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"Compassion hurts. When you feel connected to everything, you also feel responsible for everything. And you cannot turn away. Your destiny is bound with the destinies of others. You must either learn to carry the Universe or be crushed by it. You must grow strong enough to love the world, yet empty enough to sit down at the same table with its worst horrors." - Andrew Boyd

I never heard of this man before seeing a quote of his the other day. A little research showed that he calls himself an author and a prankster. I think he also has been called a philosopher and that strikes me as true. It made me wonder what I call myself these days. Over the years, I have worn several different hats depending upon what I was doing in the moment. The world seems to need our labels and we work to make it happen. Anyway, I like what he said about compassion hurting, not turning away and all else right up to sitting down at the same table with what we love and what we find horrifying. 

My cutting project proved productive. I actually cut 40 charm squares for the swap, pressed them, then colorized them & bagged them for shipping. Only 20 were requested, and I have so much fabric, that a little generosity only pays back what I have received from others. Sometimes the only way to express that gratitude comes in sharing in ways that work for me.

The full task of cutting also did a couple of things, with all these smaller squares starting with the 2.5" size up to the 10" squares. I am not colorizing any of them and just putting them away in the smaller bins. 

Also, the scraps and selvages were cut and tossed into a basket. It was surprising how much they overflowed with one day's work. I didn't think I would have enough to fill one of those pet pillows in a year, but it might not take as long as was expected.

It would be nice to go through the two bins I have in my bedroom closet cutting those scraps into usable squares. Thing is, cutting scraps, while it is meaningful work for quilting, is not all that much fun. I need to get back to hand quilting and start up on the paper piecing project.

There are no plans for the newly cut squares. With 13 quilts already scheduled for 2015, I just want to get through what is started before taking on a new one.Several of my projects are close to done and it will not take but a few days to finish those up. With these newly cut squares, if a new project comes calling, a lot of the work is already done to get it going. It would be simply a matter of selecting the size of the square and then seeing if the coordinating colors are there. 

I love quilting. 

Guess for this part of my life, it is exactly right for me to own the label of quilter. 

Its really a deceptively simple identity. 

My super power.