Friday, September 02, 2011

Beaucoup Blessings

So much has happened since last we spoke...that I hardly know where to begin.
1. Thank you so much for giving so much encouragement to my sister for her wonderful quilts. This has been a life affirming/life changing experience and we are so grateful to y'all, as we say down here. She sold two quilts yesterday and almost sold another, but the buyer decided to wait. Still...What a vote of confidence.
2. Since Dave's most recent accident we decided to sell his car and have already disposed of the wrecked truck. The car was put out in our field along the road with a price and info and sat there, unsold, til he changed his mind about selling it. In the meantime he decided to eliminate one of his medications, which was a massive muscle relaxant, and in about three days I had my Ol' Dave back. I thought he had disappeared forever, but it was just the meds masking his personality. Since he was back to normal, more or less, he felt he could drive again. O geesh. I made a deal that he would only stay here n the mountain (where almost all his crashes happened) and not drive at all at night. So far so good.
Last night at 8:30 just as we were about to go to bed, a couple of cars drove up to the house and he went out to investigate. It turned out to be a whole family of folks who has seen the car last week and hoped it was still available. It is. They bought it and will return today to pick it up. Just like that. Snap! I am sooo happy to have that chapter closed.
3. Back to quilting for the rest of the blog.
After I am finished with piecing the top I like to clear the decks and put away the scraps, which I spent most of Thursday doing. Since I had recently arranged my yardage into colors on the shelves I thought the strips scraps should also be stored by color in their boxes.
When I see it all so neatly arranged it gets me excited to start using it up on a new project. But the experience of doing this also showed me that I HAVE ENOUGH. (Sound familiar?) My shelf system is small but holds plenty of fabric and yarn and I have told myself that I can't let this get out of hand.
When Brooke and I went to clear out our mom's house the event made an indelible impression on me. I can't let myself slip into packrat mode. She was just the side of hoarder-ism and we grew up with the mindset of quantity over quality. It took real concentrated effort to break that mentality in myself. So when I look at my yarn for example, I am content to see it organized and accessible. But there are creeping examples of it coming out of boxes too.

Must be vigilant.
I am showing this to remind myself not to go nuts buying fabric tomorrow at the grand re-opening of Sew Be It, our local (OK it's in Georgia) quilt shop. They have rebuilt after being destroyed in April's tornado.
I am going, but with a short leash.



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18 comments:

  1. Have fun at the re-opening. Hurray for Dave...thank God for meds, and for not having to take them.

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  2. Anonymous9:25 AM

    About the expanding fabric: my theory is that it reproduces when folded together and left in the dark. This explains the bulging shelves and the items that I have NO memory of buying. Occasionally I find items of astonishing beauty. Mostly I'm just astonished at the quantity. So very glad the med change made such a positive difference in your Dave.

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  3. karmacreationsk.3@gmail.com10:16 AM

    You are just a wonderful sister. I have one, too!

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  4. What a happy post! I'm glad your ol' Dave has returned and especially for you that the car was sold. Yippee!!

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  5. I am cleaning out and moving my mothers stuff yesterday and today for a family displaced by hurricane Irene. My mother was the same. We had disposed of lots of things last spring but there is still so much more. Please God don't let my children have to clean out my house.

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  6. SO glad that you have Dave back! What a blessing for both of you!

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  7. Praise God for all His blessings. Glad Dave is back. I know you are relieved. As for SEW BEE IT, They have some neat stripes..hee,hee. I'm on a short leash too...I have all the fabric plus more than I have room for. So I'm bringing a neighbor that I'm trying to get interested in quilting. That will distract me some. Probably will see you tomorrow. I'll remind you if you get too carried away. Brenda

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  8. Yippee! Well deserved blessings!

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  9. Wow, when you wrote about your mom's stash tendencies, I saw my own childhood flash before my eyes! I have to work so hard to not let it get out of hand. Yours all looks beautiful.
    Anna

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  10. Your sister's quilts are amazing and I'd buy them all if I had the funds! And speaking of funds, when you go to a sale that is tempting, take only cash, no credit cards, no checks, just the cash and that puts a bit of a limit on things in itself. Have fun and do tell Brooke to keep up the wonderful work! She has a gift and should not hide it under a bushel!

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  11. What a colourfull blogg you have.

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  12. I really love your blog, Melody. Glad that Dave has had a good result by eliminating a med. I too have to fight the urge to buy fabric. I always have a plan when I buy it, but then it gets stored and I have no idea what the plan was when I find it in my stash.

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  13. What a great series of happinesses!

    We recently had to clear out DH's parents' house. It was always absolutely PERFECTLY neat and tidy, and MIL was a fantastic cook right to the end (93!) so we were gobsmacked to discover she was a secret hoarder and there were closets and closets, and trucks under every bed FULL of fabric and perfectly kept clothes dating back to the 1960s! SO - the LESSON for me ... Just because it's neat doesn't mean it oughta be kept! The Good Will shop might benefit from it more than my poor family!

    Does that ring a bell for anyone else?

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  14. Short leash, uh. We shall see

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  15. Also anxious to see if your short leash works. Mine usually doesn't...

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  16. Isn't it grand when it all falls into place.
    I just ned to see one episode of Hoarders to get cracking in the house post haste.

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  17. Glad to hear Dave is better off those meds and the truck and car are gone.
    I will miss the stories though.

    Beautiful stash of fabric in the bins.
    I feel the same as you with just looking at your fabric gets you thinking and a new piece is born!

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  18. I recently had to clean out after someone's passing, which also made me look at my own belongings in a different light. However, I did not apply that light to my fabric stash, what an eye-opener. Thank you! Good luck to Dave!
    p.s. Love your Dawgs

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So nice of you to drop by. I love your comments, and if you would really like a reply, please email me at fibermania at g mail dot com