What do you do when not writing?

This year, I’ve been gardening, reading, cooking and quilting.

If you are a quilter then you are familiar with UFOs. In the sewing world, this stands for Unfinished Objects. This quilt is a perfect example. The inspiration was a visit to Pennsylvania’s Amish country in Lancaster. There I spotted many bright, bold quilts that shared two things. They featured black and all the quilting was done with black thread. I tried and failed to buy one like this, but all the quilts the community of women created for outsiders were fancy, quilted in white thread and not nearly as appealing as the ones I saw in the museums’ collections.

Instead, I bought these two faceless dolls. They lack faces, as I understand it, is because it is against their beliefs to make a graven image. I’m even more charmed by my dolls, the only ones I own. I chose my color scheme from this pair.

I had a lot of quilting experience. I thought I could make a quilt like the ones I saw. I pieced an Ohio star, making huge panels over sixteen inches each so that the entire quilt would have only nine squares, five of which were Ohio Star pattern.

Close-up of the quilting in black thread. A good quilter can pull nine stitches on each needle.

I love hand quilting. It is relaxing and rewarding. I tried to do two hoops worth a night.

Getting the quilt top sewn was a snap. Tacking the three layers for quilting went quickly. Then I quilted my first sixteen-inch block, then another. Then I stared a third and stopped. I don’t remember why. I just removed the needle and rolled up the project. I suppose it was due to either a move or a rally hot summer, too hot to keep a quilt on my lap.

In any case, it went into the closet for….wait for it…TWENTY YEARS!

The quilt is basted and trimmed. The center squares are already finished.

I used to look a quilt tops and wonder how a woman could do all that work and then not finish the quilt. Now I know. Life intervenes.

Then came the global pandemic and me trapped inside in the evening with me watching Netflix and eating too many snacks. Do you know the best way to keep your hand out of a bag of chips?

I do. It’s quilting. The grease will ruin the quilt top. And your hands are too busy with the needle to eat.

Quilted while writing A Killer’s Daughter. — Quilted while writing ***A Killer’s Daughter***.

I finished the remaining squares in not time and turned to the ridiculously wide border. Then I finished that.

Hmm. I thought, eyeing the quilt on the bed. Do I have any more UFOs? Turns out that I did.