the emotional life of sølje

Happy Birthday, baby!

Tags: A Family Affair by Solje
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Between all the enamored voter news (insert religious revival events), I caught the “snippet” that Kosovo has declared its independence! I have three sisters in Kosovo, so this was much more than a “snippet” to me. One of my sisters lost her husband and a son during the war, and all three have been severely affected by the ethnic cleansing crap that was happening. I see that some countries are upset with this… why? Because a country chooses to be independent… to have its own autonomy? I say “Urime Pavaresia!” to my sisters as my own country celebrates 232 years of independence (depending on which year the historians say the Declaration of Independence was really signed, sealed, delivered).

Dear Zyhra,
Urime Pavaresia! I have been watching the news and see that your country has declared it’s independence! Congratulations to you, your family, and friends. I know there is still some trepidation following this declaration. Unë mendoj për ty.

Sinqerisht,
Melissa

Tags: Thinkings and Thoughts, Women For Women writings by Solje
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This weekend I was digging around in my quilt/fabric/yarn/etc closet to find some red, white, and blue quilt blocks that were just hanging around. A friend of mine, Julie, put out a request for any odd blocks to put into quilts for an “American Hero Quilt”. I did come across some to mail off. So I have a little extra space now to add some new fabric Not

To follow suit, this weekend on the WASIQ list we had an update about an interview that was done by NPR for “American Hero Quilts” (NW Quiltmakers Harnessed to Comfort Iraq Vets) It is a great interview by WASIQer Sue Nebeker. NPR has a transcript, or you can listen at NPR’s link. American Hero Quilts if you’d like to find out more or volunteer a quilt or more.

In the digging, I came across all the UFOs that have been gathering dust over the years. yikes. Years ago Julie counted up all her UFOs and has challenged herself to complete them. I am not sure where she is on her list (she’s probably finished!), but at the time I also made my own list. That list was probably recycled… it was very long (though, Julie’s is/was longer!) and a little disappointing to see all I’ve started and then set aside (probably to start a new project or three). But I came across some strips that I made for a “Trip Around The World”. After sluething which strips went where, I decided to sew them together, and possibly put this UFO to bed.

I sewed one more strip set together today for the outer round (floral print, four patch, floral print, white). I still need to sew the top and right side to the quilt, along with making two corner sections, and then I’ll figure out if I want to add triangles to finish the edge or cut what is already there.

So, do I want a square quilt? No. After I finish sewing the last two sides, I’ll be back at the drawing board to figure out how to add length to this quilt.

ETA: Tonight I finished sewing the sides and finished the final two corners. Now I can figure out how to add length.

Tags: Quilting by Solje
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I decided to take the boys to Build a Bear Workshop for a Valentine’s Day surprise today. Of course Daniel enjoyed it the most since Darrin is pretty young. We had fun, and Daniel thought it was “the best day ever!” Daniel chose a Husky dog, and we helped Darrin choose “Scruffy Puppy”. I let Daniel pick out an outfit, doghouse, and dog dish… I wish I had thought of this business concept We had a great time.

Tags: A Family Affair by Solje
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I put a few notes on the photo at flickr, if you are interested, click through the image.

My stats:
2877 pieces
143 blocks completed.

Since I have row M finished, I only have three more rows to go before I need to really think about triangles. Today, I am leaning towards making them.

I-13 is my favorite block of this row. I think half because of the design and how well it came together, and half because I like the fabric. There are 45 pieces in that little bugger

I am thinking that to make the posts about this quilt a little more interesting to those that refuse to do this quilt (I don’t blame them), perhaps I should have been including my favorite block of each row. I guess I could do that for the final rows. We’ll see how well I sew first

Tags: Quilting by Solje
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I thought I would report that I have finished row M of my darling Janie quilt.

Doesn’t mean that I am finished with I, J, K, and L however Tho’ K is nearly done too.

That’s all for the moment.

Tags: Quilting by Solje
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