A Colorful Thread: February 2020
Weaving together my life as a maker and other spheres of life.
Best of Stitched in Color {February}
On My Mind
Remembering:: sweet Eleni, who would have been five years old today. I know many of you remember her with me. Thank you for that friendship.
If you’re new to this space, here is her story.
As life goes on, sometimes it feels that we travel farther and farther away from her. I’m grateful for the tangible things, like photos, momentos and her memorial stone that help us carry her with us always.
Reading:: Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School and the Global Race to Achieve by Lenora Chu. I just finished this memoir about a Chinese American who moves to China with her family, where she enrolls her 3 year old in a local Chinese school. So, so interesting! I love learning about how different cultures educate and what they value in education. This book gave me lots to reflect on regarding parenting as well. Gained some fascinating insights into Chinese culture! We’ll be discussing this tonight at the first book club meeting for my new Dutch group. Yay!
Following:: Amy Friend @DuringQuietTime and her blog. Amy just released her third book, Petal + Stem, which combines her love of flowers with paper piecing and modern quilt design. Check out Amy’s beautiful quilt-in-progress, using a pattern from her book! I love, love, love the colors and fabrics. That background print is so perfect here - non-directional, vintage-inspired and quiet enough to let the flowers shine.
Anticipating:: Sewing my first quilt blocks for Quilter’s Color Quest. I’m going to be sewing along with you, doing the excercises in my book. I’m eager to get started this weekend!
One of the hardest things about working for myself is setting boundaries on my time. The reality is that I must fit my work into the gaps of my day, which means working while Elora is in preschool as well as at nights. Sometimes I fall into a pattern of looking to work in every spare moment, which means I forget to prioritize and enjoy other things. I’m grateful for my new friend Ilse, who invites me away from my work to take a walk or practice language. She wants to improve her English, so we make a great pair. I have hope that living with the Dutch people will help me achieve better work-life balance. Or maybe it will always be a work-in-progress, but at least I have lots of good examples!
xo,
Rachel
