For years I kept journals -- in composition, spiral bound, and French graph paper books. This blog is an attempt to get back to writing and documenting the world around me using photos, newspaper headlines, and other articles.

Monday, May 30, 2016

Memorial Day

Service and sacrifice.  Being willing to serve knowing that you could lose your life.  For all those who have lost life in battle or in other service to our Country -- we won't forget.  Thank you.  I took the pictures below at the Vietnam Women's Memorial one July morning before class in 2011.  The light was perfect and I circled it many times, trying to capture its beauty.





This has been a weekend of two halves.  On Saturday, we drove over to Amherst so that Selim could play in a soccer tournament.  In typical New England fashion, Saturday was the hottest day yet this year by many, many degrees.  Both my car and Mom's listed 97 as the air temp.  And that didn't factor in the humidity.  Instead of playing two halves, the games were played in quarters so that the boys could have water breaks.  Substitutions were frequent.  We had a cooler in the back of the car with bottles of sports drinks, water, and watermelon.  The games were hard fought and Selim's team lost both.

Finding a scrap of shade before game #1

So hot and also proud of Selim's play

A bit of cloud cover before the 2nd game. 

At the end of the game, a rainbow appeared behind us.

We got home and formed a line for the shower.  Around 9:00 I realized that I should wash his uniform in case he played in his whites on Sunday morning.  Dang!  By 10:00 we were in bed.  The alarm went off at 6:00 and we just made it out the door by 7:30.  The game Sunday morning was at a different field and I took a scenic, round about way to get there.  At least I wasn't the only one that got lost.  The goalie arrived as the boys took the field.  A cold front had blown through during the night and all the spectators were dressed in long pants, jackets, and hot coffee in hand.  A mere 62 at playing time, the boys had a bit more pep in their steps.  The game was closer than most, but in the end, they were not victorious in the score.  Selim had fun, and that is what counted.  He was disappointed that they didn't win a game, but he has improved so much in the short month that he joined the team, that he can't really be sad about the final scores.

High knees? Lunges? Windmill arms?  Stretching pre-game.

Post game photo op.

Tired boy, proud mom.


We got home in the early afternoon and I curled up on the couch under a comforter and took a long nap.  I think the heat from the day before really did me in,  I've had more energy today and had fun my sewing room in the morning.  I finished a couple of The Splendid Sampler blocks that had been waiting for some attention.  In the afternoon, Selim and I went into town and got him new running shoes.  We enjoyed a sweet day together.

Stitching Fashion, a paper pieced block. 
Block #30 -- a real joy to sew. I will be making more!

Auditioning background fabrics.

I liked the pink the best. It made the blues pop.

My last 6 The Splendid Sampler Blocks.

The Splendid Sampler is proving to be very interesting.  I've veered off in my own direction on a couple of blocks after thinking that I would stay true to the designer's intent.  For now, I have chosen not to do Block #25, Sunday best.  It is a very sweet bunny applique square.  I have found over the last 30 blocks that I don't really enjoy applique very much.  I'm thinking about how I can get them done the quickest -- not really loving the process.  So for now, I've given myself permission not to count that block as still on my to-do list.  Instead, I substituted a bonus block and love it (see the top left blue block in the  top left above).  It is everything I love; a focus on geometric pattern, a great showcase for fabric, and taken in smaller units, can be combined in so  many interesting ways.  This is basically a take on the Bento Box or Log Cabin blocks that I have made many times before.

And I'm discovering that I love paper piecing.  I love the exactness of it.  Granted, my dress is a bit off as I wasn't able to get the bodice seams matched up just right.  But I love the process.  I made two of the Scrappy, Happy Hearts.  Here is #2.  I hope there are a bunch more in the remaining 69 designs in this mystery sampler series.

Paper pieced heart, colorway #2.


This week coming up is going to be jam packed.  Selim has a big field trip mid-week.  Heather arrives for an overnight on Thursday!  Woot!   I'll work a 1/2 day on Friday and then drive her down to her Wellesley reunion.  Saturday is the Seacoast Modern Quilt Guild monthly meeting followed by a soccer game.  Sunday he has his last soccer game.  It is against Jacob's team.  As Selim says, "friend versus friend...who will win?"  I hope both boys play well.  Fingers crossed for a good game.  And then the countdown to the last day of school is on.  Oh my.


Sunday, May 15, 2016

Sewing and Soccer

I have a new gig, Soccer Mom.  It's fun.  Selim has had three practices and three games since Wednesday, May 4.  The home field complex has a great walking trail that borders along the whole place and I've been using it during part of the practices.  The practice time is 6:00-7:30pm.  That's a little tough for me.  We get home and he is hungry and needs a shower.  I'm trying to finish up last minute things and still be in bed before 9:00.  The 3:45 alarm comes really fast when I get to bed later than 9:00.

Mom came to Wednesday's practice.

Yay, Mom!


His games this weekend were home and away.  Yesterday it was in the mid-70's with a slight breeze,  The boys on the other team seemed huge compared to our squad.  But the game itself was close and they lost by 1. In the evening, I realized that my arms and cheeks were sunburned.  Contrast today's weather -- windy, windy, windy, and temps in the low 50's.  Parents were wearing ski hats and jackets.  I had on three layers.  This game was in Candia and the final score was 3-3.  Selim doesn't start, but he has gotten subbed in every game, both halves.  He is happy with his playing time and so am I.  Today he almost scored.

Today's game.

More of today's game.

Getting winded.  Go white!

Parents all bundled up


In my free time, while I am not at a soccer venue, I am sewing.  One project I can't share yet, but it is coming along nicely.  During in between times, I continue to work on my Splendid Sampler blocks.  This morning I was six blocks behind.  Now I am only four.  I had trouble sleeping last night.  I closed the windows anticipating the rain along the cold front pushing through.  At 10:30, Selim called out that he couldn't sleep because he was sweating.  I was too.  I opened up the windows again and figured that if the rain was fierce, I would hear it and I could get back up and close them again.

Around midnight I thought I heard rain.  At 3:00 I wondered if I should get up in an hour and go in to the office for overtime.  At 5:00 Nedim got up.  At 5:45 I couldn't face going into work, but I wasn't sleeping.  I went downstairs into my sewing room and cleaned it up a bit. I organized some projects.  I've printed out some patterns thinking I would get to them -- I haven't. So I put them away.  I re-shelved books.  I tidied up my scraps.  At 7:00 I figured I wouldn't wake the guys up if I used my machine.

I began another paper piecing block called Goose on the Loose designed by Amy Smart.  I love this block.  In her intro, she talked about her kids running in every direction while she tried to keep up.  I don't have four kids, but I feel like I wear four hats that compete for my attention and time.  I am wife/mother/immediate & extended family member.  I am a Civil Servant and I love my job.  It is energizing and draining at the same time.  I've got a lot of projects with tight deadlines that I am trying to finish.  I am a quilter.  If I didn't play with color, pattern, and texture -- I would be a very unhappy woman.  And lastly, I'm part of a community on the same spiritual discipline.  I wish I devoted more time to that practice.  And I hope I am a friend, colleague, supporter of those in my circle.

So this block spoke to me on many levels.  And I have discovered that there is a mind clearing aspect to paper piecing.  It is very precise and once you get the first two pieces sewed down, the process is almost magical.  The pattern develops before your eyes and at the same time, it isn't stressful.  

Four separate sub-units.

Sewing the four blocks together

Back side, all sewed together.

Goose on the Loose.

Love the block!


After making chocolate chip pancakes for my soccer boy, I went back downstairs to work on Block #23 by Kari Carr called Hand in Hand.  This block was about her mother and at the heart was a red square representing her mother's heart.  Last month, while Heather was at the Ashram, we went through a few boxes of Mom's fabric and clothes that had been boxed in the attic.  I took some fabric and parts of shirts that Mom loved and had not been able to part with.  At the heart of my block is fabric from Mom's blouse.  The blue fabric I cut from the front of a blouse that she got in India.  So this block for me mirrored the designer's inspiration.


Hand in hand.


Lastly, Selim brought home his patchwork pillow on Friday that he made in  Life Skills class.  He did a great job and he is so proud.  The ninja fabric we got together with Heather in NYC last April vacation.  It only took a year to get used.  Oh well.  I'm sure there are more sewing projects in his future!

Selim's bed and his pillow, center stage.

Selim and his pillow.



Sunday, May 8, 2016

Mother's Day

Lucky moms, all three of us.

I have such ambivalent feelings about Mother's Day.  On the one had I love it.  I have a great Mom, step-Mom, sister who is a mom, sister-in-law who is a mom and I'm a mom.  We get to call each other and celebrate the day.  Then on the other side of the coin is all the pain that is associated with this day.  All the years I wanted to be a mom, desperately, and wasn't.  The moms who have lost their children and can't celebrate this day like others.  Or women who have lost their mothers and can't call them to say hello.  And then to all the women who want to be mothers and haven't been able to become one.  This day can be so bitter sweet.  It is not all flowers and butterflies.

For me, I'm so fortunate.  I've had a great weekend with my kid.  Yesterday, we supported each other in activities that we love.  Because his dad was busy, Selim came to the monthly Seacoast Modern Quilt Guild meeting with me in W. Newbury, MA.  I've never been on that particular stretch of Rt. 113 and my oh my are there some beautiful houses to be seen.  It was a fun meeting -- trunk show and talk by Amy Friend, who blogs under the name During Quiet Time.  She has just written a book Intentional Piecing and she brought the projects from the book.  It was really fun to see all her work up close and personal.

On the way home, we stopped at our local sports gear shop and bought thinner shin guards and athletic tape.  We got home in time to eat lunch, get on appropriately colored shorts and t-shirt (since he hasn't gotten his uniform), and gel his hair before getting back in the car and driving to his first ever soccer game.  It was a good experience for him.  He subbed in both halves.  He felt reasonably comfortable out there.  His team lost, but that is part of competition (unless you are the UConn Women's basketball team).

Pre-game talk from the refs

Taking in the flags at the end of the game


I sat on the sidelines, on the grass, the only parent who did not have a big canvass or mesh captain's chair.  Clearly, I am the novice in the group.  Today, Selim and I went to Target and I got my very own chair.  Understanding all the requirements of a soccer mom is going to take some time. I think the weather is supposed to be nicer this week.  Sitting on cold, wet grass isn't the most fun thing ever, but I survived.

Selim started this soccer thing on Wednesday.  It was 43 and raining.  Nedim kept telling me that practice would be cancelled.  I would shake my head and tell him that we were going.  He could stay home but Selim and I were not going to let the rain stop his first practice.  I've waited years for him to agree to be part of an organized sporting team.  Cold and wet weren't going to deter us.

Ready for his first practice


Huddling to keep warm

Father and son

But man, it was cold.  Practice lasted an hour and a half.  The kids were warm as they were running and doing drills.  Nedim and I were sitting on a wet metal bench.  I wouldn't let him go to the car to warm up because he was blocking the wind.  After an hour, he had enough and since the boys were moving to a different part of the field, we left the bench and stood on the sidelines.  I was so cold.

At the end of practice, Selim ran off the field with the biggest smile and rosy cheeks.  It made me happy to see the excitement and satisfaction on his face.

Part-way through practice photo, while there was light.

Frozen mom, hot kid.

He was nervous before hand, but he overcame that and had a great time.  I'm looking forward to this soccer mom thing.  May it continue to be fun and challenging for him.