A Colorful Thread: April 2020
Weaving together my life as a maker and other spheres of life.
Best of Stitched in Color {April}
On My Mind
Experimenting:: with roller skates! I loved a visit to the skating ring as a kid. We went weekly at certain times in my life, and I was pretty decent at it. In an effort to diversify our mundane pandemic existence, we got roller skates or roller blades for the family this month. There are plenty of flat, paved paths perfect for skating right around our neighborhood. Only, now I can’t use the walls to stop myself! Yikes.
And, no, there will be no pictures, haha.
Reading:: I’ve been reading more lately. Have you? I enjoyed an uplifting memoir titled A Spoonful of Sugar: A Nanny’s Story by Brenda Ashford. This book chronicles the life of a classic British nanny, who came into her job during WWII and raised children over the course of six decades. Times change, crisis come and go, but Brenda weathers it all with good sense and love for others. Especially in these times, it is reassuring to follow such a story and be reminded that we can endure.
Feel free to share your book recommendations with me!
Following:: Alyce at Blossom Heart Quilts. Luckily, Alyce is still blogging, sharing her process, tutorials and quilt-alongs. Her latest post, “8 Uses for Scrap Triangles” is a good one for those of us haunted by triangle scraps.
Scrappy HST quilt by @curlyquesue
Anticipating:: Oh my gosh, finally having another quilt finish! It’s been ridiculous this year. So few finishes for me and yet I’ve been creating a lot. I realized the main thing is that I’m starting multiple new quilts that are time consuming, rather than pushing through on one at a time. I tell ya - it’s not a familiar rhythm. My Confetti quilt is just awaiting binding now. Won’t be long!
How are you holding up, friends? I don’t talk about the covid pandemic in my usual content because it feels good to keep this part of my life as normal as possible. But, yeah, this is a gnarly time. The Netherlands has been in shutdown for 6.5 weeks now. At first it wasn’t so hard. I like being home. But then - well, you know.
I want to see PEOPLE. I want to DO STUFF.
There hasn’t really been more time to sew, what with Elora not in preschool and Brandon still doing university from home. But, when I do sew I really appreciate how it draws me in and carries me away from the cares of this crisis.
I know we are fortunate. And, I know many of you feel the same. There is no clear solution to this situation. I’m a big-picture person, so I get hung up on that. I don’t understand what the real “plan” is for keeping people safe while preventing catastrophic economic collapse, and perhaps there isn’t one.
Well, anyhoo, Elora’s preschool starts up again on May 11. She’s glad for that, but what I’m really waiting for is for non-covid types of medical care to resume. Elora has critical appointments on indefinite hold to check her hearing, evaluate her speech delay and evaluate her ears for possible ear tube surgery. It’s super frustrating not to move forward on getting her help when the next steps are all there, clearly defined and just-out-of-reach. For how long?
I hope you are staying sane, contributing to the well-being of others and finding joy in the small things. Thank goodness we have a creative home hobby. It is a wellspring of life in these times!
xo,
Rachel
