Brother, can you spare some time?

Time - I don't know a single person who would tell me they have just plain too much time on their hands.  Everyone has way too much to do and not enough hours in the day.

I've been spending my "free" time working on a quilt - a special wall-hanging type quilt for me.  Not all projects I work on are intended to remain here with me forever.  But this one is.  It's my first serious attempt at making an applique quilt and the blocks were collected on our recent (cruise) trip to Alaska (part of the 2012 Alaskan Shop Hop).  The blocks are truly adorable and the quilt is titled "The Alaskan Adventures of Kuspuk Kate and Parka Pete" - the Alaska version of Sunbonnet Sue and Overall Sam.

Oddly enough, this quilt has brought me closer to my mom than probably ever before.  Because no matter so slow I try to go, how much care I take in cutting/trimming or how many times I try to read the instructions BEFORE sitting down to sew, I seem to miss something each time...bringing me to my next rule for life:

It takes you THREE times as long to do something the WRONG way as it does to just do it the RIGHT way in the first place.  ~Eleanor Klar (aka my mother)

I don't even remember the first time she told me this.  I was probably really small and no doubt had already mastered rolling my eyes.  But I know that I heard it plenty whenever she tried to teach me sewing.  Patience was not something that came easy to me (still doesn't actually).  I was more anxious to move to the next task or see the finished project that I was interested in taking the necessary time to do things correctly.  This usually meant mom had to rip out seams for me because she just knew that left on my own, I would just toss the mistake aside creating a pile of "UFOs" (UnFinished Objects).  She was intent on forcing me to complete what I had started.  (Though I've subsequently recognized that she saw in me a younger version of herself - she wasn't too keen on finishing things either!)

I wasn't too sure of her math but as she ripped she explained: 

• First, you do it. 
• Second, you undo it. 
• Third, you redo it.

Takes a lot less time if you just learn to do it right the first time.

I imagine that other parents have taught this same lesson as well... maybe your dad told you to "always measure twice, cut once" or "look BEFORE you leap"  or "check both ways BEFORE you cross the street."  Regardless, the message is always the same - slow down, think it thru AND then act.

I'm determined that this quilting project will be different - I'm trying to slow down and do things correctly...the first time.  (And I'm going to FINISH it but that's a lesson for another day!)

And when I screw up, I rip it out myself now. 

And I hear my mom. 

And I try not to roll my eyes!

~later, tw