more that's new...including some sort of lesson (I think)

First of all, thanks for such a great welcome back! As anyone with a blog will agree, sometimes you just don't know if anyone is really out there reading. You've inspired me to make posting more of a priority like it used to be.


I also want to thank those of you who sent me sweet messages on my birthday which was a couple weeks back. It was a very special day for me (well, a couple of days actually) and made turning 50 about as good as it could be. Went to the Carmel/Pacific Grove area for a couple of days where the weather was beautiful and the sunsets were anything but dull.


Periodically sent Pam texts asking for restaurant suggestions, etc...and at Rosine's in Monterey I got my slice of birthday cake. Yes, that's one serving of cake sitting there. Delicious cake, I might add.

Before I get onto my next subject I just want to reassure all you quilters that yes, there soon will be pics of my latest project--but right now it's just weird chunks of fabric. And a rusty key. Hard to photograph. But it's a Valentine's project that Pam and I will both make but in different colors. For what I'm thinking will be a limited edition pattern. So stay tuned. Especially if you like pillows.

Anyway.

I've always wanted to learn how to ski but never had the opportunity. My parents were the ultimate stay-indoors kind of people. We'd go to Yosemite every winter, but it was to look at the snow. Maybe walk in it a little. In fact, my mother didn't learn how to ride a bicycle until she was 50. I do not have an athletic bone in my unusually tall body.

Just before Christmas, I took my first skiing lesson. It was scary but I did it. I didn't have fun, not exactly, but came away with the sense that I could have fun if I knew what I was doing. First week in January brought my second trip to the slopes. And by "slopes" I mean that area where the little kids who are barely out of diapers go effortlessly careening down the incline. There was nothing effortless about anything I did that day. Unless you count falling down. Which it turns out is something I have no trouble doing.

Here's the thing. I'm pretty good at quilting. It was never difficult for me. I learned by reading books--meticulously following the instructions and studying the techniques. Slowly, and at my own pace.

Well, you know what? Skiing isn't like that.


Last Friday was my 3rd day skiing. I'm 3 for 3 falling when I get off the chair lift at the beginner hill. My first time at that "real" hill? I froze. Metaphorically speaking. I ended up walking down the entire hill. Me, my new fancy boots and my new fancy poles. The ones with the flowers on them. I was told "you can't possibly walk down this hill". Oh, just watch me.

It was everything I could do not to cry like a little girl. Like a very big little girl. Got another lesson that day. From a fantastic teacher whose only goal was getting my confidence back. He convinced me to get back onto the chair lift (where I fell again). It took me 20 minutes to get down a hill that anyone else could have skied down in under 2. My hour long lesson had ended when I was probably still 3/4 of the way up the hill. But the instructor, on his own time, insisted that we try it again. And yes, I fell getting off the chair that time as well. And slid rather impressively I might add. But you know what? I did it again. I skied down that hill. I was terrified every single minute, but I did it. Once I reached the flatter part? I was having fun. I'm told I was smiling. I was a little too busy trying to keep my now jello-like body upright to tell.

Why am I sharing this story? I've had students who were afraid of the whole quilting process. From picking the "wrong" fabrics to the worries of less than perfect stitches, learning to make a quilt can be stressful. Accepting the fact that you simply can't control everything that happens. You learn by doing.


Tomorrow I think I'm gonna try it again. It's not defeatist to say that I'm gonna fall some more. It's just reality. I'm gonna fall some more. But I have waterproof pants and a waterproof parka and fancy gloves and a scarf to match. Gotta be stylin' when you're lying in the snow, you know.
And I may be the worst skier in the entire county, but I've got the coolest looking skis. Because I'm a quilter and my gear must color coordinate.


When I get back? I'll be curled up by the wood stove working on that pillow. Because making quilts is easy. You can't fall down.