Thursday 9 April 2009

Less than 200 days!

My count down to New Zealand has finally dipped below 200. The time is going by pretty fast at the moment. I am sooooooo looking forward to this holiday.
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Life and work have been getting in the way of sewing as has become usual around here, not totally though. I was thinking you know, (Yes, that was the burning smell) I made progress on the fan quilt while I was going through some personal horrors with a few work horrors thrown in for good measure. Once things had calmed down, I wandered away from it and couldn't bear the thought of getting it out for any reason. Once again there are stresses and pressures building at work, I seem to be getting it from all sides there, and life at home is not much better as my ex husband stirs his poisoned brew and attempts to pour it on to my kids. Poor lil' Joe is at his wits end and has said he doesn't want to be there any more, he just wants to stay here. Ironic then that this quilt should make a come back.
It's a shame it has become associated with stress and grief as I did love the fans, especially the original nine which were a give away win and my first real taste of the truly generous quilty/bloggy community. The fact that they were part of a swap and each one is different presented it's own challenges, did I have enough scraps to stick with the truly scrappy feel? Well obviously I either found or made them. LOL
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Anyway, on with progress, here's what I've been planning.
I'm hoping I can find this bundle of treasure, I'm sure it still nestles at the bottom of the scraps box, I plan to use it as a scrappy binding. Though at one time I had planned to use it as a border around the original nine. Something else which seems to have come full circle.
DD Kay and I had a discussion about how this quilt is going, I mentioned to her about my plan to add another back as I wasn't over joyed with what I have achieved with my quilt as I go method. We looked at the back and she has convinced me to leave it as it is. Maybe she has a good idea there. Perhaps if I keep on grumbling about the back it will become the metaphor of the stresses in my life while I learn to love the top all over again. It does after all hold lots of good memories in all the scraps not to mention some of the lessons I learned along the way.
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Speaking of scraps, these beauties came from a scrap collectors club I belonged to for a short while. Each month you got a bundle of scraps and an instruction sheet for a quilt block. I only lasted about 6 months before I cancelled it! Anyway, when DD and I discussed doing another round we came up with the idea of laying it on my bed, just to see............ Instead of a whole round we decided I could do just one end, which would lay over the pillows. Here you see enough fan blades to complete two more fans, though I'm still not finished playing about with ideas and may not need them all.
Meanwhile, the quilt waits patiently as it has these past few months.

I have a bundle of fabrics here auditioning to be the back ground for this latest fan or fans, and they all need ironing.
I'm hoping there will be a break in the weather just long enough for me to scoot to the post office, I have a card and a gift here which will be late!! Mind you, the bad weather is a good excuse to stay home and sew.
I'm going to play.
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Gratitude's
1) 198 days.
2) DD offered to vacuum.
3) My Hunney and my kids.


3 comments:

Jane said...

Sorry to hear you are going through a tough time. Lovely you can share your love of fabric with your DD. Hope you all have a lovely weekend

quiltygal said...

Maybe try looking at the quilt from another angle especially as you say you love it...instead of it representing the "s#@t" that was going on say "this is the beautiful quilt that gave me stress relief/solace at that time?" when you look at it only remember the good feelings that you got when sewing not the negative ones from outside....and if all that fails you can always send it to stay with me...I can love an orphan..hehe....stay positive when push comes to shove the only thing you can control is your reactions in the end the kids have to sort it out for themselves as hard as it is to watch then hurt...Hugs XXXX ( god I sound like Oprah..slaps own face)

Lynda said...

Sad to hear that things have been tough for you recently. I don't have an ex, but think I can imagine what it would be like if someone you loved and trusted betrayed you (DD has recently had a very bad experience, so maybe it's like that). Just keep quilting, as the difficult yet not challenging activity can promote 'flow' which is very good for relaxing and de-stressing the mind.