Color Selection

Francis de Sales was quoted to say: "Have patience with others, but first of all with yourself." Easy for him to say. Patience with myself has never been my strength. 

I am learning.

I took time to select colors for the next Row of the Month. First of all, the pattern asked for (24) 3.5" white squares. There were a number of smaller pieces of white in the bin that I cut from with very little waste, and a few smaller squares to put with other scraps. Its amazing how one project leads to leftovers that can go into yet another project. It felt good to use these scraps, but barely took a dent in that bin.

This putzy time I spend in scrap quilting seems like a lot until I think of what it would take to get in the car to go shopping and shop from racks and racks of fabrics. The pattern also called for (12) different scraps each measuring 3.5" x 6.5". I pulled out the 8" squares, sorted 12 different ones with an eye to contrast more than coordination. As I cut them, the square left 4" wide so I cut two 4"x4" squares.

That is all I am doing for a little while on this row. The previous row needs machine appliqué and then joining of the three blocks to make a row, and joining the row to the others. It is my transitional project from 2016 to 2017 where I plan to work on the UFO's. 

This brings me back to patience with myself. Every year, I get stressed out with what I want to send to my Grands and other close people in my life.  Every year, I come up with new solutions in the attempt to relieve the stress and still express my language of love for them.

I'd like to say I am stress free because I have everything ready to ship. I'd like to say that. Yet, the lesson is more about Patience-With-Self than it is about being Stress-Free.