Sigh....

Well, if we weren't all in the same boat paddling with the same paddle I'd be nuts by now.  And we are told it's only going to get worse.  In one sense we are very lucky - we aren't sick, our family and friends aren't sick, we have food, though I'm afraid to use it with the abandon I usually do - baking, experimenting, because I can't run to the store for more supplies.  Since PH and I have been back we have been strictly quarantined because we were overseas. We have one more week to go so I haven't been to the grocery store to see the empty shelves for myself.  Our daughter is keeping us up with supplies but as PH said this morning, there are things we just reach for without thinking.

I won't bore you with the details because, as I said, we are all in the same cage singing the same song and I'm a bit tired of not only the one note news but comparing tales of woe.  If there was a vaccine we'd all get it, but there isn't, so we have to stay away from each other so the cooties can't jump.

This is the last of my travelogue, because as with all travel pictures, you just had to be there.  This, though, I think any quilter would appreciate seeing.  These are floors in a medieval building attached to a medieval church.  I can't remember exactly if they were in some official's home attached to a church, I truly can't remember.  But these floors stopped me in my tracks.  These buildings were ancient and someone was thinking "quilt!" even back then.

Don't they just make you want to get your rotary cutter out?  As I looked at them I was thinking "quilt! quilt!"  but then I thought "too much piecing, not enough applique!"


    There's been a lot of talk online about using this forced confinement to get the spring cleaning done. I mean, if you don't do it now, you sure won't want to stay in and do it when we are released.  Me? I need sunshine and a little warmer temperatures (today we woke up to a couple of inches of snow)  so I can fling open the windows and hang the curtains on the clothesline.  So, I'll wait.  But I did decide it's also a time to take on the scraps.  I have two bins of scraps that haunt me.  I can't stand that they are there nagging me.  The other day I saw a post about crumb blocks.  I also had a stack of string blocks I'd been putting off.
     So, true to scraps, I made piles of sizes and sat down with them this whole week, promising PH each day that the mess in the dining room would be done today.  And then the next day.  And the next. There was a hole in the table with more scraps coming in off the bottom as I took off the top of the pile.

    Now, these, in the spirit of crumb/string, these are  made into 10.5 inch blocks, trimmed and will be attached. No rhyme or reason to choices and since my taste runs the gamut from primitive to bright, about the only colors you won't see are teal and just a touch of orange.  There are 26 of them.  They were going to be a quilt, but again, I got tired of them so the count stays at 26.  I'm going to connect them into two rows of 13 and they will be a table runner and I won't care what spills on it.  It will be bright, colorful and lively. Good enough.
    I spent a day and a half making string blocks on the diagonal and after 24 of them, got tired of it, added them to the pile I had and moved on.  Absolutely no rhyme or reason to color choice, I chose a strip based exclusively on size. I like the string blocks that are color coordinated and planned, and I like the ones that are truly a hodge podge.  Mine are those.  They are trimmed and put away, but at least now they just need to be attached and I think there might be enough to cover the house.
     After I got tired of the string blocks I took the rest of the pieces that measured 2.25 or 2.5 inches and made scrap bindings of a color.  Browns. Whites. Blues. Reds.  My cache of scrap binding is diminishing and this restocked the bank.  I love having a container of scrappy bindings ready for anything.  

     These are going to be made into strips so there will be a scrappy piano strip border for something in the future. You can see at the very top left a piece peeking out. Not trimmed yet. And this is the last of the pile.  I promised PH I would finish it today.  I'm tired of this, too.  I need to do something else with my time that doesn't involve the sewing machine.  I do hate that thing.   OH!  And I've run out of thread!  Yeah, I know!  So last night I went rummaging through the stash of bits, bobbins, odd colors,  and thought I'd just use whatever color on whatever spool because these blocks don't follow any rules, why should the thread? At this point I 'm not fussy about thread color. 
     This isn't for everyone and this was an exercise in changing my attitude about what to keep and what to toss out when I'm making a quilt.
     I spent too much time on this. It really reminded me of helping friends with their family estate sales.  Seeing what's left after someone dies and having to sort through their stuff and the insight into their lives as we see what was deemed important enough to save and tuck away.  Many times I've said I wouldn't do that to my kids, I don't want to overhear from heaven the comments they will be making about me on that subject.  Well, wouldn't I rather leave them finished quilts than tubs of scraps? I don't care if they end up using these scrappy things on the beach or at a picnic.  I don't care if someone spills red wine on it.  Or spaghetti sauce.  Or gravy.  Maybe they'll find bits in the scraps of quilts they already cuddle up with.  It's certainly been a trip down memory lane sorting them and making them into something new now.   If there are people who unravel sweaters from thrift shops to knit into something new to them, then I can make a few nonsensical scrappy things while I'm forced to stay home.

     On a brighter note, as part of the girls' outside exercise routine, they sometimes ride their bikes down and we either talk through the front door or this day, PH was outside putzing and burning sticks and twigs so they visited with him for a bit.  Stayed their distance but had the chance to visit. 
    This is driving everyone nuts.  But I feel most for the kids.  No school, no friend contact, no hugs from grands, and it's lonely for them.  We are told that things are going to change and tighten even further today.  Sigh.  So stay safe out there, everyone.  No sense in complaining, no one wants to hear it and everyone is just as tired of this as everyone else.

Sending air hugs and hope and keep in touch with your friends and family. We all need to hear someone else's voice.