Jamie

I'm going to head in right now, and start going through my fabric, I know I have a lot of scraps, and pieces I don't like, and some other ones I'm just sick of looking at, and maybe I can find someone who would like to exchange fabrics...plus where as I'm sick of spending half my day cleaning...I don't really consider this cleaning...It more wishful thinking :)
Thanks everyone It's nice to have someone to talk to and a bit of encouregment when your feeling down.

Marcia

Hi Jamie---Sometimes I will go through a spell where I do not go into my quilt room for weeks at a time. The "bug", "urge", "creative juices"---whatever you want to call it-is just not there.

But, I do find if I will just go into the room and straighten my stash and/or refold fabric, maybe look through an old quilt magazine that it will lift my spirits. I still may not be in the mood to sew or create---but I will be feeling better.

I have a huge stash and would love to share. Tell me what kind of fabrics you like and let me "shop" for you at my house. Maybe I could send you a "squishy" with a few new-to-you fabrics that might get you enthusiastic about a new project.

How old are your 4 kids? Are they old enough for a sewing clinic with mom? There are lots of projects that even little kids can do too--maybe their creative juices will spark yours! :lol:

Jamie

Thank you Marcia, your so sweet!! I don't have many "good" pieces of fabric...( actualy didn't realize just how short I was on fabric ) but I do have a LOT of scraps...maybe if you would like to trade for some I would love that.
I don't have a sewing room...I have a corner of my livingroom...so It's not even like I can go in there and lock myself up for a while.....all my quilting books and magazines were distroyed while I had the children loose in the house and I had my back turned...so I don't even have them right now to browse! :(
My kids are 10 ( he's just now starting to get his adhd under control enough that I might be able to teach him to sew ) 7...she is afraid of the sewing machine..4 and she wants nothing to do with it, and 1 yr old...and boy oh boy does he want to "Help" lol

Marcia

Okay, Jamie---at least tell me your favorite color or a project you would like to make and let me pick some fabrics for you. PM me your address and I will send you a package this afternoon!!

kwhite

Jamie another idea might be to use some of the kids clothes that they will no longer be able to wear to make a memory quilt. They are always fun and if you get more enjoyment out of them Goodwill will understand.

Jamie

I don't have any family in the area either, and hubby works crazy hours, and when he gets home he just doesn't have the energy to help much! I don't drive, so I'm litteraly trapped in a house with 4 kids..all day long...
I only have maybe 7 or 8 pieces of fabric at the moment..but I do have a lot of scraps!! So maybe if you want to trade for some of those that would be great!

Jamie

That would be a great idea, to make memory blankets out of grown out of clothes, but I donate all the clothes to those who are more in need then us...all the clothes we have at the moment are the ones we wear lol...I haven't saved anything..there are to many people out there who are going without...

Ducky

It was hard just having three small children at home, so I can only imagine how taxing, stressful and tiresome it must be on you. Hang in there, Baby. If you go on the quilt blocks galore website, you can find many ideas. Let us know what you end up doing.

Jamie and Marcia, if more stash is needed, I have tons....uh, quite a bit that I could share. Just let me know and I'd be more than happy to get something out today. :D

sharon b

Jaime, we have all been there, done that . I didn't quilt most of the winter... I think the weather got to me :? I like to cut my fabric outside and when I get "trapped" inside due to the weather UGH.. Add that to the fact you don't feel you have any pretties to create with makes it all that much harder :roll: PM me your address and I will send you a squishy. Squishies always make you smile :lol:
Sharon

omak

You have your hands full with the ADHD child, financial downturn, four kids, and a hobby you don't want to do, along with all the other things going on in your life that you haven't told us. I have been where you are a number of times in my life (without the adhd situation), and I would like to share some of the things I have practiced to get out of the rut of depression.
I lived in the middle of a big city, without even the ability to afford a thrift store, four children, and a husband that went to work faithfully, but didn't like me or the kids very much. I think I was the loneliest because with all the population around me, there was no one that had the outlook on life that I possessed (before I started going back to church, that is). I considered the situation, and because of the children, I couldn't just give up ... sometimes, it seems as though "I MUST be all right - - I am STILL breathing!" (One must always look for the positive :D )
SOmetimes, I had to practice what I didn't feel like doing. I had worked in a nursing home and noticed that older people would starve to death because they didn't FEEL like eating - - deciding what HAS to be done and then DOING it, no matter how small and insignificant is better than sitting there and NEVER accomplishing something.
Everything you do that makes life better for your family deserves your personal celebration ... it is a matter of perspective - - you can look at the things you cannot do and think "I am a waste of time = depression" ... or, you can look at what you CAN do and be proud of everything you can accomplish.
It happened that when my first life lesson was going on, the BiCentennial occurred ... and I began to think about the things and people who made America the best, greatest nation in the world. In that thinking, I considered my forefathers and foremothers who lived out in the prairie with ONLY their family for company. None of the input that we have in today's world - - even back in the 70's we had radio and televison <g>.
And, yet ... those who came before us, enduring months of isolation within just their family units produced GOOD American citizens. Independent thinking citizens who continued to contribute to our nation's growth.
So, rather than look around me and think of how different I was from everyone else and being bitter because they wouldn't get on the bandwagon, I CHOSE (we ALWAYS have a choice) to PRETEND (I may not be creative, but I do have an imagination! :-o ) ... I chose to pretend that I lived in the late eighteen hundreds, out in the middle of nowhere ... If women had done it in centuries past, I surely could accomplish as much.
When it became very obvious that my first husband really didn't like us very much, I delved back into my historical perceptions and realized there were a LOT of single women who had raised GOOD American citizens ... If they could do it, then I knew it could be done .. I just needed to decide to do it ...
In other words, I selected role models for myself that showed me how to put one foot in front of the other. It helped that my mother had taught me what to do with children who are too healthy, intelligent, and capable to be kept safely playing on the floor. Put them to work! After all - - it is our responsibility to teach our children how to be independent ... it is never too early to teach them to contribute to the well-being of the family.
No, it is not easy to be lonely, depressed, stressed out over money issues, struggling with what kind of a woman you are going to become, and making sure that everyone who depends on you gets at least the basics of what they need. But generations of women have done it before us ... most of them very successfully ... we can ponder the failures or we can seek out the successful - - it really is our choice.
So, I pretended to be out in the prairie in the middle of nowhere with no one around but me to figure out what my family would do to get through to the next day.
Then, my grandpa taught me the FIVE MINUTE RULE.
I will get back with that when I come back in from changing watering systems.
Just consider this - - MILLIONS of women have gone through EXACTLY what you are dealing with WITHOUT having all the options you have ... if they could do it, so can you ... do not allow someone's "diagnosis" ever dictate what will happen next ... circumstances happen - - what YOU do during those times will define who you are and what you are capable of.
Many have never found out how capable they truly are because they don't believe that they are bigger than the circumstances .... and, sometimes, just surviving the moment is a grander success than lots of bucks, time, and energy. If you are still breathing, you still have life, and that means God is not done working in your life. If He isn't giving up on you ... don't you be giving up on yourself.
I know these are cliches ... people say them without even thinking ... but I personally have experienced all I am sharing with you ... and some things you just have to have someone say over and over and over again until they become real to you .... it is what you are telling yourself about anything that will change life and living ... make sure the input you are feeding on is constructive and not debilitating.