Flowers & Friends

These are flowers from My Grandma's funeral. It was very nice and just as she planned it to be. There were a couple of tough moments for me, but all in all, I did well. About 12, maybe as long as 15 years ago, I bought my grandmother a sweater for Christmas. She never wore it. I had bought her other sweaters, most of which she wore many times over. This sweater she left wrapped in the tissue paper in the box. I figured she did not like it, even though she went on and on about how beautiful it was and how she would wear it for a special occasion. That special occasion never came and I thought, knowing how sweet she was, she just did not care for it. Well, she told my Aunt a couple of weeks before she died, "I think I deserve to wear the sweater Bren bought me. Please bury me in it." So seeing her in that sweater was a little difficult. I want to thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers during this time. They are all very much appreciated.

I have been e-mailing back and forth with Nadine since I can not comment on her blog, nor she on mine (puter problems) and she sent a huge chunk of wisdom that I asked her permission to share with all of you. You know I have been working on my organizational skills and myself as a homemaker and wife and mother. I think we all need to step back and take a good look at ourselves every once in a while. It is like doing inventory. I do share quite a bit of my journey on my blog. I understand it is on a quilt ring and lots of quilters end up here looking to be inspired by quilt related posts. I do hope I have done some of those, and will continue to strive to do more. I am just unable to share what I do (quilting) without sharing who I am (a wife and mother). I love being a homemaker and it comes through in what I write about in my posts. Anyway, Nadine and I were talking about that and this is what she wrote in relation to quilters who do, or do not, share who they are.

I think our quilts are not only reflecting our color preferences, and abilities, they also "speak" about our evolving --->>> a quick quilt will tell you had not much time at that moment of your life, an applique will tell about your patience and seek of perfection, a machine pieced will tell about your wish to live a modern life, whereas a handpieced will tell you don't care about the time it takes, are you a handquilter ? it shows you love and need to meditate (or pray) while in the process (just like I do)etc...
So, a quilter cannot only tell about her quilts, without including her personal life. Speaking about your shiny sink, or your kitchen, or your wish to get well organized, or your last recipe, will explain why your quilts are neat and lovely, as continuous seek for improvement. Working on a complicated pattern is proving you have faith, not only in your abilities but in the divine part in yourself. The colors choice speaks a lot about you as well...... A true quilt is a prayer, be it a gratitude, or a search for something, or a special gift, ... it is a trace of ourself as a complete human being, it is the result of what you're living.

Is Nadine a wise woman or what??! When she said "Working on a complicated pattern is proving you have faith..." I started thinking about why I keep putting the Masterpiece block aside. It is a very difficult block, but I really do have faith in myself and my abilities. Thank you for reminding me of that Nadine. She's correct too, in the part about hand quilting. I think hand quilters do it not just because of the look or the inability to machine quilt, but for what it does to their soul. So, if you do not share anything about your life except your quilts, we can spend a little time and still get to know you. I tend to share more me than my quilts. I kinda like the path I am on and can see where I want to be now. I think I will go shine my sink!