The Making of a Quilt

God has blessed me with many gifts.  I am a lucky woman.  But as I get older I realize that they aren't necessarily interrelated.   Let me explain.  He has gifted me with patience to do crafts. When I was in High School, I hand embroidered a tablecloth for 12 and 12 napkins.  Not only did I carefully embroider it all, I also did a fancy hem all around the edges.  I still can't believe I finished it.  When I was waiting to move to Utah I did a very elaborate counted cross stitch of a fall forest scene.  I had three small children then.  The cloth was 18 or 24 count which is very tiny. Again I don't know how I finished it.  It is definitely a masterpiece.  

Now you need to know the cross stitch was a kit.  The table cloth was virtually a kit.  I was in Italy one summer and my aunt took me to the store bought the cloth the pattern and the thread.  She ironed on the pattern and proceeded to teach me how to do the elaborate hem.  Then I was on my own.  I have tried many different crafts but have decided that quilting and machine embroidery is what I will settle on and try to perfect with the years I have left.  My eyes are getting a little worse each year and I can't see well enough to do the tiny stuff.

I know this was a long introduction unrelated to quilting but I am getting there.  As I get farther into quilting I realize again that kits are the way to go unless I am doing one with machine embroidery.  I have discovered that though I am pretty patient with a project I don't have enough color sense.  I can see what looks good in the end.  But it is the fine differences that I don't see until someone else puts them together.   Take blue for example.  There are hundreds of shades of blue.  The shade depends on how much of another color is mixed in to it to make it a particular shade.  Red and blue go well together if the right shade of blue and the right shade of red are put together.  I opened a quilt kit the other day and decided to make it.

I was overwhelmed by the many different fabrics.  They all didn't match.  The colors were so different I had no clue how I was going to put them together.  I started making squares.  None of them looked good.  I went into a panic.  I asked God why he didn't give me color sense as a gift. I think His answer was "I gave that gift to two of your friends".  So I proceeded to call one of them.  Unfortunately,  the timing was not good with one but the other was able to join me.  You should have seen her go.  It did take several hours but it was amazing how she had a knack for putting those squares together.  She tried to teach me and I kind of caught on.  I was able to put a couple together successfully.  I will now take the time to sew them all together and finish it.

If you insist on a point to this story, it is that we are not meant to be alone.  God mixes his gifts so we can work together to create something.  I had a lot more fun doing the project with my friend than I would have alone. 

One Of Those Days

Have you ever had one of those days when you wish you had never gotten out of bed?

Well this is one of them for me.  Thursdays are my favorite day of the week because I most of the time I try and treat myself to just doing what I enjoy.  But today all my well laid plans went array.

I had laundry to do which is no big deal and I have a massage this afternoon which helps the back pain.  My plan was to do some quilting and do some things on the computer.  That is when all the problems started.

Though the internet is working in the house and my husband's computer works just fine neither of my two computers were able to receive internet.  Our internet name just dropped from all three of my computers and I couldn't add them.  This is very frustrating to me.  I tend to flint from one thing to another.  I can focus on quilting for so long so I take a break check something on the computer and and go back to the quilting.  I will chat with one of my kids for a few minutes on AIM and then go back to the laundry.  This is one of my distractions.  So when I can't use it my day is turned upside down.  So today was one of those days!

Home Again

When I am at home I don't write much because everything seems so routine.  But I wanted to mention a couple of things.

On the way home from Lake Louise there was a lady at the airport.  She had been in our hotel while we were there.  She told us she was 74 and she came out to Lake Louise to ski.  She loves to ski she said and her husband hates it.  So every year she goes to a ski resorts alone just to ski.  I want to emphasize the word alone.  I guess what impresses me the most is her age.  I for one only enjoy traveling alone if there is someone on the other end I want to spend time with for example a friend or family member.  Though I have gone to a couple of sewing retreats that lasted three to 5 days.  But will I still be able to or want to do that at the age of 74?  

I finished the book Plain Truth.  It taught me a lot about the Amish Culture. I truly admire those people for how strong their faith is and how hard they try to truly live what they believe. The book did have a twist at the end that I kind of suspected throughout the book.  I think I watch too much tv.  Mike and I always try to guess who committed the crime and one of us usually figures it out about half way through.  

I have started to learn how to use my sewing machine.  I hope Bernina has another retreat within the next couple of years that I can go to.  That is the place where I learn the most.  Going to the sewing classes 45 minutes away is quite a chore.  I have a couple of quilt kits to work on so I may do that as I wait for Baby M to come.  M is the first letter of his middle name.  That is what I have been told.  I think I will work on his quilt after I meet him and get to know his personality.  Not sure yet.  I have been asking the Lord to inspire me.