Hand Piecing

Every once in awhile I get the urge to do some hand sewing.  It usually has to do with a road trip that is planned.  Last week we headed to Dallas (a 10 hour trip) for a show where Dave could make some business contacts and to deliver a restoration project that he completed.

All in all it was a quiet, uneventful trip. A long stretch of the road was rather desolate with little to offer in radio stations.  Thanks to modern technology we enjoyed a Pandora station as Dave drove and I sewed.  With two young kids (soon to be part of our family) having birthdays this month, I planned to assemble 48 four-patch blocks for two "I Spy" quilts - one for a super-hero loving boy and the other for a loving girly-girl.

Arriving at our destination the first night was easy... navigating the directions to downtown Dallas to meet one of Dave's customer the next morning was another story!  All was going well... "we need to get off on the next exit"  "OK, no problem."  Except that the exit we were to use was closed for construction.  Ugh!  And road construction caused more than one detour for us just getting to the meeting place.  What a mess!  (just recalling the whole thing makes my blood pressure go up)

I found myself longing for the quiet of my sewing room... or at the very least for the feel of fabric, along with a needle and thread in my hands... and the smooth rhythm of pulling the stitches through the fabric.  It was NOT going to happen since I was the co-pilot and responsible for giving the next directions.  I pushed down the panic... relocated ourselves on a map and moved on.  Once we found our meeting place, the next challenge was finding a parking area.  When we had parked (on the 4th level of a garage) we began looking for our way out. 

We must have looked very lost and frazzled because a sweet woman stopped to ask where we were headed.  She kindly walked us most of the way there.  We finally met up with the folks we had planned to meet for breakfast.

Leaving Dallas at the end of the day was nearly as frustrating and given that I was tired it could have been really ugly.  Again, with prayer, I pushed down the panic.  I was so happy to have arrived back at our hotel!  We enjoyed a happy hour beverage in our room and... I picked up my fabric blocks and thread... and all was right with the world. :)