Pillowcases

It's funny how things turn out sometimes, isn't it?  Here I was all set to write a blog on a totally different subject, but on my way upstairs, all I could think about was the pillowcases I made today.

After feeling like wet mud for the last six days, today I felt like myself (and nothing like mud at all!).  It may not seem like a very big thing, and indeed, it isn't in the grand scheme of things, but in the small everyday scheme of my things?  It was large.   It's a good thing that I did feel well as today is laundry day, and it did get done, hallelujah.  Even though I painted yesterday (more on that in another entry), that was only 2 - 3 hours, and after that I was feeling quite run down. 

Today, I had energy all day and that meant tackling a new sewing project.  I knew enough to take on a very do-able, small project and not thwart my ambitions with a king-sized quilt or something similarly grandiose.  Pillowcases, especially sewing them in the new tube way (I hope you've tried that; it's incredible!), are fast, easy, and almost fool-proof.  Thanks to Mardi who shared a little about the pillowcases we all made for the Newtown survivors, that activity was in the forefront of my brain.  Also, having made a pair for our bed for Christmas helped.

My plan was to make a pair of winter cases, but the fabric for the second pair of holiday-themed ones was on top of the pile so that's what I made.

Here is the first set I made before Christmas:

The print for the body of the pillowcase is the addresses for envelopes with stamps and the cuff is a gathering of writing materials for the holidays.

The second pair I made today are these:

 

The body for this pair is white (not cream) percale which has such a lovely hand.  Since the cuff fabric was not as wide as I like, I added the same red I used for the piping ( Fusion fabric for these cases) to the bottom of the cuff.  It looks quite festive, don't you think?

 

So, okay, what's the big deal?  If you are currently feeling under the weather with the kind of cold I (and ME) had, you may feel that you will never get your stamina back.  Or, even worse, you may feel it's age that is making you so unable to do even the simplest task.  Well, okay, so maybe age does have something, a very small something, to do with it.  But the point is, you will be feeling better soon.  You will be able to get your "groove" back.  Illness does not last forever for the majority of us.  So sit back, relax, let family and friends do for you what you usually do for them.  Enjoy it as much as you can.  Soon enough you will be doing what you love best just as I painted and sewed.  Sometimes we lose sight of that while in the throes of illness, sorrow, pain, job, worries . . .

 

You will find your zest for life as big and wonderful as it ever was eventually.