Thinking and sew and thinking some more

 Nine months seems like a long time but when you have lost someone it seems like an eternity and also it feels like yesterday at the same time. They say grief is the result of loving someone then I feel like I will be grieving for a long time to come. Grief shows up for me in the strangest places...today it was while I was on his 4 wheeler driving through the bush where we tap trees and collect sap to make maple syrup.

So here I am now allowing myself 10 minutes of tears and then putting on my big girl panties and getting on with my day. Why 10 minutes you ask? Stephanie a friend of mine(who is also in the same boat as me) told me it is a good thing. Cry, think, grieve, give yourself 10 minutes to feel those feelings and then move on. If you stay in the vortex of sadness longer it is much harder to recoup and move on.

So writing is helping too. As I have said before this is my blog of my life and you get to read about everything! My weeks are busy but the weekend is my down time. So Friday and Saturday I have been machine quilting and finished it last night, even put the binding on. That will be my
slow stitching with Kathy later today. I also made a smaller version for a little doll with the leftover pieces.  My pooch wanted in on the picture taking!I have two more quilts in line to be finished. My plan is to pin baste one today and get the backing ready for the second one too.

Once that is all done, I can move onto thinking about Christmas. We don't have snow yet so getting in the mood to do any shopping is hard. But I know once I start, I will get in the spirit of the season.

 

When life gives you lemons

 It is an old saying but so true, it is all in what you do with those lemons! Life and family is ever changing and the challenges that go with that are sometimes overwhelming. But I sit, relax and try to figure out what is best for me and my sanity and then do that.  I figure if I am not happy or well, I cannot be of any help to anyone else. So with that said, I took up curling this Fall on the insistence of a friend and curler Cyndy. So I curl 3 times a week, a day of sewing and an afternoon of knitting and the week is full. Being away from home means not a lot of quilting is getting done there. 

this quilt is basted and needs quilting

I have slowly gotten back to hand quilting. It is slow because it is quiet time and I think. I think of all that could have been and all the things my hubby and I didn't get to do. It is a place I don't like to visit too often. I am trying to stay positive and do the things that make me happy.

I have been working on two quilt tops for Quilts of Valor (quilts for our injured soldiers) that will get finished this month. I need batting to be able to sandwich them and I will get that next week. I have a quilt pin basted and it needs machine quilting. Then it will be onto other projects. I haven't been doing too much sewing or knitting for Christmas. I haven't even thought that far ahead as yet but should start soon.

our 1st taste of snow

I continue to look in and see what Kathy is up to. Slow stitching Sunday blog posts are always full of inspiration and Kathy's humor that makes me smile. My slow stitching happens usually in the evening while watching TV.

Winter is coming and I awoke to flakes falling yesterday and this morning there is a white covering all over the ground. Those first few snowfalls make me excited like a kid at Christmas.