Working with PRICE

PRICE is a medical term meaning, 'protect, rest, ice, compress and elevate'. I've got a stage I MCL or medial collateral ligament pain, which is on the inner part of my knee. It happened simply, by twisting when I got out of the passenger side of the car. Of course, its more like wear and tear on the body that is triggered by simple things.

As I thought about my body lately, it has been in gratitude for all it has done to serve me. I know that I have 'stiff-armed' my way through pain all my life and have resisted a rest since the day I was born. Now, in these later years, it is as though my body is waving a white flag in surrender.

Oh, that song by Dido! It has a whole new meaning when I sing it to my own body. When I read the lyrics or listen to the tune with MY BODY as the focus, I get chills. Perhaps a person needs to believe in reincarnation, which I do, and a person needs to see that when you approach elder years that you do look back in this way. http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/dido/whiteflag.html

"I know I left too much mess and destruction
To come back again
And I caused nothing but trouble
I understand if you can't talk to me again.

And if you live by the rules of "it's over"
Then I'm sure that that makes sense

I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be..."

So, I worked on the blue-heart wallhanging by cutting 2.5" strips for both a border and the binding, joined two scraps of batting, pressed the binding strip, found a piece that would work for the back and sleeve, and pinned it all for machine quilting. There was enough of the backing fabric to be cut into smaller squares, and two strips of the periwinkle to get added to those blocks I am making for a strip back.

Scrap quilting as I shop from my closet is not easy. It is looking back on what was used for some other, perhaps even greater purpose at the time. It is not surrendering. I keep thinking how much easier it is to go to a fabric store and select all new, coordinating fabrics to go forward with the pattern the way it is printed. 

Yet, when I am able to make something that turns out quite lovely, I am pleased with myself, pleased with my creativity, pleased that I did not surrender and give up.