Two nights ago I came to a stand still on the crochet project that I am working on because I need to get more yarn. I began looking for something small I could make in the meantime. I came across this pattern for a chicken pot holder and decided to give it a try.
It worked up really quick and I think it turned out really cute. I’m sure I will be making more.
Our word of the week is Compassion. This word, or the idea of it, has come up several times in the last week in both things that I have been reading and music that I have been listening to so I decided I needed to share it with you.
According to Merriam Webster Compassion is a sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.
Compassion is what makes us hug a friend who is grieving; compassion is what prompts us to take in that stray dog or cat or adopt a pet from an animal rescue; and it’s compassion that drives us to donate food, clothing or money to a food pantry or homeless shelter. It is responsible for many acts of kindness and love. Compassion seems a normal response when the “distress” is apparent, but what about when it’s not?
We, humans, tend to take things at face value and things, that may trigger a compassionate response if we had more information, might be met with anger or other such negative emotions.
Let me give you a couple of examples.
Example 1: How would you feel if you spoke to someone who was walking past you and they just kept on walking, never even acknowledging you? Would you think them rude? Feel slighted? Disrespected? Offended?
Now would you feel differently if you knew that I am deaf in my left ear and that I simply didn’t hear you? (Yep that person was me.)
Example 2: How would you feel if you were a cashier in a busy grocery store and you noticed a person standing in your line just shaking their head? Would you see someone who was impatient? Who was perhaps disgruntled because they had to wait or something else that occurred during their shopping experience? Would you feel defensive?
Now would you feel differently if you knew I (it’ me again) had a neurological condition that caused my head tremors? That my head shaking was incontrollable movements and at times I don’t even realize it is happening?
It is impossible for us to know all of the issues surrounding every situation. So what can we do? How can we offer compassion when we are not aware that it is warranted?
My best suggestion is to be slow to react to such situations. Ask questions even if in your own mind and if you are unable to gain more knowledge and understanding perhaps you can at least give the person/situation forbearance. I try to keep in mind that I have not walked in anyone else’s shoes.
Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly. Proverbs 14:29
Wow! It’s February ALREADY!
Let’s get it started with our word of the week. This week’s word is Mulligan.
This word was inspired by Groundhog Day. Not so much the holiday that we celebrate each year on February 2nd, but the 1993 movie in which Phil (Bill Murray), a weatherman, is out to cover the annual emergence of the groundhog from its hole. He gets caught in a blizzard that he didn’t predict and finds himself trapped in a time warp. He is doomed to relive the same day over and over again until he gets it right. A great movie.
Now in golf terms the word Mulligan is defined as a do-over. (You can see GolfDigest’s explanation here.) Phil, in the movie, got several do-overs.
However, life is not like a game of golf – there are no mulligan’s and it is even less like the movie Groundhog Day. We just don’t get do-over’s. Consequently we often find ourselves regretting something we’ve said or done or perhaps something we have not done. I was pondering how it is that we can avoid living a life full of regrets. Here is what I came up with:
P.S. Regardless of the groundhog’s prediction spring is coming. 🙂
I had two big winter projects planned and I’m happy to say that I have finished the first and I’m working on the second.
For two years my youngest daughter, Lindell, worked in promotions for iHeartRadio. Last fall she told me she had a bunch of t-shirts that she received while working at iHeart that she would like made into a quilt. I told her I would be happy to do it, but it would not be until after the holidays, and she would have to pick out some flannel that she wanted go along with the t-shirts. I would make them into a rag quilt. For a tutorial click here.
It was early December when we shopped for the fabric but it wasn’t until after Christmas that I began cutting up shirts and laying things out.
iHeartRadio has several FM radio stations in Detroit, all broadcasting out of the same location. She worked for all of them. The t-shirts she received were from various promotional events she attended. Some of them were printed with a logo on the front and event sponsors names on the back and also identified her as “Staff” (“Camper?”).
I set them out in several different designs trying to find the right balance.
Each t-shirt block is backed by two layers ( blocks) of flannel. I stitched an X across each block to hold the three layers together.
Each of the flannel blocks is also backed by two layers of flannel.
On this kind of quilt the seams are sewn on the outside. Once they are all sewn together the seams are clipped about every 1/ 4 to 1/2 inch then when the quilt is washed and dried the clipped seams create a ruffle.
I continued to lay the pieces out on the floor in between steps to make sure things were coming together the way I wanted them to.
If Trooper was around when I Iaid it out on the floor he would immediately go and lie down on it. I often put a blanket down on the floor for Trooper to lay on while I brush him, so I guess he thought he was going to get brushed. This was ok because the very last step was to wash the quilt.
One of my biggest challenges was deciding how to include this pocket from a hooded sweatshirt that said “UNEEK Detroit”. It’s size and shape were unlike any of the other blocks so I had to come up with a unique way to use it.
I went with my first thought, to make it into a unique shaped panel at the top of the quilt, because I needed/wanted the extra length in the quilt. I stitched the pocket to a block of flannel with a unique pattern. The other option that would have worked was to make it into a pillow instead of putting it in the quilt.
I was quite pleased with the end result and my daughter was thrilled with it. I had to lay it out on the table for the final pictures since it was already washed. The table is not big enough to get the whole thing in on shot – sorry.
For the back side my original plan was to have a symmetrical design with the blocks but a mid-project change in the blocks on the front messed up that plan. Oops! None-the-less Lindell loved it and was eager to take it home and wrap up in her beautiful memories.
What’s keeping you busy these days?
Below is a sneak preview of my second winter project.
Be sure to follow this blog to see how this one comes together.
Thanks for reading and remember Make It A Great Day! 🙂
Our word of the week is eccentric.
According Merriam Webster Eccentric means:
deviating from conventional or accepted usage or conduct especially in odd or whimsical ways.
or
deviating from an established or usual pattern or style.
I love the idea of being eccentric. It is our eccentricities that define our individuality. I think that most of us have some degree of eccentricity but many people lack the confidence to embrace it. Instead they sacrifice their true selves in order to impress others and conform to society’s standards.
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