Squash and Urban Chickens

My college friend, Audra, who lives in Colorado, sent me this note after reading yesterday’s blog post:

The "glass balls and rubber balls" concept originates from a 1991 Georgia Tech commencement speech by former Coca-Cola CEO Brian Dyson, who described life as juggling five balls: work, family, health, friends, and spirit. The idea is that work is a rubber ball—it bounces back if dropped—while the other four are glass balls, which can be irreparably damaged if they fall. The analogy encourages prioritizing the glass balls (family, health, friends, spirit) to maintain balance and avoid long-term consequences, as dropping them can lead to lasting harm, whereas dropping the rubber ball (work) is less impactful.  

Thank you, Audra. I appreciate knowing the origin of that analogy.

*****

I spent yesterday cleaning and organizing the sewing room. I didn’t do a complete teardown, but I did file all the loose pieces of fabric into their respective containers, cut leftover chunks of quilt cotton into squares and strips—now the scrap bags are really overflowing—and rearranged storage bins so that the winter fabrics are within easy reach. I “shopped my stash” for upcoming projects. I have some very nice fabrics in my stash and it’s time to get them out and use them.

Once everything was cleaned up, I got out my embroidery supplies and prepped a new Squash Squad block and a new Urban Chickens block:

On the left is #4 of 9 in the Sue Spargo Squash Squad series. I am averaging one squash per winter so I should probably speed it up a bit. I’m not following the directions slavishly; I embroider until I think it’s done. The block on the right is the “Sylvia” Urban Chicken. (This pattern doesn’t seem to be available any longer.) I’ve already done the “Charm” chicken block. The pattern also has nine blocks.

I prep these blocks by adhering bits of wool felt to a piece of Steam-A-Seam, cutting the pieces, then fusing the pieces to the base. The fuse is temporary, so I have to whipstitch around each piece with a matching thread color. Once that’s done, I can start embellishing.

The husband and I sit every night after dinner and watch YouTube videos, so this gives my hands something to do.

*****

Sunday morning, before I left Spokane, I stopped at the Walmart in Spokane Valley. That store—and Missoula—have the only two decent remnant racks left, and even that isn’t saying much. Still, I went to look. As I was standing there, looking through the fabric, a mom and her young son walked through the fabric department. They were discussing his Halloween costume. I heard her say, rather wistfully, “I wish Mommy knew how to sew.” I almost went over and said something to her but I try very hard not to accost strangers in stores because I don’t want to be that person. I taught myself how to sew (mostly) by making my kids’ Halloween costumes. That bar is pretty low, so it’s a good place to start.

What a stupid society we were to take home ec and shop class out of the curriculum. I am glad to see those classes are coming back.