From A - WIP-a-licious

Has it really been almost a month since my last post?!? I'm glad that Kelsey has been holding down the fort. We have finally made it to California and after a whirlwind weekend back in Toronto and almost a week of living in a hotel we are finally in our new place and trying to settle in (as settled in as you can be when your only furniture is a mattress on the floor and a computer chair/desk).

The general lack of order in my life is also reflected in the growing mound of WIPs that have taken up residence in the corner of the living room that would ordinarily be home to a couch or end table.

I got my Smitten Quilt back from the long armer and am happy with how it turned out. All this needs now is some binding and a label. This is going to get finished as soon as I find a quilt shop that is willing to give me 10 minutes with their cutting mat and 6" x 24" ruler as mine are on a truck somewhere between Toronto and California.

Most of the blocks for my Meadow Quilt were made on our road trip. Just need to get them sewn together and figure out the whole boarder/backing situation.

When I visited Kelsey in Calgary last Fall, she had the crazy idea that we should both make Washi dresses while I was there. Although I managed to cut the fabric for my Washi, I never really made any more progress with it. I worked on it again on the road trip and now it just needs to be hemmed before it can find a more permanent home in my closet.

During my most recent visit, I was to blame for deciding that we should both make Staple dresses when I was in Calgary last month. True to form, Kelsey finished hers and mine is still somewhere between started and wearable.

Here's hoping I'll have some finishes to show you soon! I should probably clear up that pile of WIPs before the couch actually arrives.

From A - One for the Road

I have made a few references to the fact that I'm leaving fair Toronto and moving to the San Francisco Bay area to take advantage of an opportunity that as a family, we couldn't pass up. When this opportunity came along, I wasn't ready to move. Not even close. Early on, I decided that the move would happen gradually over almost two years. This seemed like the only way to make it manageable.

I've been quiet on the blog lately while trying to see as many people as possible and finish off everything at work and at home before leaving. In short, it's been hard. My stress levels are high and I've had almost no time for the things in life that make me happy and give me balance.

After being in the office every single day for a week after my "official" end date, I decided that the only way to avoid spending my very last week in Toronto working 12 hours a day was to sign up for the world's most awesome  four day quilting class with Lizzy House. Yep, you read that right, Lizzy freakin' House. Easy choice.

I'm not sure that I can put into words what it meant to me to spend four days with Lizzy and the wonderful group of women in my class at this stage of the game. Suffice to say that it was amazing enough that I actually cried on the last day...on and off for almost an hour (could also be related to the whole moving/saying goodbye thing).

Class photo!!

Things kicked off with Lizzy's help picking and organizing our fabrics. The next three days were all about getting down to business pressing, cutting and sewing our blocks together. It took me all four days to make it about 1/3 of the way through the cutting and to get one block pieced.

First block.

Amazing, right? I really love how this is coming along. Every part of this quilt is beautiful...even the scraps it generates.

Let's just say that this puppy is going to be a lot of work. The kind of work that bends your brain, makes you hesitate and double check everything before you cut into your fabric and that makes it tough to see the beautiful quilt at the end of the tunnel. Not so different from our move, except at the end of the move there is an exciting new life waiting for us in place of a lovely quilt.

In light of this parallel, it seems appropriate to tackle this quilt on the four week Farewell Canada tour we hatched (no better way to elevate a busy move to truly crazy status). Me, the Mr. and our dog are driving across Canada and down the West Coast until we make it to California. Along the way, we are stopping to spend time with almost everyone that we love and even found a little time for some much needed R&R.

I'm hoping to grow this quilt throughout our journey, making a block a day so that when I arrive in the Bay area, I'll have a gorgeous quilt top to remind me that difficult things can also be beautiful.