bee creative

GOOD enough COVID 19 Quilt details

One of the things that I've become aware of over the last year is how hard it can be for some to not have a plan, to not have an answer before they start...

I am not one of those people. 

I am happy to figure it out as I go and have brought this quality to making this quilt.

The GOOD enough COVID 19 quilt was started knowing that each square would be quilted before being sewed together but not sure how it would come together. 

I imagined something like a flat felled seam.

Another problem to solve was that each square would end up being different sizes.  I figured out pretty quick that I would need to even out the squares by  adding another stripe to a smaller edge to make the seams the same length.  But it was also important to me that each square have 19 pieces of fabric.

The solution I liked the best was to choose one fabric that would be the binder fabric between squares.  It will also be used as the filler to make the quilt measure 6 feet by 6 feet as a finished quilt.

So here's how it works...

My "filler" fabric is the purple silk (it took me a long time to choose this!).  I added the fabric and then trimmed away the seam allowance to about 1/4 of an inch. The silk was cut to match the length of the square I was attaching it to.

The trimmed edge was then laid on the matching block and sewn down to the base layer of flannel (where the arrow is) with enough distance so that the fabric on the left (the blue) could be folded flat and then the purple folded over the top of the blue and then appliqued into place. 

Nice and tidy.

The backside looks like this.  The raw edge on the seam allowance for this side doesn't matter as  I will be backing the quilt once it's finished.

The purple silk has one more job...more on that tomorrow.

Resources: 

What Jude has shared over the years about managing layers and design mending.  

A workshop with Youngmin Lee about Bojagi, Soul Craft Festival

winter

The thing about winter

(garlic is growing very well)

is that it dances on the edge of spring.

(Primroses from the store, but the ones previously planted are about to bloom too.)

And for me, becomes more hopeful than fall...which is all about storms.

The yarn doesn't felt so it won't go into the insomnia blanket,

maybe there is enough for a sweater?

catching light

My current journal is a 2019 Daily Planner that I thought I'd use for work but only did sporadically.

Between blank pages there are the occasional work notes. 

I doodle over them, around them, through them...

some I leave as reminders.

This morning while stitching on my quilt block I thought about getting along, what it takes to be a good companion when there are differences.

How we can work together when we disagree.

And finding common ground.

(The vaccine is a hot topic at work.)

Mostly I am quilting with silk thread.

For the way it catches light.

moon inspired

A cat toy was also required.

She loves the keyboard.

like a tree

Sometimes interesting things come from unexpected sources...

I've listened to a lot of the podcasts that have been produced by TOAST, this one is my favorite...about lines.

More books added to my "to-read pile."

This morning I took my collection of words and scattered them among the pages of my journal.

And altered photos.

And while playing, discovered a shadow like a tree.

For those that like On Being and haven't listened yet...the podcast with Katherine May is a good one. There is a 2 minute excerpt that she reads from her book here.

 

 

 

 

on the trail

This morning's 15, a word hunt:

Rearranged.

Yesterday's walk:

(I thought it was misting, liquid sunshine)

(But really it was snow.)

(Stopped to look for trolls. I have been told Martens live here.)

It's a neighborhood trail, but part of a larger trail system. Not heavily used, but busy enough that you will cross paths with a few people. It's a commute route for some, jogging path, bicycle path, dog walk...a place to take a deep breath on a lunch break.

The part that I usually walk encompasses several blocks.

With COVID, the dance of mask up, mask down.

Some just leave their masks up.

A few no mask at all.

GOOD enough COVID 19 neighborhood block.

 

 

juggling

I often juggle with the children I work with.  It's especially good with toddlers that are tired and hungry that just need to hang on for a few more minutes.

A piece of paper can be made in to a ball in seconds.

I am not very good at it (despite having been taught over 30 years ago), most likely because I don't try to be.

There's something to think about...just letting something be what it is.

The children think it's way more funny when the balls are dropped. (Which is also something to consider.)

 

This morning a few paper balls seemed like just the distraction for Widget while I was trying to journal.

Lola finds it sort of entertaining... until she is ready for her next nap.

(She often sleeps under the covers, she gets cold easily.) 

Loving the () again...little side thoughts that I am juggling.

 

following a thread

As I pick stripes and add them to the square I often think about what it means to be neighbors.

Sharing similarities but different.

Building community.

The art of holding and foundation.

And how we might share a meal.

Winter Potatoes: Dehydrated tomatoes, peppers, carrots and celery re-hydrated with a bit of water + boiled potatoes + salt and herbs pan fried in olive oil.  And some pumpkin seeds.

Been thinking that Widget should have been named "Weasel" after "Pop Goes the Weasel." And that sent me down a rather interesting  path of research about the nursery rhyme's history as a dance and spinner's weasels (that measure a skein) and the lyric:

"Jimmy's got the Whooping Cough

And Timmy's got the Measles.

That's the way the story goes

Pop! Goes the weasel.

 

More to think about...

 

 

in the journal

It's cold this morning, 28 F.

The yarn I pulled out of the indigo vat last night and put outside formed icicles.

The yarn on the top is my "creek water" yarn.  The bottom, with bluish purple a good match for twilight right now.

This morning, looking at the winter stripe I spent some time with this section that holds more thin yarn than most.

I have never spent much time working on creating consistent yarn with my drop spindle.  Mostly because this is the way I like it, bumpy and lumpy and changing. The amount of twist often reflects my mood because of this.

When I don't pay attention, that's when the yarn becomes a consistent strand.

After visiting Jude this morning, there was the thought that it is a lot like handwriting.

The spinning of yarn.

In my current journal I have embraced my messiness. Spent some time letting go of legibility.

And the funny thing is that the handwriting is becoming more legible...

And yes...I need new glasses.

 

 

a little story about a moon

This week I was out on the playground with a group of 5 or 6 preschoolers for a bit.

One of them told me the moon was in the sky.

Another said, "It can't be, it's daytime."

Discussion followed.

One of the children ran up and said, "I have a present for you." I opened my palm and something invisible was placed in my hand.

He said, "It's the moon." 

"Oh that's wonderful, I replied. "I am am going to put it in my pocket." 

One of the other children said, smiling at me...

"But you know, it's not real."

And I said, "That's okay, I still love it."

Moon patch from Jude. The fabric for the patches to the left and right was a gift of white wool from Jude, Grace or Deanna that I dyed during some of my first experiments with indigo.

P.S.

That child's smile is going to live in my heart forever.