A Day of Sloth

It's embarrassing to admit I did almost nothing yesterday. Actually, it's not all that embarrassing, because I knew I was going to sit right here...as if I could see it in a crystal ball...and write these very words. And yet, I kept on going...or not going...with my slothful ways. I have no regrets.

Earlier in the morning, Sue and I walked. The path we chose yesterday is an in-and-out walk, meaning we turn around and walk back the way we came. We pass through a small park along our meandering, and there, we saw this guy:

He was skittering around the bottom of the tree, trying to avoid being seen. But I knows me some squirrels. I just peered around the tree and when I caught sight of him, I said, "I see you." Then he ran around to where we could see him in plain sight and looked at me.

"Yeah, I'm talking to you!" I said, using my best Robert DeNiro voice. He just kept looking at us. I suspect he was hoping I was going to give him a Frito, or a Dorito, or a Cheetoh, but no. He stayed that way long enough to have his picture taken, and then we walked on. In hindsight, I wonder if he might have posed for a selfie with me. At this point, it's impossible to say.

There was no time for slow-stitching before I left the house to go walking, but I made time when I was home again. I had the final heart nearly finished when I tipped back in my chair for a nap. I had cats aplenty for this exercise, and we all just sat there...almost the entire afternoon. Just before dinner, and feeling as if I'd been much too lazy, I finished off the final heart...mainly so I'd have something to show for living and breathing yesterday.

That's the last of them. Here are all 12 hearts together:

Already, I have a plan for setting them into a quilt, and I think it will be cute. Probably I'll take it along for finishing when we head south this winter. So, except for spending some time looking at my next project, I did nothing else all day.

My next project was a little intimidating, and so I didn't spent a lot of time before deciding to put it away and look at it this morning. I'm going to start on this one from Crabapple Hill Studio. It has some of the fancier stitches. I was intimidated by them when I first encountered them on the Sundress quilt. Now I'm seeking them out...probably I'm in a masochistic phase of life. I can think of no other explanation. Still, this is going to be a pretty quilt if I can pull off some of those fancier stitches. This pattern is called "Pieces of the Past." It makes me think of my grandmother. This is the picture from the pattern:

I like it for the embroidery, for sure. But I also like those crazy quilt blocks on the sides. I went poking through my stash for some appropriate fabrics for the crazy quilt blocks. Probably I'm going to have to purchase some pretty and dainty calicos for that. 

When I start a new embroidered quilt, I usually cut the fabrics for all of the blocks first. Usually, they are all the same size. This one has blocks in all different sizes, and so I'll have to cut as I go. They are also colored with crayon, and so each one will take some time just to get ready for stitching. The pattern specified using "white fairy frost" fabric, and so I will. You've probably seen the "fairy frost" fabrics. They come in all different colors, and they have a shimmer to them. Last night I tested it out to make sure I could actually trace and color on it, and it seemed to work fine.

The first block I'll be doing is cut to 16 x 18 inches. It's the plate you see at the top of the image below.

So that's what I'll be doing next. There's nothing to stitch right now, and my hands are starting to tremble. There isn't a minute to waste. Lives depend on it.

And that was my day of nothing yesterday. I'll get more done this weekend, and I'll get back to the Semper Fidelis quilt. Those Friendship stars aren't going to sew themselves.