Showing posts with label strength. Show all posts
Showing posts with label strength. Show all posts

Monday, August 5, 2019

Effie's Butterfly Garden


Effie's Butterfly Garden
I've done a series on my husband's grandmother, Granny Rose, her quilts, and my reproductions of those designs. Until now, I only had one of my own grandmother's quilts, a wedding gift. Recently a cousin sent me some old family photos, including a few pics of Granny Hill's quilts.

Effie's Butterfly Garden is my version of one of them. I made my block simpler so that I could use Accuquilt dies and sew it up more quickly. Her quilt and my block are pictured below. I may do another take on the design later using her kite piece.

Effie Hill quilt
Kaye's version

Vintage style 1930's and 1940's small floral prints, like the housedresses she made and wore, are featured with a natural muslin contrast in each block. Backing and binding are a larger floral print. I quilted with beige thread using a walking foot in serpentine lines that intersect to make simple flower petals.


I remember Effie Hill as a strong, independent woman who raised six kids during the depression. She lived and worked hard all her life on a farm in rural middle Tennessee. She grew a garden, cooked and canned, and somehow found time to sew and quilt. I surely must have inherited some of her sewing DNA.

Accuquilt dies used: 55010 5” square, 55735 2 ¼” x 4 ½” chisel, and 55147 2 ¼” half square triangle. I cut the 2 ¼” square from a strip, using the end of the chisel die.


I am thankful 
for the strength 
that lives in my veins. 
~K. Azizian

Monday, January 2, 2017

Necessary Solitude


Isn't it peaceful to experience quiet moments without distraction? I think so.

Our holidays were low-key, without any fuss or stress, most of the time just the two of us. We watched old movies, cooked, read novels, and talked. I had time to sit by the fire with my coffee and dream.

Days like today, when there's a foggy drizzle, I'm happy to be inside enjoying my solitude. Everything is so quiet when you turn off phones and TV to let the silence soothe your mind. It's also quite refreshing to step outside and absorb the sounds of nature.

Seeking solitude is beneficial to your body, mind, and spirit. It invokes feelings of contentment, and helps improve concentration and problem solving. Find a few moments to recharge, renew and regenerate.


Solitude is the soul's holiday,
an opportunity to stop doing for others
and to surprise and delight ourselves instead.
~Katrina Kenison


Solitude is a kind of freedom.
~Umberto Eco

Monday, January 26, 2015

Say Yes Or No

When someone asks you a yes or no question, answer it simply.

Yes.    No.    Maybe.

Then wait. 

If there's a need for additional information, let them request it. You decide whether or not to share any more based on who's doing the asking.

It isn't necessary to volunteer details, embellish, make excuses, justify, describe your history or list reasons behind your decision. Most people don't want to hear them anyway. They probably just want the simple answer.

The people who matter most will likely be satisfied with the answers you give. Who cares about anyone else? Many are just nosy and only want the drama, the gossip, or the juicy details of your life. Giving extra information makes them think they are entitled to know everything about you. And it isn't their business.

Keep it simple. Resist the urge to offer explanations. Be confident in your decisions. You choose what to share with others. Be a little mysterious. The only person you have to prove anything to is yourself.

Don't underestimate me.
I know more than I say,
think more than I speak,
and notice more than you realize.”
--Unknown

Don't try to explain yourself to stupid people.
You aren't the jackass whisperer.”
--Unknown


Monday, August 25, 2014

I Don't Have To...

follow the herd.

impress people.

fix everything.

tolerate fools.

get frustrated.

feel obligated. 
 
explain myself.

listen to lies.

keep everything.

pretend to like someone.

seek approval.

always say yes.

wait for the perfect time. 
 
agree with everyone.

offer excuses.

be perfect. 
 
act my age.

    ...if I don't want to.

I'm just trying to be me. I didn't ask for anyone's opinion.


Don't put the key to your happiness 
in someone else's pocket.” - Unknown





Monday, April 29, 2013

Enough Is Enough

I am done. I refuse to tolerate the actions of fools who have no regard for others. Self-centered, irresponsible, ungrateful people who take and never give have no place in my life. I'm beyond being angry or disappointed...I'm just done. I'm letting go of any expectations that they will change, do the right thing, or even show up.


People will show you exactly who they are, by their actions.
 They will also show you exactly what you mean to them the same way.
Believe them. This is reality.
 Your reality will be however you decide to handle it.”
~J.V. Manning

It is sad to watch someone close to us continually disappointed by people they love. I wonder why we tolerate poor behavior from the very people who should never treat us badly. They shouldn't be excused just because they share our DNA or because they have been in our lives for so long. Their action or inaction is the best gauge of how they feel about us.

One of the hardest lessons in life is knowing when to walk away. No one can fix crazy, toxic, or mean people. Worrying about them only brings us down; being angry with them doesn't help the situation. They, like all of us, will have to answer to a higher power one day.

I have learned that I can't change others, only myself. I can limit contact with anyone who does not positively impact my life. I am solely responsible for the people I let into it. 

I am walking away. Enough is enough. Letting go is easier than I thought, and I feel much better already. 

 

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