Fireplace cover panel

Freezing cold weather last week made me think twice about our wood-burning fireplace, sucking out the warmth of the house through the flue.

Even with a tempered glass door and a damper closed, I can feel the air flow, especially in windy weather.

This is what I made yesterday to cover it, when not burning. Winter print fabric panel + insul-bright (needle-punched heat resistant insulation) + wool backing with attached sew-in magnetic snaps, which holds the whole panel tight to the metal case around the fireplace.

We also ordered a fire retardant spray for the baking. I hope it will help to conserve some heat of the house when it's really, really cold! Well, maybe not, at least it will make me feel better!

"Angel's landing", the story behind the Arch and the quilt

One of our neighbors' house in the mountains had a name "Angel's landing". Beautiful house,  perfect landscaping, vibrant foliage and flower colors for every season: dogwood, irises, hydrangea, roses, ground covers, maples, and much more.... 

But this arch... Such a nice addition to the house! It always attracted my attention when we went walking with our dog Murphy. That was really an eye catching spot! One day I met the guy, who lived in that house. He invited to me to sit down on the bench under the arch and we were talking and talking. He came to United States from Czechoslovakia long time ago, married, had some kids and now grandkids. They fell in love with Great Smokey Mountains, as many of us, and built this house, which turned to their vacation home.   Still can't find any picture in my my folders of the house, but the Arch is the thing I was going to talk about.

It turned me on and I started thinking about making a quilt with that arch on it. At that point of time I was really interested in watercolor quilts and this idea with the arch was just what I needed for my new project in my dream. But it seemed to me, that the picture with the driveway in font and garage on the right was not quite inspiring, so I started digging for the help. And I found this beautiful Thomas Kinkade picture, which I decided to use for the quilt.   

More pictures of the quilt and how I was making it, you can find in my earlier post. 

Monday, November 28, 2016. Wildfire in Gatlinburg destroyed 2400+ houses, including this beautiful place.  

Even though this is so hard to think about the lost house, about that guy and those memories, this two storied chimney with fireplaces looks still so victorious! She survived the fire! 

And! Believe it or not: the arch, that arch, made of wood, as well as the wooden sign "Angel's landing" are still standing in front of the pile of ashes! Isn't it something?

 I haven't heard from that guy for a while, don't know if he's still alive, have no idea if this house will be ever rebuilt. But I am glad I have some personal touch to this house, well - the Arch, which gave me the inspiration to make the quilt, which is still hanging in my sewing room. Will be reminding me forever about this beautiful place -"Angel's landing".

Sailboats

This is how it turned out.

It's really small quilt, just 17" x 23". 

It's been half way done and last year and was set aside for a while... But, when you know the quilt show is coming, it makes you do some actions! It took me about the same time quilting as I did piecing and fusing.

Lenore Crawford design.

Will be displayed at our local annual quilt show tomorrow.

Please, come to vote and have fun at our show!

Happy quilting!

Natalie Quiltessa

Spring and birds inspired....