Blogging is something I started many years ago. I first started after being encouraged by a friend, who also blogged, to use it as a self help tool to try and get my depression and anxiety under control a little. I found it very therapeutic and blogged several times a week, though I kept my blog private. In time I let it get out there and several people became regular readers and my posts became less introspective and more about a showcase for my scrapbook pages.
In time I felt I could only write a post when I had something to show and as I was scrapping less and less I blogged less and less. Eventually I stopped altogether but, I have to confess to having missed it. Then I started again, mainly as a way of cataloguing my health and what I achieved in spite of it. Then I stopped, although it is still private and not seen by anyone else.
Over the past 2 years so much has changed. My health has worsened and I can no longer work. I was dismissed as medically unfit to teach in June 2014. I knew it was coming but it was still a very hard pill to swallow and it has taken me until fairly recently to adjust to the fact I can no longer teach, or indeed work.
One good thing that came from all of this was the fact that I had time to finally start patchwork and quilting. Something I had wanted to learn how to do for many years but I kept putting it off because I knew I didn't have the time to commit to it. Since August 2014 I have gone to a patchwork and quilting class every Thursday morning at Keltra Crafts in Bathgate.
My first project was a cushion and then it was onto a small lap quilt using a variety of different blocks to learn a range of techniques. After that it was a few bags, one to replace a knitting bag I had got free with a magazine many years ago and which had finally worn through on the bottom. (I will post photos once I take them!)
Now I am making a quilt using foundation piecing which will be slightly smaller than single bed size for when I am too ill/sore to go to bed and sleep in my chair. After that I think I will try something more adventurous, but time will tell. In the mean time I am collecting quilt patterns and ideas, fat quarters of fabric and a few quilting books. One of the books I picked up was The New Hexagon which, along with All Points Patchwork have inspired me to have a go at hand sewing a quilt like this.
When I first started I had a colour scheme in mind of pink, yellow and teal and while I am kind of sticking to that the hexagons seem to have a life of their own when it comes to fabric and I find myself choosing things I would possibly not have looked at otherwise. I am still working on the first rosette and sewing it all by hand, in between knitting projects. Again I will add photos once I have taken them.
For now it's off to knit or sew with my feet up.
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