Telling Stories Around the Fire

I had the sermon time at church yesterday. Our transitional pastor put together a series that she is calling “Faith Beyond Our Fears” and asked people to share personal experiences. I agreed, reluctantly, not because I hate public speaking—I’ve always said that if you stick a microphone in my face, I’ll happily chatter away—but because some of what I’ve experienced in my life is difficult to revisit. I did it, though, and I think it went well. I also know that sometimes it helps to hear from people who have been through tough times and soldiered on. I just never wanted any of that to become my identity. I am not a victim, just a person navigating life like everyone else.

Ginger, who does our visuals, came up with a mock fire pit idea, and her husband, Steve, built it:

I sat on the bench by the “fire” and spoke from there.

I was given the gift of not having to be the pianist yesterday. We sang the whole service acapella and I chose the hymns. I love to sing and don’t often get the opportunity because I am up at the piano. I can’t sing and play at the same time.

I came home after church and put together the Olympia/Miramar muslin:

I like it a lot, although this muslin is too short. Something went awry in the frankenpatterning. I need to revisit the pattern tracing and do a better job of “walking” the seams to make sure everything matches up.

[I do finish most of my muslins so I can donate them. Just because they don’t fit me doesn’t mean that someone else can’t wear them, and I hate to waste the fabric.]

All this fitting I’ve had to do lately is getting old. I might knock out another Laundry Day Tee just so I can feel like I’ve accomplished something, although it might be time to get away from clothing for a while.

Today and tomorrow are pretty full, but I will get that Sunbonnet Sue top based this week so I can start quilting it. I plan to quilt an outline around each appliqué, then fill in the background with something. Part of the reason I wanted to quilt the red Churn Dash, first, was to test out that idea. Those blocks aren’t appliquéd, but the quilting technique is similar. Now that the sashing is quilted, I’m going to try out my idea on one of the Churn Dash blocks before I move to the Sunbonnet Sue. I just need to change the thread color.