Long Distance Grandparent
My family lives more than 2000 miles from me and I work hard at staying connected to them. If you remember your own teenage years, you might remember what fun you had with friends. While I remember all four of my Grandparents with deep love, I do not remember them being in my life as much as they were when I was very young, and then again when I was more of an adult. They were present, but the teen age is less a time for family, even though they are what holds us, keeps us, guides us, and more a time for personal growth and self-definition.
Because I am so far away, I like to ship things I've made, which means starting to think about the Winter Solstice holidays rather soon. Last year, I made them all mug rugs, like this one from a panel I had, and sent them each a dozen cookies.
This marks a relatively stressful time of the year for me, I think in part, because I was a single parent with a limited income all the time my Sons were growing up. I've gotten better about the whirlwind of feelings that take me down, and have learned to start the annual process early, come up with a clear and manageable plan, and then do what I can. No reason to make excuses to anyone why I do this the way I do. It just is.
I spent part of the day looking online for ideas and have come upon a few which means I need to start gathering supplies and planning how to individualize them. While each teen gets pretty much the same thing, they still want it to be special.
The other thing I did today was to start getting ready for one of the last projects for machine quilting. Much to my surprise, on one side, borders were unfinished & a couple of seams needed re-doing. Once again, I put something away without a note to myself. Hmmm. It meant looking at the entire quilt top to bottom and side to side. Can't hurt to do a final check, but a note would have helped.
As I researched online this afternoon, something flagged for me about finishing one of the Pay It Forward projects with Prairie Points. Yes, its in the traditional holiday colors. Yes, it will ship out about the same time as the Winter Solstice gifts to my Grandchildren. Yes, four quilts going out this year are made in a winter theme. Yes, it is the first part of August, which means there are 15 weeks to wrap up all the projects for 2014 and get them shipped.
Prairie Point borders are something I have worked with and find easy now. I cut 40 4" squares, pressed them in half and then again in quarters. There is an opening that allows the one before it to slide in for a fit. They all go together in one direction. This fabric is a stripe, so one side of it will have vertical stripes and the other side will have horizontal stripes. The red will make up the binding that encloses the raw edges and give the project the nice femme look it deserves. I think it will have a lot of interest going with this border. While I will not take a photo of the finished project, I will show this part after it is attached.
