March On

There are some seasons that seem to go on forever.... like Winter, for example... it seems to last a helluva lot longer than it needs to. I'm certain the calendar proclaimed this week that Spring has arrived, but the view out my back door still resembles Winter complete with snow and ice. Now that said, things are melting now and any rain that makes a respectable dent in the cold white stuff tends to end up trickling into my basement... so it's a bittersweet sorta time. Melting equates to mopping. Yay me.

So, according to the date of my last post, it's been a long while since I've written anything here... I tend to throw things on Instagram more and more but in doing so I have become a rather neglectful blogger. In my defense, I have been crazy busy with work and home and there's not a tonne of quilty stuff going on around here. A new baby springy thing came to live here in The High Tant back in November; our wee Ripley has been a constant source of joy & amusement... along with unending work, sleepless nights and cash depletion. Nothing chews up your mad money like a puppy....

I made a couple Christmassy quilts before the holidays... one for my Mum and one for the cupboard. Just simple patchwork, super quick and not fussy. When there's very little time a simple design is the difference between ending up with a UFO or a finish.

Patching quilts for Sister Purpleboots has been fun too! She's got a wee Jamaican rescue dog that's turned out to be a bit of a bedding nightmare and he continues to munch holes in her quilts. I had fun with the last repair... it was both a challenge and a delight.

I cut out the worst spots, and set in a patch that would look right on the back. I had to stack up a couple layers of batting to make the hole about the same thickness as her quilt and then I set out to make an improv slab from which I could cut a whale to appliqued over the hole. It worked out splendidly.... adorbs on every level.

Sister Purpleboots was pleased... the dog, not so much. Reports indicate that he has since chewed a hole in the whale. Silly dog.

Oh and I suppose I should share that The Robot has moved out and taken up residence with one of my nearby MMQG guildmates. Not only was that a huge decision to make, it was also a big job to dismantle & move him again. I will say that having done that less than a couple years ago made it a wee bit easier this go round. With The Robots glaring vacancy my sewing room now seems huge and I have my weekends back to myself... no more working 7 days a week or feeling like I have to.  I will certainly miss having the longarm at the ready, but all the time I spent quilting for others meant I didn't have time to sew for me anymore... I missed having time to play with fabric and build patchwork.

With life changes come life changes... the trick I guess is to know when change is necessary and make it. Change is often difficult... but we have to march on.