I nearly froze to death. That sounds really silly, doesn’t it? At least for someone like me, living in a snug little house. However, I was thoroughly miserable over the past week. I don’t know if it’s just that I’m getting old, my metabolic issues, or what, but I really had a hard time regulating my body temperature and spent most of the time with very painful hands and feet. I am so glad it’s over, and I hope it doesn’t come back. My circumstances, however, got me thinking about those who are much less fortunate than I am, so I am in the process of clearing out drawers, chests, and wardrobes of warm clothes that I no longer wear and that I probably won’t want in the future. Those items need to go to the warming centers in town, so the homeless folks can stay warm. If I’m freezing in the house in this weather, I can only imagine what they do with nowhere to go. Technically, they do have the Egan Warming Centers here in town, but often they don’t go — no drugs, alcohol, etc., allowed. However, many do go, and the centers save lives. On Thursday night, I became a trained volunteer for the warming centers, and I’m looking forward to helping out.
I did get quite a bit of quilting done over the last week and a half. I took pictures of several of the quilts, but I’m still trying to get myself back in the groove, so it may be a day or two until I upload them. I did have a near breakdown, caused I think by cabin fever and the pressure of too many wonky quilts to do right before the holidays. I remember that when I started quilting, I was not so careful in my piecing — largely because I was not properly educated in quilt making. Now I probably know far too much about how to put things together and I am sometimes appalled when others don’t use good techniques. I also worry that, when I quilt something for someone, and it doesn’t come out quite right, someone will see it, ask who quilted it, and the overall effect of the quilt will be associated with my name rather than the piecer’s name. Maybe that’s a little silly, but it does stress me out. I think in the coming year, I need to be much more careful about quilt intake, make sure that the quilts I accept are without major problems, and give my clients the chance to repair big errors before I quilt them. Now, this is not to say that I will demand every quilt I take in will be perfect, it just means that I’m not doing two-sided tshirt quilts, quilts with un-sewn seams, or quilts with embellishments or folded items that will catch my hopping foot and possibly break my machine. I do enjoy taking a wonky quilt and turning it into a thing of beauty, but there are some quilts that just make me cry.
That said, one of the quilts I did over the past few weeks was huge, had some wonky piecing in places, had embellishments on it, and it was pure magic. I have photos which do not do it justice, but I will share it with you over the next few days. It was a very special experience.
So, I’ve thawed a bit, I’m nearly done with the Christmas quilts, and I may actually get the tree up before Christmas! More soon.
Linda's Stellar Stitches 