Sewing is my therapy.

Last week I posted a little parcel of handmade goodies to Deb.   You could call it a random act of kindness.  I wanted to make her something, to say thank you for being herself.  To me, she is so inspiring.  I love reading her blog and following her on Instagram.  She makes beautiful quilts.  She works hard at studying at University and raising her kids.  I really love her honesty on her blog and on Instagram.  She is not afraid to talk about difficult things like her feelings. I wish I could be so honest.

I included a letter with the handmade goodies.  I only meant to say a few words, to thank her for being so inspiring and honest. In the end, it was a few pages long, confessing how 2014 had been the worst year of my life and the reasons why.  I talked here about my grief at losing both my Nana and then my Grandma last year.  There were other things that made 2014 an awful year.  I am not ready to talk about them here.  Maybe one day I will be ready.

Once I had posted the parcel to Deb, I worried that I'd dumped all my pain on her. She has experienced her own share of pain and grief, she is open and honest about it on her blog and on Instagram. I felt relief to have shared all this in my letter but part of me felt guilty for burdening Deb.

I did not and could not know how she would receive my letter. It was a complete surprise to me that my letter did not burden her but uplifted her.  (She wrote about it here on her blog). I could then see clearly, by sharing my pain and grief with her, I was acknowledging her own pain and grief.  We all feel better when we talk about these things, it is part of the healing process.  It is not healthy to anyone to bottle up their emotions.

Deb has helped to heal me. I feel stronger. I feel supported.  Deb is my friend (even if we have never met).  I loved making all these goodies for her.

Sewing is my therapy. What is yours?

A very loverly quilt

 

 Hello peeps,

Earlier in the year I was asked by the lovely Cat from Wouldn't it be Loverly if I would consider making a custom quilt for her husband's 40th birthday.  I was flattered that she would ask (I've only finished 3 quilts so far), I consider myself a beginner quilter.   But.....I do love a good challenge and I want to improve my piecing and quilting, so I said yes (with much excitement) 

 

 Cat lives in Australia and I live in Hong Kong.  This whole quilt has been designed through the internet, with the help of email, instagram and pinterest (quilt design was inspired by this quilt)

I love the colour palette Cat chose - it is so different to my usual approach of use all the colours, all at once.

How wonderful is the solid navy blue binding?  At first I was unsure of this, but Cat knew what she wanted, and I was quickly converted to see how it works perfectly.

I loved this quilt right from the start, and fell deeper in love with it the more I sewed and the more time I spent with it.

 

It was such a pleasure to make this quilt.  It warms my heart knowing that Cat and her husband and their children will be snuggled under it for years to come.

It washed up beautifully, looking nice and quilty and snuggly (and very, very wonky, but wonky is good)

Yes, it is HUGE.

It is much bigger than my Grandma's quilt.

Thank you Cat, for trusting and believing in me, that I could make the quilt that you wanted.  I loved working with you.

Now, some time soon,  I probably should finish the three other quilts I have started.

Have a great day.

Cat xox