It's Guest Blogger Tuesday (aka A Day Off For Me) and we're going to kick it all off with a post from Meg Murray of The Works of Our Hands, whom I met when she helped created my KS cover quilt (she made the yellow block with the bees which is the favorite of everyone) and participated in my DaGMT challenge in February. Her blog is full of musings about quilting and sewing and contains just enough dry humor to make me love her. It's also where I found this fabulous button and while I don't know if she created it or not, it always makes me think of her.
Meg is a girl after my own heart and a choir to whom I can preach, as you will see. Enjoy!
"There are a million lists to think about at three in the morning. In my head there's a housework list, a schoolwork list, a sewing project list. There's a list of Shakespeare's Hamlet characters and potential costumes for each one that I have to design and create in the next few weeks. There's a list of places I should stop by and see if they'll hire me for a 'real' job since we've been unemployed for a while now and things are uncertain.There's even a list of places I want to run away to when I think about trying to do everything on all the lists.
Of course, when I get up in the actual morning, the lists go *poof*! My day doesn't have an organized checklist that I smugly check off, item by item, as I serenely accomplish each task. My days are a frenzy of "What's next?" , "Can it wait?" and "Really? I said I'd do that?"
The only constant in my day, besides eating and sweetened iced tea, is sewing. I have to sew something. If I don't actually sew it I have to at least organize it. Cut something out, lay out a pattern, read a quilting magazine, fold some fabric--- anything that gets me in touch with my sanctuary.
I can joke about my stash or being a fabricholic but really it's no different than one who curls up with a book or takes a walk or watches Lifetime movies to escape for a little while. We all need a refuge. We need to think about something else besides work, school projects, what's for dinner. But quilters/crafters need something more to break the routine of everyday life. We need an outlet. We see beauty in scraps and love in a finished project. It doesn't take much. We get a feeling of accomplishment in the small things--- we can take just as much pride in a quilt block as we do the completed quilt--- because it's not the product; it's the journey where we find joy.
A perfect day is one when I can sew all I want and what I want without the nagging feeling that I'm supposed to be doing something else. For years I put off sewing because there was housework to do and I felt I shouldn't be sewing unless everything else was "perfect". Guess what I finally figured out? It's never going to be perfect! It's amazing what I can accomplish now that I let go of perfect. I am a happy person. Everyone around me is happier too! I often don't want to leave my sewing 'cave' but when I have to I can face my tasks at peace because I've grounded myself. I fed ME.
Sew something everyday, even if it's just a few minutes to feed your seamster soul. Your peace of mind will thank you."
Thank you, Meg!
Of course, when I get up in the actual morning, the lists go *poof*! My day doesn't have an organized checklist that I smugly check off, item by item, as I serenely accomplish each task. My days are a frenzy of "What's next?" , "Can it wait?" and "Really? I said I'd do that?"
The only constant in my day, besides eating and sweetened iced tea, is sewing. I have to sew something. If I don't actually sew it I have to at least organize it. Cut something out, lay out a pattern, read a quilting magazine, fold some fabric--- anything that gets me in touch with my sanctuary.
I can joke about my stash or being a fabricholic but really it's no different than one who curls up with a book or takes a walk or watches Lifetime movies to escape for a little while. We all need a refuge. We need to think about something else besides work, school projects, what's for dinner. But quilters/crafters need something more to break the routine of everyday life. We need an outlet. We see beauty in scraps and love in a finished project. It doesn't take much. We get a feeling of accomplishment in the small things--- we can take just as much pride in a quilt block as we do the completed quilt--- because it's not the product; it's the journey where we find joy.
A perfect day is one when I can sew all I want and what I want without the nagging feeling that I'm supposed to be doing something else. For years I put off sewing because there was housework to do and I felt I shouldn't be sewing unless everything else was "perfect". Guess what I finally figured out? It's never going to be perfect! It's amazing what I can accomplish now that I let go of perfect. I am a happy person. Everyone around me is happier too! I often don't want to leave my sewing 'cave' but when I have to I can face my tasks at peace because I've grounded myself. I fed ME.
Sew something everyday, even if it's just a few minutes to feed your seamster soul. Your peace of mind will thank you."
Thank you, Meg!
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