What a week!
Retirement! Tears! Reflection! More tears! Generosity! Friends! Support! More tears! Joy! Gratitude! and then.... Quilting!
This has been a week that has been a long time coming and has been very humbling and joyful and sad -- it's a little more weird than I expected and when I didn't know what to do or was restless, I sewed.Quilting as Therapy has a lot of promise I think.
You may remember the incredible Kaffe jelly roll of shot cottons and wovens. Those have slowly been sashed on two sides with brown Kona. And those one patches have slowly become pairs ... and some of the pairs have now become 4 patches.
I've been slow and deliberate and in no rush. Just pushing fabric through the machine at a fairly steady state. And since this is therapy and not a race, I've been doing quality control checks as each block comes out and if I don't like the matching, I just rip it out and re-pin it and sew it again. I'm pressing the seams open and I'm taking my time.
This really is a case of it being about the journey rather than the destination. I know that destination thinking is on the horizon but this has been exactly what I needed. There have been hours and hours of cutting as my wonderful June Tailor strip cutter was packed and put in storage. All these little 1" sashing strips were cut by hand.
The 4 patches will soon become 16 patches and then a quilt top. Most normal people would have sashed on one side and made strips. That would have been faster, taken less fabric and been equally effective. I tend to be a little touchy about blocks lining up and find that when I do a horizontal strip across the width of the quilt, the blocks tend to float and don't line up perfectly. That is not the end of the world -- but for this project, I wanted the workmanship to be reasonably good and I had the time for precision.We pack tomorrow (my machine will be behind the seat in my car so I know it's okay), leave on Sunday and head to KY and to a hotel for a few more days before vacation. It will soon be handwork therapy until we get back "home".
Quilting as Therapy definitely has promise!
Keep piecing, Jan
6 comments:
2 years ago my husband had to suddenly retire due to a medical emergency involving our son. We were living in China and were told he might never recover enough to live on his own again. But he had a miraculous recovery and we are suddenly retired and on a much lower retirement than anticipated. I am SO glad that I had prepared and have a huge stash cause I sure use quilting as therapy. Playing with my fabric keeps life fun!
I love this combination!
I am a new follower and found you through the SBM at Lily's quilts :)
please have a look at my little blog:
http://charmaboutyou.blogspot.com
Lucy
x
Wow you rip out seams constantly, you have SOME patience. Good for you!
The shot cottons are amazing!
Enjoy!
Your blocks looks wonderful, I like the color you picked for sashing!
Very cute Material! I love that you did it different and made it the way you wanted and didn't base you quilt on normal! I love it!!
I love this idea for your quilt. I can't wait to see how it finishes up.
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