success!

It took me an hour this morning to set this weird shaped piece into the corner of the Indian Orange Peel quilt this morning. 

And, I don’t believe it’s because it’s Friday the 13th. 

I needed that weird shaped piece that joins the two sides and gives me the curve to mount the corner to.  I set one in the other day and it went in lickety split.  But, then I had to pick half of it out again and I haven’t tried to set it back in yet.  ‘ooh baby, can’t wait for that’, he said in a monotone.

Anyway, parts of this quilt were put together maybe 5 or 6 years ago.  I can’t even remember.  Mistakes were made.  When I set those bells back in the other day, mistakes were made.  But, you can’t fudge a curve on a curve that has to match a curve if there are any mistakes in any of it.  So, first thing I had to do was get  the ends of the border sections just right, with every seam allowance turned the correct way and no seam allowances caught under other seams. 

Then, I had to pin the new piece in, matching all the points, one seam at a time because it all has to be like, wadded up to get the concave curve to match correctly to the converse curve that has to be kept flat, first basting with long stitches and then (ripping and resewing and ripping and resewing…) when it’s right, coming back and resewing with smaller stitches. 

But, I’m taking it slow and keeping my frustration level at a minimum.  It’s only for fun after all.  And, if it’s not being fun, I’m starting to think that maybe it’s okay to just let it go.  I don’t have to conquer every hill.  (Except I’m not literally talking about letting this quilt go, Becky.  I swear!)

I heard back on the interview yesterday.  I’ve made it into the next round.  I’ll have a series of four, one hour interviews. 

When the recruiter told me about that, I was so overwhelmed that I almost withdrew.  Not sure what came over me.  But, it would fall closer to fear than anything else.  I even went into my boss’s office and talked to him about what I’d need to do to withdraw. 

But, I didn’t do anything other than that.  And, as time passed, the fear became more and more despairing.  Why go through all that effort if I wasn’t going to succeed. 

But, then I slept on it, and this morning, I woke up and didn’t even remember it and I took the dog on a walk and listened to music and I remembered.  And, Idina Mezel was singing Brave. And, by the time the dog and I got home, I realized there was only one thing to do. 

Crank up the music, close your eyes, and sing like a drag queen. 

I didn’t let anybody see me because I suspect this looks more like Ethyl Merman on stage, but it’s the best thing to overcome a fit of the low self-esteems.  Sometimes, you’ve just got to put it out there until you feel it inside and the crowd that cheers me on stage when my eyes are closed loves my performances.  So, I sang back up for Cher and Kristen Chenoweth and before you know it, I was singing the Butterfly Duet with Renee Fleming. 

Note that when you’re singing opera, it’s not a good time to see yourself naked, on the way to the shower.  Always wear a robe.  That kind of ended this morning’s mock stage performance.

And, that’s why it was so worth it to succeed when I put that piece into the Indian Orange Peel this morning.  Successes build on one another.  Sew, Sing, Smile, Parent, make breakfast.  What will come next?

I can give up any day, so there’s no pressure to do it today.  Maybe tomorrow.  We’ll have to see.  But, I don’t think I need to, today.

Lane