Virtual Lessons

On Friday night and Saturday afternoon, I attended two different virtual workshops. Friday evening was the much-anticipated Siddi workshop with Sujata Shah @therootconnection. If you'll recall, I attempted to make my own version of a Siddi quilt, following YouTube video instructions.

I had less than stellar results, though it being orange made it redeemable! 😃

After attending Sujata's 30-student workshop, some of what I learned is that Siddi is an ethnic group in India; "Kawandi" means "quilt." It was nice to learn about Indians' penchant for brightly-colored saris and bags, and those used items, including tailor's cut-offs, are what go into making a Siddi quilt. 

So with instruction that was pretty much anything goes (colorwise) - just use all the scraps that I think look good together - I've started another Siddi quilt. This one is 17" X 21".

Starting at a corner I began with "a pillar," which means placing the same fabrics on all four corners. And yes, a Kawandi is made from the outside toward the center. 

Quilting is with ecru-colored 12-weight Aurifil thread (generally, white and off-white thread colors are only used), and at each corner I'm adding the traditional "fula" which means flower. It's simply a folded square of fabric. 

This is all the further I've gotten, but it's good to know how to do it correctly!

Saturday afternoon was a three hour workshop with Malka Dubrawsky @astitchindye to make her Maze quilt, a free pattern if you're a member of the Modern Quilt Guild, though she's made some modifications to the instructions. She explained the process for making this quilt, which isn't as easy as it might seem. 

Of course, I had to change it. Whenever possible, I try to make useable-sized quilts, and her 40" X 45½" finish didn't work for me. So rather than cutting 2" strips as called for in the instructions, I cut 2½" strips. That decision forced me to do the math to change the size of half-square triangles, and lengths to add. 

This is the top half of the quilt that I finished this afternoon. The background fabric is really dark navy. Note that the maze is going clockwise. Next I'll make the bottom half with the maze going counter-clockwise. The top half is 34" high by 47" wide, so I'll end up with a nice lap-sized quilt when I'm finished.

I also finished cutting aqua-colored fabrics into 1½" strips that I then machine sewed end to end, ran through the bias tape maker, and wound into this 65 yard ball. I'll be peg loom weaving to turn this into another dining room chair pad. Then, only one more to make: yellow.

On Thursday evening, at about 6:30 pm we went outside to see the unmanned Falcon 9 fly overhead. It was launched from Cape Canaverall, about two hours away. It's pretty cool to see.

What's not so cool?

 II

Did you know that's the Greek letter Eta? And did you know that's the name of the latest tropical storm-hurricane to hit south Florida? Eta is the seventh letter in the Greek alphabet, so it's no joke that there have been way too many hurricanes this year!

Perhaps then, it wasn't an accident that this morning's sermon was about suffering. In 2020, suffering has been on many levels, and taken many forms. Consequently, the number of people experiencing depression has tripled in the past year. It's of such concern to mental health specialists that rather than taking an annual measurement of mental healthy, monthly studies are now being conducted. 

Jamie Richards, Lutheran Church of Hope, West Des Moines, Iowa

Jesus never promised we wouldn't suffer, but he did promise he'd be with us. Oh Lord, but need you to lead us. That's my prayer, for myself and our country. Linda