Falling Again

We voted today, early, at the small polling station in the village. I'm glad it's done. Now I can watch the election carnage with a clear conscience. It's terrifying that the election is even close. I can't believe the number of stupid people--racist, misogynistic, hateful--in this country, people willing to vote for a convicted felon and rapist because--why, again?

That's a lie. I don't have any trouble believing it. I'm from here. I've been at the shit end of this system--the system that bell hooks calls the white-supremacist capitalist patriarchy--my whole life. It's exhausting.

Have you voted yet? If you haven't and you can, get your shit together and do so.

Before and after voting, I worked on the latest leaf quilt. Sewing is keeping me sane at the moment. (This is a staged photo with my favorite leaf block so far and  my iPad with an episode of Elementary playing in the background. To the right of the iPad is a stack of 3.5 inch squares that I use to make up my scrappy leaf bodies. )

I have thirty-eight of these blocks done. I'm trying to decide how many I'll need to make a big quilt. It may be upwards of 100 blocks like this for a queen sized quilt. Or I may just make it a lap/nap quilt and be done with it. I don't know yet.

Oh, and of course the six yards of sapphire blue I ordered was not the right color. I'm using it anyway. 

The woman who taught me quilting--a woman I've never met and who will never meet, but whose online tutorials have turned me into a quilter--has a phrase that she repeats often: Finished is better than perfect. That is my motto when it comes to quilting, too. As far as my quest for the perfect blue: Another art teacher I follow online often says, don't waste time looking for the perfect thing, go with the first thing that works.  (That said, I have six yards of azure blue in another cart just waiting for me to hit the order button. But do I want to make this quilt again? That would make it three times. Do I want to make the same quilt three times? Maybe I do. I'm still thinking about it. Maybe I want to make this quilt again and again and again until I'm done making it. I don't know yet.)

This is something else I made recently:

A year (!) ago, my friend Grace gave me this flannel yardage and asked for pajama pants. There was only one yard of it, so the back is made from a red plaid flannel that was in my fabric stash. This pattern makes enormous pajama pants. That is only an XL. After I made these, I went online and looked for the same pattern in a smaller size. Turns out the pattern was discontinued, but I found an online seller on Etsy who had it and I ordered it (along with a pin cushion from another seller). 

 

I also used this pattern to make an apron for my mother recently. I tried to photograph it, but it was hard to photograph an apron just hanging there, so I'll get a photo when I give it to her.

 

What else? 

 

Last night, on the way home from picking up dinner, a young coyote ran across the road in front of our car. We see them from time to time, but this one was very bold, crossing the road. I feel for them having to do that. I feel for any wild animal having to try to make its way in this increasingly hostile world. I love the coyotes. I love to hear them howl at night.