How I've Spent a Rainy Saturday

It's been raining most of the day--not too hard but constant. I suppose it's meant to bring May flowers, but since most of the spring flowers are already in bloom here in Northern California, my feeling is that it's just meant to keep me inside the house quilting. Not that I'm complaining, mind you.

Some of us here chose to simply bury themselves under a quilt, but I've been busy in my sewing room. You know, there are parts of quilting that are pretty darn boring, and I think adding sashing and plain borders to a quilt is one of those parts, but then knowing that I'm completing the last steps before I have a real life, honest-to-goodness quilt top keeps me motivated.

Today I'm feeling kind of stashbusterish. You gals in that ring will be proud of me! If you've been reading my blog, you may remember I mentioned last week that I could barely close one of my scrap drawers, so I took everything out and sorted it and cut strips. All week I've been working on sewing the strips together. I was kind of surprised to find I still have quite a stack of strips leftover--probably about half--but I'm done with "scrappy" for now, so they'll go back into my scrap drawer--at least there's plenty of room!

I think once I get this quilted, it will go to my husband's aunt. I think she'd like the cheerful quilt. I thought about adding a final border but I think I like it just as it is. Sorry I couldn't really fit it all in the photo but I have space limitations in my sewing room and in my house. If the weather was nicer, I could have taken it outside to photograph but that's not meant to be today. I'm not sure you can tell from the photo, but there are five "braid" sections--the far right one is kind of turned in on itself because I ran out of wall. I haven't measured it, but I'd guesstimate that it's about 6-1/2' long by around 6' wide.

I've sent my husband over to his sister's house this evening for dinner and to visit with some friends, but I needed some time to "decompress" on my own. It seems like the last month has been a busy time following my parents' accident and all that's come out of it, together with work and the rest of life's little aggravations and worries. So this weekend is for me--no pressure, no stress, my own mini-quilting retreat--at least that's how I'm looking at it. I think I'll go find myself some bon bons or something and kick back and relax. Or quilt. Or read a book. Or whatever else I want to do on this rainy day. Peace.