Something Fishy Going On . . .

 It has been awhile since my last post, but I have been busy stitching. I just haven’t had any fully finished pieces to show. An Irish Chain quilt is at the long armer, and early this morning (4:00 am) I finished adding the final borders to this fish panel quilt which will be donated to DCF (the Department of Children and Families.) Now, I don’t usually sew at 4:00 am, but there are some nights when things keep you awake. In my case, it’s a frozen shoulder that is the culprit. OUCH!!! PT starts on Thursday.

Here is the fishy panel that I am using. Isn’t it cool! All the borders have been added, so I’ll be able to start quilting it soon. 

I love this panel, and I only wish I could remember where I purchased it.

Yes, colorful panels are perfect to use in quilts for children. Interestingly, while scrolling through Youtube sites yesterday, I came across a tutorial for a log cabin panel quilt that I am definitely going to explore. Sew Charming Quilt Shop in Clanton, AL seems like a wonderful quilt shop. It has a presence on Youtube with many tutorials. Just go to Youtube, put in Sew Charming Quilt Shop,  and you will find much to enjoy. Look for the “Log Cabin Panel” demo video which was posted yesterday.

Now, please stop what you are doing or save this for later, but you absolutely must check this out. In Chamberlain, South Dakota, there is a fifty foot stainless steel sculpture by Dale Lamphere which depicts an Indigenous woman in plain style dress with a star quilt around her. It is truly stunning and something I one day hope to see in person. This statue is called ”Dignity of Earth and Sky.” Equally stunning is a quilt entitled “Dignity” by Veruschko Zarat which won  Best of Show at Quilt Con 2025. Again, you absolutely must see this. Go to Youtube and search for “Alex Anderson LIVE “ to see a short interview with an amazingly gifted quilter. The interview starts at about eight minutes into the program. Quilter or not, I know you will be stunned by the beauty of this double sided quilt. I have never seen a more impressive or more beautiful quilt.

Here are a couple of other recommendations. If you haven’t seen the six-part political/conspiracy thriller Zero Day starring Robert Di Nero on Netflix, it is definitely worth your time. Though, truth to say things are pretty scary enough in real life right now. 

Another Netflix movie, The Six Triple Eight, directed by Tyler Perry is also very well done. It tells the true story of a Black WAC unit stationed in France during WWII assigned the impossible task of sorting and sending out a two-year backlog of millions of pieces of mail. The focus for the prior two years had been the delivery of supplies and weapons with no attention paid to the letters. One account said that17 million pieces of mail sent by soldiers to their loved ones and vice versa had been bagged and stored in multiple warehouses. This movie, too, is well worth your time. 

Finally, last week one of the presenters on the Youtube podcast Occupy Democrats summed things up with this line. “It’s been six weeks and we are all on the highway to hell without any airbags.” Sad but true, but it brought a smile to my face. 

Find moments of peace and joy each day.