Passage - part 1 -

"Passage" is word #2 for the 2010 3Creative Studios quilt challenge.

It reminds me of a Journal Quilt I made in 2009.
I wanted to make a JQ about the feelings during menopause. Perhaps you recognize this sort of transition your body is going through and then especially by the negative experiences of waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to fall a sleep again, depression, feeling tired, amnesia, hot flashes, etcetera.

Looking at the word transition I realized that it refers to a closure and a new beginning. I made a leave in two colours, to make the change and possible choise visible. The choice between the answers to these questions: Am I loosing the feeling of being vibrant and do I begin to see myself as old and behave accordingly? Or do I start a new phase in my life and am I not clinging to much at the "me" from before the change?

The JQ has been made during the first month of 2009, with a technique I learned the year before:

Transition (8.5 x 11 inch)

From Journal Quilts - theme "Emotions"

The leave was part of the Lesson One exercises of the course "Machine Embellished Surfaces". This on-line course at the Quilt University was given by Susan Brittingham and started on October 11, 2008. Perhaps I use some of this JQ for the #2 challenge, perhaps not.

Thank you for your visit!



Relevant links:

• the Quilt University
• Susan Brittingham's website
• 3Creative Studios quilt challenge:
  March/April theme "Passage"

The colour of your heart

During the last week of february a particular text from a Dutch song kept my mind busy.Literally translated it says:
Don't think white, don't think black.
Don't think black and white
But in the colour of your heart

The text is from a song from 1984 called "Black-White" and Frank Boeijen was the Dutch singer/song-writer. Because I was'nt sure if the term "black and white thinking" is common in English, I looked it up on the Internet and found this at The Sideroad:

"Always" and "never," polar opposite words, tend to characterize the vocabulary of black and white thinkers. Black and white thinking means seeing the world only in terms of extremes. If things aren't "perfect," then they must be "horrible."
If your child isn't "brilliant" then he must be "stupid."
If you're not "fascinating" then you must be "boring." Yikes! What a tough way to live! In real-life, situations are almost always shades of gray, not black or white. Falling victim to black and white thinking tends to exacerbate depression, marital conflict, anxiety, and a host of other everyday problems.Give yourself and the ones you love a break and discover the beauty of shades of gray.

I like discovering "the beauty of the shades of gray"!
The song goes one step further by asking to think in the color of your heart.
The words kept me thinking and wondering ......
To release myself I made this Journal quilt:

Thank you for reading and Happy Quilting!

Like a fish ...

I found an interesting writing about feeling like a fish out of water:

"Whenever someone travels overseas they are like "a fish out of water." Like the fish, they have been swimming in their own culture all their lives. A fish doesn't think about what water it is in. Likewise, we often do not think too much about the culture we are raised in. Our culture helps to shape our identity. Many of the cues of interpersonal communication (body language, words, facial expressions, tone of voice, idioms, slang) are different in different cultures. One of the reasons that we feel like a fish out of water when we enter a new culture, is that we do not know all of the cues that are used in the new culture."

Have you ever felled like a fish out of water?
In Dutch however, there is the saying "Feeling like a fish in the water". And that is what my second Journal Quilt is about:

From Journal Quilts - theme "Emotions"

Thank you for reading this blog, I hope you enjoyed it!

Empty Nest Syndrome

Have your children recently flown the nest? Has this left you feeling relieved and happy that you now have the opportunity to do all the things you were unable to do whilst bringing up your children, or, do you feel empty, at a loss and thinking, "what do I do now?"

Perhaps you recognize the feelings?
Do'nt worry, I do miss my kids, but not so strong that I suffer from the syndrome!

The Empty Nest Syndrome is the subject of my first Journal Quilt:

From Journal Quilts - theme "Emotions"

And a detail:

From Journal Quilts - theme "Emotions"