Sometimes, it doesn’t take much to cheer up.  A good night’s sleep.  A sunny day.  A walk into town for a quiet meal out.  Last night K & I tromped through the slush for a nice plate of Mexican food in the Center.  Today, the sun was warm and emphatic.  “Yes siree,” it seemed to say, “spring is on the way no matter how much snow is piled up out back.”

A quick and early grocery shop, followed by calls, and then time to stitch.  And — talk about little things that can matter a great deal — an unexpected, hand-delivered gift:

Then, time to work on ‘Batik Moon’ and a pieced rectangle I’ve decided belongs in my ‘sanctuary series’.  I tacked down the last moon ring on the quilt below (the small one on the left).  Added the green zig-zags along the bottom yesterday.  I could keep going and going on this one, but I think I won’t.

two feet and a leg

I am also quilting the piece below, and 100% refusing to let even one minute of the process be stressful.  This was a ‘sidebar’ quilt – made in stolen intervals while working through the difficult, challenging construction of the barns.  I used stuff that was around, easy to grab, and that pleased me (and that coincidentally would not have met the commission specifications).  That mottled green batik is trying to screw me up on the intention to keep it easy and fun – it is so damn tough (do they use petroleum AND wax for modern batiks?  WHAT makes them so hard?).  But, I have a strategy — and that is to be sure and quilt those rectangles early in a session, before my hands (particularly the thumbs) have a chance to get tired.

‘sanctuary quilt’ – not one step of quilting will I let be difficult

I may simply invisibly baste this one.  Let the play of patterns be the design.  Except the house.  That may get something extra.  We’ll see.

Spurred on, in part, by the warm and thoughtful comments to yesterday’s post, I grabbed a book off my shelf and opened to this:

“Prajna is the unfiltered expression of the open ear, open eye, open mind that is found in every living being.  It’s a fluid process, not something definite and concrete… It is not particularly regarded as a peaceful state of mind nor as a disturbed one.  It is a state of basic intelligence that is open, questioning, and unbiased. “

Pema Chodron from ‘Comfortable with Uncertainty’

I like that – a state of mind that is ‘open, questioning and unbiased’.  That is worth striving for, I think.  Was it Carlos Castaneda who had his Don Juan character say that the warrior does not take sides with reality?!  And that to do so is a profound waste of energy?!  And yet, I do it 100x an hour, and bruise myself in the process.

Time to let the story drop a little.  Or maybe a lot. If for no other reason than it’s boring me.