Quilting Saves My Sanity - How about you?

You know how you can get so stressed that you could snap at Mother
Teresa? Well, it's been like that lately around my house. I retired
and then all heck broke loose. It seems like everyone in my family
was waiting for me to retire so they could get all their hospital
tests, doctor's appts., etc. done. My uncle passed away and his wife
had no clue how to handle their affairs. She was 17 years younger and
he just took care of her for 35 years. So, I've been there too. Now,
I'm really not complaining, it just seems like August has been a
little overwhelming. Ooops, almost forgot, can't believe it - my FIL
fell Thursday and had to be taken by ambulance to a hospital an hour
away. At first they were going to take him by helicopter and you
should have seen his 93 year old face when they told him that! They
finally sent a special team for him and away we went to follow the
ambulance. Seems he had a little bleeder in his brain and they were
afraid of what would happen if it got bigger. Thankfully it didn't
and we all came home the next day. We were working on 2 hours sleep
so we just fell into bed exhausted that night. He has 5 stitches but
will be fine. He is a tough old guy - bless his heart.

Now today I finally got to sew a little on a quilt I'm making for my
daughter and it was like I could feel the tension just ooze out of my
body. I really think I'd be on medication if I didn't have my
quilting. There is just something so soothing about holding fabric
either new or in the process of being pieced that just lifts my
spirits. I just can't imagine not quilting. So, that's what quilting
means to me. Do you all have different ways that quilting affects you
- if so would love to hear.

Carolyn from DE

(((hugs))) to you. I suppose now wouldn't be a good time to ask you to
babysit huh? VBEG

I love quilting too - it give me time out where I concentrate on nothing but
the fabric, thread and where my needle goes next. God, I wish life were so
simple all the time!

--
Sharon From Melbourne Australia (Qof DU)
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/index.html
Member of the Houston 2004 Party Animals
"Carolyn from DE" wrote in message
om...
You know how you can get so stressed that you could snap at Mother
Teresa? Well, it's been like that lately around my house. I retired
and then all heck broke loose. It seems like everyone in my family
was waiting for me to retire so they could get all their hospital
tests, doctor's appts., etc. done. My uncle passed away and his wife
had no clue how to handle their affairs. She was 17 years younger and
he just took care of her for 35 years. So, I've been there too. Now,
I'm really not complaining, it just seems like August has been a
little overwhelming. Ooops, almost forgot, can't believe it - my FIL
fell Thursday and had to be taken by ambulance to a hospital an hour
away. At first they were going to take him by helicopter and you
should have seen his 93 year old face when they told him that! They
finally sent a special team for him and away we went to follow the
ambulance. Seems he had a little bleeder in his brain and they were
afraid of what would happen if it got bigger. Thankfully it didn't
and we all came home the next day. We were working on 2 hours sleep
so we just fell into bed exhausted that night. He has 5 stitches but
will be fine. He is a tough old guy - bless his heart.

Now today I finally got to sew a little on a quilt I'm making for my
daughter and it was like I could feel the tension just ooze out of my
body. I really think I'd be on medication if I didn't have my
quilting. There is just something so soothing about holding fabric
either new or in the process of being pieced that just lifts my
spirits. I just can't imagine not quilting. So, that's what quilting
means to me. Do you all have different ways that quilting affects you
- if so would love to hear.

Carolyn from DE

Sorry that August has been so rough for you, Carolyn. I'm glad you find
solace in quilting. For me, it energizes me. It gives my brain a much-needed
work out, and I can practically hear the synapses firing when I'm designing!
My job (housewife and mother) is very rewarding, but not very stimulating
often. Over-stimulating on many days, but that's not the same thing! G
Even if I am bone tired, if I start working on a project, I can go until the
wee hours (well, until 1:00 am anyway!). It also gives me immense
satisfaction to see my family using my quilts. That's like the best of both
jobs put together - just like the Georgia Bonesteel's Lap Quilting theme
song (that always makes me cry) - "A child sleeps under mother's creation.
The Art of the heart and design of the mind."


--
Wendy
http://griffinsflight.com/Quilting/quilt1.htm
De-Fang email address to reply
"Carolyn from DE" wrote in message
om...
You know how you can get so stressed that you could snap at Mother
Teresa? Well, it's been like that lately around my house. I retired
and then all heck broke loose. It seems like everyone in my family
was waiting for me to retire so they could get all their hospital
tests, doctor's appts., etc. done. My uncle passed away and his wife
had no clue how to handle their affairs. She was 17 years younger and
he just took care of her for 35 years. So, I've been there too. Now,
I'm really not complaining, it just seems like August has been a
little overwhelming. Ooops, almost forgot, can't believe it - my FIL
fell Thursday and had to be taken by ambulance to a hospital an hour
away. At first they were going to take him by helicopter and you
should have seen his 93 year old face when they told him that! They
finally sent a special team for him and away we went to follow the
ambulance. Seems he had a little bleeder in his brain and they were
afraid of what would happen if it got bigger. Thankfully it didn't
and we all came home the next day. We were working on 2 hours sleep
so we just fell into bed exhausted that night. He has 5 stitches but
will be fine. He is a tough old guy - bless his heart.

Now today I finally got to sew a little on a quilt I'm making for my
daughter and it was like I could feel the tension just ooze out of my
body. I really think I'd be on medication if I didn't have my
quilting. There is just something so soothing about holding fabric
either new or in the process of being pieced that just lifts my
spirits. I just can't imagine not quilting. So, that's what quilting
means to me. Do you all have different ways that quilting affects you
- if so would love to hear.

Carolyn from DE

sorry you are having such a bad start at retirement Carolyn.
It should get better. Glad FIL is ok. Sorry about your uncle.
Usually quilting does help me but today I snapped. I sewed in
between my fits but it wasn't enough. The idea of medication
isn't appealing to me most days, but there are some....
IS there a place for those who have lost their sanity or
do they just mark our foreheads with a big red C (for crazy)?
What's the quilt for your dd look like? Tomorrow I will quilt
more and throw less fits! Your family will all mind their health!
Taria

Carolyn from DE wrote:

You know how you can get so stressed that you could snap at Mother
Teresa? Well, it's been like that lately around my house. I retired
and then all heck broke loose. It seems like everyone in my family
was waiting for me to retire so they could get all their hospital
tests, doctor's appts., etc. done. My uncle passed away and his wife
had no clue how to handle their affairs. She was 17 years younger and
he just took care of her for 35 years. So, I've been there too. Now,
I'm really not complaining, it just seems like August has been a
little overwhelming. Ooops, almost forgot, can't believe it - my FIL
fell Thursday and had to be taken by ambulance to a hospital an hour
away. At first they were going to take him by helicopter and you
should have seen his 93 year old face when they told him that! They
finally sent a special team for him and away we went to follow the
ambulance. Seems he had a little bleeder in his brain and they were
afraid of what would happen if it got bigger. Thankfully it didn't
and we all came home the next day. We were working on 2 hours sleep
so we just fell into bed exhausted that night. He has 5 stitches but
will be fine. He is a tough old guy - bless his heart.

Now today I finally got to sew a little on a quilt I'm making for my
daughter and it was like I could feel the tension just ooze out of my
body. I really think I'd be on medication if I didn't have my
quilting. There is just something so soothing about holding fabric
either new or in the process of being pieced that just lifts my
spirits. I just can't imagine not quilting. So, that's what quilting
means to me. Do you all have different ways that quilting affects you
- if so would love to hear.

Carolyn from DE

--
Please visit my web page at:
http://home1.gte.net/res0yk6g/taria/index.htm

See my Siberian Cat, Lilly, at:
http://home1.gte.net/res0yk6g/lillypage/lillycat.htm

Sharon Harper wrote:
(((hugs))) to you. I suppose now wouldn't be a good time to ask you to
babysit huh? VBEG

I love quilting too - it give me time out where I concentrate on nothing but
the fabric, thread and where my needle goes next. God, I wish life were so
simple all the time!

I'm slowly working on basting pieces onto paper for my next small quilt (EPP)
when I get the opportunity to work on them it feels so relaxing!

--
Melinda
http://cust.idl.com.au/athol

It's that way for me, too, Wendy.
I often work myself into 'corners', if I devise designs, methods etc
myself!!! It often takes real ingenuity to get myself out. And I just
love getting the little grey cells working. On the more peaceful side,
I just love the fact that I can make beautiful things. To create beauty
- is that too fanciful or arrogant a notion?
..
In article , frood
writes
Sorry that August has been so rough for you, Carolyn. I'm glad you find
solace in quilting. For me, it energizes me. It gives my brain a much-needed
work out, and I can practically hear the synapses firing when I'm designing!
My job (housewife and mother) is very rewarding, but not very stimulating
often. Over-stimulating on many days, but that's not the same thing! G
Even if I am bone tired, if I start working on a project, I can go until the
wee hours (well, until 1:00 am anyway!). It also gives me immense
satisfaction to see my family using my quilts. That's like the best of both
jobs put together - just like the Georgia Bonesteel's Lap Quilting theme
song (that always makes me cry) - "A child sleeps under mother's creation.
The Art of the heart and design of the mind."



--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

Creating something original and beautiful and useful, too, makes me very
happy. I felt the same way about cake decorating...art work that is
creative and makes people happy. It is one thing in which I am in
complete control, and we really need that! Knowing something you
completed to comfort and cuddle someone is very rewarding. Nancycog in
MD

Jalynne wrote:

Sometimes it relaxes me so much, i fall asleep...LOL. Seriously, when i'm hand
quilting or piecing, I get into a very soothing rhythm. It's the best thing I can do
for myself when things are just going insane around me. i'd been trying to keep a
hand work project all the time, but ran out, so i'll just have to make more quilt
tops to keep me busy!


I had to chuckle when I read your post, because I often fall asleep when
I am hand quilting. Of course that it is because it is often late when
I sit down to quilt.

lisae

Quilting is a relaxing time for me and a prayerful time most of all.
Because I can block out so many of the bigger stresses the day to day
things are able to be thought about while stitching. So as I am
stitching I am also saying a prayer with each stitch, be it a conscious
or unconscious prayer. Very relaxing and very therapeutic for me. In a
way that I can't explain each of my quilts seem to come to life and
become a kind of friend or child of mine.
After my first stroke my quilting and computer became tools that I
used to regain some of my fine motor skills. Without them I don't
believe I would have the ability to do all that I am able to do now.
Any number of times I have taken a quilt that I am working on into the
doctor with me and we will talk about my road to recovery because of my
quilting. So quilting has been a real life saver for me all the way
around. Such a great way for me to relax and be productive at the same
time. I don't know what I would do with myself anymore without it.
juliasb

Carolyn from DE wrote:
You know how you can get so stressed that you could snap at Mother
Teresa? Well, it's been like that lately around my house. I retired
and then all heck broke loose. It seems like everyone in my family
was waiting for me to retire so they could get all their hospital
tests, doctor's appts., etc. done. My uncle passed away and his wife
had no clue how to handle their affairs. She was 17 years younger and
he just took care of her for 35 years. So, I've been there too. Now,
I'm really not complaining, it just seems like August has been a
little overwhelming. Ooops, almost forgot, can't believe it - my FIL
fell Thursday and had to be taken by ambulance to a hospital an hour
away. At first they were going to take him by helicopter and you
should have seen his 93 year old face when they told him that! They
finally sent a special team for him and away we went to follow the
ambulance. Seems he had a little bleeder in his brain and they were
afraid of what would happen if it got bigger. Thankfully it didn't
and we all came home the next day. We were working on 2 hours sleep
so we just fell into bed exhausted that night. He has 5 stitches but
will be fine. He is a tough old guy - bless his heart.

Now today I finally got to sew a little on a quilt I'm making for my
daughter and it was like I could feel the tension just ooze out of my
body. I really think I'd be on medication if I didn't have my
quilting. There is just something so soothing about holding fabric
either new or in the process of being pieced that just lifts my
spirits. I just can't imagine not quilting. So, that's what quilting
means to me. Do you all have different ways that quilting affects you
- if so would love to hear.

Carolyn from DE


--
come and journey with me...
from darkness into New Life
http:\\www.nwlife.com

taria wrote in message ...
Snipped gently:
What's the quilt for your dd look like? Tomorrow I will quilt
more and throw less fits! Your family will all mind their health!
Taria


I got a book called Super Simple Squares using 6.5 inch blocks that
you sew together and then cut apart and sew together again. She wants
the one that is all different shades of pink prints. Now, I'm not a
pink person so of course we had to make a trip upstate about two
months ago to pick out pink FQ's. We made a date for a Saturday
before I retired to just shop for fabric and then see what we could
get in to. Well, after we left the fabric shop, she saw a garage sale
sign and since she is the garage sale queen, we had to go. She got 2
big Home Interior pictures for a total of $15.00 and they both were
quilt related in just her colors - how perfect! Then as we were
heading home again, we were going right past the race track that has
slots. I asked her if she wanted to go (she's 30 and of age - no I'm
not contributing to the delinquency of a minor) and she said she was
broke so I loaned her $20.00. We went inside and within 10 minutes
she won enough to pay me back my $20.00. After about 10 more minutes
I heard this loud voice going "Mom, Mom". Now, I know that all you
mothers know that in a large room full of women, most of us are Moms
but we each seem to know the sound of our own kids. She came around
the corner wide eyed and yelling, "I won, I won". I figured, OK,
maybe a few hundred. When I came around the corner and looked at the
machine, she had won - now get this - $4300.00 on a quarter machine.
It was only the second time she'd been there so talk about luck!
Anyway, we've named this quilt already. It's the "$4300 Quilt" and it
will be funny 100 years from now to see people scratching their heads
over this one.

All in all, a very good day!

Carolyn from DE