What it takes

Quilting! Took me almost 40 years to find a hobby that completely feels like me when I'm doing it.

Mostly just to remind myself how many steps are involved in making a quilt:
1. Design: finding a pattern the inspires me; choosing a colour scheme that I adore. Or drawing my own design in a graph paper sketchbook.
2. Fabric shopping: one of my favourite parts of this whole process; matching the inspiration fabric with complimentary components for the entire design.
3. Readying the fabric: sometimes I wash it first and then iron it; other times I only iron it with spray starch to get that big factory crease out of the middle, and any other fold lines or wrinkles. Starched fabric is easier to cut and handle sometimes than pre-washed fabric. Ironing, always ironing: so much ironing in quilting!
4. Cut: following the pattern or generating a basic block -- or improvising -- to make all the pieces that are required to form the quilt top. (I stick to basic patterns, but one small quilt required way more than 100 squares.)
5. Piece: sew together the cut pieces into a block or strip or other design element. Iron tiny seams to make pieces flat for ease of combining into blocks. Then sew all blocks or strips together to make the entire quilt top. More ironing.
6. Border: measure the quilt and calculate the border material needed. So much math in quilting. From the design stage to the very end. Math! And much more ironing in border stage too. Some people like to do double borders, but that means you have to do this entire step twice.
7. Backing: pick a fabric for the backing. Options: buy the extra-wide fabric so it covers the entire quilt back; piece large swaths of the same material to make a complete back; add an interesting element to the back covering that echoes the front design; piece large fabric sections; complete another quilt for the back so that it becomes a reversible project.
8. Sandwich: place the front, batting, and backing together, smooth it all down carefully, trying to avoid bulges and wrinkles.
9. Baste: special, large, curved safety pins work well for basting a quilt sandwich together. basting is crucial to avoid slippage, which causes warps, bulges, wrinkles. You can also thread baste by hand or machine, if it's a smaller project.
10. Quilt: the word "quilting" refers to the process of securing the layers together. I use machine quilting. Free-motion quilting is fun. I think I'll stick to mostly straight line quilting for my next couple projects.
11. Bind: step 11? So many steps! Cut and iron (more ironing!) binding fabric, and attach it to the quilt: by "attach" I mean sew it on all the way around once, mitre the corners, then sew around again to attach it on the other side of the quilt. Some people hand stitch the second step, but I use matchy thread and machine stitch both times. Sometimes I buy double bias binding tape for this step. Next project, though, gets a fancy binding.
12. Wash: I try to use very secure stitching for usable quilts, so I wash them in the machine with hot water and hope that they hold up.
13. Dry: use pretty hot temperature because I like the crinkly look it gives the quilt.
14. Iron (optional): if it's a very crinkly quilt, probably doesn't need a final ironing, but a little touch-up can make it look nice if it's going to be a present.
15. Photograph and archive on Instagram.
16. Gift to a friend.
Phew! And each step requires a whole bunch of little steps, of course. No wonder it takes me so long to make one lap quilt.

Cherish the day.

I woke up thinking about a blog post. That almost never happens, so I thought I better write it down. When people say, "Live every day like it's your last," or "Carpe Diem!" what those instructive phrases mean to me is to cultivate the daily attitude of thankfulness. Cherish what you have on a daily basis: not only love something deeply but cultivate it, encourage that emotion of appreciation, value the people, job, home that you have in your life. "Let's cherish every moment we have been given" as Kool and the Gang say. "Cherish the life we live." Cherish video by Kool and the Gang
It's only recently that I've realized that I need to cherish more about my daily life. When we moved in November, the townhouse we settled in has reminded me that I have lots and lots to be thankful for, much more than I likely deserve. Instead of harboring guilt over this good fortune, I want to learn to appreciate my life more and be truly grateful. Guilt gets in the way of gratefulness.
"Cherish" is the word that I will try to repeat frequently these next months of 2014, hopefully generating an attitude adjustment in me that will permeate throughout my life.

Conversations

I adore hanging out with people from time to time, chatting, playing games, eating the foods, but I listen to myself sometimes and discern that my conversation topics might actually be able to lull a caffeinated squirrel into a torpid state. I spend an inordinate amount of time expounding on the weather: yes, I'm Canadian, and that seems to be a particular habit of my culture, but when so many other topics consume my daily quotient of brain power, why do I stick to the mundane?
I know that I have other things to talk about: I read obsessively about new discoveries in several fields of science, from astronomy to medicine. I scan the daily headlines for news stories of consequence. I daydream about crucial skills that would be required during an apocalypse. I learn new crafts and practice arts in my spare time. I watch odd movies and hilarious tv shows. With all that going on, why do I devolve into a "chatter," become an insignificant spouter of "We sure got a lot of snow that week!"
If I'm not expounding on the mundane, when I first meet new people, I fall back on my journalism training and become the "asker" in the exchange (check out this link for 101 conversation-starter questions). Apparently, John Steinbeck said "Perhaps the best conversationalist in the world is the man who helps others to talk." I do like asking questions -- open-ended, tell-me-more questions that require more than a yes or no answer -- and this technique certainly keeps a conversation going, even with the most reticent companion.
Sometimes I am certain I talk about the weather or my dog (a sweet old thing who requires a lot of my time, so I find her antics entertaining) because I am afraid to reveal too many personal thoughts and feelings at one time. There must be a middle ground in the realm of topics, somewhere between soporific and trepidation-inducing personal revelations.
Is there a support group for people who want to learn better conversation skills? I tried Toastmasters for a while, and that really helped in many ways, public speaking, job interviews, meeting new people, keeping conversations going. Maybe I need a refresher.
Or, maybe I just need to visit Gameopolis more, play games instead of worrying about conversations.

Didn't post that rant

Do you ever spend 40 minutes writing a blog post and then realize it sounds completely whiny and self-indulgent, and then you save it but you don't post it? Catharsis.

Hermit-ing away the winter

I used to feel guilty about being a hermit in the winter. This year, I've decided to just go with my natural inclinations and stay home when I want to. There, I admitted it: I am a hermit! Over the holidays, I got so much done by staying inside: I even made a new lunch-bag-type carry-all from scratch, quilting three panels and everything! And this winter, I have even more reason to stay home because we're in our new-to-us townhouse which is so nice that I never want to leave it.
I can't believe we waited so long to move (7 years spent in a noisy, messy student-rental part of town). I guess we waited just long enough, actually, because we sold the other house for a price that enabled us to get this town-home that I'm enjoying so much now.
While enjoying my hermitage this winter, can barely stand the wait for spring so we can  use our giant new deck. So much goodness in this new place: so glad we took the plunge. Happy happy! Joy joy!
Ren and Stimpy sing about being happy.