Fabric (and other) Therapy - Week Two

It's been another week of Fabric Therapy and social distancing.  

New Orleans is pretty shut down now - just about the only things open are grocery stores, pharmacies, and health care providers.  We are the hot spot in the state of Louisiana for COVID-19 infections and deaths.  Last night the mayor issued a Shelter in Place order, but the rules aren't that much different from what most of us are already doing.  

My Dear Husband is on call this weekend, so I decided to head to our camp in Mississippi to do a little spring cleaning.  I've been doing a real deep cleaning, plus re-organizing closets and cabinets; thinning out stuff that never gets used, etc.  I turned on Radio Margaritaville to keep me motivated - happy music and escapism!

I discovered a four-pack of these in the refrigerator while I was cleaning.  We must have purchased them last summer and forgotten about them.  I enjoyed one as I was cleaning, and between the ginger beer and Radio Margaritaville, I had a mini Caribbean vacation.  These are non-alcoholic, but with a little rum, they'd make a great Dark and Stormy!

I wanted to take my English Garden quilt outside for some photographs today. but it's been overcast and raining off and on.  Instead, I put my quilt rack to work and opened all the binds and curtains for as much daylight as possible.  Dear Husband made this quilt display rack several years ago.

My local LAQ, Cindy Braiwick, had a fun time with the quilting.  I tried to photograph her efforts, but the lighting and busy fabric weren't helpful.  She used lots of rose/flower designs, including individual flowers and buds in the background areas of the Sawtooth Star blocks.

Label attached.  I started this quilt in the spring of 2005.  Fifteen years later, I'm loving it!

My binge-watching this week has been Outlander, Seasons 2 and 3.  Not really enjoying Season 3 so far, but I think I'm only on Episode 3.

While binge-watching, I stitched up block 2 of Barbara Brackman's Civil War appliqué BOM:  Cassandra's Circle.  This block is Mulberry Wreath.  I had fun doing the fussy cutting.

And that's the news that's fit to print for now.  I hope everyone continues to stay safe and find helpful coping mechanisms for this stressful time.  Virtual hugs to everyone!

Summer Star Scrappy SAL: Obsession

Our cable and internet service was out for a good chunk of the day today.  That's probably a good thing, as I had been obsessively watching coverage of Hurricane Harvey and feeling depressed and hopeless.   Based on past experience, my best way to fight depression and hopelessness is to sew.

I've been working on completing Diane Knott's Summer Star Scrappy Sew-Along.  I finished most of the body of the quilt last week.

All that remains to be done is sew the four long rows together to complete the star.

Diane offered different options for the quilt borders.  I decided I wanted my quilt to look like her sample: double strips of pieced squares separated by a white strip.  

Diane came up with a great way to piece the borders, making strip piecing feasible.

So, I obsessively pieced border components yesterday and today.  

Here are the blocks for the border corners.  

And a stack of pieced strips that will eventually become the borders.  The strips are sewn together into blocks containing five strips, which are then assembled to become the borders.  I'm hopeful I will be able to assemble a block here and there during the week - keep the fabric therapy going!  (BTW, there are 180 of these strips.  I definitely made a dent in my blue scraps, chunks and yardage!)

If you have been watching news from Texas and are wondering how to help, I have a few suggestions.  Last year, when the Baton Rouge area of Louisiana had catastrophic flooding, local agencies seemed to provide the fastest and most useful services.  I'm not knocking the Red Cross, but I really prefer to give my money to hyper-local groups.  This link from Texas Monthly magazine has some good ideas.  

Whenever bad things were happening, a friend of mine used to say she was going to mix up a big batch of Voodoo Vinaigrette to make things right again.  I'm definitely going to be mixing up a batch of it myself, and including lots of prayers and Hurricane-Go-Away-Vibes as well.  I hope you'll join me!

Quilty 365 - Daily Fabric Therapy Meditations

Audrey - the Pied Piper behind Quilty 365 - is sponsoring a link-up for those of us who are following her circular lead.  It's a fun opportunity to share one's circular logic and be inspired by the circular fascination of others.  Are you getting dizzy thinking about all those circles?

 

I started stitching circles on November 4th, and I've circled through 27 days now.  Not all of my circles are stitched, but they're prepped and ready to go.  I laid mine out using Audrey's suggested Monday through Sunday grid, but I'm not sure I see any patterns in my fabric choices.  Yet.  I have such a large toile fabric collection I considered "Toile on Tuesdays", but after looking at the fabrics, I decided most of them were not the right scale for 3" circles.  

I have general ideas for some things I want to try with my circles, but I haven't gotten a round tuit yet.  I really enjoy hand-appliqueing the circles to their respective backgrounds, but I also think using one of my hand-cranked sewing machines for the applique would be fun.

As for Daily Fabric Therapy Meditation - let's just say that there have already been many days where the act of choosing fabric and/or hand-stitching it have done wonders for my mood and general outlook on life!   I'm looking forward to this year-long journey, no matter how circular!

Quilty 365 - Fabric Mojo

 

I've been keeping up with my Quilty 365 circles on pretty much a daily basis.  So far, I've been keeping it simple - stitching fabric circles without piecing or other embellishment.  Some of my fabric choices reflect current events (Paris, Veteran's Day in the US and the death of New Orleans musical icon Allen Toussaint) and others are personal reflections or memories.

I was somewhat surprised to find this exercise has been a source of powerful fabric therapy.  The act of choosing fabrics from my stash, prepping the circles and hand-stitching them has improved my mood and physical well-being on more than one occasion.  I think this quilt will have some wonderful mojo when it's finished!