24 May, 2011

Revelations

I've had a revelation over the last few weeks. It does not at all coincide with my birthday. Or the hours spent in the ER with The Evil Genius last week. It started when I came across this particular blog, Can You Stay For Dinner? She chronicles a massive weight loss and living her new life - the triumphs and the struggles. In one post on her weight loss she mentions emotional eating. Many of us do it, myself included. But when I read her post something twigged for me. I was convinced that I ate for the hug that it gave me - beer or chocolate at the end of the day to come down from the stress. In truth, comfort eating for me is a way to simply hide under the covers when I'm too drained to face the world.

This revelation hasn't caused me to suddenly stop eating cake at night. I mentioned that it was my birthday on the weekend, right? But it is making me stop and look at all the things that have been hanging over my head, keeping me down. By not tackling some things on the to-do list, simple and large, I'm effectively hiding my head under the covers instead of moving forward with life.

In that spirit I'm on a kick to catch up with bee blocks and knock out some WIPs. Not all of them, only those that are holding me back from starting some new work. These are commitments I've been avoiding in the interest of doing things for me, but in avoiding them I'm not able to move ahead. They need to get done so I can really pay attention to myself and the fun stuff.

This first set is for Shea, as part of my Pieced Together Bee. I am now addicted to Moda Crossweaves. These are gorgeous! Her only request was right angles only. I found out on this block that you can still do improv, it all matters in how you prep the pieces. I see more challenges like this in my future. And more crossweaves.


The next ones come from the Mid Mod Bee. Every single block and participant in this bee inspire me. I've had so much fun working on these blocks because they are all different and all come from such different places. But the inspiration from mid-century modern design prevails. It's been great to see the interpretations.

This is Robin's. She wanted a loose interpretation of Mondrian, a little less precise though. Mine isn't quite as curved as she'd probably like, so I left it large for her to trim down.


And this is Blair's. She was inspired by some images of fireplaces in a mid-century modern design book. I have the same book, so I totally get the inspiration. What a great combination of solids she has here.

I've got a couple more bee blocks to go and some tops to put together, then I can feel comfortable moving forward on some of my own projects again. Including some baby and wedding quilts. No rest for the wicked! Or the sick as the cold the girls gave me for my birthday is indeed begging to have me hide under the covers.

10 comments:

RebKnitz said...

Those are all really lovely. I particularly like the two in the top picture; it's fascinating how a good pattern overshadows a distaste for the colors of the fabrics :-) (It's okay; they aren't for me!)

Rachel said...

I really like your mid mod bee blocks. Now I'm inspired to try something a bit different.

Katherine said...

Belated Happy Birthday, Cheryl! Hope the cold doesn't keep you hiding under the covers for long. Get well soon!

Great bee blocks.

Kristy said...

Crossweaves are fantastic, I love the texture they give while still using solids.

Happy Birthday!

pat sloan said...

Happy Birthday My friend!!!

Jen said...

Thanks for posting this Cheryl. Your blocks are lovely. I truly hope you have a wonderful birthday. Thank you also for sharing, especially "Can you stay for Dinner."

Suzanne said...

Happy belated birthday!

I can really appreciate your candor and awareness about needing to do some projects so there is room in life for the fun projects. And on the food front, I have discovered that sometimes when I am "hungry," I'm really just tired and a little nap or sitting fixes it even better than a snack.

Hat's off to you for hunkering down and sewing.

sew katie did said...

Oh, I love Robin's block!

I always do the one thing first thing in the morning that I least want to do. Then I can play.

Happy Birthday Lady. Hope it was a good one and the knees are happy.

Jen B said...

This is something that I struggle with too, both the eating for the wrong reasons and getting out of my own way so I can live the life I want.

Shea said...

Cheryl, I LOVE the blocks! I can't wait to get them all back so I can arrange and rearrange them and gaze at them all! Thank you so much for making them- you did a fabulous job!
-Shea