Procrastination

Oh oh cruising through blogs is so much more fun than the report I need to write for tomorrow.  It will be my final instructor assessment report.  But that is not why I am procrastinating.  I am procrastinating because I don't want to write it!

I observed a good instructor...good interactive class...  So it's not why I am procrastinating.  It will be a good report.  But hmmm....  I'm tired of writing them :)  I have written 23 reports since September.  Twenty-three reports.  Most department chairs write two a term, total of six a year.  But I made it my mission to catch up the former department chair's assessment reports.  So, 23.  As he returns, he has to be happy they are all caught up.  And I can walk away knowing I don't have to do any more!

Meantime, I have one more to write.  I'd rather be outside riding bikes :)  Picture me like that kid who is standing at the window looking out as he is holding his violin, watching his friends play ball...

peace~~

Finding Comfort Without Food

I am looking to find ways to get some comfort without turning to food.  I would love to hear some ideas to help me get through weeks like the following:

It has been a very rough month between overworking, constant pressure, a fibromyalgia flare up, and exhaustion.  All I could manage is to crawl home, take more ibuprofen, and cuddle myself with attempts at comfort foods.  Activities are impossible when I can barely walk. 

So I have been self-medicating with food.  I want to find a better way to help myself.  I took myself to the coast for a few days and found the salt and the sand and the sea brought much comfort.  Too bad I can't have it in my kitchen all the time :)

Sunset on the Pacific Ocean along the Oregon Coast

peace~~

It's the Journey

Now it is time to put on borders.  I wanted something to contain all the pieces but not add to the confusion.  So, I used a dark small border to frame the top.  But the quilt is a bit wild and I wanted to let that continue.  So I used the wonderful fabric that I had found in my first attempt to converge.  I do love this fabric!

The finished top is long twin sized.  I have a neutral backing for it.  I will be donating this quilt to my college's Christmas Adopt-a-Family program.  Some of my quilting friends and I make a quilt for every child in the program.  Last year we gave away 48 quilts plus as many pillowcases.  It is larger quilts for the teens that are often too short.  I think a teen will love this crazy colorful quilt :)

It was a fun journey to get here.
peace~~~

Looking for Some Action

It is time to put the pieces together in this quilt.  After a long think, I realized I didn't want anything that would compete with the strips themselves, but wanted something that added color.  I also wanted something that would give it some movement.  Ah-ha!  Flying Geese!

 I selected as many bright colors as possible to make the geese.  I didn't have a more beige background, but the off-white would have to do. There are so many methods of making Flying Geese.  I used the Eleanor Burns' Flying Geese method (see instructions), making four geese at a time.  I don't have her small Flying Geese ruler but it worked out just fine.  I made enough for two rows of geese.

In the middle strip I wanted something different and remembered the Bow Tie pattern.  Both it and Flying Geese are simple and yet can bring something good to the table.  This pattern can bring color and movement to the quilt top.

I made one row of the Bow Tie to run down the middle.  Now let's see how they all look together:

I like it!  Next step is the borders...  I have to look through my stash and find fabric that will bring it all together.
peace~~

Deciding What to Put where

Gathering the blocks, it is interesting to see how they all play together.  I am undecided what to put between them.  I like using some of the blocks in a different way--blocks of checkerboards within blocks somehow.  I like the idea of either black tone or dark happy fabric.

I will be gone for a week without Internet access. Hopefully I will have an idea when I return!
peace~~~