A Day at My Machine.

Yesterday, Chooky called a Zoom session — right on time. I’d already planned to spend the morning in my sewing room playing with my batik squares, and that’s exactly what I did. I settled in at the machine and sewed and sewed and sewed, while listening to the ladies chatter as I worked.

First, I sewed all my 4" squares into pairs. Then I kept going until every pair became a four‑patch block. My back grumbled about the forced labour, but it survived.

Later, I spread a few blocks out on the floor to get a feel for how this quilt top might look. I’m not working from a pattern — just an image from the internet and a handful of ideas. But it’s coming together beautifully.

I’d pulled out a couple of fabrics I had purchased to use for the border and the anchor. Now I’m convinced they’re both wrong. The blue border fabric is far too busy, and the patterned black I chose for the anchor is better but still doesn’t sit well against all that movement.

So I might need a shopping trip — not for two new fabrics, but maybe just one that can do both jobs. Something plain, or with a very minimal pattern, to rest quietly on that busy background.

So the plan for today is to get the center of the quilt top put together. I want to be able to take it with me when we go on our trip tomorrow as I happen to know there are some good fabric shops near where we will be staying and I'm hoping to convince Mr H to take me shopping.

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As we went out last night, we couldn’t help but look up at the sky. Dark clouds loomed around us, stormy and unsettled as they had been all day, and we could also see — and smell — the bands of smoke drifting across from the fires burning in Australia. I don’t want to dwell on how vast and angry those fires must be. I just hope everyone is safe

In contrast, my boy Jiffy Jonathan sent me an image he took on his way to work. The sun was rising over the Isle of Man as he steamed his boat out to the scallop grounds. He made some very rude comments about how cold he felt and how glad he was to have a cosy wheelhouse to retreat to — but he still had to catch that image. That promise of warmth.

He often sends me images like this one, with the sun peeking over the horizon. He does get to work in an amazing environment, everyday something different. 

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The weather today is not nice at all. Yesterday was cloudy and smoky; today we have rain. The day began with beautiful sunshine, then a quick gentle shower, then more sunshine — and now heavy rain and dark skies all around. A perfect day to stay indoors and sew.

If you want me, I’ll be at my machine for a couple of hours, stitching together the centre of Jiffy and Josie’s quilt. And just as I settled in, Chooky invited me to Zoom. Perfect timing.

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