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Soul

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We've just returned from an almost garish weekend trip to the East Coast. Yes, I jauntily flew 5 hours (one way) for a weekend. What an indulgence. And oh so necessary. Now, if only the lottery folks would understand that I need to do this more than once every 3 years.

My soul is well, better now. I was reminded of my love for my husband, my love for friends (old and new), my love for Halifax and all its rotten charms and tourist traps, my love for the ocean and falling leaves and leaves falling in the ocean, my love for foghorns and even cruise ship bellows, my love for beer, my love for simply strolling, my love for me and my soul.

Just a sailboat, as seen from our sailboat.

Coming home with Kate and her family after we sailed and ate. A day spent with friends old and new. Capped with beers cuddled under Kate's mom's quilt and quiet conversations about love, grief, picky eaters, firefighting, vegetarianism, health care reform, friends, creativity, writing, boats, and love again.
PS Barb, I'm sorry we missed each other. Next time!

Celebrating the marriage of one of my oldest friends to the woman who clearly makes his heart dance and leap.
Boys being boys at the Seaport.


Colourful inspiration at the farmers' market.


Waterfront details that warm the cockles.


Halifax details that blow your mind with stories.

Late night shenanigans with the best man on Earth. We got ourselves sorted out in Halifax over 14 years ago and did so again this weekend.

It's a good thing I have my soul, because I'm pretty sure my heart was wrenched from me, tied to a heavy rock, and thrown in the Atlantic. At least I'll have a good excuse to go back.
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Grey/Gray

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So, I spent a day organizing my fabric. I'm still not done. But I did get through the main stacks and all my bins. What remains are the scraps, selvages, and ongoing projects.

I organize everything by colour. And I had to get a new bin for one colour. It seems I've been on a bit of a grey kick lately. These fabrics range from almost beige to nearly black. Some have more blue than brown. I love the way they vary. The entire stash reminds me of a pile of rocks.

The vast majority of these fabrics have been purchased in the last 6 months. Yikes! I'm in love and almost ready to start cutting into these. Almost. There are a few projects in my head.

And I'm going to share that cutting with you next Friday when I'm part of Pat Sloan's Double Blog Tour for the Sullivan's Edge Rulers.

But first, I want to know, how do you spell grey/gray?
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Straight

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It's been a long time since I did straight lines. While I adore symmetry and order in my life, my quilting tends to be a bit more random, chaotic, and improvised. And frankly, a bit lazy. I will always try to choose the easy way out of a situation, including quilting.

This is changing though. On the Bookcase quilt I chose a more time-consuming pattern to great effect. And when it came time to start quilting my Low-Volume Circles (I still need a better name than that) I had only one vision for the quilting. It involves a lot, a lot of straight lines. Oh, and some hand quilting. Definitely not the easy way out.

This is the start of the straight lines, as seen from the back. I'm hoping to have this one ready for the Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival, if not sooner. Watch for it!