Friday, August 7, 2020

The Boredom of the New Normal on Off the Wall Friday

 I truly want to just slap the person who coined the phrase, "The New Normal".  There is nothing normal about what the country is going through right now .  Not to mention when your days are filled with social distancing nothing "New" ever really happens.  A trip to get groceries feels like your big day out!

I blame this for the reason I broke down this week and pulled out a new project without really finishing any of the ones I have going.  This spring I saw on ebay where a widowed husband was auctioning off

the over 200 quilt kits of his late wife.  (Yes...200....!!!!)  Of course, I had  to help the gent out, saw Sue Daley's Rainy Days and bought it for myself.  Don't ask me why I fell in love with it.  Must have appealed to the little girl in me!!  Not to mention, it was a stroke of genius to put it all in this nice little suitcase that can be repurposed later!  So there that suitcase sat in my bedroom for months just tempting me to start it.  Since I was bored.....I did!!

Wow....I've said it before but doing kits really is a good idea.   It not only to helps you learn how to think like the pattern designer but it also gets you to  create in a way you wouldn't normally create in. The quilt combines beginner piecing with beginner English Paper Piecing.  Easy right????  Well,  I don't think in my 28 years of quilting have I ever used a plastic template to rotary cut around something over ....and ...over.....and....over. (I knew I bought that tiny rotary cutter for something!)  Sue also shows how to glue baste her her pieces instead of thread baste which I plan to try.  I like the planned layout but I still think there can be more to the quilt so I think I'm going to hunt down more fabric and add a bit more piecing to it.  I mean ...well... more is more...right?!  

Anyways, I spent the week trying to figure out exactly what Sue wanted me to do.  Then I spent hours cutting everything out and hopefully next week I'll have more to show!

Under this week's things I like.....

I taught myself how to order progressive glasses online and I'm all proud.  For years, I've been too scared to try and I honestly didn't think it would work.  Well, what better time to try it than during a global pandemic?!  A few hours later...and  for about $100 I have an excellent pair of new glasses.  I would say I save myself $200 but since I plan on buying a couple of pairs more...it would be a lie.  But gosh, I always wanted to have glasses to fit my moods and now I can!!

I got them at EyeBuyDirect probably because they were the cheapest and have a great reputation.  But there are a lot of perfectly good sites out there to try.  I highly recommend you get brave and give it a try! 


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4 comments:

For the love of geese said...

That poor man, 200 quilt kits I cant even imagine. I would have purchased this one too, its cute. Great glasses. Thank you for the linky party.

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I would have purchased a kit too if I had seen that - and that is one reason why I keep trying to not get excessive in my buying habits and I still have too much!! The "new normal" is crazy isn't it. I too mainly stay home although I know a lot don't - a trip to the grocery store helps keep me sane lol

LA Paylor said...

well of course you bought that kit. It's just adorable and will be fun... thats reason enough. Then theres the tiny suitcase... I'd get it just for that. LeeAnna

Pam said...

I think that kits and patterns can be restful. While one works them, ideas are percolating around unbidden and who knows what will happen next. I like to turn to these when I am feeling a total creative blank. In the meantime one can work with some lovely fabrics and pretty colors and let your creative forces come back to you.

I am not sure what the new normal will be. I know we will self isolate until probably next summer. (my husband is fragile). Things will probably get worse this fall when the flu hits and no one knows exactly what ails them. Tho this will end and we will find a new normal. I love reading your blogs everyweek.