. . . . if one does something for 21 days, it becomes a habit (usually to encourage folks to keep trying to exercise or study something) but really?!? My daughter, Alison who is working from home tells me it's day 34 of our isolation marathon. Today, it took some effort to get my engine firing on all cylinders -- whew, this can be such hard work!
When I finally left the house for a walk (alone), I was rewarded by finding this little clump of wildflowers -- azure bluets I believe -- and some spring bird song.
I swung past my local garden center and picked up some broccoli and lettuce seedlings for my planting trough and discovered the peas are sprouting when I opened the polycover to plant them!
Well, that's good!
Then it was time to survey all my seed trays and see if anything else has sprouted?
See those little green sprouts? I've been waiting for that to happen for a month!!
What a lovely little sight.
I'm having to find ways to spark myself up every day -- probably that isn't as new as it feels but having to use different resources and strategies to maintain a positive mindset makes it feel new.
Last week, I listened to this PODCAST from Marie Green of Olive Knits -- check it out -- good advice!!
Then a friend shared the following "explanation" from Jennifer Yaeger LPC, a trauma specialist of what many of us are experiencing -
1. Parts of our brain have shut down in order for us to survive.
2. As a result, we are not able to fully process a lot of what is going on around us.
3. Feeling somewhat numb and out of touch with our emotions is normal, especially if you have lived through trauma before.
4. Some people are also more apt to feel hypervigilant or anxious while others become hypoactive or depressed. Neither means anything other than indicating your predisposition to dealing with extreme stress.
5. In depth processing of trauma happens years later, when we feel emotionally safe to deal with it.
6. When in the midst of trauma, just getting by emotionally and functionally is okay. Lowering expectations and being kind to yourself and others is vital.
So there you go!! We are case studies in trauma. Since this might last all spring or longer, I'm just going to keep sewing and going out into the backyard - pretend it's 1905 and get contented with what I have.
So in the spirit of being content with what I have, earlier this week I stumbled across a "sew-along" for Jen Kingwell's pattern, Halo. Since that pattern has been on my "want to do" list for a while, I decided to give it a go. My first stop (looking for my pattern) uncovered this book of Jen's with two UFO's lurking inside?!?
Yikes, will the UFO discover journey never end?
These were two "supersized" Glitter blocks (inspired by an Aussie quilter in an overeager moment). They are very pretty but . . . the challenge is eliminate -- finish or pitch?
Happily, I was inspired to set them together for a small mat (instead of making more)!
A cheery assortment of quilting threads,
an afternoon of simple walking foot matchstick quilting,
and a pre-folded binding experiment.
resulted in a delightful little tray mat for my favorite tea tray!!
Now I just need a warm sunny afternoon on the front porch with a friend to enjoy using it!
The black and red project is out on the sewing table to be my current "sew-off" project. One block is completed and when the other three are ready, it will make a great large pillow cover!
UFO's no more!!
I did find the Halo pattern and have started cutting bits and pieces for it while putting away fabric piles from previous projects in my continuing effort to tidy up the studio!
If you'd like to get sucked into this sew-along, too -- click HERE for the details!
It's only two blocks a week and you can make any size piece!
Easy, right?!?
I finished the charity quilt over the weekend and then it took a couple days to get this twin size quilt layered and ready for the next phase of my #aprilquiltingmarathon.
It's my Kinship Sampler from #100day100blocks2019
(It's going to run again starting July 1, 2020 -- check it out HERE!)
Willie kept up his end of a very intellectual conversation about all this weirdness while I pin basted on Tuesday.
The quilting began yesterday morning. By working in several short (20 to 30 minute) sessions, I had three rows done by the end of the day. I'm learning that stopping when I start to feel tired/get sloppy is definitely the best strategy!
I'm using a modified Baptist fan, primarily because there is less retracing the quilting to get to a new start point and my retracing ability is not great. (HERE'S a link to a post I wrote about how to machine quilt Baptist fan -- same concept, just simpler changes of direction).
I expect it will take the rest of this week and next week to finish the quilting.
The highlight of the past week was visiting with the triplets! We spent an hour out on the patio with them Easter afternoon.
I made teething biscuits for their Easter goodies and everyone got right into them.
We hadn't been together for a month and there were so many little changes -- fun, fun, fun!!
Well, I just finished off the chocolate chips and ordered a skein of hand-dyed yarn "I can't live without" -- time to head to another part of the house, far away from the computer and the kitchen and do some sweeping or sewing or knitting or something!
Let's all promise to be gentle on ourselves.
Call a friend, write a note, make a mask, smile at everyone!
Do what you can and don't fret about the rest of it.
Mary
Thank you, Mary - I needed that trauma advice. Thought I was the only one going through a weird period. Didn't even go into the sewing room yesterday! Knowing I"m not the only one feeling that way helped a lot. Halo is a neat pattern. It's so nice to see the triplets.They are growing so fast! Blessings,
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