I don’t know why…okay, almost deleted that because it’s not true. The best thing I can do when I am stressed out is focus on little bitty detail stuff. Big project? Nah. Quick quilts? Nah. Lets work on the teeny tiny details. Hey, I even made sliced pickles on Sunday.
So, you can imagine how much relief I’m getting from the six extra rows of checkerboard border for the Raspberry Irish Chain quilt.
If I had been smart, I would have sacrificed some of the variety and strip pieced this from my inch and a half strip bin and sub cut it. It would have saved a lot of time. But, sometimes, it’s not about the time. Sometimes, it’s about something to wrap the brain around.
And, the hexie quilt is still moving forward. This is the first outside border section. I haven’t really pieced this quilt from the center out because I needed to know how long this border had to be before I could fill in the gap between the center and this outer border.
I guess I could have figured that out on graph paper, but that’s no fun. It’s 49 inches long. Two hundred and twenty eight hexies. I need six of them total. Yikety-snickersnoopits! What have I gotten myself into? Maybe for the 2016 quilt show?
And, remember that sewing room pile I was dealing with last week? The last big pile of stuff that didn’t have a home after my 6 week cleaning jag? Well, it’s gone and I’m left with this pile.
Small. Much more manageable. loose patterns on the left. Tools on the right. And, there’s a really big box of stuff for Goodwill.
Last night, we did the big fashion show with Sydney where she has to try on all her clothes so we can weed out what doesn’t fit anymore. She did really good, though, and agreed when we said it didn’t work; too tight, stripes in the wrong places, seams hit wierd, please make that go away!..what was I thinking when I paid for that? We are in negotiations about shorts length and, let’s call it “wearing ease”. There will be another shopping trip in our very near future for jeans and shorts.
Thank you all for your good thoughts for Rob. He’s doing really well. The Memorial service should be at the end of the week and life can move on. I think he’s been surprised at how shocking it is to go from “hospital time” to real life time. He said the day just flew by yesterday.
Lane
6 comments:
Check your school's dress code. Ours is pretty clear about shorts length. They have to be longer than fingertip length. Or as my sister used to say, 'bend over and touch the floor. If I see your butt, they are too short.'
When I look at the shorts I wore when I was a teen in the 70s, I am surprised my mother let me out of the house in them. They were pretty short! (But they did not say "CHEER" on the bottom).
Maybe get her conservative ones for school and a couple of shorter shorts, so she doesn't feel like an old lady on the weekends.
As I recall, skirts that were knee-length as most of us girls left the house, would get turned up at the waist band once or twice to get the Diana Ross and the Supremes skirt length. Then, before we went into the classrooms, the waistbands would get readjusted so we didn't get in trouble with the nuns/teachers. But on the playground or off the school grounds, those skirts were short.
I wore shorts under my skirts to prevent any lapses in modesty.
That hexie quilt is just, WOW! And all those tiny little squares. Sometimes I like to dig into teeny, tiny, detailed and time consuming projects too. Sometimes I wonder if I make things too complicated. But it always feels good to come out on the other side and see that the monumental effort paid off.
xo -E
P.S. Every woman needs to weed through her wardrobe once a year; not just the ones who are still growing. Seriously good tradition you've got started.
Condolences to your family. I wish I were close enough so I could secretly scope out the good will you are donating your sewing items to! LOL
Lane - it's good to know yourself well enough to know what to reach for and immerse yourself in when you're stressed.
I lurve postage stamp quiltmaking and never strip piece. I much prefer dealing with individual 1 1/2in squares, 'cos it's as much about process as it is about the end result. Looking forward to seeing the finished quilt top. I think what you've decided on for the border will be spectacular.
I can also relate to your "hospital time" term. I'm currently involved with that with my elderly mother. It's a completely different world once you step inside the hospital doors.
As always, thanks for sharing.
Megan
Sydney, Australia
We had the boys' fashion show this weekend, too, followed by online shopping at Gap Kids and Zappos. With my boys, the tears and negotiations were about favorite Star Wars T-shirts that are way too small, and you can't wear a size 7 shirt on a size 14 body no matter HOW much you love Darth Vader!
Re: shorts length and "wearing ease" -- it troubles me how feminism has been coopted and distorted by popular culture to the point that ridiculously revealing, tight clothing for women and girls is seen as somehow exercising "freedom" and "girl power." I have a great book to recommend for Sydney: The Body Project by Joan Jacobs Brumberg, available here on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679735291?ie=UTF8&tag=httpwwwgoodco-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0679735291&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2
It's nonfiction, kind of women's studies social and cultural history, fascinating read and very eye-opening and empowering for a young girl bombarded with the messed up values and the distorted, photo-shopped "perfect" body images and impossible standards that are so pervasive in the media and in our culture. It may help you all see eye-to-eye (or at least shoulder to eye) on the shorty-shorts and sausage-casing-skirts. ;-)
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