DOING THE ARTIST'S WAY

I never heard of the book until recently. The quilting forum at about.com has a group of quilters that is starting this program. I was skeptical to say the least about the whole "spiritual journey" aspect of it. I am a very logical person. I could have been a Vulcan.. Mr. Spock made plenty of sense if you ask me.. But I got the book at the library, read some of it. Decided that a 'spiritual journey' could for include the real God, and not some spiritual 'idea'. And that maybe the logical part of my mind is holding me back and forcing me to be too precise with my quilting, which holds back my creativity and productivity. So, I am going to give it a try. The leader of the group decided that we should all have a blog. Luckily, I have already done that. I decided that I will not do my daily pages on my blog. I bought a couple of small hard bound journals for this purpose. They are about 5 x 7 ". Logical mind worked with this. Why buy a larger one? I don't write by hand anymore if I can keep from it. There are supposed to be 3 pages... no one said how big they had to be.
Okay, the first assignment is to write 20 things about me. This is going to be hard, but what the heck.

20 THINGS ABOUT ME -that you might not know

1. I have been married for 24 years and I have 3 children, a son and twin daughters.
2. My ancestors are Ulster Scotch-Irish who came to America in the early 1700's, settled in Appalachia, fought in the Revolutionary and Civil wars (winning sides). I believe the strength of those people have helped shape the person that I am today. A polititian at the time spoke of his distain for the Ulster Scots in Appalachia by saying " These people come to this country, and the first thing they do is build a church, set up a still, and start playing their devil music". Yep, that about sums it up for my family.
3. My grandmother taught me to make my first quilt block, a churn dash. I remember visiting her mother's home high in the mountains of West Virginia while the women quilted.
4. I have done some kind of hand work since I was a little girl. Starting with embroidery, cross stitch, crochet, knitting, smocking, garmet sewing, heirloom garment sewing, woodcarving, painting in oil and acrylics, photography. I know there are many other things that I have dabbled in, but I can't think of them. I am largely self taught.
5. In 1997, I decided that I just did too many crafts. I needed to choose one thing that I loved doing the most, and give up the others. I chose quilting and I have never looked back since that point. To me, quilting is as much as a culture as a craft.
6. I went to college for nursing and history. But I don't do either as a career. Now that I am past my 'women's lib' days, I don't think it is important what a woman 'does'. And I can't think of any one else's career/job that would impress me. I work, but a career at this point in my life is highly over-rated, and is just the means to the way to make money for quilting. My most important career move was giving it all up to be home with my children. And now, making my quilts.
7. I was born in Bethesda Naval hospital, and had a father in the Navy, and a mother who worked in the Pentagon for a Navy Admiral.
8. In my younger years, I was a self taught banjo and dulcimer player. Chronic tendonitis in my hands forced me to give it up.
9. I was raised in a Republican family. I registered as a Democrat when I was 18 and remained loyal until the early 80's when having children made me grow up. I am now a Republican.. or I should say a 'Conservative'. That is more important than a party affiliation.
10. My favorite movie line is "Are you a politician, or does lyin just run in your family?"
11. I was raised as a protestant, my uncle was a Baptist minister, my great grand father was a pentacostal who when 'overcome by the spirit' would jump pews and put his hands on the wood stove in his country church, to prove that God would protect him. I don't know how that turned out for him. I lived in a neighborhood by a Catholic school (Pre-Vatican II) All of my friends were Catholic, and I like all of the cool things that went along with it.. the rosary, the lacy head coverings for church, the holy water fonts in their bedrooms. I longed to be Catholic, but that would never do in my home. Even though my parents weren't regular church goers, they wouldn't allow their daughter to be a Catholic. So, after my father died, and I needed God.. I started going to an Episcopal church near my school. I got baptized and confirmed in the church. I converted to Roman Catholic about 25 years ago when preparing to marry. I imagined my Ulster Scots/Irish ancestors spinning in their graves. The one's still above ground sure did some spinning about my decision. And I will admit that this bit of rebellion gave me much pleasure.
12. Since putting my 3 children through Catholic schools, I have realized that the Catholic church just wasn't for me. Funny how things like that turn out, isn't it? I can't escape my roots, And I more and more felt like I couldn't find God in the church any more. Actually, I like one on one with God, I need to read the bible myself, and that wasn't encouraged in the church. The parishioner's were too dependent on the priest to tell them what God wants. So, I pretty much don't deal with organized religion because I find that too many of the people in charge are somewhat un-Godly. Billy Graham is my idea of what a man of God should be, if you ignore the big money aspect, what he says and how he lives his life speaks volumes.
13. I have a best friend named Nancy who I have known for 43 years. We grew up together. She now lives 75 miles away. We don't see each other as much as I would like, but when we do, it is sweet.
14. I am opinionated. I have a hard time believing that there are grey areas. There is only black and white, right or wrong. I am aware of this aspect of my personality, and I try to adjust my attitude when I can, and I feel that it might be warranted.
15. I am patriotic. I love my country, I feel that I have an investment in it, because of the blood sweat and tears that my ancestors all the way up to my father put into making it a wonderful place to live. I have strong views about it, and one of the areas where I am strongly opinionated, is when someone talks against my country. I come from a military family. All of my uncles were in the military. I had an uncle that died in Viet Nam. He was a medic, and died while trying to save one of the men in his platoon.
16. I have had animals my whole life. Mostly dogs. But I have owned hamsters, birds, fish, mice, cats,and I even had a quarter horse for a short time. I now have 3 dogs . Shih Tsu's Sam and Lily, and Golden Retriever Claire.
17. My father had a heart attack and died one evening at home when I was still in high school. He was only 41. I remember trying to do CPR, but I didn't know how. My mother and my brother panicked, and logical, stable me, called for help. I spent many many years being afraid that I would get sick and die.
18. 4 years ago, I had viral myocarditis. My heart stopped 3 times. I remember my husband asking me if I 'saw' anything during those times. I told him I remember being really anxious and frightened, thinking, "I always knew this would happen, I don't want my children to always be afraid because of me." During one of the episodes, I remember panic, then 'Someone' was speaking to me, I remember a very kind face, but I don't remember what was said, and when I 'woke up' I had a profound feeling of peace. Since then, I have never been afraid of dying, because I know there is something else... AND the peaceful feeling remains with me.
19. My Mother died of Cancer in the early 90's. At this point in my life, I vacillate between wishing I still had parents, and being thankful that I don't have the worries that friends have with their aging parents. When my friend complains about her parents, I want to tell her how fortunate she is to still have both. I think my husband understood my point when he lost his father last year. I think we take them for granted, but we won't have them forever.
20. My early childhood was spent in Virginia because of my parents Navy jobs, since they moved here when I was small I have lived in Ohio for nearly my entire life. I lived for a while near where my friend Nancy is now, but after a few years I moved back to northern Ohio, I have lived in the same house for over 24 years. It is the house I came home to as a new bride, and the house where all of my babies came home . It is only one town away from where I grew up. And no, I don't feel like I have missed out on anything.
21. I don't like to travel. I love being at home. When I'm not at home, I yearn to be home. I relent once a year to go to Paducah for the AQS show.

Well, that's it. Hope you find it interesting