A Colorful Thread: February 2023
Weaving together my life as a maker and other spheres of life.
Best of Stitched in Color {February}
On My Mind
Experimenting:: with quilting large scale paper-pieced quilts. A longarm customer sent me five (yes, FIVE) throw quilts to be custom quilted. Each one features one large scale image - a skull, a cat, a boat, etc. with patterns by Legit Kits. They are paper pieced from solid fabrics, so the quilting will be prominent. This type of custom quilting is definitely more time-consuming and difficult than my normal style. Here is my favorite finish so far - - -
Reading:: Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close by Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman. Friendships with other women have always been a priority for me. Since moving to Europe and starting fresh with local friendships, I’ve been more aware of how these connections are born and sustained. This book reflects on such dynamics in the context of the authors’ friendship, which began with establishing common ground, yet ultimately must cross significant physical and cultural divides.
Sponsor of the Week
Purple Stitches
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Celebrating:: My friend Christine of @lopolokko has been catching up her Pas de Deux quilt, which is going to be amazing. It’s fun to see Pas de Deux pop up in my Instagram feed again.
That reminded me of this amazing rendition that I don’t think I ever did share with you all. This Christmas-themed Pas de Deux is the creation of Mimi of @sewmuchanddo. Something about the quilt and the way she has captured it just lift my heart. I hope it does the same for you!
Anticipating:: Aria’s visit! In about a month my eldest will be returning home for the first time since departing for college last fall. Yay! We are making lots and lots of plans to enjoy our two weeks with her, including some special mother-daughter time. I couldn’t convince her to do a spa day, so we settled on an outing to the Keukenhof gardens instead. This is a famous Dutch tourist destination, but we haven’t yet been. With 7 million spring-blooming bulbs, the park promises a beautiful day together.
So, February. That was sadly yet another month of sickness in our house, and actually worse than January! Ugh. I have just armed us with fresh vitamin D and other supplements. I hope that those boosts, combined with the return of sunshine, bring us a mostly healthy March.
I know it is not just us either. To all the sick people out there - hugs and strength and hope for lighter days!
On the other hand, from a business perspective, February was good. I met all my goals and released a special pattern. Now I have a few months ahead without an already-full creative schedule. I am looking forward to a season of open exploring.
xoxo,
Rachel