My goal for January is to make a baby quilt for charity from these fabrics, all from my stash. Years ago I was going to make a skirt for my daughter from the bunny fabric. Pretty sure she wouldn't wear it nowadays! It is just the right size for a quilt backing.
I thought I would take a leisurely January to work on things and play with the more custom features of the IntelliQuilter, maybe actually get caught up on the digital photography course I started in November and am quite behind on. That hasn't been my reality. LOL My planned course of action almost never matches up to what really happens. LOL again. This year I've decided to roll with the punches instead of actually making goals that I don't ever seem to meet.I have completed two quilts for clients and have several more to go. Here are some sneak peeks of a few of them.
I am mostly current on the Bonnie Hunter Grassy Creek mystery. I have not started last Friday's clue yet. Here is its current state:
These are my completed clues from the two previous weeks.
I also signed up for a mystery quilt retreat from a local shop--don't worry, it is all virtual. I am still staying at home other than groceries and appointments. Here are a few of the fabrics I'll be using. I'm planning to work from stash as much as possible.
My husband is great at using the Silhouette machine that I just had to have and never figured out how to use. We made these shirts for our kids as Christmas gifts. My ideas, his work.
Finally, the mystery block of the month I designed for one of the quilt guilds I belong to kicked off on January 1. Here is my first block. The colors are Kona Watermelon and Quilter's Linen navy (offered as a fabric option in EQ8 and found at Hancock's of Paducah).
I have loads of paperwork and behind the scenes chores for our household and my business-related things. I am woefully behind on answering emails and having a clean desk. Soon, hopefully.
Thanks for reading, and have a great week!
If you don't want to read my political thoughts, stop reading now. I want to record for myself a brief summary of thoughts on the historical events that happened January 6. I don't ever want to forget, because when we forget the past, we are doomed to repeat it.
Wednesday, January 6, 2021, was a day for the record books. Georgia's official Senate runoff results were announced, and now the US Senate will become a Democratic majority again. Congress was meeting to certify the election results. A sadly large amount of Congresspeople decided they should protest the results even though there was never a chance of any outcome other than certification. Meanwhile, a sitting president, unhappy and petulant because he lost his bid for reelection, spoke to a group of white nationalist protestors and urged them to riot. These rioters were largely maskless during a pandemic. They breached security and stormed the Capitol building. Congress was evacuated, putting the certification on hold.
These protestors wandered through offices, looting and damaging things. They removed the American flag. They hung their own flags for their own cause. Somehow the president still called these people patriots and fine people. Apparently the man does not know what patriot means, because this is the least patriotic thing I can imagine. I would like to say that this was unexpected, but sadly, it was not. I think the man has cemented his historical status as worst president ever.
I started the day expecting to feel relief that the certification would be done and maybe we could start to move on as a country and rebuild a better and more decent society. I ended up feeling disbelief, anxiety, disgust, and anger. I can't help but wonder, as I have for the past five years (including the election year prior to the past four years of....succint words fail me....it's been like a nonstop nasty reality show where you think it can't get any lower, and yet each day it does), why no one in his family or party or his allies, ever stood up to him. I will never stop wondering how much better things might have been if someone had put the brakes on him. He was always rude, always took advantage of legal loopholes, used the office to enrich his family's coffers, gave his unqualified children and their spouses/SO positions within the government that they should have never held (nepotism to the extreme), exhibited utter disregard for the law, the office, and yes, the US people, even though nearly half of Americans bought his lies and weirdly still support him. He made a mockery of our nation. He encouraged white supremacy. He and his office completely bungled the pandemic response, leading to the deaths of countless Americans. He promotes conspiracy theories, lies, lies, and lies some more. What a horrible excuse for a human being, and what a great disgrace to the office of the President and this country.
I have disliked some presidents in the past, but I have never felt the rage that I have felt during the past four years of chaos. I am disgusted that more people didn't stand up for what is right, what is legal, and what is moral. I wonder what his hold is on these people. His actions are not brave, not funny, just not right.
Something that I noticed yesterday is that even though it was known these white nationalists and conspiracy theorists were coming, there was very little security in place. There was no question these people would turn to violence. I mean, come on, they walk around with giant guns strapped to them. They basically announced via various social media platforms what they were planning. Why wasn't security in place? When people were peacefully protesting during BLM, there were tons of security in full riot gear blockading everything. Yesterday, basically nothing. To quote my young cousin, "hypocrisy is real." Nothing about yesterday's events was right or normal. This is something we should be ashamed of as a country. Make no mistake, this is an attack on our democracy. This man needs to be repudiated.
Congress reconvened yesterday evening, and seven hours and 45 minutes later, the election results were certified. Even after the breaching, six senators and 121 congresspeople still felt the need to protest the election results, despite no evidence of fraud. Funny--these people were fine with the down-ticket results of the same ballots whose presidential results they were questioning. I don't think they deserve their seats. In the past twenty years, there has been .00006% election fraud. That is six hundred-thousandths of a percent. So far away from one percent as to be statistically insignificant. Voter fraud, despite what that jackleg might have you believe, is just not a thing.
The country has much work to do to come back from this. I hope for a more equitable future, but people's hearts and attitudes need to change.
I am thankful that we left the D.C. area prior to him taking office. Something I was surprised by when we moved to that area was that the industry in that region was government. Almost everyone I knew worked for the government or in support of people who worked in the government--people worked for various agencies or for contractors. People worked on the grounds, or as janitors, or office workers, or in public transportation, or they worked for lobbyists or legal firms. They worked in the restaurants in the area. Politics was always in your face. There is a reason that D.C. always votes blue.
I also want to acknowledge Stacey Abrams. She is the queen. She turned her personal loss into a passion and calling to better the system, encouraging voters to make their voices heard.
Oh my gosh; I'm right there with you and the stashed bunny fabric. Except in my stash it's tractors and frogs and dinosaur fabrics that my boys outgrew before I got around to using them. Those novelty kiddo prints are PERISHABLE! They should have expiration dates, like yogurt! Great idea to put them into charity quilts instead. I am intrigued by the possibilities of that Silhouette machine for custom T shirts, though. Wondering about the learning curve because, like you, I've got a lot of learning left to do with my new IQ. But my sons and husband are tall and love quirky T-shirts, and such quirky T-shirts never come in tall sizes and shrink horrifically in the wash. It would be great to be able to buy them plain tall size T-shirts from Lands' End and then customize them myself... Unless your husband is starting a little side business that I could patronize, hint hint? ;-)
ReplyDeleteI want to check out the mystery, although it's probably way too late to take part. I never know where to find such challenges until I see them on someone's blog.
ReplyDeleteI can't respond directly to you, Marsha, but the Bonnie Hunter mystery comes out on Black Friday every year.
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