Rachel "Ivy" Clarke

T-6 days until the big move. I should be packing up the last of my belongings. What am I doing instead?

Yep, finally putting the sashing on my Mod Sampler Quilt. (Sorry for the bad photo, but the curtain rod was convienient after I packed the curtains.) I stalled for a while, trying to decide on sashing color and whether or not I should put all the bloacks on the front. But I wanted to get the top together just to keep the pieces from getting separated and lost in the move, so I just went with the default layout according to the pattern and the white fabric I already had for the sashing. I really wanted to get the back pieced, too, but I waited too long.

I left the ironing board set up this whole time and totally in the way of everything. It almost makes the whole move seem unreal--it makes it look like I'm still living here. It wasn't until today, when most of the curtains and the pictures on the walls came down that it really began to look like leaving.

I've been in this apartment almost 5 years, and while I know I wasn't going to be here forever, it still feels a little weird to be leaving. It's also because I've never really lived anywhere else but Long Beach--I was born here, went to school here, attended college here, got my first job here, volunteered here. My parents still live in the same house I grew up in and we still go to the same restaurants for breakfast. I know where all the stores are, what the traffic patterns are like, where the best coffee and the worst dive bars are. I'm not unfamiliar with Los Angeles, but I certainly don't know it like I know Long Beach.

I'm excited, though, as much as I am intimidated. I'm going to live in an awesome space in a community of artistic people, closer to many of my friends while still being not too far from my family. The next time you see a photo of this quilt, it'll be in my new space. And hopefully it'll have a back on it.