Kawandi #7

In the past week I started, and finished my seventh kawandi (the Indian word for quilt), since learning how to make them last December in a virtual workshop with Sujata Shah @therootconnection. Sujata's workshop is Stories in Stitches: Siddi Quilt.

My supplies are scrap fabrics; Quilter's Dream Request Cotton batting; Aurifil #12-weight thread in the off-white color 2021; and Bohin Crewel needles size 7. I love my Warm Crochet brand scissors too (won in an Instagram giveaway). 

This 17" X 24" kawandi was inspired by one I saw on Instagram, made by @quilterbeth using only stripes and solids, both of which I have in plenty.

These outdoor pictures really show the texture that hand-stitching gives to the piece. 

back of kawandi

I took this picture on the lanai table to show off the fact that my African violet is blooming again! It previously bloomed in February. 

The piece is now on the kitchen table where it looks good with our colorful Fiestaware. 

If you're intrigued by kawandi, I suggest following the Instagram hashtag kawandi - #kawandi That way you won't miss seeing what others are creating. 

In between times, all I have been doing is prep work for hand projects. It's surprising how much time it takes to choose and cut fabrics for EPP (English paper-pieced) Prudence blocks. 

These little rubber-banded bundles are each a cut and glue-basted EPP set to make one Prudence block. They'll keep me busy for a while. 

See my little Zappy Dot in the picture? That's a needle holder is where I rest my needle in between uses. Because it's magnetized, I can put it on my Zappy Dots bracelet (magnetic dots are interchangeable). Handy, right?

Book Recommendation

Afterlife by Julia Alvarez centers on Antonia Vega who has just retired from a career as a college English professor. Her husband has suddenly died, and she's feeling lost (in a new afterlife). Yet, she must support the people who need her: three sisters, and an undocumented, pregnant, immigrant teen. Because Antonia is a Puerto Rican immigrant herself, not only is her ability to communicate and translate needed, but her understanding of different cultures is valuable. Torn between her sisters' needs and those of immigrants, she must determine how to live in her new life. 

Lots of Spanish is spoken in this audiobook, some of which isn't repeated in English, so the listener is left to work it out in context. The story included lots of references to famous literature, and much of the book is spent focusing on personal character insights.  Linda's Score 3.5/5.0

After going to the Saturday Farmer's Market, we stopped at the grocery store: Publix. This is the new COVID-19 customer policy. While I'm completely in favor of it, isn't it impossible to enforce? How many non-vaccinated people will wear a mask? 

One of the "necessary" Publix purchases was this ice cream. As you can see, it's Publix's "limited edition," so I had to jump on that right away! This flavor has been highly recommended, though I can't yet attest to how good it is. 

Signage from El Arroyo in Austin, Texas, says what I think about ice cream.

I can't end this post without commenting about the topic I shared in my May 12 blog post: Fabric Stash is a Lesson in Economics.

climbing cotton prices

 

Sadly, as anticipated, it happened.

Sometime last week, my favorite shop for buying Painter's Palette Solids at a fabulous price ($5.96 a yard), raised the price to $7.96 a yard.

A $2 a yard jump!

😞

I saw this coming. Well, hubs saw it coming, and explained to me (which I shared with you in the blog post) why the price of bulk cotton would increase, and end in all of us - the consumers - paying higher prices for quilting cotton.

It doesn't feel very good to be right.

The only good news is that this shouldn't affect the price of cotton batting. The reason is that batting is made with "stripper cotton," a different, inferior type of cotton that hasn't seen price fluctuations.

"I told you so," isn't a nice thing to say, but I really hope you stocked up on your quilting cotton fabrics before prices went up. I won't be buying quilting cotton fabric for a long time, unless there's a big sale!

Linda