A Little Glimpse

It's been a crazy week: last weekend I drove back to Michigan, where I spent 3 days unpacking and moving back into my place, and then I left for the Twin Cities. I stayed with my friends in Minneapolis for a few nights, and now I'm house/catsitting in St. Paul for the week. The weather here is beautiful, and I'm learning how to get around by bus, bike, and foot. After I booked my trip, I realized that the US Gymnastics Championships were taking place here while I was in town, and I was able to catch both days of the women's competition (and see some coach friends of mine). And I've been at the archives during the week. A busy (in a good way) time indeed.

But given this moving back and around, it's also been a time of transitions, and I'm not always best at transitions. So I started making a quilt in my brief sojourn at home. This was a little nuts -- and I very ambitiously thought I might even be able to start and finish it in three days. By day two, I realized that wasn't happening. But I finished the quilt front, and started the quilt back.

And I let myself be content with that. I say "let myself," because I'm prone to being hard on myself when I don't meet self-imposed deadlines or make silly mistakes (hell, I'm prone to getting annoyed with myself when I miss a poorly labeled turn, or rather take a turn I shouldn't have. See: last weekend's drive from DC to Michigan. Don't worry, I'm over it now).

When talking to a friend a week ago, she reminded me "to be kind to myself" -- something I'm not always good at (I have a certain ascetic tendencies after all) and something I'm often terrible at in moments of transition. This quilt, I realized, is one way of being kind to myself, materially and mentally: it's been over a decade since I made a quilt for myself. I've made a challah cover, a scarf, and a bag...small things, but I'm placing this quilt at the head of the queue when I return. I've long wanted a summer quilt for my bedroom, and this will be it. It's a little more planned than usual (which is to say, there was a sketch and measured dimensions), but also a little bit improvisational, which represents my piecing and quilting style well. The product and the process, therefore, are both for me, and I'm really happy about that. Only a week and a half until I return to it....lots of Twin Cities exploration to do in the meantime, including the fabric shop 2 blocks from my housesitting gig. Sweet.