Not exactly a Friday Finish

So, the last couple weeks have been weird. The election happened, and I've been feeling a little disoriented and depressed ever since. Lots of people have written about the importance of creativity and self-expression during trying times, and I agree with them in theory. But I've just wanted to curl up in jammies and self-medicate with chocolate, trashy novels, and netflix.

One thing that has been therapeutic in probably a healthier way has been embroidery. Something about slow stitching and simply following the lines has been very helpful in allowing me to gradually process the fact that we elected a KKK-endorsed, misogynistic, criminally incompetent, internet troll of a man to lead the country.

The quote above by Arthur Ashe is helpful, as is the hanukkah menorah, reminding me that there is still dazzling light in this world and replenishment for the depleted. In the meantime, I'm putting one foot in front of the other - or in this case, one stitch after the other...slowly and carefully.

Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt: Challenge Accepted

Every year, Bonnie Hunter publishes a mystery quilt on her blog. It's a big deal. She releases the first clue on Black Friday, and one every week up through the holidays, and at the end of it all you have a beautiful quilt. I've watched these mysteries unfold over the past few years, but have never got my act together in time to participate. I'm still mad about the Celtic Solstice one she did a few years ago that I missed out on.

So this year I was bound and determined to pull it together and join in on all the mystery fun. And then Bonnie released some details around what colors she'd be using and where she got her inspiration for this quilt - Provence! France! Purples and Yellows and Greens, oh my!

Well, you can imagine how excited everyone is to start this thing. Facebook groups are buzzing, and Sherwin Williams has run out of paint chips in those colors and can't figure out why, and quilters all over are excited for Black Friday for reasons that don't have anything to do with shopping.

I'm going to go through my stash of fabrics this weekend and get everything picked out, pressed, and ready to go.

Simply Eden Progress

The Simply Eden quilt has been challenging, but in a good way. As I said in my post before, this whole quilt is made up of bias edges, so I've been proceeding very carefully: careful cutting, careful glue basting, careful starching, careful handling of all the pieces. DO NOT DISTORT!

So far, so good. I've completed all the blocks and sewn the first row together, and I have 5 more rows to go. I like the blocks that I fussy-cut around the animals. It's all pretty and nice to have a butterfly block, but then all of a sudden you're faced with a tiger staring out at you and that could be a little unsettling!