Relaxing Sundays, Good for the Soul

I just remembered the other day that I did a "relaxing Sunday" thing during last year's Blogathon. So, I'll do it for the remaining ones for the month.

What do you do to relax? Do you like to read? Exercise? Do a hobby? Everyone needs something to help them with some down time. In our house, my husband loves to read newspapers - and look at maps. If I ask him what he's looking for with a particular atlas or map, he'll say "nothing, just looking." I have to admit, I find maps fascinating too. My parents had an atlas (do they even publish those any more?). I used to love taking it off the shelf and just look at the different countries and far away places.

I like to read too, but my real relaxation comes from my quilting. Last week, I spent two and a half hours in a waiting room, waiting for someone who was undergoing a medical test. I brought with me some work, my Kindle for reading, and a lap quilt that I'm working on. It turns out that the lighting in the waiting room was perfect for some hand quilting and although I hadn't planned on it, I quilted straight through that whole time.

unfinished quilt top

Often, I quilt while watching television or a movie. Sometimes I listen to an audiobook, but I rarely just quilt without something going on around me. I actually feel that the quilting is an addition to what I'm doing. Watching tv? Ok, better quilt so my hands are busy. Listening to some music? Get quilting... but rarely do I just sit and quilt.

What was particularly remarkable about this time was that it was so meditative, so relaxing. I could listen to conversations around me, think and ponder about life, or just zone out and look at my stitching. The time didn't drag at all as it often does if I'm reading a book while I wait. I think because while I'm reading, I get distracted by sounds and conversations. With the quilting, it was all part of the experience.

For the quilters who are interested in seeing what I'm working on, here it is. It's an unmarked fan quilting pattern, starting from the bottom up. I read that Bonnie Hunter did this, but she goes around the edges towards the middle. I thought that for this quilt, the fans looked better from the bottom up. I'm using a lovely cotton thread of many colours and the batting is a dream to quilt through, a cotton batting that I bought at Joann's by the roll. I still have about eight inches of quilting to do on it.

close up of quilting

So, how do you relax?