Rescued

I can remember a time 

when I was about 8 years old

and was walking to school

wearing my red rubber boots.

Because there were no sidewalks

and the spring ground was muddy

it only took a few moments to 

 get my feet really stuck deep in the mud.

Fortunately, my sister was with me and

before she got stuck,

she was able to ran back home for help.

In the mean time,

I struggled and tried to free myself

from my sticky and wet trap.

I thought I would be stuck forever.

I was really worried.

In just a few moments there was my mom 

coming to my rescue,

lifting me up and freeing me.

Then we all started laughing

because there were my boots

still in the mud.

In those few moments 

a frustrating situation changed.

****

I confess to feeling a bit

frustrated with still being quarantined,

not seeing family and friends, and

just not having my usual routine.   

One positive and creative thing

 I have been doing is 

   Sue Spargo's' 90 day

circle sampler.

Over the past 3 months

I've been picking and 

choosing the designs 

that would work

 with my 30 pastel circles.

I've learned so much from

this embroidery sampler.

For the last couple weeks

I've had only one circle left 

and now there

 are only a few days remaining in 

Sue's wonderful stitching exercise.

There I was stuck.

One empty circle waiting

for inspiration, 

waiting to figure out the best design

and color combo to complete the sampler 

and waiting for me to be motivated to finish.

Well, this week my friends

came to my rescue. I organized

a driveway quilt gathering.

We came together, laughed,

shared, inspired, and enjoyed

a sense of normalcy.

I finally felt like I

 could figure out

what I wanted to do

in the last empty circle.

With a renewed spirit,

uplifted by friends,

I smiled at the final stitching.

I was rescued.

Until Next Time-

Kyle

My Paper Stars Are Shining

The world has become very unsettled 

and I have found myself retreating

to the solace of simply sewing.

I've needed a quiet time

 to settle my mind,

 calm the emotions

 and 

ease the stress.

My sewing has lead me to 

string piecing once again.

Do you still have a phone book

tucked away in a drawer?

This paper is perfect for a foundation.

It's easy to sew through

and better yet, easy to tear away.

I had recently seen a pattern 

in this book.

There's a foundation 8 pointed diamond star pattern  

made with strip scraps.

As much as I love scrappy

I wasn't in the mood for

a collage of colors or

 a barrage of pattern.

Instead I pulled 

a variety of neutrals

or low volume prints.

I know, you might be thinking:

 boring,

dull,

no energy or movement,

but upon a closer look,

there is a lot going on.

There's a variety of colors,

patterns,

and sizes, 

all working together

speaking in whispers and still  making

themselves heard.

I needed 128 diamond units.

Once they were trimmed,

I left the paper in place to keep the

bias edges from losing control and

getting out of shape.

Then randomly selected  two diamond units

and sewed them together.

I stopped stitching a 1/4" from the edge

to later easily add the triangles and squares 

around the star.

Then two quarters were sewn together to make the half.

At this point,

 knowing my machine piecing skills,

I knew I would hand stitch the 

two halves together starting and ending

about an inch on either side of the center.

It didn't take nearly as long as it would 

have if I had machine pieced with all

the ripping and unsewing I would have 

done to get a good center.

Then it was easy to finish the center seam

and have it all come out perfectly.

I got the blocks together using a variety

of dark blues and indigo blues.

It was at this point that

I finally removed the paper.

****

One of my favorite stories

from working in the quilt shop was

the day a woman came in and inquired 

about a pattern that said to 

paper piece.

She wasn't sure how that was going to work

because it would definitely make the

quilt way too crinkly!!

****

With the blocks finished I

added a few simple borders.

After getting it together

I realized I had seen something similar 

a long time ago on Pinterest,

a quilt done by Helen Wentzlaff.

I guess subconsciously,

we tuck away good ideas.

 There's something comforting to me

seeing white stars on a blue background.

Working with this pattern,

this technique,

this particular color combo

 

has been a productive and positive

solution for me and

has kept the world from spinning out of control.

Until Next Time-

Kyle