Happy February! It’s a time for candy, hearts, flowers, and for me…turning 50! It’s a weird number and it’s just a number. I won’t be too bothered by it. It’s my turn for a quarantine birthday on the 22nd. I share the day with a few celebs like Drew Barrymore, Steve Irwin, Ted Kennedy, and of course, George Washington! This year will be different as the kids are all away at school or have moved out and the nest is empty. That’s probably what will bother me more than a silly number, lol! I know quilting will keep me busy, just as it always does.
I’ve completed many customer quilts on the long arm in the last few weeks but here are the two most recent. One is a beautiful quilt made from the Disappearing Snowball pattern that our class group chose as last year’s quilt a long.
The next one is a star pattern from the quilt a long the previous year. Both Sharyn and Nancy did a beautiful job on the quilt tops and I had the pleasure of long arming them.
On the side, I’m working on Leah’s graduation quilt. We had everyone sign fabric squares to wish her well at college and I’m now starting to put those together in quilt form.
I have many more to go but it’s nice to finally get started on it. I’ve spent the last week or so working on getting class material ready for upcoming workshops on block techniques. I’m itching to start a new fabric collage though. If I could just learn to sleep faster, I’d get to everything!!
I’ve been keeping up with learning better photography skills. I have acquired a few new lenses including a macro lens and a wide angle lens. I used the macro lens to capture these pretty little Paper Whites in full bloom.
In reality, these flowers are super tiny. I was happy to see how close I could capture the shine of the petals and the stamen. I’m having so much fun with up close photos.
I did take a few pics with the regular lens while we were in Vermont on Saturday. Lake Champlain is gorgeous but it was freezing so I wasn’t out of the car very long! I do wish I had the wide angle lens for the lake pictures but it arrived yesterday. I like the way the sun is shining through on this…
The photos have come in handy in helping me stick with my word of the year which is ‘people’. I’ve joined the Letters Against Isolation group which sends letters to seniors each week to help with the feelings of isolation and depression that are gripping our senior citizens in nursing homes and residential settings. With the quarantine and fewer visitors, the letters we send are welcomed by the residents and gives them something to look at and enjoy. I have been printing off the photos and including them in the letters with detailed descriptions of the landscapes and items in the photo. I have been sending the letters to homes in MA in the hopes that the person reading the letter and seeing the photo might recognize the setting and/or it trigger a happy memory for them.
Ok, your turn! What are you all working on?
Sandi
