Sunshine and Lollipops or Fabric Therapy

Oh What A Beautiful Morning!

It is is a cold crisp day here but I am thankful that I can be warm and cosy sitting in a sunny window. It has been a cold and frosty winter so far and that can be a bit of a downer. Trying to be more positive this year but the winter weather makes it hard combined with life circumstances but we need to try!

Yesterday was a good day! After church I allowed myself to have a fabric therapy break. This for a non fabric lover would seem dumb but anyone who has a hobby collection would understand. While I fondled my fabric I watched the 1945 and 1962 version of the movie State Fair. The 1945 version with Dana Andrews was much better with fuller characters than the 1962 version with Bobby Darin.The characters just It was like they were trying to make them to hip.

I am currently working on a Dear Jane quilt. Anyone who is a quilting aficionado would recognize this name. For others this is a quilt that a Vermont native - Jane Sickle made in "In War Time 1863"(Civil War) and is marked as having 5602 individual pieces. Her original quilt in the Bennington Muesum in Bennington, Vermont has been made famous by author and quilt teacher Brenda Papadakis via her teaching and book "Dear Jane" 1996. Thirteen 4.5 blocks across and Thirteen 4.5 blocks across with an isosceles triangle border and scallop edge. It is an amazing creation. All hand pieced and quilted in a time where money and supplies would be short. Every block different in design and fabric. It has become one of the most famous quilts in the world.
My humble quilt will be different. I am trying for the different fabric per block so I may be begging for scraps from anyone I know who sews. (OK so that won't be many of my friends) But my quilt won't have as many pieces as the original because I am choosing not to make as many small pieces as Jane did. Where I can take a short cut to make the block look the same I am going to take it.

It use to bother me to take short cuts but I am getting used to the idea that perfect is not always so good. Perfect has stopped me from doing allot of fun things. Perfect and what others may think has been the one thing that has caused me allot of stress and anxiety. Not that I have to have everything perfect. (Check my house out this morning! lol) But as my anxiety about something increases so does my level of wanting something perfect. This also sucks the fun out of whatever I am doing. Maybe it is not wanting to be perfect that drives me but wanting some control in my life. Anxiety and lack of control seem to have allot in common for me.

I wonder if Jane was a perfectionist? Did she stress about the right colour or if the quilt would match her decor? I know her blocks aren't perfect for if they were not big enough she added little strips to make them to size. But in the big picture her quilt is beautiful! It is a testimony to patience and endurance.

Why am I making this quilt which undoubtedly will take me a very long time. I have other projects underway. (OK many other projects) One it makes me get to look for more cool fabric. DH was a little tongue in cheek when he said to go play with my fabric. So it gives me pleasure to play with my collection. But it also gives me a challenge in small pieces. One block at a time. I only have to figure out to do one block at a time. My monthly class can help me if I get stuck (Thanks Maureen) , The Dear Jane book and web site can help me if I am stuck. With each block I finish I get the satisfaction of having completed a small project and move on to the next one. (12 down)

What is this project teaching me? Patience and endurance for sure but mostly that it is OK to slow down and puzzle something out. If you can't get how to do it, it is OK to leave it for awhile until you have the skill or you can reach out and ask for help.

Little did Jane know that well over a hundred years ago that she would be teaching someone about life when she made her quilt. Her reasons and thoughts behind her quilt are not known. But I for one would like to say thanks to Jane. I think we would have got along even though our lives are very different.


sgbf

1Thessalonians 1 vs 3

Check out: Jane's Quilt http://www.dearjane.com
State Fair Movie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Fair_(1945_film)