May you all enjoy the last four weeks of summer and stay safe.
At the beginning of the pandemic, I was fascinated by the sudden interest in sewing masks. My mother had been a Home Ec teacher, skilled at sewing, and I wondered what she would have thought about the resurgence in home sewing. But something stood out to me in the news articles: sewers are now called sewists. Huh?
In the 1980’s and 90’s, I was a busy sewer—making clothing, draperies, crafts. Three years ago, I bought some coloUrful fabric with the idea to make kitty quilts (small pet blankets) to give as gifts. But I didn’t have a sewing machine. Well, I DID but it was in the storage unit in Ottawa. In asking around, I discovered how few people had sewing machines at home anymore unless they were quilters/crafters.
The sewing machine came back to Nova Scotia with me in 2018 when I emptied The Unit and it sat in a storage bin in the farmhouse because, what with my busy retired life, I never got around to that little quilt idea. And that’s where the sewing machine was in March when the lockdown and mask-making started.
This summer I brought the sewing machine to my apartment and I have enthusiastic plans for those quilts as well as masks during the coming winter. It’s been nearly twenty years since I last sewed and I’m hoping the ability comes back easily. I’m on a waitlist to take my old machine in for servicing so, if necessary, I have time to buy a new one. Around here, bicycles, RVs, and sewing machines are pandemic purchases (I’m also trying to find a used bike).
You know how you can keep hearing a recommendation over and over from different sources until you finally decide to investigate? I had that recently with the book The Artist’s Way. I’ve heard about the book since the 1990’s but thought it was for people who make art like paintings and sculpture. But the book—set up as a twelve-week course—is for anyone who wants to be more creative, including those, say, with writer’s block.
Some of the book’s exercises highlight my challenge in remembering to have fun*. Guy le Chat is a little toy cat that I attached to my backpack with a carabiner when I hiked out west. I would take photos of Guy beside alpine lakes and on mountain peaks and upload to social media. Recently, Guy came out of retirement and is joining me for hikes again to remind me to have more fun.
Last week, I got out the coloUred pencils and sketch pad and had a go. I remembered that, for my first blog post here in 2014, I was planning to include a simple sketch. I thought it would be as easy as writing the blog post. I made a sketch, took a photo of it, and even uploaded it to the site. I decided to just stick with words. But if all goes well with the sewing machine, maybe this winter I’ll share a picture of a kitty quilt.
*Since moving in December, I have missed biweekly card nights—these were three hours of laughter with a small group of friends. There were opportunities to join card and game nights here in my new location but that, of course, has all been shut down since March. There’s no card playing in a pandemic.
Related links:
- The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron
- the unit (post #103).
- january RX: more fun (post #85).
- India Part 2: white flag by 1PM (post #47).