Sewing at Semester's End

I spent a good chunk of yesterday morning grading and checking and checking again and then turning in final grades.  And then, I went for a walk in the beautiful, sunny, chilly morning.  I spent the afternoon watching old episodes of Top Chef and working on the log cabin quilt squares that I started last week-end.

There are five log cabin patches/squares on the top of the chair; I did most of the sewing of them over the past two days.  Nine days ago, I had nothing assembled at all.  I mention this, just to note how much I can accomplish if I just sit and sew while watching TV.

The strips that I am using come from strips that would have otherwise gone into the garbage at Quilt Camp a few weeks ago.  I collected bag after bag of scraps that would have otherwise gone into the garbage, enough to fill the hatchback of my little Toyota Prius.  We used some of it at the Create in Me retreat, and I sent most of it back with a retreatant from Knoxville who will take it to a resource center where people can come in and get all sorts of supplies for free or for cheap.

I am creating these log cabin patches/squares to enlarge the quilt in progress; I need at least 7 more, maybe 14.  The picture above is the top that I put together over the past two Quilt Camps, with patches/squares that I made mostly during the spring of 2023.  Here's a picture from January of 2023, in the early stage of the process.

I used these squares in my Queer Theology class, which I wrote about in a blog post.  I am so grateful to have gone to a seminary where my professors encouraged interesting approaches.

I've gotten some of my seminary grades, and I should get the rest today--graduate grades are due tomorrow.  The grades are good and the comments make me happy.  Every time I turn in an assignment, there's still that fear that I've done it wrong.  For the two classes that I took this semester, I'd taken other classes with each professor, so I wasn't as worried, but the worry is always there.

Today I should restore some order to the house.  I need to pay some bills, return some library books, all the things that could be postponed until now.  But I will probably also sew some more.  I really enjoy putting the strips together, seeing how the whole becomes so much more than the individual strips.