What has been consuming my time?

So, what have I been up to lately?  I've been working like mad on a quilt.  Spending every spare minute working on it. Quilts are supposed to be a long ordeal.  A relaxing time spent maticulously planning, pinning, sewing and all around being exact.  Even if I were not in a time cruch, that would not be me!!  I am a no nonsense girl - - I like to see the finished product and sometimes that doesn't work out so well for me!  But this time it has worked just fine. 

Why the time crunch?  And why a quilt?  Well, handsome hubby is leaving soon (think Christmas) for a 6 month long - all expense paid - "vacation" with the Army.  Like my little positive twist on deployments?  Two weeks ago, he asked me if I would make a deployment quilt for him.  I did this last time he deployed also.  Last time, I had never made a quilt before, so it was a very simple big block quilt with lots of white squares that I ironed on pictures of the kids and I.  It really was pretty ugly!!  And all the pictures have since washed off.  Hubby doesn't ask for much, and he really never asks for any sewing projects, so how could I say no?  His only request was that he wanted a black background.

So, this is the quilt that I made him, it is a kaleidascope pattern that I absolutely love.  It is all made with just one piece of fabric.  Yeah!  No choosing 5 coordinating fabrics!  It is all fussy cut so that you have 6 exactly matching triangles, then you make the hexagons from there and sew it all together.  Sounds exact and time consuming, but if I can do it, anyone can!!

My favorite part about the whole thing is that from one piece of fabric, you get so many different hexagons and so many different color concentrations.  It's fun to figure out how to lay it all out so that the colors flow.  Here is the original fabric before I cut out the triangles...

I'm not really into dragons - - at all actually, but I knew that you would not see the dragons when the quilt was finised and the original fabric had great swirls and patterns in it that I knew would make fabulous hexagons.

Here is a close up of one of the hexagons.  This is one of my favorite types of quilts to make.  I have made a couple of other ones and even blogged about one of them here.

One of the special things I did with this quilt is that I embroidered Psalm 91 (typically known as the Soldiers Psalm) around the outside of the design.  It is hard to see in the pictures, but it turned out really nice. 

Psalm 91

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say

of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,

my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare

and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers,

and under his wings you will find refuge;

his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night,

nor the arrow that flies by day,

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side,

ten thousand at your right hand,

but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes

and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you make the Most High your dwelling—

even the Lord, who is my refuge—

then no harm will befall you,

no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you

to guard you in all your ways;

they will lift you up in their hands,

so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;

you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call upon me, and I will answer him;

I will be with him in trouble,

I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life will I satisfy him

and show him my salvation.”

I hope that as he is separated from us, he feels completely loved, prayed for, and missed as he snuggles (I'm sure he would really appreciate me using such a manly and tough word) in under his warm quilt.