washed clean, starting anew

 february ended with the first rain of the year, washing us clean and making everything fresh and new here. as rain is a rare event in our desert home, i am always enchanted by droplets sparkling in the overcast light, hanging from everything like chandelier crystals or simply sitting on every surface, pretty little beads of water and light. you can't touch them or keep them, only enjoy their ethereal beauty for the moment before they roll off or dry up. during a break in the showers, i caught a few images in pixels. i'd love to say this inspired some great new quilt idea, but in reality it only invigorated and refreshed me for working on the projects i already have going. that is a good thing, too.

indoors, i jumped around between cleaning the house, getting the baby out of whatever she was in, answering the door at the knock of neighbor children, and playing in my sewing room. it was a cozy saturday.

 in the quiet of the morning, i snuggled up with my "gypsy wife" pattern book and started filling in some of the missing math work. oh, this pattern does drive me crazy! and i know i'm not alone. i've got a whole new slew of questions for the qal group. after a while i decided to leave all that to later and just start thinking about my blocks for the new month instead. my new sugar block club instructions arrived, too. love this month's "explore" block!

but while mulling over the gyspy pile and considering fabric choices for march's "explore" block, i chose to work on my oldest son's long-neglected, barely begun "christmas" quilt instead. if i'm ever going to get the 40 blocks for this done before next christmas, and it had better be well before then, i had better get moving on it. joining in with the bom and qal this year has made me realize i should pace myself on other big projects like this wonky stacked coins quilt that i'm just not excited to sit down and complete in a week or so. not every project engrosses me and sucks me in like penny patch did. if it doesn't have a deadline, like a baby shower or gifting need, i will push it off in lieu of urgent or enticing projects. so i think i need to set some sort of weekly quota for this quilt to get it moving.

 we saw the new lego movie on friday and everyone's legoes were immediately brought down to the family room for a huge building fest. i heard more choruses than i can count of "everything is awesome!" and even the baby now walks up to her siblings and comments on their creations, "that's off-thum!" on saturday, when they weren't sneaking out into the rain, they were master building with legoes. it is pretty awesome, i think.

my oldest children were involved in a full-day church event, involving over 13,000 local youth. it was outdoors. imagine the surprise of everyone when, after months of planning, preparation, and no rain, it actually rained on them right during the culminating event of the evening! but they were troopers and stuck it out. they came home soaked to the bone, covered in mud and bits of grass, but very happy. and that was pretty awesome, too.