A Saturday of Stitching–And Alias Grace!

Feet up in the recliner past 8pm and binging --

And binging, and more binging!

I mean, what’s a girl to do when her body clock is still not cooperating and it’s a “fall back an hour” night for daylight savings time?

I am always browsing the “recently added” section on Netflix to see if there is something that captures my interest.  I love anything set in the 19th century, and I looked this one over before I decided to have it a go – I was afraid it would be too dark, too scary.

But when someone mentioned there were QUILTS in the mini-series, I had no choice but to click PLAY!

The story is about the notorious 1843 murders of Thomas Kinnear and his housekeeper Nancy Montgomery in Upper Canada. Two servants of the Kinnear household, Grace Marks and James McDermott, were convicted of the crime. McDermott was hanged and Marks was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Although the novel is based on factual events, Atwood constructs a narrative with a fictional doctor, Simon Jordan, who researches the case. Although ostensibly conducting research into criminal behaviour, he slowly becomes personally involved in the story of Grace Marks and seeks to reconcile his perception of the mild-mannered woman he sees with the murder of which she has been convicted. [source]

Quilts on the line!

Quilts on the beds!

In fact, through most of the entire show Grace is found with patchwork, needle and thread in her hands as she recalls the events of what happened as she sees it to Dr Jordan.

I was captivated and mesmerized – It it’s likely what had me going to bed at midnight, only to awaken at 3am unable to sleep again.  Never fear, I was later able to get some shut-eye which explains me posting this blog at nearly 11am on a Sunday. 

First long border completely on!

I’ve left the extension where the next border turns the corner.

Top and bottom border rosette cluster.

These will fit into each other like a puzzle and is the unit I’ll move on to after finishing long border #2 – still a long way to go.

It was just very interesting watching Alias Grace while hand stitching on my own project!

This backing fabric was chosen!

I had just enough if I pieced it with a center seam running side to side instead of top to bottom.  It depends on the size of the quilt and the yardage at hand how I will piece that back.  There will be just enough left over to go into my scraps.  I’ve always loved giant polka dots.  And look – this one is On Ringo Lake colors!  Chocolate and aqua. Who knows how long it’s been laying around here.

About 30% done.

The green paisley you see in the upper center was once one of my line dancing shirts from back in the 1990s.  I loved line dancing (And this shirt!) so much.  So much fun to do that with some girlfriends once a week.  Great exercise too.

The pantograph is Gossamer by Hermione Agee of Lorien Quilting.

In the machine!

And yes, I used a Franken-batting!

I’ve posted about this many times before.  Simply butt the edges together, overlapping about 1/8’’ for extra stability and use your largest widest zig-zag stitch to sew the pieces together into a batting big enough for your project.  Easy peasy – and NO IRON ON GLUE in the quilt.

I hope to finish the quilting on this today!

Other than that we are holding the new status quo here.  Many phone messages and calls stating that Dad is still holding his own.  He is defying all odds.  We are grateful for each day we still have him with us.  I’m glad The Hubster could be in Idaho extensively during this time.  I’m glad his job allows him to telecommute from wherever he is so he doesn’t have to use vacation time to do this.  He’s just working from there instead of here.  The wonders of the internet. No time loss so far.

Quiltville Quote of the Day.

Social media makes this very hard to accomplish. Before you mindlessly type in a comment that someone's art (that they have worked hard on for months or longer) doesn't do it for you or that you don't like it for whatever reason - stop.

Whether it is your truth or not, does your comment help, or does it hurt?

Saying things like "I really don't like this quilt, but if it were mine I would bind it this way....." does not help.  "I would have chosen different fabrics."  Does not help.  

Yes, I have been busy with the delete button on all platforms. And I've seen it happening to other people when they post their best efforts in their projects as well.  

What I see with comments like this -  is the commenter making the whole post about THEM, not a response to what was being shared.  It's ME, ME, ME, I, I, I.  It's not about you. This post is about the person who posted it. Kindly remember that. We all need to remember that.

"I don't like those colors"  is no kind of response to anyone who has opened up their heart to share their project with others. Find something nice to say, or don't say anything at all.

Stay silent. Especially when opinions weren't asked for.

There is too much of this going on in this tangled web called the internet.  There is no need to comment about your dislike of someone’s project in ANY form of media be it email, Facebook, instagram, blogging, twitter, or anywhere.  You may think it all you want, but do not post it. 

Let’s make the world a kinder, more gentle place of sharing. I'd hate for the sharing to stop due to the unkind comments of others.

Let's take back our community with kindness.

Happy Fall Back day, everyone!