My Dream House (scratch that.. who needs a house? I meant My Dream Quilt!)

Generally, I am not a person who cares about name brands of anything. I like good quality, but I am not hooked on names. However, I have recently gotten hooked on all things Vera Bradley. I have absolutely fallen in love with the prints used to make her products. Maybe it has something to do with this year being the real Vera Bradley's 100th birthday year and my turning 50; maybe I'm relating more to the older crowd now. Anyway, if you know me at all, you have probably already guessed that I am thinking about a Vera Bradley quilt. Oh yeah, wouldn't that be something! It would especially be something since you cannot buy the real Vera Bradley fabric anywhere... and believe me, I have searched high and low... it is just not available. However, I have always believed that where there is a will, there is a way. And yes, I have found the way ... well, sort of. There are Vera Bradley cloth napkins... yes, they are made of the perfect quilting fabric and they are large enough to yield quite a few squares each. The ones who are current (meaning the print has not been retired yet) can be bought for $6 each. Retired ones can be bought for a fortune on ebay. If I were smart I would just start with the current ones and collect forward until I am ready to make the quilt. But noooo... I have to be difficult (is that an over the hill thing, I wonder?). I want them ALL! Yes, I do realize that may be impossible, not only due to availability but also due to the major chunk of change this project would cost. Even if I got an extra job to pay for this quilt, it would probably not be enough, considering the prices I just viewed on ebay for the retired ones. Maybe I will start buying lottery tickets. I can see it now... "Alabama quilter becomes a lottery millianaire, and spends it all on fabric!" Hey, what's wrong with that, if it makes me happy?! Well, back to reality... I guess a Vera Bradley quilt wouldn't quite be worth getting an extra job and giving up my quilting time, or buying lottery tickets with money that could have been spent on fabric. So I'll go with the more mature solution. I'll just start buying a napkin here and there when I have a little extra cash and see how it goes. Maybe by the time I have time to actually start the quilt, I'll have enough. Step #1: Acquire a list of all Vera Bradley fabric patterns since the beginning of the company... check that one off, I bought the limited edition patchwork journal that has a picture strip of each and every one of them on the cover and a list on the inside, for myself as a birthday present yesterday. Step #2: Start acquiring napkins, one at a time... I'll start a new list on my blog when this step begins. Maybe one of these days you'll be reading a blog post entitled "Starting My Dream Quilt."

UFOs

All quilters know that quilting is not just a hobby; it is an addiction. If you are a true quilter, once you start... you just can't stop. In no time you will have quilts you've done, quilts you started and haven't finished and quilts you're currently working on. Yes, you can work on several quilts at once and keep it all straight in your head and actually get them all done ... eventually. You will also have piles and stacks and boxes and drawers and closetfuls of fabric; in fact you will have fabric everywhere... each and every piece just waiting for that perfect quilt pattern that was meant just for it, to come along. And if we could only stop acquiring "more" fabric to add to our stashes, we just might live long enough for that to happen. Well we know that will never happen. Anyway, it all started feeling a little out of control for me about a year ago due to the hundreds... and yes, I do mean hundreds... of new quilts that were collecting in my head that I wanted to make. So I decided to do a little experiment. I made a list of every quilt that I have ever made, another list of all quilt tops I have finished but have not yet quilted, and a third list of UFOs (unfinished objects) or WIPs (works in progress). The third list, WIPs, is the one I wanted to concentrate on. As of January 1, 2009 there were 16 quilts on that list. I made a goal to see how many of those items I could complete and move to list number one before the end of 2009. The hard part was that I was not allowed to start any new quilts until the list was below five quilts, and preferably below three. The only exception to this was a baby quilt for the family's newest star, Ryan Anthony. I have been steadily working away and actually making decent progress. So I decided to check my progress this weekend. The list of sixteen has been reduced to twelve. Woohoo... I'm doing great! But wait... what is this?! Could I have inadvertently "cheated?" There seem to be two "new" items on the list... now how did that happen? Woops, I guess I fell off the wagon when I started those two sampler quilts about three weeks ago. But, hey... I did good for what, seven months? That's a record for a serious quilter! So now the count is at 14; look for a new update in a few months.

Over The Hill

I am officially over the hill. I turned "50" yesterday. I can't believe it. Where did the time go? Age has never bothered me before... until this year. I think it started when my sister, Tamarah, became a grandmother a couple of weeks ago. Then I decorated a co-worker's cubicle who was turning 60. Then it seemed all I could think about was my age. I suddenly realized that, no matter how long I live, my life is more than half gone ... or at least my life on earth. Wow... that realization was like when someone who has had a terminal illness dies... you knew it was going to happen and you thought you were prepared, but you find out there is no way to "really" be prepared. You just deal with it when it hits you. Top-most among my thoughts and feelings over the past two weeks has been that I do have regrets. I wish that were not so, but it is. I have made choices in my lifetime that seemed right at the time, but turned out to be wrong. I have also made choices that were wrong from the get-go, and I knew that but blinded myself to the truth of it at the time. I grieve for what could have been and what should have been. Oh, how I wish I could turn back the clock ... not to be young again ... but to exchange some of my choices for better ones. I envy my dear friend, Marzee, who is going on 88 years young and looks back over her life with absolutely no regrets. What peace and joy that brings her in her declining years. Well, I have topped the hill now, and I cannot change the trek I took up the hill. But I "can" choose the path I will take going down, with the maturity and wisdom that comes with age. And that is exactly what I will do. So upon awakening yesterday, I did not feel the panic I was afraid I would feel because I had already dealt with the "age" thing and was over it. I felt happy and at peace. I felt as if I had finally grown up. Or at least I "think" that is how I felt... if I remember correctly... I am, after all, over the hill!