Heart Attacks & Inspirations

I think most of my readers know that I'm a mom of 5. I have a 13-yr-old (soon) boy, twin 9-yr-old girls, a 5 yr old daughter, and my hell-on-wheels 2-yr-old boy. If I stop to count the things ruined, broken, bashed, mangled, and/or destroyed by these 5 precious gifts, I'd probably cry myself to sleep every night. The funny thing is, that except for a 2-month-old television, my most recent sewing project, and a couple pairs of glasses, I don't remember a lot of the bad stuff. You adapt and move on when the things they destroy do not result in the loss of the child. You thank the Lord that they are still there to cause you the grief that is only temporary.

Yesterday I began my first new sewing project since we moved. The sewing room has been kicking my butt, but I think we're figuring it out. Anyway, I bought a ton of fabric from a thrift store a couple of months ago. Stretch, designer, upholstery, and cottons in multiple yards. I have so much to keep me entertained for a very long time. Along with these I bought a set of pillow shams that caught my eye. They are a deep red poly that turns darker or lighter depending on how the light catches it. It has a wonderful embroidery on the front of it. There is enough in one to make a purse front, lining, and sides and it is already lined with cotton and fusible - eliminating some work on my end.

I began to plot and plan this work of art yesterday. I carefully picked out the stitches, rescuing the piping and saving all usuable parts. I took my project, ironed it all out, and began to draw in the outline including seam allowances. With all of my necessary tools on the improvised cutting table, I left the room for 5 minutes to stir the beans and start the rice cooking for dinner.

My oldest twin comes running into the kitchen, "Mom! (A-baby, the youngest boy), has cut your purse - and it's not on the lines!" I throw down my spoon and rush into the bedroom. There is my soon to be work of art, cut at a 45 degree angle from one end to the other. Somehow - and thinking possibly my youngest dd MAY have had something to do with it, too - he has taken my rotary cutter and run it across my project and the table. However, looking at the cut made, he has fortunately left a 1-inch margin between the embroidery and the edge (and all fingers are intact. Chalk one up for providence). I begin to think that it now looks a little Asian-inspired with the rich red fabric, angular cut, and embroidery.

I go out, closing the bedroom door this time with strict intructions NOT to go in mommy's room (of course putting the rotary back up on the highest shelf of the pegboard) and finish dinner. Afterward, I take my new inspiration and even out the cut, matching up the other side. All of my careful planning aside, I have little to do but go with what I have. It is actually turning out quite beautifully. So maybe A-baby is my muse, and I never really knew it.

This is the same child that has been requesting to learn crochet since he was old enough to walk and say, "Me, mommy. Lemme!" I believe that children show their gifts at an early age. It's fun to watch them grow into the people they were meant to be. That's probably the teacher and homeschooling mommy coming out in me, but one has to have passion for what they do!