I've had a couple of projects on my mind today, projects I haven't added to my quilt list or spoken much about, but which have been difficult to stop thinking about. One has been brewing behind the scenes for a while, and another I just committed to today.

I mentioned recently that I'd been holding off on Adam and Brenda's quilt until I had my skills up, and that it was time to get started, because I had the skills. I picked up the very soothing English paper piecing, and the last thing left to do was master foundation piecing. If that last sentence didn't make any sense to you, the short version is that if I take my intended finished block design, break it into component parts, and print it onto some easy-to-tear paper, I can use the paper as a direct template to sew complicated patterns with dead-on accuracy.

I survived the second go-live of the week today, and my brain is sloshy and very liquid. I've been sifting through the piles of fabric I cut during the week-long power outage after the April 27th tornadoes...

I have an email to quote first. The sender is real. I'm leaving the email address in.

* * * * *

From: morningwood2010 [at] hushmail.com
To: me
Subject: Religion + Jeff

From Jeff's blog: "I am so incredibly sick of religious extremist
assholes...."

I was not able to read anything about Jeff's "life-threatening"
accident so I cannot comment about it.

I've been putting it off because...

1. I didn't know how to do it
2. I needed skills I didn't have
3. The prospect of trying this terrified me
4. That's a lot of damned appliqué

But here I am. It's been over a year since I've touched this project ... it's time to get started. I've had a design in mind for some time, but it took a while to articulate it into even a simplified design -- each time I drew it, it got simpler and simpler and simpler.

We are back home from another round of vet visits. Last night, I wasn't sure if I needed to take Tenzing to the vet again, but this morning, after a rough night for everyone concerned, I was sure. He's normally grateful when I (finally!) go to bed each night, and sleeps contentedly on my knees, but last night was different. Through the night last night, he woke me every 1.5 - 2 hours, needing to be held and comforted.

This wasn't Tenzing.