draggin_behind

Always a possibility. A couple of people who commented would appear to have been a little miffed at me and/or my reaction. Was not intentional. I'm sorry if my attitude offended others. Being on a fixed income, I don't have $$ to spend willy-nilly on stuff then have to get new stuff because the project changed. I still don't see why the hoopla over using fusible interfacing vs non-fusible. So I have to pay attention & not use an iron until it's where I want the final placement. Big deal. Since it is a 60 mile round trip drive MINIMUM to get stuff if I don't have it, I'm not running out at the drop of a hat because someone said at the last minute "oh, and you need thus and such, too".

I didn't realize until this hit the fan that my Mom, who goes with me, was looking for a reason to give up the group. She didn't say anything to me until then.

There have been a host of "we're going to do thus and such" only to change it the next time the wind blows. Trust is a major issue for me. Once broken, that's it. I'm also a visual learner and a newbie quilter. It had gotten to the point that every meeting was a secret with regards to the block or project or whatever. The choice to sit and watch instead of participating was NOT an available option. I do not like sewing on machines that do not belong to me -- if I went without a machine, it was mandatory that I sew on someone's machine. I admit it -- that rankles. Also the magic is gone and has been for about 6 months. It was getting to the point that on the days of the meets, I was typically hoping to get an email that the group had been cancelled or rescheduled. That's not good.

Do I regret joining in the group? No. Am I going to miss it? Not much. Hauling stuff to and fro, having people use stuff and gunking it up (ie, using my iron to iron the glue side of fusible interfacing, then wiping the iron on my cut & press mat then giving a big grin), being "charitied to death" and incessant poking about projects I've not finished coupled with significant health issues that preclude sitting for long stretches and recently even walking or driving since I cannot move foot & ankle on "driving foot" all add up to "time to go". I will miss a couple of the ladies, one especially who has been quilting longer than I've been on the earth.

Do I mind the charity things? No. Last year our group of 8 made 134 lap quilts for the residents of a nursing home. Though a lot of work, it was fun and I enjoyed the opportunity to participate. The current charity project was a little strange to me. JMHO. The group decided to make a set of 4 quilts (2 adult, 2 kids) for each of the cop cars in the county seat town to be used in the event the cop had to attend to victims in a car wreck. Domestic violence, I can see using them. House fires, removal of a child due to neglect, etc,. picking up a lost child out of the woods, finding a person who's been beaten & left for dead -- all those I can see. Car wrecks? Not so much. I've been in a few. Last thing I would have wanted was a quilt to bleed all over. But since I'm not in the group, it's not my problem. One of my doctors works with child victims of sexual assault. I am going to be contacting him about leaving quilts at his office for the kids. I'm happier with that type of charity project. Just got to be able to sew! Darn foot.

BTW, the instructor was responsible for providing templates for the mystery quilt block. Last time, the same person supplied home cut templates to use in making Dresden plate blocks. Although all the templates were supposedly identical, no two of the quilt blocks had the same number of plates or the same size hole in the center. Most had 18 blades, some had 20 and one had 19. Some centers were 5 inches in diameter, others were 7 or 8. Not saying it's the template, but something was weird. Mine had 20 blades, was perfectly flat, double checked seam size and still had an 7 inch hole. If I have the template already, I'd rather use my own. If it's goofy then, obviously the fault is 100% mine. Nope, I'm not a good chief. Rarely a good Indian, either. lol