Show and Tell

Well prepare yourself for this post and all the blathering that goes along with it. I belong to the Kansas City Modern Quilt Guild (KCMQG). In December or maybe it was January, we received a charm pack of one of the Robert Kaufman solids. There were brights, pastels, classic, darks and dusty to choose from. I picked the classic pack because I'm a classic kind of gal, well really the others kind of scared me because I really won't quilt with them. The idea for the challenge was to use each charm square in your quilt somewhere. It could be the whole square or part of the square but each piece had to be use.

Wa-la... here is my quilt.


and here is the quilting


I really wanted to challenge myself and truly step out of my comfort zone.  I think I succeeded.  After an extremely stressful week, I came up with my idea.

The marbles represent the things to me that were going on that week.  I work full time and am currently not liking my job very much.  It's a job, so I should be happy I have one when there are people in Kansas City that I know who worked at Sprint that still don't have jobs from the last round of layoffs 2 years ago.  My job right now is just a job.  I used to love it and couldn't wait to get to work.  Not so much anymore.   There are big changes going on and I feel like I'm having problems adapting.  The culture is not something I'm fond of right now.  So it just stinks.

I'm a mom with a 7 year old in first grade.  I think I'm finally feeling some of the frustrations that go along with being a mom, working a full time job and then having to deal with school issues.  My 7 year old is being picked on my 2 classmates.  To the point that during my issue week, she chased me out of the school begging me not to leave her.  I wish I were making that up but I'm not.  She has complained of headaches and stomachaches and a variety of other maladies so that she won't have to go to school.  I know that she will be able to work through it all with my help, her dad's help and help from the school counselor, but it's still HARD to watch.

I'm a child of an aging father who lives no where near me (I'm in Kansas, he's in Ohio).  I have medical power of attorney with hopes that I will get phone calls when something happens and he needs medical help.  During my horrible week, he spent time in the emergency room and I got no phone call.  I was told because he could talk and seemed coherent, they didn't feel the need to call.  Mind you, I don't want to make decisions for him, I just would like to know what's going on.  There have been instances where he has been admitted to the hospital and I've had to call around the home he lives in, have security enter his apartment and then start calling hospitals to find him.
      My dad's stories don't make a whole lot of sense and he gets very frustrated with me when I ask a lot of questions.  I'm learning that his frustration is because he doesn't know the answers to my questions.  If I got a call from a professional, I wouldn't have to ask him all the crazy things that I do.  Plus the whole idea of him getting older and not being close really bothers me.  My mom died when I was 7 so he's the only thing I have left.

I could keep explaining marbles from that week, but I will spare you all the gory details.  After spending an evening in my bedroom crying and crying, that quilt represents what I was feeling at the time.  The silhouette is me.  My husband was kind enough to take a picture for me.  I did doctor it a little and gave myself a neck because it seems to have disappeared.  (Yet another marble to deal with).

Take aways in the area of quilting and design:  I don't do applique, so that was a challenge unto itself.  I really don't like circles.  Fusible applique isn't all that much fun either.  Free motion quilting isn't so scary.  I think I might be willing to give a try again.

Thanks for letting me babble on.  Have a great night.  Spring break started today and I VOW to get some quilting done.  I will be sure to share pictures.