And I am not a celestial being, despite the last name. While I would prefer to use my blog for quilting and positive life stories, there comes a time in life when one needs to defend oneself, particularly when one has been slammed on the internet. I’ll not use the slander word, as I don’t want anyone’s shorts in that much of a bundle. Especially the litigious subject of this post.
Almost a year and a half ago, two of my friends lost their sons to tragedy. The quilting community banded together to make quilts (as we do) to help bring them comfort and let them know we wished to be there and help in any way we could, while we realized that nothing we had to offer could ever take away the pain they were feeling. In the midst of this, a woman who I had always held in high regard posted the following on her blog:
“Magnificent Monday
February 18, 2008 by Christine Olson
Phew! I’ve been sick for almost three weeks now. The flu, infections and capping it off with a MAJOR eczema attack! And exactly how much mucous can the human body actually produce??? According to the news, a flu shot may not have help me to not get sick but it might’ve help in reducing the severity of the attack.
Even though I remain a bit crabby from being sick and tired of being sick and tired, I am thankful for this magnificent Monday! Thank the good Lord the weather finally decided to break and we have had glorious sunshine for the past couple days. Even feeling a bit groggy, it felt good to take a walk in the sunshine and hope for a quick arrival of spring. Alas, the weathermen are reporting another extended wave of crappy gray, wet and cold weather for a few more weeks. But I’ll take whatever hours of sunshine we can get.
As a result of my feeling under the weather, I’ve been fairly quiet on most of the quilting lists, even not reading some of them entirely. This has turned out to be a good thing. I have suspected for quite some time that 90% of that stuff frequently posted on these lists is nothing but unadulterated and self-indulgent crap. The fact that I can not read this stuff for days on end and never miss a thing of it, only confirms this suspicion. (I do recognize that for many, these lists are lifelines and there are some good free lists out there for those that “need” this type of thing.)
I have met some very good friends via the internet. However, I am not naive enough to think that I am much more than an acquaintance to 95% (or more) of the people I meet via this venue. In some ways, the internet quilting community becomes like a high tech chain letter. It is easy to get sucked into the game and fears of what someone might think of you creep insidiously into your thoughts when having to make tough choices, like do or do I not make a block(s) for this person’s or that person’s comfort quilt or do I make a donation to this person’s cause or continue instead to contribute to my local charitable cause.
I made an executive decision awhile back to treat these types pleas for help like I would a chain letter. I don’t bite. I can barely address the needs of my family and my community. I do not have the time, finances or desire to partake in the dramas of thousands of online quilters. I think of these ladies often, I correspond with a few and I remember many in prayer when I bother to pray these days. That is the best I choose to offer at this time. The world is too damn sad as it is without choosing to wallow in that sadness with people I do not truly know!
Whoa! That sounds cold and harsh, doesn’t it. Hmmmm…perhaps it is but no one can ever accuse me of being a two-faced bitch. What you see is what you get.
Ahh…the sun is calling me again. I think I need to take another walk. I took several pictures with my cell phone of spring poking its head out of people’s flower gardens yesterday. I’m going to see if I can figure out how to get them off the phone and onto my computer. A new challenge.
Speaking of computers, our old PC is officially TOAST! Yep, the hard drive is dead, dead, DEAD!
Thank God I backed up my book manuscripts and graphics on a CD, along with almost ALL our pictures. The sad thing is that we may have lost DS’s entire music collection. Most of it is still on his iPod but not all of it. We are going to have to send it out to someone to try and see if they can retrieve anything off the hard drive. Crap!
Oh, well. It’s only a computer… ”
I called her on her statements, thinking she could not possibly mean this, but she asserted that she was serious.
Fast forward to the present. Christine has continued to try to post comments on my blog, follow me on Twitter, and generally harass me and my friends. Now she has put up a blog post about what a mean person I am for rejecting her repeated attempts to stalk me. She cannot understand why I would reject her continued attempts to contact me. The fact is, I don’t like you Christine. I consider you a mean spirited, shriveled and nasty soul. Please leave me and my friends alone. We don’t need or want your input. Let it go.
And here are some pictures of the finished quilt. You can see that the arcs of the Baptist Fan helped to smooth out the fullness of the piecing and it turned out to be a cute little quilt. The customer loved it, and I have a feeling it won’t be the last quilt she ever makes. She’s got the class list from the LQS, she now knows about 1/4″ seams and square rulers, and she was very excited to get her quilt back.
is of the pattern by Deb Tucker, http://www.studio180design.net). With Deb’s permission, I will be teaching a class on this quilt at the Ocean Waves Quilt Camp (by Jane’s Fabric Patch) in October. Here is a photo of a few of the blocks I have assembled for the center of my quilt. 
In addition to sewing, we get to hike the wonderful trails at the park, including the main river gorge with 10 waterfalls. One of my favorite parts of the retreat is the campfire. Our chefs prepared our fire for us this time and it ignited instantly and was a lovely blaze. 
We sit around the fire, share home-made liqueurs, wine, stories, marshmallows, s’mores, and lots of laughs. This year we had caramel marshmallows, chocolate marshmallows, and even roasted peeps!
There were only two problems with this retreat. One, I forgot to slather on the bug repellent I brought with me, and the no-see-ums ate me alive. I’m still scratching! Two, I had to come home to reality. Ah, but I can dream of the next getaway — Ocean Waves Quilt Camp in the fall!
