Empty Nesting

As I sit in my sewing room drinking my coffee this morning I am paying close attention to the sounds in the house. Other than my keyboard tapping, the gentle hum of the washing machine and Bob's footsteps on the kitchen floor it is pretty quiet. That is, in large part, due to the fact that we have no kids at home anymore. Yes, I have found myself the mother of an empty nest; the little birdies have flown the coop and landed in their own places.

I was warned by so many people that I would be "devastated", "at a loss", "sad" and whatever else when the kids left home but so far I can't say I have felt anything close to that at all. Of course I miss them; I miss the space they take up in the house, I miss their goofiness, I miss their laughter, the endless belching/farting and other odd noises Dylan used to entertain us with, the practical jokes Lindsay would play.. I miss them a lot. However I believe it is in a good way that I miss them. They are both in a place where they belong and pursuing an education in what they are most passionate about. Music for Dylan and art for Lindsay. Hard work, yes, but fun and exciting all the same. New friends, new places to explore, a place to fulfill their dreams. And they are happy. (Yes I know that isn't a real sentence).

I don't care what anyone says; life is too short to go through the motions of a career or education doing something you are not happy with. There is no point in becoming a dentist just because that is expected of you and three generations before you did it; especially if you can't stand staring at someone's yucky looking teeth!  If you love digging in the dirt and know all the names of the little green plants and you can make them into beautiful big plants what is the matter with being a landscaper or a the owner of a greenhouse? Nothing. Yes, it is very important to be able to make a living, support yourself and a family and not starve to death so you have to keep that in mind but you need to find happiness in what you are doing too.

Yes, both my kids are in college; not university. Is that a problem? Not for me and not for them. Lindsay tried university for one year and hated it; several of her professors didn't have enough command of the English language to actually be teaching and she detested sitting in a class listening to someone drone on and on about stuff and then going home to read three hundred pages of a textbook that was so dry it would choke an elephant. My kids are  hands on; they are much like me. Show me something, offer a few directions and let me at it. Give me lots of pictures; make it fun and interesting. Guaranteed I'll remember it. 

Well what kind of job prospects will they have with a diploma in Visual Arts and one in Contemporary Music you might ask?  I will answer like this: pretty much the same job prospects as someone who graduates from university with a degree in science, English lit or most anything else. There are no guarantees for any of them. This might just be the stepping stone to further education; they might seek out and find the perfect job and be quite successful for a while before they turn to something else. I know they won't have debt up to their eyeballs after a two year program so that alone is worth something. 

Oh yes, back to the empty nest which is what I started all this for! I won't look at my nest as being empty; it wasn't empty when it was just Bob and I when we got married; it was just a small nest. We made it bigger when we added two children and now we just have to rearrange the sticks and feathers so we don't get lost in it. It's hard to remember back to a time when we didn't have children in the house so now we get to re-discover that part of our lives again. It's all good. 

So, no, I am not sad, devastated, at a loss, lonely or otherwise buried in angst now that my kids are away from home. I am excited for them; I hear such joy, excitement, passion and wonderment in their voices when we talk on the phone that you can't be anything but happy for them. . . and that's what it's about. Being happy.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Coaster Swap

Well, I signed up for another swap through Quilting Gallery, thanks to Michelle Foster for organizing and making these swaps available for those of us who love to quilt. This time around it's cute little reversible coasters with applique bugs on one side and little blocks on the other side. I enjoyed making these; they were simple easy to do but I must say I hate putting binding on 5" squares!!!

Applique side up (before binding):

 Back of coasters (before backing)

Close ups of applique sides:

Finished Project!

My coasters will be travelling to my swap partner who lives in Dubai, United Arab Emirates!

I must make a better effort of contributing to my blog.. once I get in here it's fun.

Heather

Springtime Musings

The calendar says that spring arrived over two weeks ago and for a few days last week it actually appeared as though Mother Nature and the makers of my calendar actually agreed upon something for once. Well that didn't last long. We were out in our short sleeves walking and biking last week; I raked some dried grass up and cleared some old stalks out of my flower bed; I even planted some delicate little seeds in my greenhouse. Apparently that type of activity really got caught in Mother Nature's craw because she promptly  sent winter back here to remind us that she is the boss. The trumpeter swans were not impressed; nor were the robins or the tulips that were poking up out of the ground. 

I don't know what you do when the weather is crappy. I hate being cold; really hate being cold. I don't like the wind either. What I do like is large pots of tea, CBC radio and barricading myself in my quilt room where I can forget what it's like outside. My mind can create all sorts of projects for using up my stash of fabric; I check things out on Pinterest, surf the web and make good use out of my sewing machine.

Here's what I've been up to: The first picture is a scrappy wall hanging I put together. I just made this one up. The second picture is a little pin cushion I made from an antique quilt that I bought for dirt cheap and then cut up (it was in pretty rough shape but good enough to make things out of). The last is a wall hanging that  I made for a quilt swap that I'm in.

So, I guess I can't complain too much about the weather because it gives me a good excuse to create things. I am blessed to have a group of wonderful friends who share the same interest in quilting as I do and we inspire each other to carry on a tradition that has been around for many, many years. 

Hope you are having a good weekend!

Heather

What's New in the Sewing Room??

Well, I've been busy doing some quilting in the past few weeks and I'm going to start sharing my projects on my blog. I have been quilting for about 25 years I think.. the first "real" quilt top I ever made was back in 1989 when I was working in North Bay, Ontario. I got off a stretch of night shifts at the hospital and decided to make a quilt. Not much planning involved but my scissors got a work out as I cut up over 200 squares of fabric to make an Irish Chain quilt. I am so glad someone invented a rotary cutter..what an amazing tool it is. With a sharp blade and a steady hand you can buck up 8 layers of fabric in no time and before you know it you have all your pieces cut and ready to sew.

I digress... I've made big quilts, medium sized quilts, lap quilts, table runners, wall hangings.. you name it. I prefer traditional patterns and country colors but will venture out and work with funky stuff once in a while. I'm not into some of the more modern prints that remind me of technicolor vomit... whatever I'm sewing with it has to be peaceful to cut up and sew back together. That sounds odd but believe me if you have to work with colors and prints that aggravate the soul it isn't fun!

So, here are my two very latest projects. I am enrolled in a Mug Rug swap and these two delightful little quilts were so much fun to make. Traditional piecing, "lick and stick" applique (Wonder Under) and hand and machine applique stitching.

I was at a quilt retreat a few weekends ago and, although I only got one project near completion it was a fun one to work on. There are 921 pieces in this scrap quilt; I made it entirely of scrap fabric. Just have to put borders on it. Traditional star patterns have always been a favorite of mine so this was a perfect match with all the bits and pieces of scraps I had.

See you later.. I'm heading back into my sewing room to figure out the next project!