Peace and Progress
Peace….that is a big thing isn’t it?
I had the extreme pleasure of Teaching and Speaking in Sandpoint, Idaho with the Panhandle Piecemakers Guild about 3 weeks ago, and I was able to take Linda, my darling wife, with me on the trip. We stayed an extra day and went exploring around the Couer d’Alene area. The big highlight of our trip was Cataldo Mission in Cataldo, Idaho. I might do another post about that later, but today I just wanted to talk a little bit about how peaceful it was there.
It was SOOOO peaceful.
Just the sounds of the trees. Well, there was highway sound from a distance, but it wasn’t too bad.
We did hear some bird sounds that we haven’t heard before. And Crickets! There was something about knowing that people struggled and lived and died and worshiped in this spot 150 years ago. The peace just was so delightful. Hard to describe.
I have been really enjoying, looking for, trying to find quiet times and that same peace throughout my days. It is not easy, is it?
Things are constantly vying for our attention, radio in the car, TV whenever we want it, digital devices at our fingertips non stop. It is a bit much sometimes, don’t you think?
Something to aim for at least, huh?
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Well, that trip was a short one really and though I am still seeking that stillness as much as I can, I am back at the “Vortex” in the Studio.
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Here’s that main part of the studio. I have actually been slowly working on it.
I know …. I know….. you can’t tell I’ve done a thing…..but really I have.
The project on the design wall is my Tula City Sampler Quilt that I have pulled from one of the WIP (WondersInProcess) piles. (this particular pile was on my cutting board for years, so it made good sense to start there.)
Part of my clean up process is to weed out those projects that I really won’t finish, and to FINISH the ones that I still want to keep.
And though I am sure you can’t tell, but there is far less on the ironing station(another flat surface) than there has been in a LONG Time. Just a couple baskets at the far left and recent purchases of fabric in the center (I know – counter-intuitive, but I HAVE gotten rid of more than I bought.)
Here’s a close-up of the beginnings of the Tula City Sampler Project. If you have been following my Instagram page, you’ve seen my mad rush to catch up on this. 42 of the 100 blocks are shown here. I am actually done with all of them now (not all have posted on Instagram yet) — When I started the “Clean-up” I only had 6 or so from my first pass 3 years ago, so this does feel like progress)
Here’s what 42 blocks look like stacked up tall.
And here’s a glimpse of the new purchases. THIS is how I shop — a little bit of this a little bit of that . Probably more “novelty” prints than I needed to – but those always catch our eyes first don’t they?
The little houses and evergreen trees in Grey AND Pale Pink??
Under the giant Pink OWL??
I mean honestly, HOW would you expect me to pass those up??
Yeah…. life is not at the peaceful pace of that one day visit in Cataldo anymore (I started writing this post October 19th – Now it’s November 1st? What happened in that time? Oh, Right, that aforementioned Vortex!) But life is good.
Today’s plans include:
- having lunch with my Dad at the Senior Center where he goes every weekday for lunch
- then possibly fixing a toilet.
- It hopefully also includes getting some patterns written and cleaning in the studio again.
- And maybe some sewing.
- One can always hope.
That’s it for today, peeps,
Keep sewing, Keep happy,
Scott