Tuesday, August 15, 2023

Fabrics for the Back of Optical Illusion 2

The game isn't over till it's over.
~Yogi Berra

Quilting


Remember this top from spring? It’s a game that isn’t over even though it was “rain-delayed”. I meant to quilt it immediately but got sidetracked by finding all those Ocean Wave units. Who’d have realized it would take all summer to finish one OW quilt? And it's still not done; the weather is simply too hot to work on it now. 

Junk lying around bothers me. Unfinished projects and excessive amounts of materials become junk. Yes, I’m a minority voice but stuff that’s not being used weighs on my soul. So the OW quilt is folded but visibly present so I'll restart it this fall. Meanwhile, there are other projects to push over the goal line. 


For this quilt I had to dig through the boxes to find something for the back. A soft, pretty front calls for a congruent back and these birds fit the bill. Needing more width, I chose this soft yellow. It’s new fabric I purchased on sale because I was completely out of yellow. It was difficult to use something that haven’t been “aging in place” for year but I really want a pretty back, too.


These are now sewed together and the layers are pinned. Quilting next; most likely a spiral. Let’s see if I can whip this out before then end of the month. No rush. I’m saving this quilt for family: they’ll like the soft colors; I like the illusion.

Why is there so little work this period? Mainly because another Christmas stocking was needed. They seem to get more colorful over the years. (That black thing at the top is a comet.) It still needs jingle bells but they haven't arrived.


Each stocking takes about a yard of fabric and hours of work. This is the eleventh I've made. I'm wondering who in the family will continue these? A devious plan is forming in my mind. When they come for the holidays, I'll set them to beading some of the simpler shapes. Next year they can learn how to sew the stocking. Bwaa-ha-ha.

Reading
The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore

During these hot summer days I read two "library" books. In The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore, a young librarian starts an impromptu book club with an elderly patron who's become almost bedridden. As more misfits join, they rediscover the book that resonates in each of their hearts. 

Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

I purchased Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, illustrated by Yas Imamura, for my grandchildren and of course read it first. Maggie tells how her grandparents met in the library of a WWII incarceration camp. The afterward shares historical information and photos. We should all read it.

Enjoy the day, Ann