Refocusing

I feel like I have not been making particularly good use of my time lately, so have been trying to refocus on my creative endeavors a bit.

"Things that are sitting on the To Do list" doesn't necessarily make for an interesting post, though, so I promise I'll keep it brief!

I was able to track down some of the fabric that I wanted for the backing of the scottie dog quilt. It is a very cute and happy print. I now have the whole thing sandwiched and pinned, and am in the process of quilting it in the ditch with variegated thread.

I am such a sucker for variegated thread. The color changes make it visually flicker in and out of the surrounding fabrics on the front, which adds a little bit of extra fun :)

Small world

Took time out from updating the board last weekend to go and give platelets. The woman across from me was a real champ - arrived later than I did but finished about 20 minutes earlier. (I have some issues with the anti-coagulant they use, so they have to do everything slower with me to make it work properly.)

We were chatting a bit afterwards. It turns out this was her first platelet donation. She had been inspired to come in to give after her dog passed away from lymphoma; this was something she felt would be a fitting tribute.

Small world!

Don't take my picture, mama!

Regarding snuggle quilts

To the relatives who have recently visited and admired the photos: Hi, and thanks for the kind words!

Regarding the supposed silliness of spending time on fancy quilts for animals, I don't know if it is a silly thing to do at all. I think the animals who have these in their cages just may end up getting a little more attention from human visitors. If you saw a colorful quilt in a kitty or puppy cage, wouldn't you want to pause and look? That would give the animal a little more time to charm you. Might you not then be a little more likely to bond with this pet and take him or her home? :)

I do have a few more snuggle quilts to photograph, but these will have to wait til the camera battery is up and running again. I may try giving these to the emergency vet clinic that took care of Finny. They were so nice to him, and I'd really wanted to do a little something for them too. We'll see!

Charlotte's web

"It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer. Charlotte was both." --E.B. White, the last line of Charlotte's Web.

I think from the first time we read Charlotte's Web, we think about it as a story of friendship. But given this last line, would it pay off to start from the beginning and think about it, too, as a story about the power of storytelling to make things happen?

The community came to view Wilbur the way they did through the words Charlotte chose to describe him.

Did Charlotte, by granting Wilbur the self-confidence that someone believed in him, and giving him a goal to strive towards, also actually turn him into someone who could accurately be described in the words she wrote?

Does calling someone's attention to a quality they possess - nascent though it may be - inspire them to cultivate it?