Valerean

The green patchwork quilt I won from my last round of wannabuts bids just arrived. Let's take a look. It's a lovely quilt, pieced and quilted on a domestic machine. I love the gold quilting thread the maker used. The backing is a dark tonal green that matches the binding. It's a pretty quilt, and once I wash it I'll keep it to snuggle up with on the sofa in my home office.

Some years back I began ending contact with people who for whatever reason had a toxic affect on me. This included colleagues, friends, and nearly all of my family members. I did not tell anyone why because at the time I honestly didn't understand why I was doing it; I just knew I needed to. I ended my relationships as politely as I could, but regardless I hurt some feelings. I have always tried to be accessible and helpful to the people in my life. I'm a very dependable person, and they counted on me to listen to and tolerate their problems, even when they never reciprocated. I also put up with a lot of toxic behavior from them because I believed eventually they would grow up and change. They never did. Funny that after treating me so badly most of them still thought they had the right to be in my life, and got very upset with me for ending the relationships. Now I know why I let go of so many relationships. After more than sixty years on the planet it was ti...

The vibrant quilt I thrifted as a wannabut for $9.99 just arrived, and it's even prettier in person. The log cabin pattern is a favorite of mine. Someone really had an eye for tropical color combinations, and using predominantly orange and blue novelty prints in such bold shades was brilliant. I also adore the black print sashing because it acts as the perfect foil (and I usually dislike dark colors.) It's definitely not a new quilt; the center of the backing shows moderate fading. Someone might have draped it over something that sat in the sun, like a table or a pet cage. I like the quirkiness of the backing fabric, too. Really interesting, and possibly east Asian in origin. The quilt was long-arm quilted with a simple loop pattern, and expertly bound by machine. It resonates with positive energy and love of color, and it's too pretty to cut up as I originally planned. I don't mind; I'm delighted to add it to my collection.

The two baskets I thrifted last week look pretty clean (and I'm careful about checking out what I want before I buy), but I still like to give them a clean before I use them. Both are made of natural fibers (wood and rattan) so it's not a good idea to get them wet or immerse them in any manner. First I spray a towel with Lysol cleaner and wipe them down inside and out to remove any dirt. Although the baskets don't smell, I still spray them with disinfectant spray and let them sit out in the sun for a day or two. After that they should be fine to use. I might line them with fabric or just use as they are. When you're thrifting baskets condition is everything. Along with how clean the basket looks check out how sturdy it is. You may find a few broken pieces (my rectangular basket had one small broken piece inside) but if they don't make the basket rickety you can trim any jagged ends with scissors (for thicker materials, tin snips work well.) One t...

February was a great month for getting things done, both for the day job and my creative projects. I kept up with my work assignments and completed some extra small projects for work, got most of my spring cleaning finished, and made not one but two crocheted throws along with my February tote for my calendar quilting project and all the other things I made. The two reasons I think I got all that done (and on time) was because I planned my time very well, and I'm happy, thanks to some changes I've made. One is to stop spending so much time worrying about, well, everything. I can't do anything about the evil and darkness out there except stay in the light and refuse to allow it to poison me. I'm much happier when I create. Crochet has helped me so much this year with keeping me calm and centered, too. I'm going to continue with the weekly mindfulness lessons from the Anna Black book I thrifted, as that's helping me sort out my thoughts, emotion...

The first project I completed in February was this big beautiful basket made from thrifted baby boucle yarns. I crocheted a much smaller basket to hold the wipes I use for my glasses following this slightly confusing free pattern from Yarnspirations. I finished crocheting the Iris throw. As threatened, I made a second big beautiful basket from thrifted baby bouncle yarns, which I still dislike but don't hate as much as I did in the past. :) I made a mystery pattern that a friend challenged me to try, which I finished in five days while using worsted yarn. After seeing the results she told me it's the trendy 6 day star blanket. Oops. I crocheted about one third to one half of a straight granny stitch throw I'm making in forest colors (I'm not sure how large I want to make it yet.) To wrap up the month I finished the crazy quilt tote for February of my 2026 calendar project. The patchwork is 100% recovered vintage scraps, and the feather stitch...