To be a better Noticer

I had an appointment in town today. I was due for another A.R.T. session on my shoulder that I yanked pulling a garden hose while driving my golf cart too fast. But, that’s a story for another day.

I hesitate to share this, because I’m not looking for pats on the back. I want you to see this as an urging to be a noticer. Open your eyes, and look around you.

I pulled up and parked my car. As I walked to the door of the office building, I noticed an elderly gentleman leaning on his cane, about 5 feet from the corner of a surgery building. I’m sure he expected me to walk by. But, I stopped, the socially acceptable 6 feet away, and asked if I could help him.

He was clearly in a lot of pain, and said his wife was pulling the pickup around. I took a step away, and saw the pickup. The man, still stood there. I motioned to the pickup, and asked if I could open the door. “Yes, please.” He hesitated and I asked, is there anything else I can do for you? “Could you help me get to the door?’ Of course. And I walked over, and offered him my arm.

He held onto my arm, and we walked to the pickup. His wife thanked me. And then, he put his hand on mine, for just a few seconds.

And, I’ve thought about that moment all day long. How that moved me. How I would have missed that connection, had I been looking down. And, it also made me remember just how powerful touch can be.

I’ve learned, ever since the day I talked my husband into staying at the camp instead of kayaking with the family, that the spirit prompts us, if we will listen. My husband passed out 15 minutes after my family left for the river, and he ended up needing a pacemaker, after a long helicopter ride.

I had thought about changing my own appointment today, staying home. But, something compelled me to keep it. And my gut said, there’s a reason; listen to the prompting. I believe that the spirit prompts us all the time, but we are too busy, or life is too loud to hear it. And I’m not saying that I was needed there because someone needed my arm. But, I think I needed the reminder that the enemy wants me to swim in fear, the kind of fear that locks me up inside, so I don’t notice hurting people; so I worry only about my own well-being.

I needed to feel that soft touch on my hand, from another human, after so many weeks of isolation. We need each other.

Your friend,

Anne Dovel - The Fit Quilter

Simply Sourdough

It’s not my first time baking bread or even sourdough, for that matter. But, I hadn’t had a good starter for a very long time, and even then, it yielded good bread, but with the addition of yeast.

The short of it is, I wanted to get back to baking sourdough. The long of it is, I had other books, other blogs, stalked beautiful images of sourdough on Instagram and it was all so technical. I really just wanted to have a starter to feed, and bake bread without having to know exact hydration, for instance. I just wanted to bake bread with a sourdough starter.

This book, Wild Bread, was exactly what I was looking for. And I’m going to share my experience with it, in a series of hopefully, short posts.

And, then, I’ll share a simple method I’ve used over and over. I’ll try to share measurements for those of you who like to measure and I’ll share the size of my hand, for those of you who like to throw in a handful of this or that!

Your friend,

Anne Dovel - The Fit Quilter

What is on the frame today?

I picked out stitches. And started over.

I’m much happier with this simple quilting for the star.

Stay Well!

Your friend,

Anne Dovel - The Fit Quilter

A stack of quilts to finish

I took advantage of a rainy day, to pause on the outside work, and laid out some quilt tops that I’ve made. Six or 7 years ago, I started my first block-of-the-month quilt, and I’ll talk about why in another post, but here are 3 of them.

I could quilt edge to edge, but I’m in no hurry, so I’ll custom quilt them. Edge to edge is a single, repeating design over the entire quilt. It can be intricate or simple and the possibilities are endless. Custom quilting is like it sounds. As you might have guessed, custom quilting takes a lot more time.

And neither is more right than the other. As with all things quilting, you get to choose what works for you, what you have the time and budget for.

The funny thing I have discovered, on quilts with lots of prints or piecing, simple can be just as good; lines, grids, wavy lines. Once it’s washed, you don’t notice the quilting as much, as it gets that wonderful crinkly texture.

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From left to right: Getting to Know Hue, Color Love, Judie’s Album Quilt

But, it’s a fun challenge, so these three quilts will be custom quilted.

And, I’m going to load the first one on the left, because I think I know how I want to start!

Have a great day,
Your Friend,
Anne Dovel - The Fit Quilter

T-shirt Yarn

Long before we ran out of elastic, people were upcycling jersey t-shirts into a rolled “yarn” to use to make rugs, potholders, and to tie up tomato plants.

The annoying thing about sewing garments out of a jersey knit, is how it rolls up before you get it sewn together. That’s also the cool thing that makes it easy to turn into a cord.

Your friend,
Anne Dovel - The Fit Quilter

Countertops, What Countertops?

I’m sitting here in the dining/living room. Our barnhouse is very open, so the rooms don’t feel like rooms, except the bedrooms. Those are definite spaces with doors.

I’ve been watching a female oriole build her nest about a foot above last year’s nest, in the hackberry tree just beyond our patio. I’ve decided to focus on that, instead of the incredible disaster that is my kitchen and dining room table right now.

I can honestly say, it is never “company ready” on a day to day basis. It’s not a pigsty, but things pile up on the countertops and table, sometimes in the corners, as I've blogged about before. I decided awhile ago, that I had to choose between, having a super organized kitchen, that is always put away, with countertops that are always cleaned off, OR, having time to create art, sew and make quilts. I choose the latter, but in truth, it will drive me nuts if I let it. And, then my family suffers, because I go after the chaos with banging cabinet doors, swift movements, and no humor.

As happens often here on my blog, I really don’t have a solution, yet, to share that will solve this problem in my life. I don’t have a 3 step action plan for you. I’ve tried multiple organizing tips from other family, friends and even Pinterest; labels, task buckets, and minimizing.

What I have to do for myself, in this situation, is to focus on the relationships in my household, first. And then, with kindness, set forth my plan, in words….instead of rushing about, flying off the handle about this bad habit or that. I have trouble with the kindness part, with my family. I can do it with complete strangers. We often become that way with the relationships that are closest to us.

Just 2 days ago, I noticed my honeybees were especially active outside the hive, and I was afraid they were getting ready to swarm and I didn’t have my swarm trap built or up. I had a plan, I went after it. I snapped at my hubs of 35 years, because his shop has always been chaos, and he couldn’t find the tools or wire that I needed, in the speed I felt I needed it. It really didn’t matter, the swarm trap. What matters is my relationship, and I often forget that, when I’m hurrying around, trying to accomplish things.

So, what to do. Minimize, simplify, organize, declutter? I don’t know. Balance? That mythical, guilting idea, that we actually should strive for and achieve?

All I can do is continue to be mindful of relationships first, and establish some of the above tactics to make it easier to live in our house, continue fixing it up, and not have it fall into piles and piles of stuff that I have to clean up.

Feel free to leave some comments. Maybe you have a mindset or method that I can try. P.S. I like to have a tidy, but not sterile home, love to bake sourdough and make messes in the kitchen, and would prefer to sew over cleaning, every day. And, I live with my husband and son, who can look past piles of stuff, even better than I can. If you can help, apply below! Ha!

Your friend,
Anne Dovel - The Fit Quilter

Memorial Day Monday

We moved out to an acreage 5 years ago. I was charmed by the land, trees, birds and wildflowers, and the peace of the location. The house was, interesting.

We decided to buy the house with an enthusiastic realtor prompting us, very skilled in pointing out the plus sides so we wouldn’t pay attention to all the negatives and overwhelm of the house project ahead of us. And there was a lot of that.

My best friend, who grew up in the country, told me to go outside, anytime I got frustrated with the house. Which, I have done.

We have 1 neighbor down the hill, which we thought about contacting AFTER we bought the house. Luckily, we were blessed with the most amazing couple who have helped us over and over.

It’s Memorial Day weekend, and today is Monday. I’m trying to get to the point. Across the road from us, is an old cemetery. There are headstones dating back to civil war times. Every Memorial Day, the groundskeepers spruce up the cemetery, and get ready for a gun salute. Cars line up along the road, outside out house. And they have a short ceremony, and a gun salute to end it. We always watch from our deck and take a moment to remember, honor the dead. And its such a meaningful moment and something I look forward to each year.

Not this year. The cemetery manager decided not to have the event, due to Covid19. And, I’m a little sad. I love to see people show up, often with younger generations, to teach them what Memorial Day means, besides barbecues and days playing on the lake.

As a child, I remember Memorial Day as a day we spent seeing Grandparents. At my dad’s parent’s farm, Grandma would get out rusty coffee cans, that she saved from year to year, and fill them with iris and peony stems that grew in long rows close to the windmill. I can see it so clearly. We would load those cans full of flowers and take them to the cemetery. I don’t remember much after that, because I’m sure we were playing with cousins. Then, we’d go to my other grandma’s house, my mom’s mom, and stop at grandpa’s grave.

We didn’t have many military people in our family, so I just remember Memorial Day being a time to decorate graves of family members. I don’t think that’s wrong. Some will say otherwise. It’s a time to slow down for a bit, be grateful and remember. You might do that other times of the week or year, but I do hope you do it.

And, I really don’t think it’s wrong if this is a time you get with family and friends, and have a barbecue. We live in such a fast paced society, that these National holidays, often provide the only time to take a break, and excuse to gather and enjoy community.

Today, I will miss the gun salute. I hope they do it another time, after the fear of Covid19 dissipates. I hope people gather and catch up and share some food. I hope people teach their children to decorate graves and honor the memory of those who passed.

Your friend,
Anne Dovel - The Fit Quilter