5.22.16

It has been a very weird, slow, week for me. Last weekend, I helped at the home of friends, clearing away and making new spaces from old. It was a bittersweet task. There were lots of memories, lots of tears, lots of laughter. This is the third time in less than two years I have lost someone and this task has been mine to do. 

The week went on to be slow and reflective, motivation-less. I couldn't puzzle it out. There were things I wanted to do, things I needed to do, but I couldn't get going. Then I realized I was grieving the loss of my longest-time best friend. Shouldn't I recognize grief by now?

Enough of that; I went back to the routines that helped me before. I made lists of three things to accomplish, allowed myself to be pleased if I could accomplish one. I'm getting more done and feeling more settled.

I didn't do much else last week, but I tried very hard to stay up to date with Splendid and Temecula:

Splendid Sampler block #27 was designed by Pat Sloan and is called Sewing Machine. I like the finished block, but this is where I got slowed down the most this week. Part of our work in making new space was clearing out a sewing room and this bock had me going back and revisiting those moments from the weekend. 

Splendid Sampler block #28 is by Charise Randall and is called Stitching Fashion. Mine is modified to retro-fit the dress to the 19th century, since I am using Civil War reproduction fabrics. Also, I didn't think I could handle that much foundation paper-piecing, so I appliquéd. Appliqué allows me the chance to zen in front of the television, needle in hand.

Temecula Circa 2016 for May 13, the designer called Rail Fence. I put mine together in a slightly different way; more like the Rail Fence I am familiar with. Hitler has ruined a lot of quilt blocks for me. I can't stand to see one that looks like it has a swastika pattern, even though the pre-Hitler swastikas are still present in Hindu and Buddhist art.



Temecula  Circa 2016 for May 20, doesn't have a name. I would call it 28 pieces = a 3 inch block. Twice.

I can tell I'm not up to speed yet. One block has too much contrast, the other, not enough. Oh well. I am still sticking to using only batik scraps. 

 have also made some headway on the 120 half-square triangles that are due any day now. 
Step 1 cut squares
Step 2 mark lighter squares
Step 3 sew on marked lines
Step 4 set seams
Step 5 cut and press




I am only a few minutes away from cut and press but I will leave that for next week. I think it is time to clean house! And if the nice weather holds, I will wash off the deck. Again.






1 comment:

Unknown said...

Looking at your beautiful quilt squares always brightens my day. You have had an avalanche of grief to deal with in a relatively short span. Yet you keep moving forward. Have a beautiful day!