Sometimes you've just gotta let it go

 So I got out a very old project last week to assess it, thinking I might take it to retreat week after next and try to finish it.  I started this in a class with Betty Alderman.  It must be ten years ago, but try as I might I could not find pictures from when this was a new project. 

Anyway, I was doing some fun stitching around the appliquéd pieces rather than satin stitch everywhere.  (I had taken a class with Jane Sassaman not long before and was inspired by the way she uses the decorative stitches on her appliqués)



But, back then I was also teaching classes, and this probably got pushed down the list again and
again.  It had been tacked up on the wall of the sewing room so I wouldn't forget it.  But then I tacked a piece of batting over it to use as a design surface, and it did get forgotten.  I noticed it a few times and thought "I have no idea what I'll do with it if I do finish it".  So there it hung
  When I took it down last week, it looked like one of the flowers was loose.  So I took it to the ironing board and hit it with the iron for the 10 count I always do for fusibles.  When I picked up the iron, imagine my horror to find the background fabric was discolored- scorched looking.
(circled area)  With nothing to lose, I ironed another spot- same thing happened.  Well, shit. 

  So I laid it on the floor under the cutting table for a few days, pondering.  I ironed over the whole thing and left dark ares, thinking it might look tea-dyed.  I don't know if it was starched way back then, or if the fact that it had hung in a room with halogen lights had affected the fabric, or even if it was the adhesive from the interfacing I had used to stabilize the piece.  I found a piece of the fabric in my scrap therapy bins and tried to discolor it, but it didn't work. 



 So I got to thinking about how long it had hung there, and if I had really loved this project wouldn't I have finished it? ( I have older UFOs in all honesty- hangs head in shame)  And I asked myself if I really want to put any more of my time into it?  The answer was no.  So I threw it away.  I was kind of proud of myself for that.

The projects I am actively working on look like this right now.

I got the pattern for this one from the Country Treasures booth at the quilt show last October.   I don't have the pattern at the moment, so I'll put a link to that next time.  I'm using scrap therapy squares.  It uses 2.5 inch squares, which is not one of the sizes cut for ST.  However, as Joan said-a 5 inch square makes a convenient storage device for them.










And this is one of the kits I pulled out last week- the pattern is called panel panache.  As I said before, it sure is pink!

You can see the border fabrics peeking from the left side of the picture, along with a piece of the binding fabric from the picnic quilt.  I save extra lengths of binding and eventually I have enough to bind a quilt.  I promise not to use it on this one. 

So, things might or might not be settling down.  I think many of us are getting a bit overloaded on the anger that has been flying around the past few months.  It's been ugly.  It has affected people's health.  But we can't just relax and hope for the best.  There are so many ways to get involved.  A columnist I follow named Dana Milbank, wrote a great article filled with the names of organizations you can join or support.  Go have a look.  We have to work together.  I'm happy to have found a couple of groups in my area.

I am grateful for:
Days I can turn the alarm off and get back into bed.
Jonathan takes my hand and pulls me in to sit or play with him when I go visit.
Getting to the good part.
A nice long chat with Lucas yesterday.
the Resistance.