Thank you all for the wonderful comments about the HB braid quilt. Consider this bouquet for you. (Yes, this is a current photo. My contrary roses bloom in late November, not June.)The thoughtfulness of the comments I've received since starting this blog over four years ago (!!!) have kept me coming back even when the logical little devil on my shoulder tries to convince me this is a self-indulgent time-suck. As a SAHM, my day is full of necessary and useful activities, but "success" -- both as a measure of a day and of long-term outcome -- is often determined by the lack of crisis and/or failure, both small and large scale. I am deeply grateful for my life and family, and I know that what I do matters and is appreciated, but having creative projects that are separate from my job definition is critical to me. Following these creative interests allows me to feel like the woman who once so enjoyed being thoroughly independent and self-focused. I don't want to return my life before I became Wife and Mom, but finding and nurturing a little bit of Me has been a good thing. I get so much gratification from creating, and being able to share my projects with like-minded people around the world is a gift of modern technology for which I am continually thankful.
My Christmas cactus was also a contrary bloomer this year, peaking before Thanksgiving. I missed photographing the full flush and the color is hard to capture, but it really cheers the room.
The search for community, and specifically a shared craft-oriented one, is something I know many of you think about. Over the last year I've read blog entries bemoaning what some feel is the decline of the knit blog community. I can understand that feeling, but I'm also thrilled by the growing community, even if navigation gets unwieldy sometimes. The small and intimate world in which I started blogging has grown and fractured. So many portals, so many voices. Where and with whom to connect? Four or five years ago the knit blog community was a virtual small town, with all the benefits andconstrictions that implies. You clicked through a few friend lists and in short order you felt like you'd met most of the inhabitants, or at least the town's movers and shakers. Everyone knew where the parties were (KALs) and everyone knew who the popular kids were. Now the on-line craft world has exploded as quilters, sewists and other crafters have joined the party and there are dozens of sites where you can share projects and photos. The small town has grown to a metropolis where you know that you'll never meet most people in except passing on the virtual highway (or in the tube, if you prefer*). Still, anyone who's lived in a big city knows they're often like a bunch of small towns forced into sharing resources and space. You bop along happily in your little neighborhood, then occasionally, when looking for something or following a stray link, happen into a whole world you didn't know existed. How many hours have been lost to "Wow! How did I not know about this?manic click fests? I know I don't want to count!
*Note for my Brit readers, here 'tube' refers to a comment from an ex-Senator from Alaska - not the London underground. He famously referred to the internet as a "series of tubes," which has created an indelible link in my brain. Even since Stevens let that one fly, whenever I think or hear the highway metaphor for the internet I get this mental image of a gray, grimy, ominous feeling warehouse with a huge bundle of pneumatic tubes dropping down to each workstation - a very steampunk meets cyberpunk vision. It's been many years, but I think a midnight showing of Terry Gilliam's Brazil factors in there somewhere. Let's not go too deep into my warped brain!
All of us have "real" lives and obligations away from this screen and for most of us, the knitting, sewing and subsequent internet sharing is what we squeeze in on the side. Between blogs, Ravelry, Flickr, Yahoo Groups and all the other forums available it can become a challenge to juggle and maintain the connections we've made. I've come to terms with knowing I'm perpetually a little behind, sometimes even a lot behind - on reading blogs, on emailing, on reciprocating. Still, I don't want to walk away because of the spark of pure joy that comes every time a blogger writes exactlywhat I was thinking, only better; or a knitter on Ravelry, found ten pages deep in the pattern gallery, realized the pattern in such a way that I know I must make that; or a quilter or sewist on flickr shares a project that makes me want to cut fabric right now; or every single time one of you takes the time to write a comment or just to click through and read. So, thank you.
While I'm throwing around thank yous, I have to send out really big ones to my two swap partners from the Swap -til You Drop mini quilt group on flickr. The November theme was two color quilts These are the little jewels I received this month:
From Sudi Laura in MA:
Look at her amazing teeny, tiny piecing! Those center squares and triangles are about 1/4"!
When I opened it I was knocked over by the piecing and loved the vibrant colors. I am honored to be the recipient of her first swap. While caring for a sick child she put together this care package for me:
So, before I even got my second swap, I already felt totally satisfied.
Then this came from Claire in GA:
Isn't it beautiful! So simple, clean and elegant. I love the Japanese style and the center medallion hand work, and the flowers just make it perfect! She included some pretty fat quarters that will fill a gap in another project.
Thank you both very much!
This is the design I made for them:
I've been wanting to try applique, so when this design grew in my head I got very excited about making these. Made three so I had a safety net for potential failure. I'll share a few tips and tools in another post.
Learned on the job, and each turned out slightly different, but each pleased me in its own way. I originally intended to keep one for myself, but when I saw that all would be shareable I just knew one should go to Brenda, one of the the first people with whom I traded mail art. My gosh Brenda! It's been 10 years!!! She's leaving her safe but unfulfilling job for an exciting and creative, but uncertain opportunity. I'm so proud of you! And since most of you don't know Brenda, I should be clear that she's done her research and has the skills. She's one of the most disciplined and creative people I've met. I know this will lead to something good!
