Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Pat planned hamburgers for supper tonight but I didn’t have any of my veggie burgers left. So I went out just after seven to pick some up. I decided to stop at FreshCo (our Safeway replacement) because it is closer than Quality Foods where I usually shop. I’ve only been in the store once and I didn’t know where to find anything. Of the four items I picked up I had to ask where to find two of them.

As I was pulling into the almost-empty parking lot I wondered if I should go in or drive off and go to my usual shopping spot. I decided that there weren’t many people around and I had my mask and I knew they had sanitizer right inside the door. I had my own bag so I didn’t need to use a cart.

Of course I was fine. When I got home I found this in one of the blogs I follow:

I have had this anxiety for the past week or so. Just a wariness and uncertainty hiding under the surface and I wasn’t quite sure why… While I was out for my walk this morning, I realized that the anxiety was related to everything opening up after the pandemic… It’s a GOOD thing, of course…. something we’ve all been waiting for for sooooo long. But- even good things are stressful if they involve change. While we’ve all been waiting for things to back to “normal,” we don’t really know what things will look like now. What things will go back to the way we remember them, and what things will never be the same again??

Jacquelynne Steves (The Art of Home)

I know just how she feels. We’ve been staying home for so long that I wonder how long it will take to feel comfortable mingling with friends and strangers if going to a different grocery store makes me uneasy.

Monday, May 17, 2021

If you look at finishes I haven’t had a very productive day. But I have made progress on a few projects.

I’m almost three-quarters of the way through the binding on my mystery quilt. I’ll be checking in with the Guild a few times tomorrow and I hope to finish the binding while we chat.

I planned to spend the majority of my day on my Laundry Basket mystery. Clue 7 was released this morning and I started the day working on Clue 2. When I went to lay the blocks I had finished onto my grid I realized that I was missing four blocks from Clue 1. I’m now working on Clue 3 and I’m at the point in the layout that I can see where blocks fit together. I’ll continue to work on this for another day and then I’ll move on to something else. I realize I’m not able to keep up to the daily clues so I don’t feel too much pressure.

And what will I move on to? If the weather cooperates I have a couple of projects that I want to get sandwiched; I have to wait for a sunny day without any breeze as I spray-baste them. Both projects of course are on the list to be quilted – one of them is a Guild project and I need to get it done before the middle of June.

And the last Guild project that I need done is my Log Cabin quilt. I have seven of the last eight blocks that need to be repaired or redone so that will have to move up on the list. I’m not planning to have it quilted before the end of our Guild year.

Saturday, May 15, 2021

I slept much better last night and am feeling much more ambitious today.

I tied in all the ends on my quilt; it went much faster than I anticipated. I thought I might have “just enough” fabric for the binding but I was a bit worried it wouldn’t be enough. I had pretty much the exact amount the pattern called for but I’m never confident my seams haven’t made the quilt larger than it should be.

I knew trimming the quilt was going to be a big task and I had some other things I wanted to get done today. If I waited until I had the quilt trimmed and measured for the binding I’d probably be too late to get to the fabric store before closing. If I needed more fabric and didn’t get it today I wouldn’t be able to get it until Tuesday. So when in doubt – buy more fabric! The shop had the same fabric as I used in the quilt so it was a quick in-and-out to purchase another meter. If I don’t use it, it is a nice fabric to add to my stash.

When I came home there was a fellow walking up the hill towards our house. He was looking at all the yards and I was embarrassed about the way the boulevard looked. So I dug out the mower and cut the lawn as well as the boulevard. While I cut the boulevard Pat raked up the lawn and then did another shorter cut on the lawn while I rested on the patio.

I’m back upstairs in the sewing room and I have three sides of the quilt trimmed. I don’t guarantee it is straight but it will have to do. I hope to get the binding cut and maybe sewn on; the hand stitching is going to take quite some time.

Friday, May 14, 2021

I didn’t sleep well last night. I went to bed at my usual time and read before turning out the light. An hour later I turned the light back on and read for another hour. After another hour with the light off I got up and moved to the couch. I slept in a bit this morning but I’m pretty groggy today. I resisted having a nap during the day and I’ve been drinking lots; no doubt I’ll be ready to sleep but be up all night having to go to the bathroom.

In spite of feeling pretty draggy, I managed to finish the quilting on my queen-sized quilt. There are a lot of ends to tie in and there will be a lot of binding to cut, stitch and then hand sew. I thought I’d be ready to dance when I got this far but I just don’t have the energy today.