Breaking my Own Rules

We've got progress. From

to

But, alas, I am contrary to the core. I like to break even those rules I myself establish. So, note the two "problem areas" of my quilt below: Have I gone too far?

You well might ask, what, really, were you after, Greta? Obviously, you were breaking the pattern. What, besides a perverse desire to break the pattern, were you achieving?

In part, I believe that it's a forest vs. trees issue. I loved the fabrics that I introduced at each point. If the fabrics become too much part of the overall pattern, they may recede. Here is a close-up of one of the problem areas. That aboriginal purple is by Dan Bennett of Westminster Fabrics, and is, incidentally, out of print. I use it all over the place in this quilt. Total love. I pretty much love the brown adjacent to it, as well, but found it fit nowhere in the quilt.

In the other case, I wanted to introduce a Japanese print that really doesn't belong in the quilt (although it inspired my color scheme). Namely, it has a black background, whereas the quilt uses dark brown as its dark. How the pink trees snuck in next to it is anyone's guess.

In the long run, I really have no excuse, except my contrary nature. Stay tuned for the border, and don't be surprised if I revise myself with much gnashing my teeth against tyranny.

Back at it!

Yes, it's been a long time. No, I did not manage to quilt my throw quilt in time for the charity event. I did manage to squeeze out a few coasters as Mothers' Day gifts:

front

back

Meanwhile, the rest of my life has taken over:

- Community Radio: I've been the only anchor in town for a couple of weeks. That means planning news shows, reporting news, and editing news for our M, W, F show, Local Talk.
- Dance: I've been pretending to be a modern dancer, with my friend Valerie's company Co'Motion Dance Theater. Every year from Feb. through April we amateur women dancers meet once a week. As April yields to May, we start meeting 3 or 4 times a week, then perform around Mother's Day, as "Women in Motion". Fabulous women, fabulous fun, total time suck.
- Social Justice Committee: Church politics, whew! We've had more than our share this year, and the upshot is that I volunteered, in a weak moment, to chair our Social Justice ministry (maybe I can use my position to organize a Days for Girls event!)
- Spring: We have four acres. It would be a crying shame if at least 1 of those acres wasn't wall to wall with vegetables, right? I've actually backed off on my ambition from previous years. Only 100 tomato plants this year!

I have been so preoccupied with a thousand details that I've let a $500 pair of glasses that I probably needed to return the first week I got them, because they don't work for me, sit around for almost a month (I missed that first week's appointment to return or somehow recoup my loss). So, no, it's not a good time for anyone I love to be graduating from high school or getting married. But dad gum it, that's what they're going and doing. Well, you know what they say about necessity being a mother!

(Has anyone read The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt? I have been reading it -- all gobzillion pages -- when my dancing body is too tired to do anything else. I finally finished it late last night, and I highly recommend it. It is very much a paean to beauty, and it has inspired me in my latest pursuit.)

Below is a graduation quilt (due June 3) that I have been working on. The fabrics are so delicious! The triangles are large, 6" a side, so that I get to ponder and play with the placement of each one. And what an exquisite pleasure it is. I guess I'll call the eyeglass doctor tomorrow.