Getting to balance

My quilting life started in 2020, then got packed away for Christmas and didn’t get restarted until after Easter. I decided that if I’m ever really going to get my quilting going, I needed to set one monthly goal (idea borrowed from one of the blogs that I follow).

• One monthly goal

My monthly goal for May 2021 has been to achieve a blog post. Here we are! It was a bit more complicated than it ought to have been, because I had to get over my reluctance to use my new laptop, find my travelling mouse and mouse-mat, and locate the appropriate passwords. Fears conquered, necessary stuff found, done.

Now I’m going to set my One Monthly Goal for June, which is:

Try some free motion quilting

It means conquering another fear: trying the free motion quilting (FMQ) foot on my Janome. And the fear of making a quilt sandwich, which only means cutting a bit of scrap wadding and using a little bit of basting spray. It even looks like the weather will be good enough to use the spray outdoors as I should, so I’ve chosen a good month.

And now, because every blog post deserves an image: my progress on Bonnie Hunter’s Grassy Creek mystery quilt, that started at the end of November 2020. I’m still on Clue 1, which was a bunch of grey and yellow half square triangles in sets of 8. For my half-sized quilt, I think I need 11 or 12 sets and I’ve got 8, pictured, with some short-changed sets where something went wrong. Typing this has helped me to realise that I’m going to have a go at each clue and making some complete blocks, and will then go back to fill in the blanks. I’m not sure I really love Bonnie’s finished quilt but I do think that learning from Bonnie is a good thing to do. The mystery isn’t available any more but you can get the pattern.

• Grassy Creek description and link to pattern

This year, I gave myself a target of walking 1,000 miles.

My theory: if I do my 3 miles a day, that’s 21 in the week. Another target; 10,000 steps four times a week. That should get me to 25 miles a week – and if I do that for most in weeks in the year, I ought to get there.

Well – I feel like I’ve missed that weekly target more often than I hit it. But somehow: I’ve made it to just over 1,000 miles.

Surprising but gratifying.

The last two weeks have been a whirl.

Threw off the cold, somehow, and headed off for a very busy week in the US. An unexpected bonus was that my only day off, the Saturday, was perfect. Kind friends took me on a sightseeing trip in perfect weather – lunch at a 1950s diner in Anapolis, a drive to a pleasant walk in a nature reserve on the Maryland shore, and then a crab feast at a traditional crab shack. Even my friend taking a nasty fall and badly twisting her ankle didn’t dampen the proceedings too much. (It turned out to be a hairline fracture).

Back home into another unexpectedly lovely Sunday, perfect for a big family-and-friends party to celebrate my aunt’s 80th. Her garden, her pride and joy, was the ideal setting for a marquee decorated with amazing dahlias from my cousin – like her mum, a keen gardener.

Then, amazingly, a third weekend of gorgeous weather – this time in Cornwall. Sitting outside enjoying a coffee. Wandering up and down the hill. Chatting with dear friends.

Overall: walking – not nearly enough, but the hill at the weekend helped the floor count a fair bit

Weight: +2lb after the US trip. Back to +1lb after a week at home.

The week started so well, which seems odd to say when it was the anniversary of the death of a dear friend. We went to meet his family at Stowe Landscape Garden, and had a lovely day wandering around gently. We didn’t talk about him but we did think about him; getting together to do simple, family things was just exactly the sort of activity he most enjoyed.

After that: a cold set in. Another one. I’ve had more colds this year than I can ever remember; it seems like no sooner have I got over some minor issue than another one appears.

Luckily, it was just a cold. But no fun, especially as I was away at a conference. Felt too rough on the Wednesday evening to join in with the conference social thing and opted instead for buying a picnic in Marks and Spencers. Somehow, managed to miss my footing and fall full-length, with no damage apart from a badly bruised base of my thumb – another silly thing, painful for the evening.

After that, things started to look up again. The beautiful weather worked its magic, the conference talk went well.

Walking for the week: a bit rubbish.

Eating: not too bad. Still on -2lb.

Last week was a shock on the scales: +2 lb from my starting point. Not good. Not where I want to be.

It wasn’t so much the baking (although that did have an effect). It wasn’t so much the stress (not nearly as bad as it was). It might have been the lack of walking: travel and a cold meant that I only got to 16.64 miles. But I knew what it was really: the ‘see food and eat it’. Too much snaffling up of bits and pieces, too many extra helpings at meals.

Continue reading Planted wild flowers (August ending)