Sew-sew.

Well, we’re off on our adventure to the other side of the world. The last four weeks have been crazy and fun and now the day we’ve waited for has finally arrived. We left home at 2:30; Chicago around 5:30; and will leave Los Angeles around 11:00 tonight. As we cross the International date line, Saturday will disappear for us, and we’ll arrive in Auckland on Sunday morning.

It was harder than I expected to say goodbye to little Oaks. Leaving a three week old baby for 4 weeks is just not cool. It made me realize how hard it will be to leave Anne’s babies (years from now.) I grabbed whatever opportunity I could to spend time with Laura, Kellen and Oaks and did “errands” enroute so that gradually my list was whittled down. I tried hard not to spend too much money, but weddings have a way of nickel and diming you, especially weddings on the other side of the other side of the world.

After I finished the “basics” (making and sending out invitations to US friends and family, altering Anne’s wedding dress, buying wedding clothes for Lizi and John and me, and purchasing a few special gifts) it was time for me to indulge in some wedding preparation/fun.

I decided I needed to finish the hat I’d started for Oaks so that he could wear it while the weather was still cool. It’s supposed to be an acorn, though I’m not sure I managed to convey that in my design. It does have an oak leaf and an acorn attached to the top, just in case you miss the overall plan.

I wanted to make traveling pillows, one for Lizi and one for me. I made one when I traveled to New Zealand in 2011 and loved it, but sadly, left it on the plane. That one had a black pillowcase (easy to leave behind, I guess) so I made bright green pillowcases—sheep out in pasture with New Zealand accents. I actually made these this morning while completing our packing.

That was primarily because I spent the last four days working on a quilt that I decided to make, oh, last Sunday. I actually didn’t make a whole quilt. What I did was design a quilt and make about 80 “signature” squares for Anne and James’ wedding guests to sign. When I come home I’ll sew them all together, add a few borders, and finish a quilt.

I bought a lot of fabric when I visited New Zealand in 2011. I’d actually tried to make a similar quilt at the end of her first semester at Capernwray, sending Anne marked muslin to have her friends sign. Unfortunately, my instructions weren’t clear and people wrote all over the squares, making them mostly impossible to incorporate into a quilt. This week I pulled out my Kiwani fabrics and chose ones that worked well together and started playing with the design. Even though I was using a pattern*, it still required a lot of “play” to figure out how to best use the fabric on hand. It took three stops at local quilt stores to find complimentary fabrics where needed. And then lots of sewing and slicing to get the squares finished.  On Thursday, my friend texted wondering how the packing was going. I replied that I was too busy sewing! (She’s used to my last minute crazy projects, usually at Christmastime.)

When John found me at the cutting board on Monday morning, I just said “You don’t want to know what I’m doing.” He agreed.

I actually think it helped me—a weird way of focusing—but one that works for me. It gave me something to do (cleaning house wasn’t an option) while I did laundry, packed, and finished the more mundane things on my To Do list.

Other fun projects included making Thank You cards, designed by our friend, Courtenay, and a Hobbit sign, carved by Rick.  I love having artistic friends that can help me get from concept to creation. I also had fun putting together a Honeymoon Emergency kit.

A friend’s spouse cynically said that weddings were glorified craft shows. He may be right, but I had a fun week gearing up for the wedding and it just wouldn’t have been the same without a little pre-wedding craziness on my part.

So how was the week?

Sew-sew.

* I have used this pattern twice in the past. In 2005 I made Laura a signature quilt for her bridal shower with a sunflower as the center design. A year later, Mari and I made a bicentennial quilt for our class (we graduated in 1976) in red, white and blue and had our classmates sign it at our 30^th reunion. It has since traveled around to various classmates during illness or other special times as a way of wrapping our arms around one another in hard times. Both Mari and I have “received” the quilt in the past year. I made one other signature quilt for Courtenay’s wedding, though I used a completely different design. Each time I learn a little more about instructing (and sometimes monitoring) signatures so they don’t “mess up” the finished product. This is the first time I’m having folks sign before I assemble the quilt, which might be my best idea yet.

(Pictures to follow.) `