Another Finish

I have been finishing quilt tops at an unprecedented rate during these days of social distancing! Here's the latest. I originally prepared all the blocks to take with me on a trip to the northeast in early April. Of course that trip was cancelled, so I just stitched it together on my machine. And now it is in my stack of tops to be quilted when I once again have access to a long arm machine.

I've also been spending a lot of time outdoors, enjoying springtime's bounty of wildflowers in central Texas. Most of the year this cholla cactus is notable only for its spines, but when it blooms it puts on quite a show.

Once the bluebonnets have faded, the most prolific flowers are Indian blankets, also known as fire wheels.

They can turn an entire field into a sea of bright orange.

There are also many flowers which you have to look harder to find, such as this little cactus,

and this American basket flower.

I hope everyone is healthy and able to get outdoors to enjoy the springtime.

Going Nowhere

Day 49 of staying home. It has surely become a cliche to call these strange times, but strange they are. Having spent so much of the past years traveling the country and the world, it is especially strange for me to be spending so much time going nowhere except the grocery store.

At least I have gotten somewhere in my quilting. During this confinement I have been motivated to complete a few of my works in progress. First there is this corduroy quilt that I finished for a friend of my mother's. I have no information on the origin of the top, but I think it turned out really well. Tying rather than quilting was definitely the right choice to preserve the corduroy texture, and I think the teal binding adds just the right touch on the edges.

My biggest and most satisfying accomplishment has been finishing my "Sea Days" quilt top. I don't remember exactly when I started it, but it must have been more than two years ago.

I named the quilt "Sea Days" because it reminds me of glorious days spent on cruises around the world, blue water sparkling in the sunlight, like in this photo off the Antarctic peninsula.

Traveling the world by boat, or any way at all, seems like a lifetime ago. Finishing this quilt during an enforced stay at home makes me long for the days of unrestrained and joyous travel.

The quilt also allows me to enjoy those days vicariously. I am reminded of so many different shades of blue that ones sees from the deck of a boat, like this teal that I saw around ice floating along the shores of Svalbard,

 and this aqua from a bit of an iceberg, also in Svalbard.

Warm Caribbean waters were no less dramatic.

Underwater on a sunny day off Mexico's Guadalupe Island, a completely different hue made a stunning backdrop for viewing great white sharks up close.

Now that I've made a mini tour of the globe, I'm going to go back to my sewing machine here at home and see about finishing up my next project.

Wishing everyone good health and a rapid return to some semblance of normal life