Community does not necessarily mean living face-to-face with others;
rather, it means never losing awareness that we are connected to each other.
~Parker Palmer
Quilting
Cleaning out every corner of my house has been a salutary lesson. For some reason there are stacks of squares neatly packaged in different shoe boxes. Six-inch, 5.5", 2.5", and 2". Who knows why now. And why in the world are these blocks half an inch different in size? I tried to simply toss the larger ones into the scrap bag but instead pulled out chunks from the bag and cut them into six-inch blocks to make Hatchet blocks.
There were so many that I sorted them by color later... after they were cut. Sigh. When I tired of Hatchets I switched to this improv hourglass blocks from Cultural Fusion Quilts. Generally these fabrics run analogously from red to orange to yellow although many of these yellows look more like cheddar.
Here they are laid on the rug. A bit too small and there is not enough red or yellow yardage for a border. Then this cheddar-orange from my stash and the dark brownish-black from the scrap bag magically called. {I think I like putting these larger pieces in the bag. Finding them inspires different designs than strings do.}
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| Improv hourglass blocks |
Four red blocks could create simple border corners but there were still some squares of yellow left, too. Here's the top sewn. And yes, I know one block is sideways. It will stay that way.
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| Improv hourglass quilt top |
That strong border shows off the blocks beautifully. It's not fall here but the colors certainly reflect autumn. Next week I'll quilt it... as soon as I figure out the back.
After the freeze, most of our plants died back. I trimmed the ferns and hostas to the ground and am watching them sprout new growth. Most of the jasmine leafed out but some hedges may need to be replaced. I planted all my pots with flowers or ferns and am on a mission to get the ground cover going between the flagstones so hopefully weeding won't be a daily activity in a few years. We still need the landscapers to grind a tree stump and replant. Privacy and shade are goals, too.
Reading
The Baby Ganesh Detective Agency series by Vaseem Khan delightfully draws us into Mumbai and its varied districts. In this first book, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, the poor mother of a drowned boy challenges the police to discover what happened but Chopra's superiors don't want the death investigated and it's his last day of work. Then his uncle sends him a gift of a baby elephant who is "not what he seems." Well written, engaging, and fun to read about another part of our world. It reminds me of The Number 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.