Friday 15 October 2010

If at first you don’t succeed……..

Well the lap quilt I started making for Mum has not come together as I’d hoped, to put it bluntly it’s really quite fugly, lol!!!! I may be able to salvage it down the track but for now I’ve put it aside & have started on Plan B, a bag. I realised early on that I seem to have lost confidence in my choices. I guess because it’s for someone else, it’s harder. When you make something for yourself you know whether or not you like it but trying to see it through the eyes & taste of the recipient can be daunting.

morning glories

morningglory  So here it is, it will be a hexagon bag like the Japanese fabric one below, that I made a few years ago.

japanese bag

Speaking of things you make for others, when I met up with Lorna a couple of weeks ago she told me she had a little wall hanging I’d made for her years ago with ‘If Friends Were Flowers I’d Pick You,’ worked on it. She still has it & loves it. Then at the funeral of my aunt two weeks ago a relative asked after me & said she had a folk art brooch I made her many years ago that she loves. It was nice to think that these handmade gifts are valued. I thought then of the handmade gifts I’ve been given over the years, I remember who gave them to me & I love them. How many store bought gifts stand out in your memory & have special meaning to you????

I know some people don’t value handmade gifts, in fact they think it’s the cheap, easy way out, lol!!!!! If only they knew the long hours & second guessing that can go on. So I will continue to make & give gifts, & will hopefully be the recipient of handmade gifts too.

5 comments:

Vicky said...

I'm loving those colours Jan. That fabric is beautiful :-)

I have a couple of those bags finished and just waiting for handles. Another couple of UFO's I'm determined to get finished this year .. lol ..

Anonymous said...

Feeling a bit "green about the gills" right now :)

Carol said...

Gorgeous greens. Love the frog.

Jan Quigley said...

Thanks Vicky, I love the fabric & think the bag will be really pretty.
Lol Munaiba, lucky I stopped when I did, I kept thinking of other things I could have added. :-)
cheers,
Jan

Julie said...

Loved your "Green Day" the variety of different greens are fabulous!