I haven't blogged for a couple of weeks. In fact, I haven't been blogging regularly at all lately. I have been fighting a little bit a depression, facing some reality and learning how to change my lifestyle to deal with that reality. Add to that my husband has been traveling for work a lot and we have had a lot going on. So when he is home, we are booked up with activities.
One of the reasons for my lack of blogging is I haven't had much to blog about. That is because I haven't been sewing like I should. Now I know darn well that if I had been sewing more than I would not have had the depression or at least not much depression. I just haven't felt like doing much of anything. With the new meds and lifestyle, I am exhausted by the time I get home. All I want to do is check e-mails and facebook and then crash. Most nights I don't even do that.What makes this even sadder is I am not spending time with my kids. I know that before too long they are going to be moving out to lead their own lives. I need to spend time with them now, but I am too tired to do anything..I just head to my room, bathe, and cuddle down in my pajamas for the night.
But this week things have started to look up a little. A couple of nights, I actually worked on the Around the Rail Fence quilt. I finished cutting the strip sets and started squaring up the blocks. Just a few a night. Friday and Saturday I finished squaring up the blocks and started the assembly. I am closing in on finishing it. I need to do the top and bottom rows of the last round of blocks and then put the outer border on it. As soon as I get that done it will go right on the long arm. I already know how I want to quilt it.
The thing is I am rather surprised at how thrilled I am with this quilt. This was not a project I had picked out for myself. This was originally going to be a project for the young women at church to do. It would be simple I didn't have to worry too much about matching corners etc. I had gotten everything prepped. they would sew the strip sets cut them into blocks and sew the rounds of blocks. They were suppose to work on it during their spring break. That was the first week in April. But with family commitments, time constraints, etc. they ended up canceling the project.
Since it was all cut and ready to go, I decided to just make the quilt. I wasn't all that excited about doing it, But I felt it was a waste to not make the quilt after all the prep that went into it. I had cut up fat quarters in strips and really didn't want the fabric, my fabric, to go to waste. So I started working on it more out of obligation than desire.
My sister in law, Marjean, once told me that she had a hard time doing projects that that other people planned for her. I had a project that someone else had planned for the two of us to do. It was not well planned and it ended up being left for me to do. I had told Marjean about it and how I wasn't making any progress. I said that I just couldn't get excited about it. That was when my very wise Sister in Law explained to me that it was okay to not complete someone else's project. That their goal didn't have to be my goal. That was more than 10 years ago and I never did finish that project. I ended up donating the materials for it to a group working on lap quilts for veterans. I have to admit, I was concerned that this quilt was going to be like that project.
But much to my surprise I am getting more and more enjoyment out of it, The closer it gets to completion the more eager I am to get to the next step. It is really becoming a joy to work on it. I think the difference is I did the planning for this project. I chose the pattern and fabric (with consultation from the young women) So while it was not "my project" I do like the design and the fabric. It is much easier to work on a project if you like it.
I guess I needed to get some perspective on things. But this project has helped lift me out of the doldrums and get me back on track. I am starting to feel like doing things again and this quilt has helped me feel that way.
Have you ever had a project that got you back on your feet? I'd love to hear about it.
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