a sewing date with jill

after mequell came to visit me with her lovely quilt, i got to thinking about jill and how i'd had to cancel our quilting date since i'd gone on bedrest. it occurred to me that maybe i didn't have to cancel on her after all, that with a little innovation, we could still have our sewing session together. so I called and invited her over to quilt in my bedroom. i told her she'd have to lug her machine up my stairs, but i could have a card table and chair set up for her by ny kids, that she'd really be doing me a favor by keeping me company. surprisingly, she was all for it.

my oldest son rearranged part of my bedroom and set up a sewing station for jill next to my couch, where i spend my days couch resting, rather than bedresting. she quilted and i blanket stitched a 4sq blanket.

friday is craft day on the homeschool schedule, so my girls spread out on various parts of the floor with their own projects.

daughter #2 made a "binkie" for our baby. i didn't tell her how impractical the wool felt and silk ribbon were for a baby. we'll just handwash it, i guess. nor did i feel it necessary at this point to mention the button was a choking hazard. we'll think of something. maybe i can get her to applique a shape on instead.

after baking and serving us some fresh blondies (my favorite, simple cooking light recipe here) daughter #1 made some more finger puppets and a tiny felt bird from a pattern in fa la la la felt. it was her first attempt at blanket stitch. pretty good. she's been browsing the book for ideas lately and has several more projects she'd like to try, but a trip to the fabric store will be requited before she can complete any of the others.

daughter #4 felt it her duty to distract jill from her quilting as much as possible. she gave jill a sticker on her cheek (which jill graciously wore for quite some time), kept poking jill with a pretend needle (which jill gamely grimaced at or said 'ouchy!" to repeatedly), and "put on a show" for us on my bed, insisting jill turn her chair around to watch the dancing and capering about of a rambunctious 3 year old. jill was such a good sport, wearing that beautiful smile of hers the whole time. did i mention she's beautiful inside as well? yes, she is.

part of "the show"

daughter #4 also tried to participate in the sewing fest. she pulled out her spool of thread (some all-purpose pink she confiscated and claimed as her own) and cut a piece off to use on her mini mermaid softie she got last christmas from her oldest sister. she kept wrapping the thread around and around the mermaid, telling us how she was "making it." very cute. i really need to get her set-up with a hoop and burlap, but that will require a trip to the store also. my mom is coming to help out on monday. think i'll send her to jo-ann, etc with a list.

 

despite all the distraction, jill got almost all her squares quilted. AND we solved her dilemma of how to finish off her border. the class teacher had made a few suggestions for doing piano keys or a diagonal pattern in the border space, but jill thought both were too busy and wasn't sure exactly how to do either. knowing she'd never complete the quilt unless she decided on something, i racked my brain for an idea. after a bit, i got a lightbulb: just echo quilt the large central panel twice. jill liked it and i invited her back next friday to quilt some more. looks like there's hope of completion after all! i sure hope she comes next week. too, because i thoroughly enjoyed chatting and stitching half the day away with such good company.

who said bedrest had to be confining or boring? i'm finding it a blessing, a break, and a gift of time - an opportunity to slow down in ways i normally couldn't or wouldn't. by thinking a litle outside the box (bed) i'm finding i can still get a lot done.