What a week...

it’s been, that last one. The election in the US, the end of the German coalition government, a football match in Amsterdam gone riot. Excuse me? No comment on either of these happenings from my side. We all have to live with it, and …

I spent a few days at my mother’s place, first celebrating her birthday, then tackling tasks of dealing with the aftermath of my father's passing end of July. There are numerous visits to her place ahead of us in the near future. Donating his clothes to a charity was probably one of the easier ones, although not really easy for either of us. I took some of his shirts, thinking I may use them for comfort quilts. And his hankies, which I already turned into an advent calendar for my son. That now needs to be shipped to Amsterdam when I have found a suitable box ( and no, he did not get caught up in the riots, his campus is far enough away from where things were happening).

Advent calendar for a big boy now out there in the big world...
perphaps more of a comfort for the mother to make it than a necessary gift?

 Now my husband and I are getting acquainted with the situation of being together only the two of us again, an empty nest in a new place. A lot of things still need to find their place and although only a relatively small number of boxes remain to be unpacked (but first we need to get hold of a shelf to be able to put the contents somewhere) and some order has indeed been achieved I would not say that I have developed a real sense of belonging. In fact, I am a bit at a loss when people ask me ‘and have you settled down yet?’ 

We go for walks to explore the surroundings.

The area used to have granite quarries, and porcelain factories,
but most of that has disappeared.

 

I did enjoy the last couple of days of the so-called ‘inversion weather situation’ when I could see in the weather app that almost all of Germany was covered by fog, cold air trapped beneath the higher, warmer layer that we were fortunate to enjoy. 

 

That is a benefit of this place I had not taken into consideration. It used to be that I was the one caught below, under the fog, and that always was a difficult situation for me to bear. 

 

One of the still-not-turned-into-order places is my studio. Smaller than before, fewer shelves, and I just haven’t been here enough to work myself through it all and establish a decent system. But I have sewn a bit, even finished a top already. In the summer I was invited to join the international quilt group Voyage, and although I was a bit at a loss for an idea to sew something for the theme ‘Alchemy’, I wanted to make it a point to participate right away. Once the idea had surfaced it all came together quickly and I have already basted it. Let’s see how quilting goes.

A pre-final view of 'Alchemy of Fabrics', using a number of 'special'
fabrics that have either been treated with a special dyeing method
(indigo, or rusting), or have a special geographic origin
(African countries, Japan), or a special emotional connotation (custom
printed fabric with my son's handwriting from a few years ago).

 Another object that needs to be completed is my first piece for 20 Perspective’s current year-long topic which will eventually count three pieces by each of the members. The first one was due in June, and I did not finish on time. The second reveal within the group took place recently, and I haven’t started the second piece yet, although I do have an inkling where the fabrics might be that I want to use. I hope to be back on track for the third reveal date in January.