making :: bison & narwhal quilt

January 10, 2019

making :: bison & narwhal quilt

Happy New Year!

I'm so ready to reboot everything... my goal this January (and maybe it should be my goal for the full year), is to be INTENTIONAL. To make sure that everything I am doing is done with intention - I use my time efficiently both in big and little ways. Pretty soon (looking at you March!) that time will be even more full. That, even when I am relaxing, I choose to do so intentionally by picking activities that actually do let me relax and let go of the other worries for a time.

::At Home::

A place for everything and everything in its place. The next month will be filled with cleaning up and cleaning out. There's just too much STUFF! And thinking of bringing all the little baby things back out just compounds this problem. So, this must happen. The end product will be a functional home that is a joy to be in. A home that is easy to clean and maintain because everything has a logical spot to go and what we do have is useful and purposeful. As things get done, this will mean recommitting to doing everything 100%. The extract couple minutes it takes to fully complete the task at the time are not worth the mountains of extra work created when I only get things 80 or 90% done each time. Why make more work for myself later?

::At Work::

Being intentional in my work will mean focusing on work when working and not let the busy, stressful times seep into family time. Additionally, my intentional work will include preparing heavily for maternity leave.

::To Make::

With all the intentional actions happening at home and at work, I will hopefully be left with a little time to make. Time to get my work in progress list whittled down. It took a firm deadline to actually finish the one thing on the list from last year. With baby coming, I can't see my time getting any more available. Yet, the list of things in progress... and that I want to make just keeps growing. My best bet for finishing will be to make a plan - a realistic one - and give myself some reasonable deadlines to work with. Scroll down to the bottom of the post for my #2019finishalong goals.

{bison & narwhal quilt}

I took these pictures just as the wild fires were starting. The light was eerie in its orange, hazy glow. Yet, it was perfect for the colors of this quilt. Now, as we've finally got a rainy season the weather is perfect for thinking about finishing this big quilt. Perfect for remembering rambling fall adventures. Perfect for turning inwards, for being cozy, for melting into the season.

This quilt has been years in the making. Or more accurately put, it has been years in the not making. But finally I have a finished flimsy to share.

:: The Quilt Story ::

In the summer of 2014, we drove a drove along a narrow road through the redwoods. Around a bend, tucked just off the road stood a little grove of trees. We sat on rustic benches and watched as Jeff and Sam exchanged vows. All the tiny, beautiful details that Sam had worked so hard to plan came together. A little over a year later, Jeff was gone (F*CK cancer!).

When Sam moved out of their home down the street from us, she asked if I would make a quilt from the linens they used on their wedding day. They all had been hunted down at thrift and antique shops - curated to the perfect combination of lavenders, oranges, and warm browns. So, as she left town I sat contemplating the heaps of table cloths, napkins, and doilies.

Things sat because of the monumental emotions that go along with this quilt. Sure, I wanted to take special care with this task. But more also it was that I couldn't work on this project without thinking of Jeff and Sam, their wedding day and all the times we spent together. And that's heavy, happy, and sad all rolled together. So sometimes I plan to do a bit of work on the quilt only to get side tracked looking at pictures of Jeff. Or staring off into space remembering his goofy antics.

Yes, this quilt has been slow coming. Every ounce of love is being stitched in - one slow, thoughtful stitch at a time.