Reactions
For every action there is a reaction. Oh my gosh! When I came down into the sewing study this morning . . . how much reaction could I take from my actions of yesterday!
It is unfortunate that the strong arm of logic doesn’t come down and smack us one when we are on a journey that has no positive ending. Yesterday I proceeded to baste around each of the 25 blocks of the Santa sandwiched quilt . . . with the sewing machine. I must have been under the influence of the wicked witch of quilt boo-boos.
This morning all I saw were wrinkles within each of the twenty five 10″ blocks. I must have walked around my church tables quite a few times in utter amazement that I had done this. This was not acceptable. Lena would be shaking her head.
I remember a friend of mine, Sharon. Sharon has been working on some piecing of a table runner and as hard as she worked, it just got harder to accept. The result was taking the entire project apart stitch by stitch as she knew she would never be able to enjoy the project going forward.
I will be taking all the stitches out of this huge basting debacle until I am down to the individual pieces; the backing, the batting and the quilt top. I will begin anew. If not, I fear I would be so upset with it going forward, there would be only one option . . . destroying it. Buck up Grammie. Find your good sewing chair and slide it up to the church tables and begin picking stitches. Making that decision, I felt uplifted. I can do this! There will be no updates on this project for some time.
Having come to terms with my timeline for quite some time, Brett called and asked if I would ride with him to Old Alley Quilt Shop in Sherburn. Absolutely! In the five years that Brett has been quilting, he never sought out Old Alley. Brett was fed up with JoAnn’s quality, more like . . .the quality in fabrics and choices. Brett was amazed at the quantity of choices in colors and in bolts of fabric in the store. What was sought was found. Using 108″ wide for backing is wonderful to use rather than the 44″ fabric that needs to be pieced perhaps as often as three times. There was no end to the choices. He is working on two king size quilts. I have a sneaking suspicion that Brett will make the 26 mile journey in the future when a need arises.
The damp gray day is noted on the arthritis. I have no doubt that sitting and picking stitches will give the arthritic fingers a good workout. It is touted that “keep moving” is the key to keeping arthritis mobile. Have I got a deal for my hands! The reaction of this project will bring about not only good feelings of the heart but also in the hands and fingers.