Some quilt progress, and moving news

SEWING 

I started this post ages ago it seems. Time seems to have passed more slowly and more quickly than normal this past year.

One positive that has come out of this difficult chapter of history has been that the need to sew face masks got me back into the sewing room. Over the past year I’ve sewn over 200 face masks, mostly given away to friends, family, and a local community sewing group that was quickly organized to distribute face masks to groups who needed them. I sewed for the Maskateers, supporting Southeastern CT, as well as my synagogue, and friends and relatives. As difficult as this year has been, it felt good to have the necessary experience and skill to help.

Once I was back in the sewing room, I picked up other projects that had been on the back burner, like this bear quilt, a wedding present for Jeff and Julie, who have been married now for 3-1/2 years. I’m finally making some good progress. Guess it helps when I’m not doing a lot of my normal group activities.

I’m quite happy with the way it’s turning out, and all the bear applique squares are now finished. I still only have about half the number of bear’s paw blocks that I need.

Sewing has slowed down again though, not because I’ve lost the energy or the will, but because our plans have changed, and that has affected how much time I have to spend in the sewing room.

THE BIG MOVE

This pandemic and the year spent working from home has done more than bring back my sewjo. Dan has been working from home for over a year now, and has realized that he doesn’t really need to stay in Connecticut to finish out the few years he plans to work before retirement. He consulted with the powers that be, and has the go-ahead to continue working from home at a home that is not in Connecticut.

Our plan has long been to retire to Oregon, near my mom and daughter Jess, and much closer to the kids in Colorado. We have now moved up the moving date, bought a house in Lake Oswego, OR, and are preparing to put our CT house on the market. My time, therefore, has been spent purging, cleaning, packing, and making repairs and touch-up painting all over the house in order to be ready to show the house soon. Sewing is back on the back burner.

Guess I’ll have to change the name of the blog; in a month and a half I won’t be in Connecticut anymore. We’ve had a really good 25 years and there are a lot of incredibly supportive friends that I’m going to miss terribly. We do have a guest room in the new house, and I’m working on convincing all my dearest friends here in Connecticut to come visit us in Oregon.

OK, back to work cleaning and packing. Hope this house sells fast!

Shelley in CT