an hour or so of "Please will you do it? You love karate and are going to start classes again soon. You are so talented. Don't you want to share your talents?" and various levels of anger directed towards us, we left for church with the pillowcase.

After two children had performed their talent, Alaina leaned over to Kevin and said she wanted to do the form. They got up, she was cuter than anything in the world, and she was beaming afterwards. It is very difficult for her to do things out of her comfort zone. She is extremely timid. I am so proud of her. And once again, I was right.