Rayen

I was looking through my photo archives for quilting projects I did last year, and one of my favorites is the one I made from a vintage embroidered napkin and a doallar-fifty bag of thrifted fabric scraps. I didn't plan it and the way it came together was almost magical (it also helped that it was small.) The quilt I made for Halloween also made me quite happy. It's probably one of the last of my hand-quilted pieces, but I'm glad I made it. Halloween really boosted my spirits last year, especially with all the fun projects I made. My mini-quilt calendar project of 2025 at times grew difficult, especially during the nights when my arthritis was giving me a fit, but I managed to finish it and I'm very happy with the results, mixed as they are. To be honest, I am struggling with this year's calendar project, making one quilted tote per month, and looking back on what I managed last year helps quite a bit. It's reassuring in a way nothing else can b...

I started watching the first season of the medical romance k-drama Hospital Playlist but stopped when it triggered some bad memories of my own experiences; although I like romance it's hard for me to watch any medical-centered drama for those reasons. I did like the cast and the story, however, so I eventually I got over myself, went back and watched both seasons on Netflix. The series follows and the professional and personal lives of five very young-looking physicians in their forties; four men and one woman, all of whom work at the same hospital. They're all brilliant doctors, of course, but they also have fairly significant issues in their personal lives (one is divorced with a child, one is divorced with a domineering snooty mother, two are romantic disasters for different reasons and one is actually thinking about becoming a priest.) The thing that makes this series different is that the doctors have been friends since college, and have the kind of group relationsh...

I've often heard creative people talk about "the well" as being the source of their creativity. The well overflowing, the well running dry, refilling the well, etc. I went along with this because I had never met another writer until after I got into the industry. I thought they knew more than me, and creativity does strike me as flowing like water. Yet all this time the well analogy has never really suited my own creativity. I'm not someone who hides their creativity; I've made it part of my daily life. I write every day, and when I'm not writing, I'm usually thinking about writing. That happens even when I'm quilting, crocheting, doing housework or even riding in the car. It's the only part of my life that never bores, hurts or disappoints me. I've always had a fascination with fountains, and only recently have I realized why: for me creativity is more like them. What I do is a flow that comes from inside me, streams up, b...

Last week while thrifting in Lady Lake I was able to pick up this brand new roll of knit fabric for $3.18. That's $1.59 per yard, which is quite a bargain. I'm going to use it to clone a tunic I love that is sadly falling to pieces. I removed all the cobbled patchwork from my February tote, and tried one more time to accomplish what I envisioned with blind stitching. That worked a little better, but I still didn't care for how it looked with my less than impressive stitching, so I tore out that attempt, too. It happens, even to a non-perfectionist like me. My third attempt using the classic crazy quilting stitch and flip method worked so much better than the first two I'm sticking with that. I also found some striped floral pieces in the scraps, which are probably pieces from some vintage napkins or a tablecloth. If I can cobble these together and use them for the lining I think I will.

I've been slowly stitching on my February tote, which is not turning out like I envisioned. The idea I had was to make use of these shabby vintage fabric scraps and do some raw-edged crazy patchwork, ala Japanese boro. My version just looks messy, probably because I'm using all patches and no solid fabric underneath. I'm also having a lot of trouble hand stitching the fabric down. Anyway, I'm going to think about it today and maybe start over tonight.

Happy Valentine's Day! Image credit: Jess Bailey from Pixabay