Touch of the Masters Hand

ust found this and wanted to share it. It is one of my favorites! The first is in story form the second is in song. Let me know what one you like best.

'I Spy'

I have shown pictures of 'I Spy' quilts that my sister, mom and I have done int the past. I like putting picture of things we have all done to inspire other to make quilts of their own. That is what happened with this on! :) We got a new member for our quilt group when she came over to learn how to do the 'I Spy' with the folded corners. A fun technique but it takes a lot of time.

Below is a quilt this quilter completed using sashing between each of the pictures.

Hobby Lobby Transfer

I started working for Hobby Lobby, the Tomball location, November 2009. I have loved working there and have been able to associate with some way cool people! I love working in the fabric department to see and hear all the great projects people are doing.

In February, life took an unexpected turn and I found myself heading to Utah. My managers at Hobby Lobby contacted the store in South Jordan to see if I could transfer to their store. I was fortunate that the transfer did happen and I have once again found myself working with some great people at Hobby Lobby. I am only working part time because of my other responsibilities here but I am greatly enjoying the experience.

I had pictures myself at 50 (which I turned this month) playing with grandchildren every day and quilting, instead I found it is a season of working in 'the real world'. I have surprised myself - finding I am enjoying the work experience.

I am grateful for good employment in a time when unemployment is so high.

Family Week - Artistic Expression

One of the sessions during family week was Art Therapy. Alison and 4 family members were there with her. They gave us clay and asked us to each do 3 sculptures to represent:

1. Our loved ones eating disorder
2. Our loved ones true self
3. Our loved ones higher power

I didn't know if anything to do!!!! So I just started playing around with the clay and something did develop.

I will share mine (pictured above), but haven't asked permission from the others to share their sculptures yet. They all did a great job!

The red box is the eating disorder, representing how it is confining and restricting. The red stained my hand, just like the eating disorder tries to leave its mark wherever it can.

The bulb with a bud starting to grow is the untapped treasures inside Alison that has always been there, at times going dormant, but waiting to thrive again.

The ladder is the higher power, representing the way is possible for our return to God. The steps on the ladder are all different colors representing the many experiences that help us in the climb we all make in life. Notice one of the steps in red, like the eating disorder. Even or maybe especially, the hard times in our lives brings us the greatest growth in our quest.

Eating disorder

My youngest daughter has been struggling with anorexia (eating disorder) since she was 11 years old. She was fist hospitalized for a month with a dangerously low weight at 12.

She is now 17 and we have finally found a place that we feel like is giving her the help she needs.

It has taken a drastic move on our part! The treatment center we have put her in, Center for Change, is located in Orem, Utah. I couldn't imagine sending her here by herself and wanted to be a part of her recovery. I also wanted to be here where there is substantial help after she is done with the program before taking her back to Houston.

So another daughter and I moved to Orem, Utah. We signed a lease on an apartment and started work.

Though we have had some stumbling blocks with the insurance, I have felt great confidence in being here and have had A LOT of support from family and friends!

Our family has been learning a lot about this condition and will share some of that with you. I think this is an issue that many face but few talk about it and feel very alone. For those, I want to say there is hope!

I encourage you to look at the Center for Change website and find out a little more about eating disorders. Another one I really feel like has good information is Rader Programs.

Family Week - Breathing through a coffee straw

During family week we attended many classes as they tried to help us understand what the girls are going through and the process the eating disorder goes through.

One of the classes was on Intuitive Eating. The thing that struck me the most in this class was when the instructor gave all of us a small straw that you stir coffee with, she had us plug our nose and just breathe out of the straw. After several seconds of doing this we were all gasping for breath. She asked us "What was the first thing you did when you stopped useing the straw to breathe from?" We said "Took a huge intake of air!" She explained that is how dieting is to our body, when we deprive our body from the things it needs, as soon as it can it seeks for greater supply of what it was deprived of.

As you can see, and what we all know in our heart is that dieting doesn't, well, the work but only for the time you are staying on the diet, when you do back to 'normal' eating the majority of people gain the weight be plus a few pounds.

At the Center for Change, and what I agree with, is the idea of Intuitive Eating that in simple terms teaches:

• All food had nutritional value
• Listen to your body it will tell you what it wants
• Listen to your hunger

Of course it goes deeper than that but you will have to read about that on your own if you are interested :)

So next time you decide to try a diet, think about breathing through a coffee straw.

Family Week - Music Therapy

I haven't written for a very long time because life has taken a very different direction that I had not planned. As many of you know, my youngest daughter, Alison, has entered the Center for Change for treatment for her eating disorder that she has been struggling with for almost 6 years now. Amy and I have moved here to be with her during this time.

I will write more about eating disorders and the things we have been learning and experiencing at a later time, but tonight I wanted to write a little about today. Once a month they have Family Week where we go to many group sessions and classes and see what they are doing in the Center. My mom is here with me for today and tomorrow, Amy joins in when she is not at work.

Anyway, tonight there was music therapy... didn't have much to do about music but very interesting. First the leader put on ocean music then had us start throwing 2 balls of string to each other while holding on to the string that was thrown to us. It created a spider web that 'represented' the ocean :) after we let it wave like a storm and then calm down, we laid it on the floor. Then we were given some clay and asked to make something we would find in the ocean and put it in our ocean on the floor. After we all did this she had us go around the room and tell what we made and what it might mean to us. She said that using the ocean in an exercise like this was an insightful way of expressing feelings of where you are at with life at this time.

There was a whole variety of things made and lots of insight given, like:

• Electric eel and crab = possibily representing protection
• A gold fish = a fish not common in the sea, but in a glass bowl being watched all the time
• A skool of gold fish = common fish but seeking the support of others
• Exotic fish = enjoying the vairety of life
• Whale = seeking to be in control of their environment
• Star fish = seems lifeless when out of water, but comes alive when put back in the water. Also have the unique ability to grow back a limb when it is cut off.
• Jelly fish = beautiful, but almost transparent with a mean sting if you get too close
• Fish poop = 'it's always there...part of life'

I SOOOOO wish I had kept our figures and taken pictures of them for you!!!!!!

Here is what we came up with; I will let you analyze it if you want...

• Mom went first...she did a shipwrecked boat with a person surviving inside (with a smile).
• Amy did a sandy floor with seaweed growing and a rainbow fish swimming among the seaweed (actually Amy and Alison worked on that together).
• Alison did a mushroom.
• I did a piece of driftwood with barnacles on it sitting on some seaweed.

I'd love to hear what you might come up with if you were to do this same exercise.

This might be an interesting experience for a family night or family reunion or something.