gone with the wind.

The day that my cat Pumpkin died, I was devastated. Who wouldn't be? But I am the kind of person who has to do something about it. I have to start making something when I am facing something heavy. Loosing Pumpkin was heavy. Most of the time I can start baking and I can feel better, clean something, and feel better; I used to cut my hair...I think it's just the idea, or feeling that you have control over something in your life when you feel so helpless. I know it has improved my baking ten fold not necessarily my hair cutting. But this was bigger than a loaf of bread, and bigger than a cake. So that night I started making a quilt. My Mom was willing to let me do whatever it was that I needed to be OK. I think that there are four people in the world who can handle me when I am like this... so we made a plan and cut every piece of my favorite fabric into strips, and I just started sewing. I decided that I would finish it in three days before I went back to Idaho... yeah right... I was just kind of on a sewing rampage. The whole time my Mom was at work I would sew. I would go for 4 hours at a time trying to get as many blocks done as possible. Also... this was and is just my second quilt, and I decided it needed to be on the diagonal. Whatevs. So, I experienced quilting as therapy, as so many of you know it to be. I was unable to finish it in three days (go figure)... and was not able to work on it until I got back home for the Christmas break. Again we were down to the last hours before I left for the new semester, and Gone with the Wind came on, and we worked until it was over. So, now the theme from the movie reminds me of my Mom, Pumpkin, and finishing this quilt. I have been stitching the binding every time I have had a couple of hours and it's finally finished.

Can I just say how much more respect I have for quilters. Especially, my Mom! She can bind a quilt in one night and you would never know that it was rushed! I am amazed at the dedication and the skill that making a quilt really entails. This was my first quilt that I did start to finish, and it truly is an act of love. You know, I am a part of the Business, Cherry House Quilts, and now I am a part of the industry, but I am still just barely scratching the surface of what any of this means. I really am just amazed...

Because it was diagonal I had leftover corners from trimming the blocks, so I sewed them into squares and made pillows. I left some of the corners at home and my my mom made pin cushions and a little zipper bag for me.

just so you know though, I am really happy right now, no worries. Plus, I have a new quilt for my bed!