This week is an impromptu retreat for me. My DH is out of town, so I have no one to care for but my animals and me. I really enjoy a little time off, I do what I want, when I want and how I want to. It’s not that I’m unusually restricted at other times, it’s just my “obligations” that I get a break from. I admit that I don’t have many either, but the structure is there. I like a more fluid schedule, if I’m hungry – I’ll eat, if I’m tired – I’ll sleep, if there’s a chore to be done, I’ll get to it. After raising children and all their schedules and appointments, I really enjoy not having to constantly watch a clock or calendar. Life has gotten a lot easier with the nest being empty, but DH works from home and although he has his own space/office here, he’s “in the house”.  I like that he checks in on me, “whatcha doing?” “what’s for dinner?”, but sometimes I don’t have an answer, “stuff” is pretty vague. It may be that that is the reason I’m happy to be alone for a bit, no upper management staff – LOL. Or it could be that I need to recharge myself after the holidays. This time of year is tough on an introvert, add in the cold, rain and short days, all I want to do is stay in, listen to a book and sew.

I have been sewing a lot this week. I got all the blocks together for Indigo way, it is a very pretty quilt, the reveal was last Friday. It reminds me of the Orca Bay (2012) mystery quilt and the Provence (2017) mystery quilts. 

Has it really been 12 years since I made the Orca Bay quilt? I remember I started following Bonnie Hunter about a year before, she was hosting the Carolina Christmas Mystery then. I thought it was pretty, but didn’t participate, I got sucked in to the mystery quilt the next year though, with Orca Bay. What an initiation that was, string piecing and lots of pieces. The experience was good, and I was hooked, I liked the comrades and the link ups and seeing all the other quilters work. The Mystery quilts have been streamlined a bit now, and most of the sharing takes place on Facebook. I still like the challenge, sometimes it’s the color way, sometimes the piecing, or even the sheer number of pieces that hooks me in. This assembly-line style has changed the way I approach quilting too. I will look at a pattern and break it down to the essentials and then how to make the most of my time and energy to create it. 

The Meadow Mist QAL quilt, Sommerville Circle is also getting put together. There are lots of little squares and rectangles, and I am happy with the variety of scraps that can be used in these blocks. Although it has hardly made a dent in the 1930’s reproduction scraps. I’m a bit ahead of the quilt-a-long, as there are 2 weeks to get each part done. I’m at the 1/30/24 point, getting the units together, I want to get the 18 half units together today. Then I’ll start on the blocks after Indigo way is put together.

Consider the Lillies is also a work in progress, I stitched the tree branches and the people, note Eves fancy green dress. I was all set to start stitching the Fabulous Houses this past week, I got all the thread sorted out and the fabric hooped. I started stitching the border for the December block – Santa house, it’s white, and my Aida cloth is/was white, oh! no… I ended up ordering a new piece of Aida, in a light blue/gray color. The model is stitched on a beige-gray cloth, I don’t know what I was thinking when I got the white. Possible that I ordered white because it has the wash out alignment lines printed on it, and I figured it would be a little easier to line every thing up on. Once the fabric gets here I am ready to start, the second house pattern got here yesterday, I am a month behind already. Sigh.

Speaking of catching up, I finally got the yarn I ordered for two hats I was going to make for Christmas gifts. It was back ordered and coming from Italy. Not as backlogged as the three linen aprons I ordered in November. I did receive one of them, and the other two are slated to arrive in a week or two. I wish I had taken a picture of the embroidery (picture below left) I did on the olive green apron. I was in such a hurry to get it packed up and sent out, I forgot. I used another one of the Embroidery library color-theory designs. These designs are lightly stitched and only use four colors, the effects are achieved through the blending and shading. I stitched one a few weeks ago on a horse pad. 

Be Kind.