Pharmaceutical Comforter

It all started at St Joseph's Primary School. Back then "fundraising" was known as "collecting for the Missions". What we collected was tinfoil. I doubt any of my class knew what the Missions were doing, or how our tinfoil would help, but we religiously collected each bottletop (remember them!).

Fastforward at least 30 years to me looking at my foil medication packets. No way can I treat them like rubbish. They represent the best strategy yet in managing my disordered mind... and they're tinfoil! And look, they're layered, with air in the middle. In a grid format. Kinda like a quilt really. So, the inevitable quilt project begins

This one has to be functional, of course. Blister packs are a bit stiff and scratchy to make a quilt that is nice to sleep under. After a few samples I decide on a simple half-square triangle block embellished with a packet.

It's very boring in the middle phase of making and embellishing all the blocks. Now that is done I'm enjoying playing with different layouts. Here's my favourite so far



More about the making of Pharmaceutical Comforter

Full and empty

Wow, I got full on vacation. Eyes and ears, mind and heart wide open to everything around me. And there was so much! Museums, galleries, concerts, classes, conversations, scenery, activity, shoe-shopping... Enough already!

I even came back about 8kg heavier, and no, this was not my shoes.

So despite my ambitious plans to stitch every minute, exercise every day, blog every week, I've actually "done" very little. Because I have been TOO FULL. Too full to chase an idea & catch it, too full to flex myself around it and figure out what it is, too full to tip-toe up to it and invite it to dance.

Instead, I've been emptying.

My do-list: caught up on baby-quilts & birthdy quilt blocks for my group and a bunch of other small, no-brainer activities
My stash: gave away almost everything I took to the US (more room for shoes!), using up fabrics more generously in shared projects, working from the stash rather than the shop
My ideas: reviewed the outstanding projects/ideas list and realised that I've outgrown many of them. I don't need to make them now, just because they were a great idea at the time. Just because it's in my sketchbook (thanks Kathryn) does not mean I am committed to making them.
My heart: took a good hard look at some grief I carry around, and made some more steps toward valuing that pain that is no one's fault and nothing will change

Current state? Light, empty, free... and ready to commit to the first large and serious project since Floating Cubes. This new work has a working title of "Pharmaceutical Comforter" and you will be hearing quite a bit more about it