All In A Row...

I didn't get all of my elephants in line and in their respective rows until I got back home from the weekend retreat. I knew better than to take anything more than mindless sewing! (A few may have had reversed trunks... maybe.) Several undistracted hours of solitude had it all sorted out.  I suppose that all of my brain power might had been expended on packing to go last Friday morning.

Here's all my stuff at the bottom of the basement steps ready to be loaded in the car, I don't pack lightly but, rather, pack for every eventuality. Even after all of that, I forgot my SewPad! Arrghh😬; I paid for that and could feel the strain in my hips and lower back after two straight days of sitting and sewing without it. If you don't know about SewPad, check it out through the above link; believe me, it will bring you the comfort you didn't even know that you were missing, it's truly that beneficial when you sit for long stretches. I decided that I am going to make a spreadsheet for retreat packing with check-off boxes so that this never happens again. As the vaccines continue to be administered there is much hope and promise on the not-too-distant horizon for resumed gatherings and many more retreat weekends once again! Hallelujah!!

Speaking of hope and promise: what better reminder of that than this welcome sign?

Life is Good!

 

New Year, New Quilter

Gregory and his Star Wars quilt top

Our two local grandchildren have had an extra week off from school this week. Gregory (and his sister) spent the day with us yesterday and helped us to un-decorate the house. There's something about packing away the trees and all the decorations that makes everything look so bare and wide-open; it's sort of a clean sweep and re-examination of spaces that, just days before, were filled with greenery and treasured mementos. I love Christmas; but I love packing it away for next year all over again, too! 

Especially when I have such great helpers!

After lunch both of the grandchildren got to work! Gregory settled to a routine of sewing four-patches until he had completed his own 48" X 48" quilt top made up entirely of inherited Star Wars scraps. He loved moving his blocks around on the design wall and finally coming up with his final layout (above, left). He's learned a LOT during the process; he's a proficient ironer now and understands the importance of a consistent seam allowance. We'll load this top onto the longarm in the coming weeks and he'll quilt it himself, following a simple pantograph. 

While her brother was sewing Lynnleigh transformed our Christmas card fronts into gift tags for next year's Christmas presents! This is a great recycling project made even more fun by involving a young and eager crafter. The card backs and photo cards are stacked and bound together with a ring for our morning devotions. Each day a new family or individual comes to the top of the pile and they're prayed for specifically by name. This is a tradition that I've blogged about before here. The dear friend who started this tradition for us has long ago now joined the Church Triumphant but lives on through her shining example. The gift tags from the card fronts has sort of evolved over time. Lynnleigh did a great job! With this New Year firmly underway I am focusing on that chosen guiding word: "mindful". Stay tuned. In the meantime, help me to welcome another new quiltmaker into the fold. 

Way to go, Gregory!

Sometimes, when the house seems to be chaotic and full of boxes,

 and there's kids running around here and there, 

it might just be time to cuddle up, all warm and cozy-like, in front of the fire with a  good friend. 

Life is Good!

This Much Fun Is Hard Work

My bags are all packed and by the door, ready for a quilting retreat! All that's left to do is pack my suitcase and load the cooler. Whew! There's a lot of work and planning behind going away to sew for a weekend with your best buds. I always laugh when I have my bags all piled up like this and ready to load into the car, it reminds me of the time my husband helped me tote everything out of the house and innocently asked why it wouldn't just be easier for everyone to come and sew here! I replied that yes, it would be easier, but it certainly wouldn't be as much FUN. Anyone who might think that having fun is easy has never packed for a weekend quilt retreat. My husband is still trying to understand the concept.

Life is Good!

Isn't It Funny...

... how one thing can lead to another?

Remember those tote bags* constructed for LWR school kits? Our Youth and Family Ministries director at church had an idea about getting similar totes to keep in our narthex area loaded with crayons and coloring books; the thought being that these could be borrowed by our youngest worshipers. I volunteered to make a few, "eight" she added, "we'll need eight". OK, eight it is! She had another idea, too. Marking "Little Lutheran" on them with fabric paint. Huh? Naturally, I volunteered again; we could certainly do better than fabric paint... how about embroidering them? Needless to say, she was thrilled with that idea. One down, seven to go.

In the meantime, I'm trying to fit getting ready for retreat around my other responsibilities. I leave this evening. My plan for the sewing marathon in the mountains are more of Bonnie's String Stars*, enough to construct a quilt top. I have plenty of strings, already in their own bin, ready to go. But, I was thinking... wouldn't it be great to already have the setting triangles cut out? Oh, yeah. And the more I thought about it... if I already had the triangles cut, wouldn't it be even better to have the half square triangles cut... and pieced? And the sashing strips cut? And the teeny-weeny four-patches pieced? And the foundation papers cut into their diamond shapes? Done! I'm almost ready. It's been a lot of work but it will be well worth the preparation when I can simply sit and sew. I'm counting down the hours! Fabric, friends, and fun; isn't it funny (and wonderful!)... how one thing can lead to another?

Life is Good!
*see previous post