Sunday, February 28, 2010

My month in review..February, and what I'm working on now.

Hi everyone, I can't believe we are at the end of the month already.  Its been a pretty good month here, I feel like I've been making real progress in quilting and life in general.  As far as quilting goes I have 2 finishes for the month, and made progress of a couple of other quilts.  I still have several to go before that BLCE list is even half way done, but I'm happy to have a few more crossed off the list.  I've also been having fun making the pin toppers. Thank you for the compliments on them. I'm still working on making smaller and more detailed toppers, but I am having a blast.  I had almost forgotten how much I enjoy working with clay. Heck, what can I say, I just love the artistic process in just about any form.  I've gotten 8 done, and 1 waiting to be fired once I get a couple more done.  Here is a picture of the second set of 4 I finished.
The little lady bug is going to my mom, and the piggy bank was inspired by a piggy bank my mouseling saves her coins in. The teapot I'm pretty pleased with, the tea cup however, could be a little better.  But overall I think they turned out nice...consdering they are all the size of a penny or smaller.  I have also been getting more consistant with my exercising.  I have been walking or running 4 to 5 days a week.  Once that becomes habit I want to start incorporating some floorwork or weights, but I am just taking it one step at a time.  Life in general has been going pretty smooth for the most part so I really can't complain. So bring on March, and hopefully some spring weather (!!!) I'm ready!

So what have I been working on today? Here ya go...

I've been machine quilting the star quilt along quilt.  I am doing a meander with lots of loopy goodness.  So far so good. I'm about 80% of the way done, and hope to have a finish in early March.  I think after this one I am going to concentrate on getting a couple of the smaller projects off the list.  I know I have 2 baby quilts as well as a couple wall hangings I could probably finish up relatively quickly.

So in off topic chatter, I have been thinking a lot lately (especially while walking) about life in general. How do you handle what life hands you? How do you handle when you are emotionally hurt? How do you move on? Its been topics I've thought about a lot since my divorce.  The emotional pain can be so incredibly deep. There are times I just want to cry, times I want to ask the hows and whys...and get answers, times I am so angry, times I just have questions about how I should handle it all.  I don't think there are any easy answers to any of it.  Some of the things I have learned, however, are you just take it day by day.  Don't let your anger consume you.  I think of a line in a Will Smith song where he says "Let God deal with the things they do, cause hate in your heart will consume you too."  No truer words have ever been spoken, in my humble opinion. Negative emotions will just drag you down if you let them.  They are unavoidable, but the key (for me at least) is to try to acknowledge them, then step back and look at the situation (at which point I start to realize that they really don't do anyone any good) then let go.  Its not always easy, but I've found when I am able to do this I feel sooo much better.  Learn to find joy in the everyday. I have learned to really enjoy my time when I am walking or sewing or even doing chores around the house.  I know this sounds silly, but sometimes even when I'm just doing the dishes or laundry, I find myself thinking "I'm really doing this on my own. I really am strong and capeable. I know things will get better." I've also come to the realization that some of my questions may never get an answer.  I'm not going to go into details, but there are many things that have happened and that I have gone through that I just keep wondering "why". And even though I know I may never get an answer, I also believe that everything has happened for a reason. Again, I may not know what that reason is now, but I know that someday it will be revealed to me.  I try to focus on the positive and be thankful for what I do have and where I am, and have faith that things will get easier and better times are ahead :oD

Thank you all for letting me discuss a little of the non-quilty stuff thats been rattleing around inside my head for a while.  I think I'm going to head on over to my sewing machine now and see if maybe I just might be able to get the quilting finished up on that quilt along quilt.  If not today, hopefully sometime during my long "weekend".  And with any luck I'll have a finished quilt to show you all real soon.  I hope you all have a great day. Warmest country wishes!!

1 comment:

QuiltedSimple said...

good questions! and i love your pin toppers - very cute. can't wait to see your star quilt along quilt done
kris