We were on the rainy side of a tropical depression breaking up last week and it rained for 3 days. Nothing like what they saw in Kerrville, but lots of rain. Everybody but Rob and me stayed home. We went out and ran errands. We laughed and joked and got wet and parked close to doors so we could stay dry. Stores took advantage of it to play some really good music. There were maybe half as many customers in Goodwill as employees and they were trying to sell speakers, so they really cranked it up and everybody danced a little. We laughed about not being able to work in the yard and how much time that freed up for us to spend having good fun.
Friday was our anniversary. We didn't have much planned and that turned out to be a good thing since it rained most of the day. We watched Independence Day themed movies and I made a good lunch that was supposed to be a fantastic lunch...best laid plans, right? And, we spent parts of the day together and parts of it doing our own thing. I was using this little quilt as my leader/ender and got really close to the end and decided to just power through and get it finished. At the end of the movie The Patriot, the narrator says that Burgoyne was surrounded and I told Rob that was the name of the quilt block I was working on, Burgoyne Surrounded.
I pulled out my book by Elizabeth Hamby Carlson because I want to make some more of these. They take a good sized piece of background, but everything else can be cut from small scraps. Dreams, dreams, dreams of quilts to make. And, there's at least a dozen unfinished hanging in the closet.
Piecing is fun, quilting is work.
It shouldn't feel that way. But, that's how the longarmers are making money.
Quilting changed and I didn't. I think that happened to my mentor and I know several other quilters it happened to. It looked like they were stuck in the past, but maybe they were just choosing what they preferred. I like what I do and I like the stash I already own (well, most of it anyway). I don't need to change. Just get back to sewing.
I'm toying with buying a new machine. Not even dating the idea yet, just cruising it over my shoulder when it walks by. I love my Berninas from the 80's, but I have to face the fact that they are old and they have many miles on them.
I used this glass bowl as an open terrarium (how's that for an abrupt topic change?) and the plants quickly proceeded to die. Like, it was a race to see who could die first. I like the idea of using the bowl this way, so decided to plant just one fern in it. I found my fern and it looks great! And, it's lived a week without any yellow fronds, so I'm calling that a change in trend. This should be the perfect place for it in summer, but in winter, it's below the ceiling vent and whatever I put here has to stand up to a blast furnace blowing on it periodically.
I also wanted this one that was way too big for my bowl, so I got it too, and am searching for a good place to put it.
I finished my first two macrame hangers. They're not fancy, but they'll keep a plant off the floor and in the sun. I say finished, but I might make a couple changes to the one with the green beads. It's kind of long and needs a wider pot, which might mean changes near the bottom.
We painted the inside of the house a couple years ago, except for the foyer and the small hallway (can you call it a hallway if it's basically a square room with a door in each wall?). When we had the windows done a few years ago, we had a larger window put into this space and it needed interior sheetrock work done. Rob's working on that, and he's painted it and we decided it needed a new curtain. This is the old fabric. It was meant to keep the space behind the TV dark...and it did. Very well.
But, we decided to try something that would let in more light and we're trying this white curtain. If we like it, I'll look for a nicer fabric to replace it with.
Tariff chicken and ugly bills. Just because there's an emergency declaration doesn't mean there's a FEMA to make anything happen. There was produce on the shelves yesterday that was overripe and I can only assume it's because there wasn't fresh in the back to bring out. It's not a bang like I expected, but instead a series of small pops that are each slightly louder than the one before.
In the meantime, make something you like and enjoy doing it. Don't worry if anybody else likes it. Find your pleasure, find your fun. And, smile like everybody's watching, because they are. Be the difference the world needs. I'm moved by how many people smile in response.
Lane
