Getting There

The hand piecing on my hexagon quilt is finally finished.  I hope some fabric I purchased at a going out of business sale last year will work as an outer border.  The search for it begins, and I also need to decide how to apply the border.

 

Acceptance -- My 2022 Word

Happiness is not dependent on circumstances being exactly as we want them to be, or on ourselves being exactly as we’d like to be.  Rather, happiness stems from loving ourselves and our lives exactly as they are, knowing that joy and pain, strength and weakness, glory and failure are all essential to the full human experience. –Kristin Neff

A Finish

My school house block quilt is bound-labeled-done.  I even added a sleeve to the back so I can hang it!

 

Acceptance -- My 2022 Word

 

Sometimes we fight who we are, struggling against ourselves and our natures.  But we must learn to accept who we are and appreciate who we become.  We must love ourselves for what and who we are, and believe in our talents. –Harley King

Quilters Serving Their Community

Last weekend, we visited our daughter and grandsons in New Braunfels.  While the guys entertained themselves, Julia took me to her office to view the memory quilts they have hanging.  She works at a non-profit hospice and each year the New Braunfels guild makes a memory quilt from fabric donated by families of the deceased. I am not a member of this guild. At 1 1/2 hours away it is too far to be practical, but I know many of its members.

When quilts are donated, a sample bock for next year’s project is presented.

Many quilts were hung in positions where I could not get a picture, but here are some I managed to photograph.

Here is one of several child grief quilts made from blocks donated by children who lost someone dear to them.

 

 

 

Acceptance -- My 2022 Word

 

Maturity, one discovers, has everything to do with the acceptance of ‘not knowing.’—Mark Z. Danielewski

 

Checking In

I’ve been pretty preoccupied with some of my husband’s health issues the last few weeks and haven’t felt much like sitting at the keyboard and composing a post.  I have been sewing though, for my sanity.

 

The only quilt related photo I have ready is this snapshot of my design wall where my double four
patch project is pinned.  I probably have enough of the white fabric to add another row and I started playing with borders made from dark four patches.  I think I will go with that idea, but need to sew more four patches.

 

During Removal

Sadly, we had to have a tree removed from our yard last week.  It was a lacy bark elm that had been there more than 15 years and was truly lovely when it was healthy.  The exceptionally cold winter two years ago really knocked it back and this year it never leafed out.  We had a plant biologist look at it last year and he treated it for carpenter ants and borers.  I guess it was just too far gone to recover.  The guys we contracted for its removal did a really good job and now Bob and I are considering whether to plant a replacement. 

 

After Removal

 

 Acceptance -- My 2022 Word

 For after all, the best thing one can do when it is raining is let it rain. – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

A Small Finish, Maybe

My dragonfly wall hanging is bound, labeled done.  I’m unhappy with the way my quilting grid went askew and am considering trying to correct it.  We’ll see.  It was an experiment using a stencil and it must have slipped when I did the marking.

 

I cannot remember a spring that has been this windy.  We are in a severe drought again and most days have had Red Flag Warning designations because of fire danger.  So far, wildflowers have been pretty sparse in this part of the state, but I think areas north of us have had more moisture.  Yesterday's high was one for the record books.

 

Rather toasty for April 5, 2022

 

 

Acceptance -- My 2022 Word

 

Be willing to have it so.  Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune. –William James

 

A Welcome Visitor and an Unwelcome One as Well

One of Bob’s brothers was passing through town this weekend and I used the opportunity to gift away two quilts, one for him…

 

…and one for his wife.

 

While I was taking quilts out for him to choose, a few flecks of paper fell out of a pillowcase one quilt was stored in.  Included in that pillowcase was a registration form from when I had the quilt hung in a local show several years ago.  I didn’t think much about it until later when Bob yelled, “We have a mouse!”

 

It was then I had one of those light bulb moments and went back to look at the paper.  Yup!  It had been chewed on, and when I examined the pillowcase, I saw a small hole.  Thankfully, Bob’s brother did not choose that quilt nor did I find evidence that the mouse had chewed on the quilt itself.

We recently caught two mice in the garage, but apparently at least one made it into the house.  I guess my dogs have adopted it as a pet, because they certainly did not alert us.  They are totally useless as mousers.  Remember the movie “Mouse Hunt”?  I hope this doesn’t turn into that kind of debacle.  Meanwhile, I’ll be pulling quilts off that shelf to check for further damage while Bob sets traps.