Last Look Before The Longarm...

  Well, dearies. 

This is the last time you see my Over The River quilt until after it comes back
from the long-arm and the binding is attached. I couldn't resist this great paisley
 fabric to use for the backing and I think it's just "right" to go with the designs
and colors on the quilt top. (You remember how I love paisleys, right?)

Although the images for the stitcheries are winter scenes, my memories of
trips to my grandparents' house make me think of more autumnal drives.
The paisley seems more like fall to me. I can almost smell the rustling leaves.

I spent last weekend forming and joining the pieces for my corner appliques'. This

is my shot of them "in progress". They're waiting for the right side leaves to be 

attached here, which are now done. I've found that it takes me about three hours

to stitch each of these corner sets to the ground fabric, so I'll have them sewn soon.

If you are someone who checks out the items in my sidebars, you may have seen the

"Pledge To Share Step-by-Step" button. Each time I share my progress on a project,

it's really not so you'll be impressed with what I'm doing, but so that you can see

the steps that go into creating a finished piece. In my case, I like to consider those

steps to be part of my artistic process. Sometimes my finished piece is nothing like

I imagined it would be when I first started choosing materials, cutting and sewing.
I hope you find as much enjoyment following my progress as I do with my "work". 

After stitching down the first set and assessing my work, I knew they were exactly 

what I wanted for the final touch for my quilt. They make it a true one-of-a-kind.

 Although I've drawn the leaves with veining, I won't make a final decision on that

until after I've stitched everything else down. I'm still thinking about that.

If you're a quilter, stitcher, knitter or you choose to express your creative side in 

some other way...Do you take the time to diverge from a pattern or chart to do 

something that will make your piece unique from all the others that will be created 

from those same patterns? How do you personalize your work? If you're a quilter, 

of course, you probably choose fabrics that are different from the original, but what 

other ways do you change it up so that yours will be different? I'd love to know.