Sunday, September 29, 2013

Stash Report for September; Losing and gaining friends

September Stash Report:

September In: 5.5 yards
September Out: 2.0 yards that I can count. (More was cut for projects that are not far enough along to count yet.)

YTD In: 102.5 yards 
YTD Out: 94.8 yards 
YTD Net Change: 7.7 yards in

Today I'm thinking about friends.

One passed away last week after battling brain cancer and the side effects of treatment.  She was creative, talented, generous, and a perfectionist.  Her quilts won awards at CSQ challenges and The Quintessential Quilt shows, and were exhibited at the Paducah AQS Show. She was very generous in sharing her techniques and expertise with us.  She was well organized and helpful; she quietly did whatever needed doing.  She used to produce the newsletter for CSQ; she set the bar high.  I took over the newsletter when she became ill.  I told her a couple months later that she unknowingly gave me a great gift: producing the newsletter has pushed me to grow and develop in ways I hadn't expected.  Another friend and I are going to the visitation later today and the memorial service tomorrow; other friends will be there, too.  I will miss her. 
 
Yesterday a relatively new bee I belong to got together to sew pillows for a charity project.  We hadn't gelled as a group yet because of being rushed for time at guild meetings, etc.  We took time out from sewing to get to know each other better and I enjoyed the conversation.  Some in the group put into words what I had been feeling: we just go to the guild meeting, sit & listen, but no one talks to each other except those cliques that already know each other.  I thought it was just me, my natural shyness.  I'm glad others felt the same way and that now our bee is planning to meet for lunch after the guild meetings and spend more time together.  Plus we have another pillow-sewing event planned.  I'm looking forward to growing friendships within this group.

Linking up with Sunday Stash Report at Patchwork Times. Check out how other quilters are managing their fabric collections there.

No comments:

Post a Comment