Just Roll With It!

      The saga of the move and my mom's health continues. I'm feeling a bit "under the bus." To continue the metaphor, the bus has now turned the corner, but I may or may not be still under it!

     I watch Lori Holt's YouTube channel, and she cross stitched a design that says, "The bee sucks honey out of the bitterest flower." It really resonated with me in the sense of trying to remain positive in harsh circumstances, but even more so when she shared that things in life weren't going great for her for awhile, and that's why she stitched it. So if all is not perfect in the hive, if the Queen Bee Lori Holt can have a winter season, so can you and I, my friend! If there is one thing I have learned-- spring will return after the snow.

"The Bitter Flower Sampler" by Birds of a Feather

     Things are definitely moving in a more positive direction-- our house is now "contingent!" Let the nostalgia begin-- let's say goodbye to the fairy forest, the "magic drawer" in the kitchen that opens on its own whim, the doorpost with my kid's heights penciled in... I have been so very blessed to call this beautiful home my own for 15 years, but have high hopes the new nest will be as blessed and happy.

    I've discovered a joy of moving, as if such a thing is possible! I found an old friend... in a box, deep, deep under the cellar stairs, covered in sawdust, and walled in with fully packed out shelving on both sides. Over the course of the move to SFO and back fifteen years ago, I lost a quilt pattern that I absolutely loved. I remembered keeping it in a folder in my desk back in New Jersey, then it just vanished between San Fran and Boston. I had made two blocks-- a mariner's star  and a 54-40 or fight. It was a star pattern, and I'd hoped to make it in red and green, like Christmas stars. Many an hour was devoted to looking for it through boxes in the cellar; my life just seemed like it would not be complete without making this quilt. After assuming it had been thrown out, I would search Ebay over the years-- "vintage star quilt pattern," " Christmas quilt," "Star quilt pattern 1990," to no avail. I finally gave up and made my two blocks into table runners. After all this time passed, I really didn't even remember what it looked like, but still, the longing was there!

    And just like that, it reappeared in a folder, exactly as I had remembered!

    So this was a bit of a shocker! I guess my tastes have moved on... I do still like the stars, but the triangle setting is just way too heavy. Not only that, it comes with page after folded, yellowed page to create templates, one a time! I guess I have outgrown my old friend, as much as it makes me sad to say that. As a side note, now that I know the name of the pattern-- it's on eBay every other day--haha!

    Out of nostalgia, I have to say I am still tempted to at least make those blocks and maybe just change the setting-- or, maybe I'll just stick it back in a folder and move it to a box under the stairs in our new home. Some day, someone should make it, that's for sure.

    I do love a star block and I've been seeing this book everywhere:

     Fat Quarter Shop is doing a stitch-a-long in 2023 and it's just so fresh and modern compared to my old, yellowed pattern. Isn't it fabulous!

    But I still have the Dessert Sampler to stitch up:

Plus a Moda Cookie Tin kit-- see, it is Christmas stars-- do you notice a similar thread throughout my life!

     I'm currently experiencing a new round of optimism that makes me feel like I can do them all... could 2023 be the year of STAR QUILTS-- heck, yeah!

     I'm not just dreaming about sewing these days-- I've also had a few moments in the lull between "Contingent" and "Sold" to do a little sewing. I did insist that the stager leave me at least a corner for mental health's sake:

     This is very much pathetic after the great SEWVANA, but I'm learning to live with less and appreciate all that I have to look forward to. I'm about ten weeks behind on "A Ribbon Runs Through It," and most of the supplies are already moved. But the shipments are still coming here, so I jumped back in on the sashings. They are particularly mindless and just what I need right now.

     That represents quite a few hours of work and only one-fourth of what is needed. I have never made a quilt with this many pieces before, but I'm quite determined to finish it. This part is why it's called A Ribbon Runs Through It!

     I have kept up with the Birth Month Mug Rugs-- part of me was sorry I committed to a subscription on this, but the other half is grateful I had something to occupy my thoughts beyond THE MOVE.

     Next year, I'd love to do a cross stitch BOM-- maybe bowl fillers? AND a regular embroidery design of the month program. I've always had it in my head to do a series called FABLE with various folktale animals and I have a picture in my mind of frogs dancing under the moon to kick start it. The new house has a gorgeous meadow that is going to be filled with inspiration-- I can't wait to explore every inch.

    Finally, my Gypsy hikers have now walked from Georgia to New Hampshire. You would think there's nothing else to prove, but still they insist on continuing all the way to upper Maine. They are close enough now for us to drive two or three hours on the weekend and pull them off trail for a shower and a decent meal. We visited Norwich, Vermont this weekend.

     When they drove away from the house in late March, I had a light spirit and was so happy for their adventure, laughing and joking as we filmed the Goodbye Scene. I was looking forward to having the house to myself for a bit, not realizing the tough months ahead.

     Now that months have gone by, and I realize how attached I am to these two dear people, I cried like a baby when we dropped them back on the trail, even though it is likely we'll see them again in just two short weeks. This spring and summer, a "winter" for me, has definitely been a time of accepting some hard truths, forgiving myself for being fragile, and learning to love whatever comes next, whatever it is.

xoxo

Carol