On closets, cleaning, quilting, weight loss and toenails...
All of these things intersect in my life- like the burmuda triangle. Bonnie was talking about cleaning her closet the other day. She mentioned that she wore the same colors that she likes to quilt with. Lots of denim and khaki... got to thinkin' about that. My closet is in the throes of an identity crisis. I used to wear lots of khaki- actually, I wore pretty much exclusively khaki. Khaki skirts, pants and jumpers, jackets. Only solid-color shirts- mostly tan. It was kinda sad and weird, because that certainly wasn't the way I quilted. I love color. I've always loved color. I just didn't want it on me. (But I did and still do have a thing for mono-chromatic quilts.)

But then, I lost 40 pounds. No, I'm not bragging- it's rather embarrassing to admit that I had that much extra weight on me. I do happen to be on the tall side of average, but it was still 40 pounds. And it seems to be the time of year when people start making plans to shed those few extra pounds. So what does weight-loss have to do with quilting and closets? Well, now I wear lots of pink, and I've expanded my horizons to stripes- still not crazy about flower prints- unless they're tiny. I have turquoise shirts and raspberry skirts. Lime-green sweaters and purple t-shirts. And my quilting has changed. I play more than I used to. Someone was talking, here on the Maverick ring, about losing weight, and while I think that it is great for your health, it will most definitely have an impact on your wardrobe- not just the sizes- and on your quilting. It's not a bad thing, just different. I find that I expect more from my quilting. I want it to please me, not just be acceptable. But at the same time, I can force myself to work on something that I particularly don't care for because it is for someone else- and they would love it- while before, I just didn't have the heart to do that. And I love putting colors together that don't exactly go together- just because I like them. But some things stay the same. Like the color blue.

Whenever my husband would start tickling me, all I had to say was the word , "blue, blue, blue," and I wouldn't laugh. I have tried blue. I really have. I even bought me the most beautiful blue shirt from J.Jill- love their clothes- a blue drawstring-pocket shirt. And didn't wear it once. I tried, but before I'd get out of the bedroom, I had to change. It was just too depressing. I have no idea why. I like it at a distance. Sarah loves blue and I love her quilts. I'm trying to work with it, now. I'm making another Pineapple Blossom in blues and yellow. Yeah, I had to buy the fabric instead of using my stash, because I didn't have a single peice of blue. Weird. The whole time I've been working on it, I keep having pessimistic thoughts about how this isn't going to work. I know it's just the blue telling me that. I feel certain it will be ok. I just have to push through. Ok, I do keep bursting out into tears as I'm sewing, but honestly, maybe it's just hormones.

And toenails and quilting? Well, I had a lunch date with some girlfriends, yesterday. After my shower, I look at my toes and realize, I could really use a pedicure. I do my own. I have a choice to make- paint my toenails or sew for an extra 5 minutes. I seriously considered it... went for the sewing. My mom says I definitely have a sickness. I don't guess that's news to anybody, here.

(This is the second quilt top I finished using my FW. I had all of the blocks made, I just needed to join them. The points aren't quite as close as I'd like, but it takes awhile to get used to a new machine. You'd think that a quarter inch would be the same, no matter what. It's for my cousin, for college. His school colors are green and white. Happy new year to all!!)