A Moment of Peace & Piecing

When my brain seems to be whirling out or control and thoughts creep to the dark side of despair and I’m feeling a bit helpless over things like plane crashes and other humanitarian crises –

Sometimes the only thing I can do to move forward is to sit behind the machine and do some simple piecing.

In the case of yesterday and the aftermath of a commercial airplane being hit by a blackhawk helicopter over DC – this was my result.

I’m thinking of the families affected on both sides of this accident.

Nothing like this happens on purpose – of course not. Could it have been avoided? Likely.

And it seems everyone has an opinion, a place to point blame and nothing seems to help with the grief, no matter what happened.

So I sew. I cut. I press, I trim. I sew some more.

I didn’t need another intensive project – but the feelings and the grief for what is going on all around me need a place to go.

So here we are.

One bin of neutral strings for the skinny side of the off-center log cabin blocks.

One bin of random colored strings for the fatter more prominent side.

And since these blocks can use even the smallest of pieces working from the center out – I’ve pulled out a bin of crumbs and cut off corners and am working them in where they will fit.

I’m sewing down the scraps as I’m sewing down my feelings.

Outback road stop!

This is our bus driver and awesome Aussie road guide Andrew. Please applaud the fact that he thought enough of us fabric lovers to bring a tablecloth with an Aboriginal print.

And what you can’t see being served on the table is a tray of sushi. Yes. Sushi. Complete with little fishy vials of soy sauce and little containers of wasabi and thinly sliced pickled ginger.

Sushi in the outback of Australia. Because – why not?

Morning at Kata Tjuta!

Kata Tjuṯa, also known as The Olgas is a group of large, domed rock formations or bornhardts located about a 5-hour bus journey southwest of Alice Springs, in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia.

Why were we here? Because evidently we signed up for a morning hike!

And off we went.

This hike took us through a windy passage between these two domes. We were praising the wind for keeping much of the annoying flies at bay – but still. It didn’t stop them all together.

Sometimes a girl has got to do what a girl has got to do!

It got pretty rocky up here.

But such an amazing place to be!

Click to Play:

Sorry about the audio – but – windy!

And if you look closely – you’ll see desert flowers.

Look at all of those nooks and crannies!

It looks like the surface of the moon –
But this is where the birds were nestled and chirping.

What an experience!

Would I do this again? In a heartbeat!

And no – my luggage hasn’t arrived yet, but I have hope.

Were I to plan it again? I might shoot for October or April so it wasn’t so hot in the outback. But the heat is part of the allure, isn’t it? It was a real life experience to a point. This day it got up to 109 I think.

Folks in Arizona would say “That’s nothing!”

As I’m typing this morning –

All of the pets have been super attentive since I returned home. I’m soaking up all of the love they have to give. It’s as if they know my heart is shredded and they are doing all they can to console the emotions I try to keep beneath the surface, afraid that if I start to let them out the floodgates will break and I won’t be able to stop.

Keep on purring, Lola. Mama will be okay.

Last Day of Introductory Pricing!

I have placed the Huka Falls pattern on sale at 25% off in the Quiltville Store. No coupon code is needed. The price is already discounted. The quilt finishes at 77” X 77”.
The sale will automatically expire at 11:30 pm Eastern TONIGHT, January 31st.