A Whole Month Later -- Catching Up

It has been a MONTH since I posted?? I guess I didn't feel I had anything newsworthy, which never stopped me in the past, as my readers well know. These are such strange times... continuing quarantine at home, plus all the unrest which started here in Minnesota after the death of George Floyd. I didn't know how to address it all. (Also, my depression reared its ugly head for a while, so I wasn't enthused about writing.) I'm all in favor of radical change. It's about time we finally address our racist habits here in the USA. I think having the conversations is a great start. So many of us white people, definitely including me, have had easy and oblivious lives, unaware of how truly difficult it has been all along for people of color. I thought I was "woke" but I see I was not. So.. I'm trying to read and learn all I can. This will be an ongoing goal of mine.

Meanwhile, my sister got married!! She was divorced many years ago (which is sad no matter what, and each situation contains its own unique story of sadness). And then a year ago she attended a 50th school reunion in the town where we used to live as kids; we moved away from there when I was 12 and she was 13. She has always been good at keeping in touch with people from the past. Me, not so much. I would never have attended that reunion. Anyway, while there she re-connected with a family friend/classmate. His family had attended our church where our dad was the pastor. And we used to go out to their farm fairly often to have dinner and play around. You know, for a town kid to go visit a farm, it's always memorable and there's so much to do. We have good memories of that family.

So when my sister re-connected with R., we thought it was quite cool. And he is a very nice man. His wife of many years died of cancer 3-4 years ago. Sis and R. were both in the right position to be open to a new relationship. And this one went fast. They felt close immediately and a year later - Boom! - they got married. They figured at age 69, why waste any time? And R's mother is still alive; she is now 97, understandably getting frail. So they wanted to hurry on her behalf as well.

The wedding was small - a crowd of 10 - and we practiced social distancing. It felt quite odd to not be able to hug and be close at a wedding. I did sneak in one quick hug with my sister, but kept my distance from my new brother-in-law. It was a fun, happy day. I must say that I have not seen my sister this happy in a LONG time. I am thankful that she and R. found each other.

They got married at the chapel on the campus of the senior residence where R's mother lives. My son was videographer. Here he is shown interviewing R's mother. He intended to get taped comments from all ten people, but ended up getting only that one. And the final pic is Sis and R opening the gift we gave them.. it's something they have to choose, so it's just a written description.

I am happy to report that my depression went back into hiding. I'm feeling quite good again and am interested in my fun hobbies again. I have been mostly sewing, because oddly, I have not been able to concentrate on reading! During this time when I could be reading up a storm! What's up with that? I figure it'll come back to me eventually. I hope you, my lovely readers, are healthy and happy. Keep safe, everyone!

More A to Z Blocks

I am continuing to work through my book of blocks in alphabetical order. Here are more of what I have made:

This yellow one was accidentally made 14 inches rather than the standard 12-inch size I was aiming for. And the colors in this photo are off. It was prettier in person.

The last one I made is Contrary Wife (what a name!) There are several more C blocks to work through before I get into the Ds.

Happy sheltering at home, readers!

Solo Sewing

During the quarantine I am doing all my sewing alone at home. I enjoy it, but usually I have at least a once-a-month quilters' gathering which rejuvenates me, and I'm missing that now. Still, I do enjoy sewing when I feel like it and doing whatever I want. Even the quilt projects to which my friends and I donate are not currently in operation, so all the sewing we do is for later. Which means.. there are no deadlines prompting me to do X, Y and Z before the more fun things that I'd rather do. That's a benefit of quarantine sewing.

Here's what I have been making:

Those three tops will eventually be for Wrap a Smile which gives quilts to kids after cleft lip surgery. They are made from a combination of my own blocks, donated blocks, and some donated rows. Wrap a Smile is one of the programs currently on hiatus. But they'll need lots of quilts once they start back in operation.

Here is a collection of blocks I made from a tutorial at the blog, The Objects of Design. Post was on Aug. 20, 2014. The block has partial seams, but they're super easy and go together quickly. They make a small block, only 5.5 inches. I was going to try to be creative, but ended up deciding on a straight setting. They're already interesting enough so that it makes a creative quilt top as is.

To my own chagrin, I am not reading as much as I thought I would during this quarantine time. Since I'm doing so much sewing, maybe another audio book would be a good way to go.

Happy sheltering-in-place, everyone! I hope you are healthy and happy. Sending my hugs around the world.