Destressing

We had a pretty sunrise this morning.

Looking out the south-facing window, it looked like this:

It's nice to see blue sky and sunshine, chilly though it is. We're expecting the rain to set in tomorrow and not let up for quite a while.

The events of the past several weeks have really done a number on my energy level. I'm not sure what it is, but my days have been less enthusiastically busy than usual. Possibly, I've had a few too many doctor's appointments. I'm going to remember this for the future, and not schedule them so close together, and not wait until the end of the year. There are many ways I can improve this situation if I learn from my mistakes...always a challenge. Today I'm seeing a podiatrist. I expect that will end with me getting fitted for new orthotics. These will have about a quarter-inch lift in the right foot to compensate for my life-long difference in leg length. It's become more noticeable as I've gotten older. Then, tomorrow is the dreaded Mohs procedure on my nose. The week isn't getting off to a very good start is it?

We had chilly, but sunny weather yesterday. I like that my mid-arm machine is stationed in front of a west-facing window. Usually the sun is shining in brightly by the time I sit down to quilt. It's a nice change from my windowless, basement sewing room. I was able to quilt four of nine blocks before running low on energy yesterday. It's a simple motif. I'll get a little fancier when I get to the sashings and borders. I'm just doing a meandering design, and I decided to outline each block. It makes the quilt back more defined.

Of course a day of quilting is never complete with out a visit from my furry friend. He inspects every quilt.

I took a break from quilting there and never went back. 

In other quilting news, I'm making good progress on hand-quilting Mulligan Stew, and I expect I'll have it finished before the week is out. That means it's time to ready the next block (the last one) for I Believe in Snowmen. It's a large section with some applique. Here's the template.

If I'm remembering right, the background fabric is cut to something like 13 x 34 inches. I'll be using scrappy red and whites for the applique. Looking at the picture from the pattern cover, it looks like this:

Probably I need to read the finishing instructions before I do any cutting since I'm not sure how that star on the left fits with the rest. It appears to be pieced into the section, and I might need to do that first. Either way, I'll be getting a start on this later this afternoon, I think. I'll need to have the applique finished before I can start on the embroidery.

There's nothing else on the agenda after my morning appointment with the podiatrist. Except for that, I'll spend the day quilting, fusing, and (if it gets that far) top-stitching the applique. I'm hoping my energy level will pick up a little. Has anyone else noticed a dip? These are stressful times we're living in, but I'm feeling more optimistic than I have in a long time.