Rainbow Quilt - Blocks Sewn Together!

So I know it doesn't look that much different from the other pictures, but it took a lot of work to get all of those as lined up as they are (yes I know in the picture they look pretty well lined up, but believe me up close, they could be more lined up), and so I am happy that I finished sewing it together last night! I maybe should start working on some clothes, but I keep wanting to work on ideas for the borders. So maybe clothes will have to wait just a little longer, except I really do need another pair of capris here, because pants are just too hot.

Also...it sounds like Chandra is going to be moving back here! So that should be exciting. I am looking forward to getting to know her better, because I really like her. So that should be fun.
Also this update came just as I was writing this, so yeah.

Anyway, so I am excited about sewing more. Oh yeah, and so I took it to relief society today to show as my good news minute, and some people came up and said they liked it. Then this one lady came up and asked if I was the one who was singing pretty. I answered you know, modestly, like maybe. Anyway, so she asked if I would like to sing a solo in church. So I will be singing in church on June 22. I am way excited!

Library Card!

Yay! So today I finally did it. I walked to the library and got a library card! It is now my desire to come here often, and come without driving, and write and read here. I already feel recharged just talking to the librarian while I was getting my card. I think it will be fun to have a community of people around me, even if I never really talk to them, just to give me variety. I would like to get a bike working, though, as I would probably be able to get here much faster if I biked than walked, but either way is great! But, when summer comes and it gets very hot, then I will want to minimize the amount of time that I am out in the sun. So yay for libraries!

The Story Behind my Wedding

Not many people know this story, just a few who I told at the time.

About a month before Janardan and I were to be married, he was going in to get his recommend for his endowment and for our sealing. He had been sick, and so had not been going to church. So when he went to his interview for his recommend, the bishop did not even really try to ask him the questions for the interview, but told him what sort of actions were expected of someone to have a recommend. He got really depressed by this, and the bishop tried to support him. So he called me and told me what was going on, and that he didn't have a recommend. I told him not to worry, we would get married anyway and could be sealed in a year, but that he should try to meet with the bishop again, because he was worthy. So my sister's family, my mom, and I all prayed that he would be able to get his recommend so we could be married in the temple.

So he went back a few days later, and he came out of the interview with a recommend.

Janardan never really told me much that happened, and I am not sure what the bishop told him then of whatever had happened with him.

So today our Elder's Quorum president came over, and he seemed really excited to meet Janardan, and he told us it was because the bishop was so excited about Janardan being back, and that Janardan is such an awesome person.

Today as I sat in my in-laws living room, hearing him talk to Janardan, just thinking about working with him any way to get him feeling comfortable at church, and hearing that this bishop is excited to have us in the ward, knowing those things, I began to understand why the Lord was having us come to Texas. It is not that our other bishops or Elder's Quorum presidents have lacked anything - they have been great, but these are men who have been specially prepared to be able to look out for and care for Janardan, and it is that that he will need as he attempts to get better.

Projects and Blogs

So I finally took a picture of the shirt I made, and the jeans. I don't even know if I wrote about them on here, but here they are!



I had Janardan take a picture of me in this same outfit, but all of his pictures ended up blurry. These aren't the greatest pictures, but they are better than his!

And then I just liked this picture. It was an accident. I had the zoom way on, and I couldn't tell as I was taking these pictures by self-timer in a dark room. But I like it.


So, since my politics blog is geared more for media consumption and is not really supposed to be about me, you get to here about the background here. I finished the big three before I came to Texas, and now that I am here, I am finally going to be trying to do my report on one senator a week. So, this week's target is Norm Coleman. It has been frustrating, though, because I have not really been able to get a good idea of what this guy is like. Everything he writes is about issues, and some accomplishments, but I feel like I don't really understand what is important to him, or why he got involved in politics. So I am wondering if the task I have set out for myself is going to be harder than accomplish than I first envisioned.

Anyway, so I hope I can get a better hold on who he is. And maybe that is just it - that the real person cannot be found, either by his fault or the fault of the political system, or both.

Sometimes the internet is a sad place

I think one of my weaknesses is not appreciating my own skill enough, and so I am subject to two ailments -- 1) I can have a tendency to see problems in others' work and 2) I can become depressed by certain things I do not being as original or new as I thought them to be. As in, fence rails is a common quilt design, and it is when I saw it that I had the idea for this quilt. I thought I would make it something like this, but then I noticed that only the red and the purple would end up being continuous, thus I figured out my quilt design. I don't know why it makes me sad, because I ended up doing a different pattern. I guess I just thought that doing fence rails with rainbow was my own idea. And then googling rainbow quilts, I saw some other rainbow quilts that were like amazing. And I know it was just a whipitup project for me, and I didn't spend even a week sewing the blocks up, so it shouldn't be compared to quilts that may have taken people months or even a year, but I am. Comparing myself to others - that is my big weakness, up and down. I tried working on it in high school, and overcame a lot of it, but quilting like brings it out in me -- this insecurity. I don't know.

Blocks are DONE!

I know it's not the best picture, but I'll take a better picture once I get all the blocks sewn together. This has definitely been less whipitup than the last rainbow quilt, but I like it and it is fun. It is pretty fun. I am rethinking the borders, so I might not do easy pieces, but I haven't decided. But I think once I get the main part all sewn together I will put this project aside for a little while and work on some clothes. I bought a lot of fabric, and it is getting warm here, and I would really like to have some longer shirts that aren't long-sleeved.

Also I went running this morning and I love my Nike Plus! Also, for the first time like...ever. The first few minutes of running, I just loved it. I just felt like I was floating in the wind. It was great, but then it got real. But I suppose if I keep running, I should get feeling like that longer. Right? Right?

Anyway, so that is all for now. I am going to figure out how to get this picture as the background temporarily.

Nike Plus

So I went running yesterday and actually enjoyed it. I also enjoyed it when I went a few months ago, so I have decided maybe I will have to start running. I have been taking walks anyway, and decided that I needed Nike Plus, because it is so awesome. So I went to the mall today and bought the kit, and then came home and made my own little Nike+ Pouch.




As you can see, I can put these on my running shoes, and on my flip flops for when I am just walking around or taking walks. So if I get curious about how much I've been walking around, I'll have it. I am sooo excited about it!

I thought I should probably post pictures of my progress on the rainbow quilt, as I worked on it yesterday, and meant to do it last night, but then I didn't, so I'll post those pictures today. Oh, well it looks like I only really took one kid of picture.


The new blocks are the ones with 3/4 of them missing, but I thought they looked nice in place, so you could see how the pattern is coming together. This is going to be a fun quilt!

Yoga Is Amazing

So I've been doing Yoga for a little while. I mainly stick to Basic Flow, besides the two classes I went to at BYU. I tried a strength class once and it about killed me, so I decided I should wait for that one. So I've been trying to get back into Yoga, and tried Basic Flow, and that was still pretty intense, but today I think I found the ultimate Yoga workout, and by ultimate I mean, the one that will convince non-Yoga people of Yoga. This is the beauty of Yoga. That is what it is all about. I just did it, and I feel soo relaxed. I feel like a lily floating on the top of a pond. So...for all of you out there who have tried Yoga and thought it was not your thing - time to try again! And those who haven't tried, it's time to start!

What We Don't See in a Rainbow

I've obviously got rainbows on the mind. They are just such pretty colors! Anyway, so I got to thinking today, about how the visible spectrum is such a small part of the radiation that there is. I was thinking about how amazing it would be to see a rainbow with all of the colors not in the visible spectrum. But now that I think about it, maybe it is beautiful because it is that rare patch of color. It is the little piece that we have and so we can cherish it. Color is a beautiful thing.

Rainbow Quilt

So, first of all I finally took a picture of my first rainbow quilt:

I really like this quilt. It makes me happy whenever I see it. So that is of course why I decided to make another one. My work of yesterday:

Cutting out stuff for the blocks.

So today I have been sewing together the first set of blocks. There are two types of blocks, so I have been working on the first 15. I got some done before Janardan and I went to dinner today:

And then finished these blocks just now, right before I am going to bed (and I didn't have to stay up late to do it!)

The only problem with these blocks is that they look good put together a different way than I intended them, so I am starting to dream up a third rainbow quilt. Fortunately, I may be able to use the pattern on a pillow cover, so I can dream up a different third rainbow quilt, which now that I mention it, I am starting to do. Rainbows are just too fun!

So I have half of the blocks done, and I'll start on the next half tomorrow. I may need to give myself a little more time to do them. I don't have a sewing table here, and the desk is a little high for sewing, so my shoulders are of course killing. I need to do yoga. Anyway, I should be getting to bed!

We're Here...and have been for a few days

So we got there late Thursday night. We did make it in two days. I got really tired on the way here though, and then it didn't help that we got lost on the way here (cough I won't say anything about Janardan cough).

So I have decided that I get a vacation! What does that mean? Not much except that I'm not really going to start writing for another week. For now just working on getting settled, and getting a scripture study/exercise regime going. Eating has been going relatively okay. There have been plenty of fresh veggies around, so they always make me feel good. And we've only eaten out twice so far. And that is good, just so you know.

Went to the first day of church today. People were really nice, and soo friendly. I think they beat my first Provo ward as to how many people said hi to me, which leads me to the point...people come out of the woodworks more when you need them. When I started going to Emily's ward in Provo, not many people talked to me, but even those that did, I told my sister was in the ward, and so they figure I am taken care of. It was true, and I didn't feel like I needed them as much, so not as much happened. But here, I am pretty much of relying on the ward being my social network, so yeah...lot more need there.

On other fronts, I love church. Like sometimes I think it is easy to take for granted feeling the spirit at home, and so church doesn't always seem that great. But like...when it is a struggle to feel it at home, it is such an oasis to go to church when it just comes and resides unfettered. I almost feel like I need church twice a week to be able to keep up good mood and spirits here, but I'll just have to be more diligent about feeling the spirit by my own actions. It is amazing how the outpouring of spirit helps me feel more compassions for Janardan's parents. And it is weird, because wanting to understand his parents, I understood so much more why Janardan is the way he is, because he is not used to people being self-aware, so he is used to getting information about people through observation and not through conversation.

And I passed Hancock fabric on the way home from church, so I am excited that we have a cheap fabric store so close! I'm looking forward to checking it and the library out sometime later this week (also passed that on my way to church).

So...for now, the adventure is good, and church will sustain my spirit.

Albuquerque

I had a lot of thoughts running through my head as I was driving yesterday, and had a few different ideas for blog entries I'd like to write, but by the time I got here last night, I just wanted to take a bath and get to bed. And now it's morning, and Janardan doesn't want to get on the road for another few minutes, so I thought I'd take time to share some of my thoughts.

I had a little breakdown yesterday as I was trying to do the last minute things I needed to do. I just kept turning around another corner and finding one last thing to do, and the list was getting long, and I was worried I would never get out of there. Plus I could not see out my back window, and I wanted to be able to see, so I wouldn't be as stressed driving. So I just started crying, and Janardan was inside, and he came out and gave me a hug, but then was too tired from standing so long, so went off somewhere else, so I got in my car, and tried to call Emily. I had missed a call from her, and I wondered if it hadn't been the Heavenly Father having her call me.

So I called her back, and I just cried, and told her I was overwhelmed. She said she would be over in five minutes. I knew she would do whatever I needed from her, so I started setting the things aside that I would ask her to do - take a last trip over to the storage unit, send two things I needed sent, and drop off my books at the library. And so knowing that she would take care of those things, I started to get the other things in order.

And so she came over and helped me, then I played with the girls for a little bit, and then tried to postpone saying my goodbyes. Earlier in the morning I had been at the storage unit, and thought I might miss saying goodbye to Autumn, and so I rushed over to Emily's house to say bye, but she didn't have pre-school yesterday. As I drove over, though, I just thought of Autumn, and started crying, because of how much I'll miss her.

I cried when I said goodbye to Emily, and she was talking to me about how strong I was. It was an odd thing, there expressing my inner weakness, my need for her, and how much I will miss her, and her calling me strong. And it just made me think how sharing our weaknesses with each other makes us both stronger, because we can do more and overcome more, knowing that we can rely on each other for help. I am strong, because she lifts me up and carries me when I fall, and she can do that, because I do the same for her.

The other thoughts I had were as we were driving through an Indian Reservation, I stopped at a grocery store. Two things were running through my mind - first, drawing parallels between the people I saw and the Indians in Twilight (I was really looking for someone who would give me a good visualization of what Jacob looks like - didn't really find any) and the second was references to a conversation I had with a friend a week or so ago.

I have a friend Jessica, who is Chinese American. She is pretty obsessed with race (our nicknames for each other are whitey and Asian). Anyway, and so we were talking the other day about how she thinks that white people don't really have much racial identity. As I walked into that store, though, I thought - oh yes I have a racial identity. It was the distinct feeling of not being on my own turf, something that I have not really ever experience before. And it was racial that I felt, not cultural, because I've been out of the country before. I guess it just made me realize that as a white person, my racial identity is not often confronted, it is a given.

It was such a distinct experience, something I hadn't experience before, but so surface. It makes me want to take part in participant observation in a culture and race different from my own. It really makes me want to get over it. I want to feel comfortable and accepted in a racial setting that is not my own, and I would like to understand my own racial identity better.

Almost There!

This move has gone so smoothly. It is so nice to receive help in moves. Whenever I moved when I was single, it was always when everyone else in the ward was moving too, and so it wasn't a great time to ask other people to help. But this time I have been able to use tons of help. First on Saturday with people moving my stuff into storage, and then yesterday with people coming to help clean. It got done so quickly!

It is amazing to compare my two moves, and besides things being more organized, and that contributes to it as well, the main thing that made a difference here was that I felt prepared enough that I could ask other people to help. There was a plan of attack and I could ask them to do specific things. I had things packed, so people just had to move them to the car to the next place. Then the packed things were gone, so I made lists, so people could see what needed to be done as far as cleaning goes.

Had I not had the help I had, this move probably would have been slightly overwhelming, but instead it was not, because I could be prepared and plan ahead. In December, I got my family to help, but that was all, because I didn't really feel comfortable asking people to help me, and plus just moving itself was taking so much energy out of me that I didn't have any extra energy to ask people. And that is the real cruelty in only have two weeks notice.

A Quilt for Jason

So after I finished the rainbow quilt, I had a friend over (Jason) and he was like - "You should give me this quilt." I said, "NO!" But then was like, well....I could make you a quilt. Thus we began formulating a quilt, and so I said I would start working on it, and would try and finish it before I moved. So last week, I completed the quilt, designed by him, pieced and quilted by me, and paid for by his mom. So here are the results...

The name of the quilt is the Chinese word for Moon, which I hope the correlation should be obvious.


Here's a picture to see the quilting.


And there's the front. It's a very Jason quilt. Emily says that it just looked wrong when I would use it. She said it looked very right on him.


I think it's true.

The Happiest Baby on the Block

So I have been a solid proponent of the 5 S's method, even though I have never read anything about it, and hadn't seen the movie. The other day, though, Emily and I saw two copies of the movie at the library, and we were both excited, so we each checked out a copy.

So I am so excited about it again. I like want there to be a fussy baby around so I can calm it. He was talking about it on the video, how it can be exciting to calm a baby. It is amazing. I think it is the best thing ever.

In conclusion, SWADDLE, SHUSH, SIDE, SWING, and SUCK!

Dinosaur Towel Thing

When my former roommate Carolyn had her baby shower, I made this for her, but didn't take any pictures then. She asked me to fix one of the spikes on the back of it, so I had it back, and decided I should take some pictures. I didn't really know how to get a good picture of it, so these will give you some idea, but not quite.



Oh, and I also came across some pictures of my rainbow quilt. But I still don't have any of it completed, but here is a partial top shot:

Packing

I started packing today, and it is going really well. I started in Janardan's room, because I thought it would probably be the most depressing, but I looked around, and there was not much that needed to be packed. I think the place that I will need to pack up the most is the kitchen, but I probably won't want to do that for another week or so. So I've started dividing clothes to take to Texas, and clothes to leave here. I don't have many that I'm leaving here. Most that I don't want to take with me I decided I don't really need to keep. So I have been getting rid of a fair amount of stuff as well, which is always nice. So packing is going well. Just started today, but I feel like I have gotten a lot done. I feel like if I just do a little bit here and there, it will likely all get done without too much problem. So that is nice.

Becoming A Bridge Builder

I was thinking today about my aspirations to be a writer, and just contemplating the meaning of that term, and the nuance that that term lacks. Well, it may have nuance, but just not as applies to what I actually want to be. I read some criticisms of J. K. Rowling, about how she is a storyteller and not a writer. I decided then that what was important to me was not be a writer, but a storyteller. However, that word to me has specific meaning of performing in front of people, as opposed to the written word. So I was thinking of how to describe myself.

The image that came to mind was of a story being on one side of a river, and my readers being on the other. My goal is simply to build a bridge between them. It is reaching the story that matters most, not the bridge. And while the bridge may be interesting and may be something to admire of its own merit, it would be of little importance if it did not connect the two. What is most important is making that connection possible.

I'll probably still use the term writer, because that is a common enough term that people understand, but when I think to myself of what I want to be - bridge builder just seems a much more appropriate term.

Christmas Tree Skirt

All I have to say is...Dang I do good work.

Samoas

If you read Emily's blog, don't read below, because I may give away details she doesn't want you to know. HA!

Anyway, so today we tried making homemade Samoas (you know, the girl scout cookie), and they ended up pretty tasty, but the carmel is rock hard. We want to make another attempt doing a few things differently to see if they would turn out.

I am also realizing that one of my favorite processes in the quilting process is designing quilts. I LOVE designing quilts. I enjoy many of the other parts (I like quilting on wall hangings -- because it is more of the creative part, and less of the work part heh), but I love to design. I love dreaming up quilts, and just thinking of making them, of pushing boundaries and trying out new things, of doing something that no one has ever done before. It brings me a lot of satisfaction. And on quilts that I design, I have a lot more patience and I want them to be perfect. When I am working with someone else's design, I am more like - let me just get this done (though I feel like that with my own designs that are meant to be whipitups anyway), but on my own designs, I don't care how long it takes, I am willing to take the effort to make it nice. Like my tree skirt, it took me a dang long time to make it, but it ended up just the way I wanted it. I waited weeks on quilting the desert sand, because I was not happy with any quilting design, and then finally when I thought of it, I was happy, and made it. Did I ever put a picture of that on here completed? I'll check after I post this, and maybe take a picture sometime if I don't have one. It is really pretty. My proudest piece yet.

Which reminds me - I always complain (to Emily) about the wall hanging I made that hangs in my living room, and really what bothers me about it is not just that i would do it differently now, but that I would have done it differently then had I not had time constraints. I probably would have done the quilting really nice on all the objects, but I didn't really have time at the time. I barely got it done on time (it was a project for a class) as it was. And the thing is - I don't like it enough to put the energy to take it from mediocre to decent when I see so much potential for how it could be better. Anyway...I went off on a quilting tangent. Emily was designing a quilt tonight, and I was jealous that I didn't get to be designing a quilt. She was jealous she didn't get to just be sewing up blocks. It is interesting to learn different things about us. We both like to sew, but enjoy very different aspects, and have our very own different strengths. It's cool.