My sewing for the day started out with some sewing room organizing. (Getting this stashy-mess under control is another of my organizing goals for 2012.) I have been sewing from scraps for.ev.er!! It feels like I've made zero progress. So I offered some scraps to people on one of my online groups. I just want to get most of them out of my house!
Then as I tried organizing my fabrics and pieces that I am keeping, I realized I should attack my piles of Leftover Blocks. I have some of my own, and some were given to me by Sally. I like playing with leftovers, but it's another area where I can start to feel overwhelmed. So I started sewing like crazy. I put together these six small quilts.
These quilts are made for a sad reason, but it's something I can do that hopefully is helpful to some grieving parents. I donate these to Rosebud Reservation where, sad to say, they experience a high infant mortality rate. (Indian Health care in general is sorely lacking and minimal, at best.) At the time of burial, babies are wrapped in these little quilts, and they ask that a star be on each one, in the middle - either a pieced or an applied star or stars in the fabric. Some of my stars are huge, and some are tiny. The red/black quiltie has stars in its fabric.
These are the six I have halfway finished. Only one is completely done. All I do is back them with soft flannel, but I ran out of flannel, so that'll come this next week when I get a chance to go shopping.
As I look back at 2011 there are some not-so-great events such as Charles getting laid off and Son getting a divorce. Son tells me that he is happy and that staying married would have been worse than divorcing. So I try to be comforted in his happiness. I grieved deeply over the dissolution of the marriage, but I am doing better now. Charles is working at a contract position and hoping it will become permanent, but for now it's very unsure. We have our fingers crossed.
The good parts of 2012 include my mom turning 90. We had a great party, and she is still relatively healthy and spunky. I found a fabulous part-time job that perfectly suits my needs, and the extra income is very helpful. I started a fun crafting group at church which I am really enjoying (we mostly knit prayer shawls and other things such as hats and baby booties). I read 53 books! (I reported 52 in my last blog post, but finished another one since that was written.) In 2012 I intend to tackle the piles of books I have at home and in my Kindle. I have enough for 2-3 years of busy reading! I have started a travel fund and hope that Charles and I can make it to Europe or Panama one of these years. (Maybe both!)
Thanks for reading my blog, and I hope you continue visiting in 2012!
4 comments:
Oh my, the purpose of your quilts is very sad indeed. What is the reason for the star?
I hope 2012 is a happier year for you, and I hope that your husband gets a permanent position.
I am deeply touched that you were grieved by the end of your son's marriage. So often the parents become mindless belligerents in a battle of which they are uninformed. It is a shame that your son and daughter in law could not see the Holiness in their union that was obvious to you. There must have been something beautiful there at one time for you to grieve over their parting. Grieving is a good word, for the dissolution of a marriage is a death of something that should be and have remained Holy. My heart goes out to you.
Carol may God bless you and your family in 2012 and may you have a Happy New Year.
I'm not sure about the star, except that the star is an important motif in the Lakota culture. They want the quilt to fold around in such a way that the star will show. Can't really explain it any more than that.
As much fun as it is to make baby things, infant mortality is a sad reality, isn't it? We deserve beauty in our deaths, too. Your quilts are beautiful.
Thoughtful quilts and for a purpose many of us ignore.
In my mind the star would represent to them their little child is a star in heaven and shining on them. I don't know, but I see comfort in your quilts.
As I look forward to 2012, one of the things DH and I need to do is make written desires for our passing. One idea I'm still considering is a green funeral with my body wrapped in one of my quilts at the time of my passing. It's an idea totally foreign to any family tradition, so I'm still giving it lots of thought.
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