Saturday, May 29, 2021

Endings and Beginnings

I’m not sure where to begin; what a discombobulated week!

Shortly after I posted last Saturday’s blog post, I had an email through Ancestry.com. It appears that someone had a very close DNA match to me, and that person is a half brother. I already have a full brother named Steve, and we knew that our real father married again (very briefly) after he and my mom divorced. Well, apparently his second wife had a son that they named Bryan. Bryan just had his DNA done with the express purpose of finding his lost siblings (which he thought was two sisters). 

We’ve been emailing back and forth, sharing our life stories and finding out some awful things about our common father, who was never more than a sperm donor in any of our lives. Steve and I were given our step-father’s surname and Bryan was given his step-father’s surname. This whole thing has been just mind-blowing. Something of this magnitude in one’s life tends to knock you off your axis a bit. At least it does for me. Steve and Bryan have talked - they both always wanted a brother and only had sisters (Bryan has 4 half sisters, 5 including me). Bryan grew up in San Dimas, California, which was the next city over from Covina, California where Steve and I grew up. Wow, the wasted years...

So, my week consisted of a lot of thinking. Thinking while sewing, thinking while writing to Bryan and talking to Steve. Thinking while not cooking (there was pizza and a lot of fend-for-yourself meals this week). Thinking while mostly not answering emails. So, I have a lot of quilts and a brother to show for the week!

In no particular order, here are the quilts I finished up (primarily just quilting and binding) this week. We start with Strings and Gems, finishing at the usual (for my QFK string quilts) 42x48”.


The backing is the last of this wide-back splatter print.

Next was the third International Sisters double-sided wall hanging that I finished for Harambe Humanitarian. The other two were done in previous years.


The wall hanging finished at 28.5” across by 42.5” down, not including the hanging sleeve.


Since May is red month at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, where many of us are sharing our red blocks and creations at Scrappy Saturday (check it out!), I’m working on finishing red quilts for Quilts for Kids from my scraps and those donated by friends and QFK itself. Here is a very simple finish, Red Bees.


Sometimes you just need to use up some of the yardage pieces along with scraps, and that’s what I did here. The little quilt measures 40x46”.  The quilting was a simple bee-line loopy thing that echoed the flight paths of the bees in the red fabric. The backing is the same red bee fabric.


And then I finished quilting and binding the Disappearing Pinwheels blocks. Remember that I had trouble counting the number of blocks last week? It seems that both my first count (22 blocks) and my second count (26 blocks) were wrong. Either that or these blocks are multiplying in the dark. The final count was 28 - twelve that I used in this quilt, plus 16 more left over; 8 red and 8 navy. But first, here is Disappearing Pinwheels.


It’s pinned sideways on my design board. The finished size is 40” x 52”. I love it! I quilted it with swirls (I’m sure there’s a real name for the pattern). And I did an OK job. Not great, but this was really good practice. So, I’m showing you this picture of the quilting, bobbles and all. It is what it is. 


So, what is to become of the remaining Disappearing Pinwheels? The 8 leftover navy ones will be dealt with in the next blue RSC month. That leaves the 8 red ones, which I made into a churn dash variation of Disappearing Pinwheels. The ninth block was going to be strings for a 3x3 setting measuring 36x36”. In addition, I made 16 blocks (6.5”) of red strings with black and white strings (no picture). The strings were to be just the center block. But then tragedy struck.

I was not paying attention - thoughts were wandering everywhere as they have been all week. I cut the last block wrong. The pinwheel was 13.5” and was to be cut into 4.5” segments (thirds) both horizontally and vertically. The right cut is wrong, and there is no fixing this. That means there were only 7 blocks to work with. What can you do with seven blocks?


Well, I put one of the red blocks in with the navy blocks so that will give me 9 for that quilt when its turn comes. That left me with six red blocks, so I decided that I could use them along with three strings blocks (all of them 12” when sewn together). After playing way too long  on the design board with the blocks, I thought I had a solution. But my mind went on walkabout again, and this is what I ended up sewing.


Ugh!! That was it for that day; I had to quit. The working title of this is now DOG’S BREAKFAST. I think it will be easy enough to rip off the bottom red strip and row of blocks and reverse orient them at the top so that the string blocks make a diagonal line ala tic-tac-toe.  I’ll do that and quilt the d*** thing before the end of the month. 

Finally, I sewed together the Ugly Nine Patch donation blocks into an Ugly Nine Patch flimsy. The sashing is a non-color called oatmeal. There’s no shortage of ugly here this week, is there? Seriously, considering the blocks I started with, I don’t think it’s that bad! I’m just going to back it with a solid yellow from my stash and call it good. This, too, is scheduled to be finished this week before the end of the month. 


Finally, we’ll end with something beautiful after all the ugly blocks and quilts! My Chihuly rose bush (named in honor of glass artist Dale Chihuly) is looking amazing this year! 


It’s a little past its peak blooming time, so some of the roses are wide open, but it keeps on adding more.The colors are so vibrant! I can’t remember if it bloomed a second time last year, but I’ll be deadheading this and feeding it (and talking sweetly to it) to increase the odds!


Life is .... full of wonderful surprises.

20 comments:

  1. Wow, what a week! Lots more catching up to do with your newly-discovered half brother. Hope that all goes well. Your String quilts is lovely and the splatter backing is great. I had something like that in my stash and used it in so many different quilts, I was sad when it was all used up. Dog’s Breakfast and the Ugly 9 patches look great too.

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  2. Yowie, that would be mind - blowing, Cathy. Sounds like you're handling this news the best you can - by thinking it through while you sew, and even while ripping out, lol! That rose is gorgeous! Sending quilty hugs!

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  3. Wow, what an amazing story! Congratulations on your new-ish sibling. I hope you all get to know each other and make up for lost time. Isn't technology amazing? I like all of your quilts, even the Ugly 9-patches and the Dog's Breakfast. Quilt some happy thoughts into them and they'll be beautiful! Hope next week is less eventful!

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  4. Boy-oh-boy-oh!! You have had a week for sure...no wonder you felt scattered--hope you can all get together now and get acquainted...
    My fave (big surprise) is that lovely string quilt...sometimes I wonder why I even bother to make other types of quilts...I am so happy stringing along at the machine...
    I hope your Memorial Day Weekend is a good one...hugs, Julierose

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  5. What an eventful week you have had. Very productive as well with all that thinking and sewing.

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  6. Three RED finishes and two near misses? Not a bad outcome for your crazy week, Cathy. I have to say... I thought the Churndashes won the Tic Tac Toe game (and I still LOVE your "ugly" quilt!!)

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  7. What a week and story! Sewing help us thinking and airing the mind.
    Beautiful quilt and wonderful roses.

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  8. Congratulations on acquiring a brother. DNA does tend to reveal family secrets. I was contacted recently by an adoptee who matched as a cousin. With the info she had it only took a day to figure out who her birth mother was. The adoptee was stunned that we figured it out so quickly. I sent some additional info about her ancestors but haven't heard from her since.

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  9. What a week you had! Sometimes the only thing we can do is sew! You did well, even if you have some adjustments, sewing wise, to make. I made a wrong cut a time or two, doing that disappearing trick! And I didn’t have a good excuse! Hope the coming weeks bring some calm and acceptance for all.

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  10. Amazing - your work, finding a sibling and the roses!

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  11. This is a week that will stick long in your memory I'm sure! Finding a brother you didn't know you had is definitely a stunner, but in a good way. I don't know how you managed to settle enough to do any sewing at all, never mind the 'creative license' you took in a couple of instances. And punctuate that with those beautiful roses too. Yes, a week to remember!

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  12. Wow! A new brother! That's even more life-altering than a new sewing machine. I'm glad this news is turning out to be positive for you and Steve. Meanwhile, I don't think any of your quilts are turning out ugly. Oatmeal is nutritious and a great neutral. And those red rows will straighten out nicely with a bit of ripping. Just gotta let some time pass to get over the uber-annoyance phase :)

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  13. First off...what a gorgeous rose!
    Your quilts always inspire me. I don't think they are ugly at all!
    My goodness your week has been, well, interesting?
    I often think I want to do the Ancestry thing, but then I don't. I don't know why. Maybe because I don't like surprises. But a brother I didn't know about could be a lot of fun! Now you've got me thinking...
    My sewing is still lacking. The sewing room is getting much needed attention since my dtr and I have been "tweaking" our schedules. There is improvement but lots more needed so both of us are happy with it.
    Have a wonderful next week!

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  14. Finding a new sibling is a mind-bending event that will take time to absorb, but you seem to be adjusting to the situation. Your descriptions of the quilting oops made me chuckle. But you always come up with solutions. That beautiful Chihuly rose makes me wish the deer would let me grow roses, but I just have to enjoy the roses I find in fabric. Here's hoping the coming week is calmer and less distracting.
    Pat

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  15. Well, getting a surprise brother would naturally discombobulate your week! You're lucky you didn't stitch yourself into one of those quilts!
    And that rose is absolutely breath-taking! I'm green (and red and yellow!) with envy!

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  16. Wow, that's quite the news. Of course that threw you for a loop! Looks like you got a lot of sewing done during your thinking. That's a lot of emotions to sort out! I don't think any of these are ugly, but I do understand not really liking every donation quilt. It will find the right owner.

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  17. Finding out about a half-sibling, definitely mind-blowing! I'm happy it sounds like a positive thing in your life. The Chihuly roses are gorgeous! I didn't know there was such a thing, but they are certainly evocative of his work.

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  18. So many people have DNA surprises! (Mine only revealed the surprise that I have some Irish DNA. But no unknown siblings.) Your resourcefulness is remarkable and inspiring, as demonstrated in the seven leftover disappearing pinwheels. Very clever! Do you have a long-arm or a mid-arm? P.S. Beautiful roses!

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  19. What a treasure to find this out! And yes, it does give you lots to think about while you're stitching away. Big smiles for you! Oh - and your quilts are beautiful as always!

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  20. So sorry dad was a deadbeat! Unfortunately there seem to be more of those lately. Beautiful rose, I met Chihuly once a number of years ago at Pilchuck (art school, name forgotten) in NW WA state.

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