Tuesday, May 28, 2013

I get by with a little help from my friends

A surefire way to keep your mind off feeling blue is to keep busy and surround yourself with others.  That was the strategy this past weekend.  We visited my husband's grandmother in Southeastern Virginia.  I though we were just going to a cookout, but there were at least 50 people there, so it felt more like a family reunion to me.  I knew next to no one, but pull out a quilt to work on, and all of a sudden you are surrounded by interested folks.  That was my strategy, and it worked wonderfully!  Everyone has a quilt story to share.  I even found a cousin who designs cards and signs, and he's working on a design for me for my new business.  Plus, I'm halfway done hand quilting the second rainbow baby quilt!

Back at home, I worked on the quilt blocks from my MIL's shirts.  I need to pull out some of them with wider stripes to give my eyes a break - those tiny stripes make me seasick!  But so far, everything is lining up pretty well, although I'm not being a stickler about it.  Let's face it, I'm not much of a stickler for rules and things being orderly.
The larger blocks are 8.5", the smaller are 4.5".  So far, I've used 4 sleeves total - who knew there was that much fabric in a sleeve???
Then yesterday afternoon we went to a cookout at a local friend's house (that's right - two days in one weekend when I didn't have to cook dinner!), and I was working on cutting up the rest of the shirts when a quilter friend got some scissors and gave me a hand.  My friends are the best!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

9 comments:

Lane said...

Friends are a wonderful thing. I miss having close friends nearby. Glad that you have close friends that can lend a hand and perk you up. Lane

Shay said...

Two cook outs and plenty of time to sew sounds like a fabulous way to spend your leisure time for the weekend.

Friends make it all worthwhile I think.

Char said...

So happy you had the chance to spend time with family and friends this weekend.
I'm really loving those stripes!

Julie Fukuda said...

Even my blogging friends are such great support. I can't imagine life without them.

Anonymous said...

What a clever use of shirts! I must try this as I have a whole bag of shirts from my father. I finished the first quilt top from them this morning, curiously. Kindred spirits, quilting out our pain on different sides of the world, in my case in Switzerland. May you find peace! (http://pragmaticpatchwork.wordpress.com/2013/05/29/squaring-up/) Your shop and creative space idea sounds wonderful, by the way. Huge good luck with that!

Nancy said...

I don't remember knowing that Adam had a grandmother in VA. Sounds like a fun time; how neat to have someone to make a sign for you! And great idea about bringing out your quilt - what a great way to connect to some of the others there.

I am liking those shirt blocks too - and from where I sit they all look perfectly matched up!

Anonymous said...

Two cook-outs in 2 days.....SCORE!! Sounds like a great "connection"/help for your future endeavor! I really like how the piecing is coming along but can certainly see how the smaller stripes could get to you!!! Quilts/quilting seems to always tug at heartstrings and bring people together. That's what it did for you and I!! Love it!! Hugs and blessings, Doreen

Christina said...

That's always been my experience: people are drawn to quilts! Love the shirt blocks. I've been wanting to try something like that too!

Carla said...

I totally agree Friends help chase the blues away.
Keep smiling