Kindred spirits

Eight or nine years ago, I found myself reading a lot of books with craft settings. I probably read at least a dozen novels or mysteries where the structure of the story was women making things while also being friends and supports to each other. The type of craft didn't really matter. I remember quilting, sewing, knitting, dyeing, and needlework off the top of my head. I realized as I came to the end of this little jag, finishing yet one more rather poor to average book that I was reading them not for the story (and obviously not for the writing) but because of a deep need and desire to belong to a group such as being described. Like so many dreams I had during that period, this one also seemed unattainable.

I've long since learned that my crystal ball is broken. What I was seeing as something that would never be was instead something that was not yet. It makes me almost teary to find myself having made friends with a group of women who very much fill the needs I was feeling nearly ten years ago. 

I mentioned last week that I was going on a crafting retreat with friends. And I did. We stayed in a beautiful house with beautiful grounds. Everyone brought lots of things to work on and we ate and talked and worked on projects and laughed. It was wonderful! It is no small thing to be surrounded with incredibly talented and artistic people who are intelligent and confident so that there is no need for any type of drama. 

"Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there are so many of them in the world." - Anne of Green Gables

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Making bias tape... otherwise known as the Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway

Image
( Sorry, the contest is now closed .... though you're welcome to leave a comment if you like.) [This picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but is here solely to give Blogger a different photo to post in the thumbnail.] It's Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway time again.  I love bias tape.  It is so useful and so easy to use... finishing edges ... finishing seams ...  And while the pre-packaged stuff has it's place and I use it often, I really like to have patterned bias tape as well.  Enter one of my favorite little tools: the bias tape maker.  This one make 3/4 inch bias tape and I will be giving one away at the end of this post.  But first, I thought some of you might like to see what it does if you've never used one before. I don't have a rotary cutter, nice cutting mats, or even a proper cutting table (I cut-out things on my floor), so if I can do this, so can you.  Here is my admittedly quirky method. Step 1:  Lay out the fabric an...
Read more

Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway

Image
Sew, Mama, Sew! is hosting another giveaway day , the day where many bloggers giveaway things they have made or supplies to make things or both.  It is great fun to visit a lot of blogs and try to win cool stuff.  So fun that I thought I would participate this year. I had great hopes of making a set of coordinating mother/daughter aprons.  But reality reared its ugly head and I came to terms with the fact that my time is not limitless.Instead of aprons,  I must continue to spend quality time with yards and yards of red plaid flannel.  What am I making?  Well, as I tell my children, it is the season not to ask questions... I will be able to let you know sometime after the 25th. Instead of making something, I went to my favorite thrift store and found some supplies in the form of sheets and pillowcases (some of my favorite raw material).  I'm giving away three pillowcases and one twin flat sheet. I decided to go with bright, springy colors...
Read more

A little adoption history and pontificating

A little distance is always good before writing on a tough subject. I think I can tackle this rationally now, though I may step on a few toes. We'll see. As some of you may know, yesterday the State department issued a notice saying that China, as of the end of August, has closed their intercountry adoption program. This is across the board and regardless of whether a family has been matched with a child or not. This has been exceedingly hard news for the Chinese adoption community.  I think I need to fill you in on some background before I continue because I realize not everyone lives in this world. (This is an extremely cursory and very simplified history.) China began allowing intercounty adoptions in 1992. Since that time, more than 160,000 children (most were girls) were adopted around the world; ~82,000 of those children came to the US. The process was centralized and a fairly predictable process. Once a family assembled their dossier and had it logged-in, they could usually ...
Read more