Be Counted

I'd been looking forward to Sunday night all week. Often a time when I can focus best, I was ready to start in on this month's Bee Sewcial block. Stephanie/spontaneousthreads had given us the prompt "Be Counted", where we would select a number significant to us, and represent it in tally marks. Most of the marks were to be in dark grays, very dark inky navy, or black (look close, and you'll see mine are a random mix), with one lone mark being red.



The number I selected to represent was 40 - the anniversary hubby and I will be celebrating this fall. I kept trying to think of other (smaller!) numbers of significance, but kept coming back to the big 4-0. I made eight unique sets of four improvisational marks, measuring from 1/16" to 3/8" in width. Then I 'crossed' them using the Inset Pieced Strips tutorial by former bee-mate Hillary/entropyalwayswins.



The 'double' cross was a late-in-the-process idea, but I like the interest it adds to the piece. And the single red tally represents, to me, the 'now'....the 40th year not yet complete. And as Stephanie guessed, the up and down placement represent the rhythm of life itself. Stephanie put it better than I could have, "A journey with an uncertain destination and lots of ups and downs and joy along the way." Exactly.