While I Waited

I was a machinist while I waited.  I needed to keep myself occupied.  I needed to be able to focus on one particular thing while my thoughts were whirling and tumbling around in my head.  I needed a challenge for the day and I needed the repetitive motion of needle in fabric, foot down, pedal, stitch a seam.  Over and over again for as long as it took.

144 individual squares were sewn while I waited, and with each seam I sent out a positive, loving thought.  Five and a half hours of waiting for the phone to ring.  330 minutes which felt like six weeks.  The longest morning of my life.

And finally the call came, the operation a success and my husband, my best friend, my rock, my love, is well.  Quadruple bypass heart surgery.  Seventeen days since we were told he'd had a heart attack, straight into hospital almost 2 hours drive away, visiting every second day.  Today I heard the wonderful news and tears spluttered out of me and every part of me ached.  I had obviously held my body like a clenched fist for 17 days and this was the moment for releasing.

Hold those you love close to you.
Wishing you all a happy weekend.
I'm off to hold hands with my man ... all weekend.

Trudy

Janome, I've missed you

My sewing machine and I have been spending some time becoming re-acquainted with each other.  It all started with the tea cups.  Many happy moments were spent feeding fabric through the cogs and wheels of my machine, and it made me realise that it has been such a very long time since I've sat sewing pieces of fabric together.  Not anymore.

This weekend, any chance I could, when no-one else was taking any notice of what I was doing, I would sneak off to do some more chain piecing of 1.5 inch squares onto 4.5 inch squares.  There are 576 little squares to sew, and I'm on a mission!!  There was a moment when I thought fabric bunting draped around the room could work a treat, but no, on I went.

This is a quilt I have mentioned before, back in January in fact ... oh my gosh!!  It has sat for quite some time now progressing Not At All, not one little bit, not one single seam, gathering dust you could say, but now I have a secret aim that this will be a finished quilt top within say, ooooh the next week? (or maybe two!)

It is such a joy to play with so many vibrant and stunning fabrics.  Thank you Mr. Fassett.  I actually can't wait now until this baby's finished.

Trudy

Dancing my socks off

On our way to Daylesford last week we had a lunch stop in Ballan.  It was blowing a gale, and there we were huddled (mid-Summer?) on a bench seat outside the bakery catching each other’s flyaway pastry with every bite!!  But I was very happy and content as I had spied a fabric store, Mill Rose, on the way in and given the promise of a visit on the way out, and it was a gorgeous fabric store worthy of a detour and a Good Long Browse.

Made a very small purchase, one fat quarter of beautiful fabric with just the right project in mind, packaged up a la handbag-style, nice touch.

There was a dazzling collection of Kaffe Fassett fabrics, which has given me just the kick start I need to start sewing my “I See Red” quilt.  A little while back, [without any real reference to date/time – did you notice?] I cut 144 squares 4.5” in size, and started on the 576 squares needed 1.5” in size.  And there they sat, until now.

This pattern is from Kaffe's book "Simple Shapes, Spectacular Quilts".  I've adapted the pattern by changing the size and quantity of the squares.  You simply sew a small square diagonally across each corner of each large square, trim the excess fabric from the back and gently iron open.  When all the squares are sewn together you get the impression you're looking at a hexagon quilt.

Bit hard to tell yet, but if you screw up your eyes you can begin to see how the darker corners will help to create the larger hexagon shape.  Hmmm, maybe I need to sew more than 4 squares before this hexagon shape is clear.

My buddy and I had the joy of attending a lecture by Kaffe Fassett last year and he was amazingly inspirational and vibrant and fascinating!!  I had taken a book with me as he was doing a signing, and when it was my turn to say hello I completely allowed my goofy side to come out as I said "I'm so inspired by your lecture, I'm dancing my socks off"!!

Hope you find the inspiration you need to want to dance your socks off.
Trudy