Forgetting to remember

I love the picking out of the fabrics stage of a quilt and picking out the sashing and borders for the college t-shirt quilt was no exception.  It's when the quilt is still perfect - all the edges and corners match, yes!  Each block is perfectly sized and nothing was cut out incorrectly.  My love of this stage just might explain why I have so much fabric socked away in the sewing room.  Someday I will show you pictures of my stash.  Someday.  I am not sure we know each other well enough yet.

Once I had picked out all the sumptuous fabrics, I had to do the math to figure out how much I needed of each gorgeous color.  Smoke was coming out of my ears as I did all the ciphering on paper in the shop.  Sometimes I just buy gobs of all of the fabrics which might explain the math struggles.  Bad at math = lots of fabric.  Hmmm, I am liking this deficiency.  After I was home and the fabrics were washed/ironed I began to cut the strips.  I couldn't decide on the width so I finished up the cherry table runner.  When my mind was free to deal with the cherries, it suddenly hit me that I had written out all the directions for the Camp Pride t-shirt quilt I had made when my youngest finished high school.

Camp Pride was a volunteer run camp for children adopted from Korea.  We went there every summer and Shelby just adored it.  I loved talking with the other arts and crafts Moms.  I loved swapping stories and advice plus not being able to find my kid.  Usually, I looked at a crowd of children and I could pick out Shelby in an instant - look for black hair running around feverishly.  Here that described about 80% of the under 18 population.  It was a magical time for both of us - Moms I could talk with and kids just like Shelby, her experiences, her life.    Plus, we got to eat the Korean food the church ladies made for the camp.  I love Korean food almost as much as I love quilting.  When Shelby's tenure at the camp was over, I took her t-shirts and made it into a memory quilt and brought the quilt and the directions to camp.  It was a hit and if I wanted to sew for money (which I most definitely do not) I could have gotten lots of orders.  Instead, I gave them the directions and wished them well.

Would have been grand if I had remembered that I had that sheet with all the math done along with directions.  I found it on the computer and copied my own guidelines and cut out the borders.  I may forget too many things - words, where my car is and directions for a quilt.  (In fact, who are YOU and why am I writing this?)  But I never forget to celebrate my children and when they end or begin important times in their lives.  Then, I celebrated her years at Korean camp and her entry into college.  Today, I celebrate her college graduation and her impending departure to teach English in Korea. 

Loving my girls, that's something I never forget to remember.