Some Saturday in April

I'll begin with a pic taken in my front yard.  It is iris season.  Despite the rain, the snails, and the mildew in the roses, the beauty out there grounds me.  On sunny days, I'm out there pulling a few weeds, tossing snails into the street, and grooming dead leaves from the plants.  I find it very therapeutic, and a nice complement to being inside, bent over my various quilting projects.

Today is a rainy day, so quilting, it is.

This past week, I had a bit of an epiphany.  Though I have literally dozens of UFOs waiting patiently for attention, I don't have the creative juices needed to give them the attention needed to move them forward.  Instead, I find that I need something repetitive and fairly mindless, to keep me occupied.  I've got so many unspoken thoughts flying through my brain, apparently there is no space for blatant creativity.

Instead, I have reverted to traditional piecework.  When I say "reverted," that might give negative connotations, which is the last thing on my mind.  I LOVE traditional patchwork!  But I don't usually have the time or the patience to create a quilt one block at a time, repeating the same pattern(s) over and over again.  And yet?  Like a jigsaw puzzle, this is the kind of activity I find that I am craving.  

When 2020 rolled around, had you told me I would be indulging in scrap patchwork, I would have laughed at you.  "I don't have time for that!"  And yet?  Now?  I have PLENTY of time for that.  I mean, what else is there to do?  I could clean house, but, really?  Is that the BEST use of my time?   If we are all potentially 14 days away from the ICU, would I rather be found with a cleaner house?  or a finished project?  Apparently the answer is another finished project...or a new UFO.  hahahaha!

This past week, as I flipped through various UFO's, I remembered my box of binding trims. Each time I make binding, I trim the triangles, stack them up, and toss them in this shoe bin.  It is to the point where the lid barely fits.  I decided that it was again time to start making them into half-square triangles.

 At this point, I usually piece them into 8 pointed stars, but this time?  I wanted to do something different.  Some of the half-square triangles yield 2.5" pieces, some only 2" pieces.  That just means that instead of one project, I guess I'm doing two?  Just keep sewing, and decide later!

 Last year, or was it the year before?  A friend asked me to dissect a quilt and find the quilt block it was comprised of.  Turns out it was a Delectable Mountains block.  I've had that pattern on my design wall since that time, wanting to make the block for myself.  oooh!  I like it!!

 Look at that!  Four blocks are even better than one!!

So, that's what I've been doing this week.  Relatively mindless piecing, repetition, working with a calming palette with a few splashes of color here and there.

And while I'm doing this?  Well, let's just say that the house is not cleaning itself.  Witness my sewing space, where I use the word "space" quite liberally.

And on that note, I hope that you are staying safe and staying healthy, and using your time to ground yourself, doing whatever it is that brings you peace and joy.  Take care!!!