A Good Day

It's now the 16th and I'm still trying to muster courage to go work in the studio. Temps are gradually rising and I'm beginning to warm (pun intended) to the idea. However, I was spared the guilt of hovering in the nice warm house today as Vera Allen arrived mid-morning and spent the whole darn day with me! And did we have fun?! There are a couple of you who don't know Vera...well, she has been a family friend...more than a friend, more like an adopted daughter...since she was in junior high and she's now 28 years old in her final year at Berkeley studying Latin. Yes, Latin! 

Vera brought an old Singer sewing machine with her that she claims I gave her over ten years ago. Hmmmmm...must have belonged to my Mom as I've never owned a Singer. I'll take credit for the gift, but I'm beginning to question Vera's memory (or, could it be mine???). We spent an hour cleaning it and identifying feet and other attachments (they'd been co-mingled with accessories from two other machines. It runs like a charm, although it's noisy. Vera also brought her stash (one bankers box of some "unusual" fabrics) and scraps of flannel that she'd bought when she was into making shoes bags (who makes shoe bags?). Reluctantly, she agreed to let me cut up the shoe bags/flannel; I added a bit of flannel from my stash and got her started on a small, donation rag quilt. Vera approached the project as she approaches life...with enthusiasm, confidence, and hard work! By about 9 p.m. she was finished with the stitching and ready to clip. I sent her hope with a pair of pointy scissors and would not be surprised if the quilt were finished tomorrow and ready to donate. There was talk of taking the machine to school with her and making more donation/gift rag quilts. I think she's ready to step it up and make a big-girl quilt.