Being an author can be lonely business. While everyone is posting their Saturday afternoon sewing projects on instagram, I am sewing in complete seclusion. When you’re making something for a book, you can’t be flashing it all over the internet, because what publisher will want you to do that?
This time it was my daughter. She’s a working mom–a managing attorney for the firm she works for and she also has her own caseload. Her little guy, my grandson, is only 14 months old. Cute as the devil. They live on a farmette, so there are gardens to weed and chickens to feed.
A few years ago I bought each of the girls a new Bernina sewing machine. Just the basic one, not fancy. But, they loved them none-the-less. Jackie and Madeline really have the fiber love and Katie not so much just yet. She will though.
Anyway, I remember the days of raising children. It’s frustrating. You never have time to do anything for yourself. I always kept my sewing machine right by the washer and dryer, and tell young moms to do the same. Why? Because that’s the spot in your house that gets the most foot traffic. So, if you’re sewing and your husband comes along, you can quickly jump up and take a load out of the dryer or put one in, depending on where you are in the cycle.
On this particular day, Jackie came to my house in total frustration. I know the feeling. It’s the fit that you have only in front of your mother and sometimes your husband. Really only a mother can understand this type of meltdown. She decided that she didn’t have time to sew. Or the space. She was going to use her sewing room to put Freddy’s toys there. She was tired of them being all over the living room. But what to do with all of her fabric and scraps? Why, take them and throw them in Mom’s foyer. She won’t mind at all. OH!!!! So, I had this mass of fabric to deal with. Some of it I didn’t want, but most of it I did. Then to complicate matters further, she told me not to give it to charity because she may want it some day. Lord have mercy! Only a mother could take that type of fit.
So, I did what any other quilter/mother would do. I assimilated it over a few days into my own sewing stash and I did give away some of it.
The best part of it is the scraps. I love scraps. She has a different color palatte then I do. She loves cool colors, and I like it hot. So, I am doing a fabulous quilt for my next book. Yes, I have way more than enough for several quilts, but this one came to me and it’s so amazing I can’t wait for everyone to see it. Best of all, it’s something that no one has ever done before. I can’t wait.
This is just a smattering of some of the scraps.
