This week I talk a bit about Sharon Schamber, charitable quilting, a muffin recipe, and a couple diatribes on Slacking and “Why Haters Gotta Hate”.
Here Jett is showing off the layout for the latest Quilt of Valor.
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You do not need to explain to anyone on why you sew, how fast you sew or what you do with them. You do great work and I there are days I wish I had time to get all the things in my head out into a quilt. I have spurts of activity and I can tell when I haven’t been sewing. I am also a slacker. I always think I am going to do all the “special” stuff but somehow it never gets done so I have accepted that what I want and what I do are me :-).
Just keep quilting and keep podcasting and think ‘turkey bacon’ every time someone says/writes/emails/comments cattiness (apologies to Jett, Morelli and Nina).
I get the “you’re not as over-productive as usual” comments all the time, but I’ve learned to take them as jokes. Of course, I majored in engineering at college, so I’m used awkward complements which is what I usually chalk it up to (rather than cattiness.)
It’s hard to explain to strangers the therapeutic nature of quilting so I’ve pretty much quit trying. If someone harps on it too much, I go through the whole “I’ve been diagnosed with Depression and this helps me” thing (not emotionally, simply matter-of-fact.) Usually I don’t bother. I’m old now and don’t have to worry what other people think of me.
(a.g. at quiltingpiecebypiece)
loved your podcast as usual. Sometimes people just have to say something, make a smart remark They don’t necessarily mean anything too indepth by it but still it can cut like a knife. Sometimes we can brush it off, be understanding that they don’t mean anything by it but other times we can’t. Hope you can rise above the people whose comments could be interpreted as unkind. You do amazing work. I could make smart remarks too… cause you get through so much … but you sew for your own reasons and I sew for mine. We all have our own lives to lead and gotta do what we gotta do. You have challenged and inspired me. I now record my finishes and purchases on stash report and my work in progress on WIP Wednesday, both directly as a result of your podcast. So thank you. I started blogging again so I could participate in these things too so again… thankyou. I don’t have a great following but who cares. I like reading my own back posts to realise what I have accomplished over time.
Firstly, I love your podcast and look forward to every Friday. I can’t write what I think you should say to the haters (being originally a Brooklyn,ny gal we tend to be tougher than the average bear), but just gloat and continue to show your FO’s.
Thanks for keeping me company while I cleaned the house today. I’ve been away for a few weeks and catching up on your podcasts made a disagreeable chore more pleasant.
Random thought from the last 4 episodes …
I usually machine stitch the binding on charity and children’s quilts the way you described, but I tend to use a decorative stitch so I don’t have to be quite as precise in my stitching. I call it a ‘design element’.
I loved the story about the cat games! I listen to your podcast because we seem similar in temperaments, I love to hear about your cats (we used to have cats, but they grew old and passed on and I’m enjoying my freedom from pets and children too much to repopulate the house - the children also grew older but moved out, not died - just to clarify :^) I am also greatly motivated by your quilts, your productivity and your fitness quest. I appreciate you letting us all into your life.
I’m looking forward to hearing about your class with Sharon Schamber. What a terrific opportunity for you!
Hi there! This was my first listen to one of your podcasts- and I just had to leave a comment. I really appreciate your honest, straight-forward style, and your words just kind of speak to me. I feel like I have a lot in common with you. Love it! I’ll definitely be listening again.
I agree with Judy. You don’t have to explain or apologize. Nobody is perfect is every way and you are a very special snowflake.
I know that this is old news and you have probably resolved your quilting design dilemma, but I wanted to share the Quilt Index with you: http://www.quiltindex.org/. I am sure you know about it, being the awesome person you are, but I thought it might be a good way to get ideas for quilting designs, because there are a lot of quilts using similar patterns from different makers.
I do have my quilter switch colors when I have a quilt with really constrast-y fabrics, especially if I don’t want a dark thread “covering up” a nice light fabric. I am always afraid it will ruin the look I was going for. Monofilament would solve the problem, but my quilter doesn’t use monofilament, though I have on occasion.
Re: Golden Scissors - you already know and listed the reasons the people who made snide comments are morons. I won’t go into them again. This pisses me off so much, because not only do we, as women, have to fight against the perceived power of men, but we also have to fight against women who feel entitled to make rude comments and not appreciate what someone else is offering up to the quilt world. The bottomline for them is that they are not as organized, not as confident and don’t understand the cardinal rule of getting better at something: you have to do it a lot. I think you should stand up (or perhaps go up to them later with a friend?) and tell them that their rudeness and jealousy hurts your feelings-then walk away. They need to know and they need to feel guilty, even if Southern women don’t address that topic normally.
Please know that I am applauding you and encouraging you from my far corner of the country for your charity and all the sharing that you do.