Leaders & Enders Through the Day -

8 1/2 blocks.

And a stack ready to sew.

It might not look like much – but my production yesterday had me chain piecing LOOOOOONNNGGGG chains of pieces.  So it took a while just to build 8 1/2 blocks ( you can see what makes up the 1/2 block under the presser foot and the pieces off to the side.)

And the fabrics are not the most gorgeous or current if you look at them closely -

But when they are combined with all of the other blocks – the sum of the whole is going to be much more fun than each little humble block appears to be on its own.

And yes - I see the red/brown one is wrong and it is in queue to be unstitched and restitched later.

Not too bad for just starting in July!

Power cutting in the wee small hours.

Well maybe not so wee – but 5:30am rolled around and I wanted to do something a bit on the quiet side before I woke up the rest of the household.

I processed more than 50 block sets – by subcutting using my Accuquilt Studio.

The strips you see here are 1 1/2'' x 6 1/2’’ – they are the ones that were left from our Checkerboard Rails Leader & Ender challenge a couple of years back.  These strips keep giving and giving and giving!

I placed pairs right sides together.  I stacked them 4 pairs high (8 layers), and used the parallel lines I drew perpendicular to the blades as a guide for keeping them straight.

While it takes a bit of time to align things, it takes only a few seconds to crank them through.

Stacks of block parts -

Just waiting for backgrounds!

And those are coming too!

I folded 2 1/2’’ strips long enough to get 4 rectangles 1 1/2’’ x 2 1/2’’ into 4 layers – so each cut would give me enough for one Easy Breezy block. 

I also used the lines drawn across the blades to keep things straight.

Making stacks, ready to sew!

And here we are.

Kits in the bin, extra backgrounds in the baggie.

I’ve been asked how I store these, and really – they just live by my machine in this bin.  I’ll remove one stack at a time and place it by machine and just work on one block set at a time.

You can pin them or wonder clip them, but I haven’t felt the need to do that because they are not being moved around.

If I were to be taking some with me somewhere, I would just take a few stacks of block parts and baggie them.

Have you jumped in to our Easy Breezy Leader & Ender Challenge yet?  It runs from July to July – no specific pattern is given to use these blocks, you can make whatever you want with them.

It’s just a great way to use up small bits of scrap fabrics and seeing what can be built on the side of working on other things.

They add up.

Like a free quilt.

And it is always more fun to work on two things at once, especially when you really don’t have to think about the second thing.  Just use units as “sew betweens” at the end of every length of chain piecing you are doing.

Easy.  Breezy.  Jump right on in!

5 masks for Kelly

I got these done yesterday afternoon as well, and they will go out into the mail on Monday.  Masks have to be changed as they get damp from our breath, so I hope this gives him enough to switch them out as needed.

As I was stitching I was reflecting on these words from Dan Rather:

I sit locked in a self imposed isolation as a deadly virus surges outside. Time frames for returning to any hope of a faint echo of normalcy stretch into the many months or years.

This distant horizon strikes particularly deep for those of us at a certain age and stage of life.

Our nation is adrift amidst rocky shoals with cruel incompetence as our captain and enabling cravenness as the first mate.

What a perilous time to live.

I know I am extremely fortunate. Neither the roof over my head nor the food on my table are in doubt.

I have the privilege of protecting myself and my loved ones more than many.

We don't work in meat processing plants, or distribution warehouses, or even in hospitals.

I strive to keep habits and schedules, but hours bleed and to-do lists go unchecked.

What a moment to contemplate the future.

The basic tenets of decency, truthfulness, and compassion are torn across our political divide.

We see scientists denigrated and charlatans exalted. We see the rule of law and the norms of our democracy debased for personal gain.

We see our allies bullied and our adversaries coddled.

What a time to be an American.

But that's just it. It is a time to be an American, to contemplate our future, and to live.

We have had very dark days in the past. We have had deep, systemic injustices. We have faced daunting odds.

And women and men of courage, of ingenuity, of resolve have stood up time and time again. They have said some version of, "We will not abide."

It is our duty to not abide either.

From the streets, to newsrooms, to online social and political activism, I see countless millions of Americans who are not abiding.

We are living through damage, loss, and sadness that could have been avoided.

Much trauma lies ahead. But I know most of my fellow citizens agree that this shall not be us.

I desperately wished this was not our lot. I wish so many things.

I wish the hospital wards were empty. I wish kids were having a summer and could go to school safely. I wish small businesses weren't closing.

Heck, I wish I was at a baseball game trying to not have the mustard drip on my pants. That's not where we are.

We must be true to ourselves to recognize that much of what we are seeing now is not only the product of the last few months or even the last three-plus years.

We have big problems, wherever we look. But we see them now.

And we must do the hard work to fix them, not only through the ballot box but through the energy of our hearts and power of our imaginations.

Whatever despair I might feel is tempered with a hope that is growing within me.

I will not abide, and I believe most Americans will not abide either.

Courage.

What Dan has stated above embodies so much of what so many of us are feeling right now.  We are teetering on the brink of futility and weariness.

Keep up the courage my friends – We may not have an effect on other’s choices – but we can choose how we will care for ourselves, our own families, and stay away from situations that put us at risk.

We will see this through.

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Or in the infamous words of Marilyn Monroe - "Sometimes things fall apart so that better things can fall together."

Vintage Pine Burr variation found in North Carolina.

Have a peaceful Sunday, everyone.