Although I’ve been a vagabond (homeless) these past few weeks, I’ve managed to knit and gift a pair of socks for a friend. And they fit him perfectly!
I’m now just past the heel on the first sock of the next pair.
This period of waiting is nearly over thank goodness – I get possession of the apartment Monday and the movers will arrive Wednesday. It’s going to be wonderful finally getting back to a place of my own.
I got the packing finished today. Everything. I had exactly the right number and sizes of boxes on hand and enough paper to get the job done. I had help – two friends came over and worked with me boxing all the kitchen stuff – dishes, cutlery, glassware, pots-pans, baking things, pantry, plastic containers… Took three hours.
The sewing room:
The office:
Every other room the same – boxes stacked everywhere.
Tomorrow, I’ll gather what I need for the three weeks I’m homeless. Then Tuesday morning the movers arrive to take it all to storage.
The next three weeks will go quickly – I’ve got knitting with me and several novels on my phone to help me pass the time. It’ll be August 3 before I know it and then it’s the whole process in reverse!
My neighbour’s birthday last week. Her kids brought a cupcake for her birthday cake. She was saving it under this inverted mug – “face” was what I saw.
I have a friend travelling in Spain at the moment. This picture of a face arrived a couple of days ago – a fountain in the old Jewish quarter of Barcelona.
Then a couple of days later she sent another face: her tuna and asparagus salad was looking back at her! (Bet the chef had no idea what he’d/she’d inadvertently done.)
Quilt Top – Improvised Piecing
Another modern quilt completed. My goal was to complete ten quilts for the showing in Parrsboro in August. DONE! They’re all very different.
What constitutes a “modern” quilt – “Bold colors and prints, high contrast, graphic areas of solid color, improvisational piecing, minimalism, expansive negative space, and alternate grid work. (Modern Quilt Guild)”
More and more I’m being drawn to create simple but very bold quilts with strong colours and contrasts. I consider each new quilt an opportunity to extend my piecing and quilting skills. My boredom tolerance is low – I could never do the same quilt twice without pushing the design boundaries in some significant way.
In this quilt I was after a completely improvised top with a more traditionally pieced second side. In fact, in this quilt I’d be hard pressed to identify which side is “top” – in this quilt either side could be.
Quilt Back – Flying Geese
I felt under quite a bit of pressure to complete this quilt – tomorrow I have a friend coming to help me pack up my sewing room for the move and I really wanted to have this quilt finished. On Friday I could see an end might be in sight. I got just over half quilted on Saturday; finished the quilting yesterday, then bound it, last thing – added a label to the flying geese side.
With the quilt done, I was ready to move on. I spent the rest of the afternoon getting the packing of my sewing room under way. I carefully stowed each sewing machine (with its accessories) in its case. I packed each small tray/box of loose stuff in shoe boxes (saved for the purpose). Tomorrow I’ll get all the small boxes into a few large china barrels and move on to taking the shelving apart and breaking down the table assembled from Ikea parts – all ready for when the movers arrive in a week. The day bed is being picked up Thursday – it’s being recovered to be used in the sitting room
My sofa is also being recovered for the sewing studio.
I’ve arranged for both pieces of furniture to be returned to the apartment. Looking at the fabric swatches I suddenly realize teal seems to be the colour I’m gravitating toward these days. Not hard to imagine this quilt draped over the back of either of these! Maybe that was unconsciously driving my colour selection for the quilt!
I don’t know how I’m going to occupy my time for the next month – I will have some knitting with me. It’ll be a time to read the unread books in the libraries on my phone. And there’s some travelling scheduled as well. I know the month will go quickly. I’m just impatient for the move to be over and to get myself settled into the new space.
jmn 