17 March, 2020

Lessons Learned

I hope to be a lifelong learner; I pray that I never get to that place where I think I've learned all that there is to learn. My grandmother used to tell me that every day spent without learning something new was a wasted day. Recalling that now, probably told to me when I was Jr. High age, was most likely in response to thinking that I already knew it all!  We kept the grandchildren late last week while their mommy was recovering from an outpatient medical procedure. As enthusiastic Cribbage players, we always have a board and deck of cards out and ready for a game. Lynnleigh decided that it was time to learn and PawPaw was a patient teacher. I love my granddaughter's eagerness to learn something new. This game will takes years of learning and practice for her, but she's undaunted.
Here's my class sample from "Fast to Fancy Freehand Feathers", the longarm quilting class that I took up in Hampton, VA. Our instructor, Bethanne Nemesh, was excellent. I appreciated her method of teaching in a manner that let us loose for stitching, and alternately drawing, in well-timed sessions as we explored a variety of increasingly difficult techniques applied to feathers in quilting. I was especially excited by her demonstrations of body placement and showing us ways to protect our spines and posture while working at the longarm. A friend told me years ago if I ever had the opportunity to learn from Bethanne to take advantage of that; I'm so glad that I listened and that I did!
Last week I was summoned to Jury Duty. My daughter told me to take a book. I am so happy to report that I did just that. This is the third time that I've been summoned but only the first time that I have had to report. My time there amounted to waiting in the jury pool room and ultimately being released to go home. 
Round two of my dental implant saga happened on Thursday. I learned my lesson from round one: plan nothing for the rest of the day after sedation dentistry! I am now the proud owner of a threaded insert. All is well and healing continues. 
I decided to try out Kim Diehl's "chubby binding" method on my latest quilt finish. I happened to have her "Simple Seasons" here but I believe this technique is outlined in all of her books. I had ordered a Clover 1" bias tube maker some time ago and it worked great. This is the second new method of binding I've tried this year-- my bias binding of curved corners happened earlier.
I do like the results of the "chubby binding"; it appears as normal on the front side of the quilt and much wider, appearing as sort of a frame, on the back side as seen here. I have since basted this down for hand-finishing. 
As my "Vision 2020" scrap quilt challenge to myself progresses I decided to stitch up cut triangles that have been accumulating in one of my bins. This is a random block that simply grew under my needle. It has distinct possibilities...
Using a copy, cut and paste feature I photographed the block and combined it with itself in various settings; these are my favorite two, with the dark pinwheel center being the overall design winner. And sew it goes... 

Ultimately we're all learning as we go as far as dealing with the current, ongoing health crisis. We're learning how to deal with hunkering down, what we can live without and daily uncertainty. The afore-mentioned book that I took with me to jury duty is Kristin Hannah's "The Nightingale". If you ever had to stop and consider what, exactly, one can live without; this is the book to point out exactly that! Sure, things might not be as convenient right now as we would like, but what can we learn?
In the meantime, take care of yourselves; be smart and pay attention.

And, above all: be prayerful
That's the best and most powerful lesson that I've ever learned. 

Life is Good!

Up next: Moving to the "Finished" Column!

8 comments:

Nancy Near Philadelphia said...

This is such a good post, Girlfriend. I like every bit of it. I think this strange time in our lives is an excellent opportunity to learn and try new things. Sesame Beef in the crockpot this morning; never made THAT before! Reading, hand-sewing, binding. Got a new pattern I want to explore. AND I cleaned up my sewing space! [ xx ] [wearing mask]

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Oh how fun to teach the granddaughter a game she will love to play with you!! Love your scrappy block - Its coming a long nicely!

Quiltdivajulie said...

Marvelous post - great photo of the cribbage players.

straythreads said...

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Very thought filled post makes stop and think what have I learned recently other than new combinations of words not previously put together to make us feel like we still have some control in our life.

Teresa said...

I love to play cribbage but have never found anyone to play with. I did find a site on line to play and used to do it a lot. Your scrappy quilt is great?

cityquilter grace said...

excellent advice mrs g. i learned cribbage years ago but have forgotten i'm afraid...

Janet O. said...

Such a sweet shot of PawPaw and Lynnleigh! Precious moments.
Your feather play looks wonderful!
I was not aware of Kim's chubby binding method--and I have even taken a class from her. Will have to get out her books and take a look.
You received good advice about the book and jury duty. My Mom was called to jury duty multiple times in her adult life, but I have yet to receive a notice.
I like the look of your block that just happened. :)
Being prayerful is the best thing we can do!!

Tanya said...

Thank you!

I don't think I'd like to be doing jury duty right now but someone has to do it. Thanks for the book recommendation! This is a good time to be reading good books!