When the Mail Comes

For as positive a person that I am, each day I wake, I remind myself to be open and willing to receive all manner of good things. Its not always easy to move forward with plans, to let go of concerns and simply experience the joy in being alive. I have to work at it.

I am such a kid when the mail comes. You would laugh to hear me giggle with absolute glee over a package that comes with a swap in it. I love all I participate in and the sweet friendships that last for at least that month, although some stay in touch after the swap is complete and communicate regularly.

The block above is the May Calendar block from my friend Crow Calling Woman (see her blog on my side bar). We have one more in June that will complete our year BOM swap, and are already planning for the next one that starts in October.

We also swapped Summer Mug Rugs. This one has the interesting machine quilting on it. Its a bit larger but will work beautifully at my work station. There is a free flow to the design of the strips that has the vertical lines uniform and the horizontal line flow.

The back shows off the design detail of the stitching and makes it totally reversible. 

I've learned that there is a hidden power in the backside of quilts as much as there is at the ending of the days when the light fades and one lays down to sleep. I sleep better when I program my body for relaxation and healing. Some nights I go to bed thinking about the people I love and things they are going through that I cannot really fix or change. Those nights are riddled with mental anxiety. Silly really. Because I know that everyone has their own path to walk, their own lessons to learn, and its not really any of my business how they proceed.

I believe that I can tell my body to make use of the sleeping time to heal to the core of my cells. Nights and sleeping are like the back of a quilt. The design is there consciously or sub-consciously. Some times, I discover something on the back of a quilt that needs ripping out and re-doing. Sometimes, as I go to sleep, I remember that I need to make something right with one of my relationships, or it comes to me that a certain energy needs to go into a quilt I am making.

As I machine quilt the simple grid on Sheri's Illusions quilt, after each row, I turn it over to look at the back, making sure the threading was consistent, and that there are no puckers. Guess life is like that too. At least for me.