Category Archives: UFO’s Unfinished Objects

Adding purple to my color wheel

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Yesterday I alluded to a time where I had a really bad start to a project.  One summer while travelling back to my childhood home, I asked one of my two grandmothers to teach me to crochet.  I had just started knitting, and everyone remarked that crocheting was so much easier, implying that I should have started there.   Both of my grandmothers are talented when it comes to cooking, sewing, crocheting, and quilting.  Nanny dabbled in just about every craft imaginable and was an amazing florist, and Mama was a professional seamstress who now crochets to keep her hands busy.  The amazing thing is that both share the same birthday (albeit 5 years apart) – today.

One is celebrating her first birthday surrounded by loved ones in heaven, and the other celebrates 89 young years.  This baby afghan started six years ago almost never came to fruition.  Following the passing of Nanny in December, I just couldn’t let it lie unfinished.

When I started the project, I was visiting at Mama’s house, and asked her to teach me to crochet.  A quick trip to the Mecca of the South provided tutor and pupil with the needed supplies.  I don’t know what in the world possessed me to buy purple yarn – because it was and still is my least favorite color.  (Sorry to my Minnesota neighbors, Vikings colors and all.)

While my grandmothers are equally special in my heart, they couldn’t be any more different.  One is just a plain old purple girl, and the other is definitely a mauve maven. As different as they are, they share a love of the color purple.  Maybe their shared love is what guided that yarn purchase, but other than to make a Vikings scarf, I have never had much interest in purple yarn since.

When we sat down to start our lesson, I tried as hard as I could but didn’t find it easy or enjoyable.  This isn’t a condemnation of the teacher, because she was as patient as Job.  No matter what I did, my motor muscle memory was still in training for two needles – not one hook.  I completed maybe 2 or 3 inches of the afghan before it was time to load up the minivan with suitcases, coolers, and oh yes, kiddos to head on down to Florida.

At Nanny’s house, she critiqued the work and gushed about the color.  She wanted to see how many stitches Mama suggested to create the ripple pattern.  She, too, offered encouragement, but even her tutelage really wasn’t getting me anywhere.  At this point, five inches total were done.

One not to give in too quickly, I took the whole works on a 4-H trip, working while we traversed by Amtrak from Minnesota to New York.  After that trip, the whole kit and caboodle (all seven inches) went in the recesses of the craft buckets, not to be seen again until this last December.

Like a beacon from a lighthouse providing hope and guidance to wayward sailors, the afghan became a vestige of hope for a brokenhearted granddaughter, one who would never this side of heaven be able to work collectively with both of them again.  After tackling the Granny squares mentioned yesterday, I was equipped with more confidence and ready to complete the long forgotten baby blanket.

The resurgence of new found interest was not without problems.  Thankfully, I could phone a friend (Mama) and get a few more tidbits of instruction.  Also, when you start a project six  years earlier, most likely dye lots have changed on the yarn.  So rather than one seamless project it became a tribute to all things purple in memory of Nanny and in honor of Mama.

nanny blanket 3

One evening as I was close to finishing the afghan, my sweet little Clo climbed up in my lap and asked the most beautiful question.

“Momma, who is going to get this blanket?”

My response was one of uncertainty.  Her cherubic face and inquiry brought me to tears.

“Since I love purple, I have been thinking.  Someday, I am going to have a little girl of my own.  Could we save this afghan for her?”

The snuggled up view.

The snuggled up view.

With tears streaming down my face, I agreed to that request, knowing in my heart when I meet this future granddaughter I am going to tell her all about her great-great- grandmothers and how amazingly colorful they both were, in the life of girl who needed just a little more purple.

Happy 84th Birthday in Heaven, Nanny! Happy 89th Birthday in Alabama, Mama!

UFO #3 – Learning to be quiet

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I am finding, despite what I believed when I was younger, that I enjoy solitude.  I really enjoy my quiet time. I find that when I use that alone time, I am able to think and create.  Now that the snow has started to fly in Minnesota, I find fewer and fewer errands that I wish to do.  So as you will see, I have decided to just spend my home days crafting. 

No, I did not get a free genie who does all the housecleaning, laundry, animal care, meal planning,  . . . I think you get the idea.  What I did get was a change of attitude.  I am giving myself reason (excuse, permission, etc) to slow down.  There are days that I feel like I do nothing but run from one activity to another.  Making this commitment to completing UFO’s is becoming two-fold.  It is a reason to save money (by not buying entertainment – craft supplis) and to force me to slow down. 

I must come by it naturally, because my Mama Cloie always says, she “needs something to keep her hands busy to keep her mind energized.”  But instead of keeping my mind busy, I am able to slow my racing thoughts.  Instead of always trying to keep up, I am just present – in that moment. 

It seems to me there is too much noise and distraction in our world.  If I am right in that assumption, then how will I ever “hear” God.  As a gardener, it is easy to hear God in the spring and summer.  He is in the cricket’s chirp and the whisper in the wind as well as in the plink of the raindrops. With all the technological gadgets that I have in my household combined with my self-confined “hermit tendencies”, it is easy to forget God’s command to “Be still and KNOW.” 

These last few days, I have been able to use my hands to keep my mind “still”.  If someone pops into my mind, I pause and pray for them. God seems to pop a lot of “someones” pop into my mind. I find that I spend less time worrying, and it is so much easier to hand those worries over.  I truly am at a peace.  I also think that God knows my strong desire to not be running all the time, and so, He has used this resurgence of crafting to quiet me. 

Even though to the human eye it might appear that it is just me (and Huck) quietly crafting, I know that there is He is there.  And just like any proud papa, He is proud that I am choosing to spend time with Him.

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

 

 

UFO #3 is once again made with scraps from Erin’s quilt.  I am almost completely out of those.  It is a rag quilt (sewn with seams exposed).  It becomes more ragged with each washing.  While it wasn’t exactly 64 like squares in the quilt, there were a whole lot of “someone’s” prayed over during the making of this quilt. 

 

 

UFO # 2 – Coat of Many Colors

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My Mama Cloie and my Nanny Katie (my grandmothers) have each made my children beautiful, wonderful quilts and afghans.  These are beautiful creations that my children will take into their future homes to share with their children.  All are treasured and all are equally special.  Today, one is standing out in my memories, and I guess my UFO projects are truly turning into trips down memory lane. 

About twelve or thirteen years ago, my Mama was fed up with all those little bits of skeins of yarn left over after making larger projects (which are afghans in her case).  So she decided to just sit down one day and crochet all of them together into an afghan.  It was more experimental than purposeful, and as she would tell you, “it kept my hands busy.”  When one skein ran out, she just started another one.  At first, I am sure she thought it was more interesting than beautiful, but as it unfolded an memorable thing occured. 

My Papa Reed, who was deep in the recesses of Alzheimer’s disease at this point, looked at her one day and said, “That’s beautiful, and he’s going to love it.”  Her immediate thought was, “He who?”.  This afghan was an experiment, not intended to be given to anyone.  When she pressed further, Papa replied definitively, “Well, little Reed, of course.” 

Suddenly the experiment became a beloved object of love with a destination and a purpose.  Through phone calls the story was told to me, and through the postal service the afghan arrived.  “Little” Reed couldn’t have been more proud, and he immediately wanted to put on his bunk.  That night when I tucked him, at his ripe little age of 4, he showed me how wise four years old can really be.  “I’m the luckiest boy in the world, Momma.”  I agreed that he had lots of amazing things in his life, but he realized I wasn’t understanding his meaning.  “No, Momma, I am the only boy in the world who has a blanket of many colors just like Joseph’s coat.”  Wow!

Now, I don’t think that was ever my Mama’s plan, but it certainly gave all of us a new idea of what was capable. Scraps of leftovers lovingly crafted into a priceless treasure.  Isn’t that just the way God is using each one of us?  He takes all the junk out of our closets, and somehow patiently and tenderly crafts it into something not just useful but absolutely priceless in his Kingdom.  I for one stand awed by His Handiwork.

 

 

 

UFO update: 

Following in my Mama’s footsteps, yesterday’s UFO was made from scraps of Erin’s quilt, leftover minky fabric from a baby quilt I had made, and all sorts of odd ribbon pieces from my scraps.  I had always wanted to make a taggies blanket.  So with a little creativity and a touch of Alabamian ingenuity, this is what resulted.  Hopefully, the baby that receives this someday, will know God’s love for even the tiny bits.  For reference, I used http://www.icanteachmychild.com/2010/11/make-it-taggie-blanket-for-baby/ as a tutorial. 

 

 

UFO’s – January

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My whole life I have marvelled at space and all it has to offer.  One of my favorite television shows as a kid was Lost in Space. The thoughts of space travel had me mesmerized. But the kind of UFO that I will be writing about today is not the kind that will have me travelling into space.  Rather it is one that will help me clean up my space. 

I hate to come out here and confess what I am going to confess.  But I figure the best way to stop doing this to myself is to put it out there and hold myself accountable (through all of you).  I am a crafts-nut.  I have enough projects to keep me busy until the day I die.  Fortunately, I love creating things, and my creative interests appear to have no boundaries.  I have beading projects, quilts, cross-stitch, knitting, stamping, scrapbooking and a sundry of supplies.  The problem is that I have started projects and not finished them. Additionally, I will buy supplies when I read about a great project or I come across a great deal.  I have a closet full of fabric waiting to be sewn, skeins of yarn waiting to be knitted into scarves and mittens, and scrapbooks that lay with blank pages. Right here is where Robot would say, “Danger! Will Robinson! Danger!”  (Hence, UFO  in this case means UnFinished Object.)

At the heart  of this confession is the fact that I am not being a good steward of the money God gave me nor have I been realistic about the time that I have to do such projects.  I have been pulled away by doctoring, general busy-ness, kids activities, volunteering, and work commitments.  I am planning to change my ways (and save money) by finishing the projects I have started and by abstaining from purchasing new materials and supplies (if not needed to finish a current project).

So my first UFO is to finish a baby quilt (that is simply meant to be a gift to some future baby girl).  This quilt has a little history in that it is made of scraps from Erin’s bedroom quilt, and some lovely little girls at Faith’s Lodge (www.faithslodge.org) helped me piece it.  We all sat on the wonderful 3 season porch at the Lodge and we worked.  While we did it, we shared about sons and brothers that left us much too soon and about how much we missed them.  Even though it was only a handful of us at a time, looking back, we shared in what women throughout time have done.  We used our hands to create something beautiful, while we laughed and cried and used that time to soothe our souls.  Hopefully the love shared in that room will be passed on to the recipient of that blanket some day. 

Thinking about it like that, there is probably a history and a memory associated with each UFO I have to complete. Maybe that’s what I have been searching for with each purpose, the joy of making memories.  Right now, I am going to choose to travel this year down memory lane rather than seeking new and more thrilling adventures in the world of crafting.  I want to finish the quilts my Mama Cloie started.  I want to knit the yarn that was given to me by my best friend’s (and my adopted) mom.  I want to scrapbook those pictures (even if it is difficult memories of pictures with Reed). I am guessing that God will bless each project because I am choosing to recognize that my spending hasn’t been wise in the past, and that I am definitely a work in progress myself. 

If you see me longingly eyeing the supplies at the crafts stores, remind me of how I am God’s handicraft in progress.  That will certainly do the trick. 

In the meantime, if you are a crafter, happy crafting during these winter days when we want to stay home and stay in.  (And yes, I will post pictures along the way.)