As I mentioned in a comment yesterday, this quilt was started as a gift for a friend for her fiftieth birthday, and given that she is my age, I can pinpoint when that was (five years ago).  I hated the thing, labored over it, labored over it some more, cut it up, fiddled, and fiddled, and then put it away.  During the show prep, a chunk of it surfaced and I am enjoying embellishing it with some embroidery.   It may make it into her hands as a gift yet!  Lately, I am wondering how many of the pieces that I have dismissed or rejected in the past were simply not finished.

At that time, my friend’s daughter was out and about quite a bit and it seemed like every other conversation I heard that my friend had been up late, “Waiting for Jessie.”  So that’s what this quilt is called.

Additional stitching clearly helps in some cases (like the chain stitch canopy and the extra row of split running back stitch along the path),

and creates distraction in others – the black tree is still a question. Right now, it is floating and also competing with the house, so it’s not ‘there’ yet, but I think I’ll keep going and see if I can make it work.

It was muggy today and Jack has taken to panting.  I am hoping to catch up on some sleep this weekend… I have been really tired this week.  Can’t tell how much is post-show fatigue and how much is something (anything?) else.

The striped fabric along the left edge was a Crate & Barrel napkin.  The hut is built on black felt.  And the new red curving path is from a kimono scrap.  The incredible broccoli print is a Lonni Rossi.