Friday, September 11, 2020

Basement Cleanup Additions to the Quote Quilt



The Konmari method of cleaning of the basement continues. Each and every thing that is down there needs my permission to live there.  Since it is a storage area, there is a lot to look through and many decisions to make.

The latest box contained old files I put there to archive. It serves as a time capsule of  when I worked at my previous employer, was a foster parent, was going to court over child support, and going to school.  It was a pivotal time for sure, but none of these things apply to my current life so I shredded / recycled most of that. 

I might just take photos of some pivotal documents and write down some stories that go with them before they join the rest of the papers. This will take some extra time, and I don't know when / if I will be called back to work. I'll have to decide whether to take a break and write things down or keep going with the basement until I can call it done. So funny I am having this debate considering how much I had going on all at the same time according to that archive. I will probably do bits of both and hopefully step up the pace so that I can get to the end quicker.

What does this have to do with the quote quilt? Well, there were lots of recipes and craft ideas which I also recycled, but I did cut out a picture of a cross stitch moon that I decided to add to the quilt.

I even added the cute pink cheek, but I didn't keep the red border.  

There was also a head in the box. I have no idea why, but I am sure it was attached to something at some point.  I decided to add it to the quilt too.  

I went through my Japanese fabric to give her a kimono. I have a painting of a kimono hanging up on my office that my daughter painted that I see every day.  My daughter went specifically to Japan to buy the fabric for me during the time period in question. She may have gone for other reasons too, but I am sure they were minor compared to buying fabric. She enlisted the help of Tanya and it happened during the time period in question so it is a good historical addition to the quilt. 

I wanted to add her on the top half of the quilt, but she insisted on being with all the other people. There is no social distancing on my quilt.

Since I had that fabric out, I had an idea to add an eye to the quilt. My daughter drew body parts to perfect her drawing skills so it was quite common for me to see lots of eyes and noses and lips drawn on scraps of paper on the desk. Sometimes I would add my own drawings of eyes, noses and lips to the same scrap of paper. Somehow even with all that practice, I am still not very good at drawing them.   I also wanted a turtle so I decided to use this fabric instead of making a more realistic eye. This eye combines my drawing and embroidery skills.  I might add an eyebrow or eyelashes to help the viewer out in that regard.

 I keep getting sidetracked from the things I have planned to add, but I am happy with these additions.

7 comments:

Emily said...

So neat that you are adding touches that you are finding as you clean out! I love that you gave the head a kimono and the moon is great!

thatfabricfeeling.wordpress.com said...

That's adorable. I love the lost and found kind of quilt.

Robin said...

I thought it was interesting about your decision to write stories or continue cleaning. It's really true, I have to choose what I'm going to do all the time because I only have a limited amount of energy in a day and I know I won't get everything done I want to. I also am terrible about getting back to things once I've been distracted. I really like the moon, that turned out well.

O'Quilts said...

Very interesting...what we do with our former lives as our memories do not stop...Love what you have done xo

cspoonquilt said...

The moon and the quote are very sweet! Cheerful thoughts for challenging times!! take care!

Tanya said...

I remember the nice time I had with Sushi-san and her friend though I don't remember the fabric she bought...

Your crosstitch moon is wonderful!

Kate said...

Very fun and cute additions to your quilt.