Sunday, 1 July 2007

Benedications, Revisions and Enticements


the cicadas are in the trees
the wind rustles the leaves
and i am happier here
than i have ever been

That is from the first weekend we spent in this house, and this weekend is the first anniversary of that move, and those words are still true.....

To celebrate, the weather has decided to cooperate. Lately the days have been sunny-ish and fair with no humidity, the evenings like this:

and Safiya has been having a good many days with no naps, which usually means she barely makes it to 8pm (poor thing), leaving some time for Mr.S. and I to tidy, chill, and actually converse in whole sentences!

Today I took some paint and wrote those words above my favourite spot in the house at the foot of the stairs:


Like a lot of things, I didn't really test it out first. I'll probably live with it for a while to see how it feels. (Now that it's up there, I feel the need for making it more discreet - it's the first thing that you see when you walk in the front door.) And I'll probably change it back to the original wording... Does revealing process sometimes make you feel vulnerable? As if making naked all the mistakes building up to what you present to the world somehow makes the end result weaker. Oddly, I find other people's mistakes and blunders and modifications fascinating, but revealing mine? All those ripped seams and yikes! and "i don't even want to look at this project anymore" and procrastination so that you don't have to face, not the project, but the feelings associated with the process......

And usually it's not so bad, is it? And if it takes a lot to get just a little, well then there you are. And sometimes those mistakes take you places you'd never think to go on your own :-)

So, like I said, I'm curious about other people's mistakes - it would be interesting to hear what your last craft or creative endeavour mistake/modification was...Minor? Disastrous? Frustrating? Liberating? Everybody-get-out-of-the-house-now!?

And just for fun, if you leave a comment on this post by midnight next Sunday (July 8), Safiya and I will randomly pick someone to send a package to from the comments (and don't worry, it's not like I'm going to send out a play cape to an adult.....unless you really feel the need to be superhero.....I know I do sometimes....) We'll reveal the recipient here on July 9.

From my house to yours, to celebrate.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Marnie! I have a mistake story for you! You know that Honeycomb quilt picture I sent you? That went to the CQA National Juried Show this spring. Before I sent it out, though, I had agonized over a Mistake I had make in it, and though it screamed at me, I was hoping that I just might be able to get away with it and no one would notice it. (I had worked long and hard on the stupid thing and I was just SO OVER IT- I didn't want to take one more stitch on it!) I showed it to a trusted friend, who said, "You will hate yourself if it shows up on a judge's comment." That decided it. The next morning I took a seam ripper to it and replaced the Mistake with an unblemished piece. How long did the dreaded repair take? About 45 minutes. That's it. How long did I agonize over it? Don't even ask! (Too long!)
But it felt like a relief to send it out as "perfect" as it was gonna get with no regrets.
-Johanna

Anonymous said...

tonight. udon noodles. tossed into the pot of boiling water with those pesky little wrappers still on the noodles. the look on my face (and steam curling from my eyes, nose and ears) sent my sweet scurrying out of the house with babe, running for cover, um... i mean, running to the coop to get more noodles. i fished three little packages of bloated stuck-together bundles out of the water while trying to remember to breath. surely not a disaster, but i see that i was teetering before even turning the pot on to boil. for me it's all a matter of timing... i can giggle about the purchase of 14 yards of awning fabric that i will never be able to wrestle onto couch cushions today, but be completely crushed by sewing up the wrong sides of a pair of pants twice.

Anonymous said...

Oh, so many mistakes to choose from, but the most recent was screwing up the bind-off on the sweater I'm knitting. I was so excited to be done with body that I just assumed my tension was loose enough. Not so much. So I had to rip and bind off again, adding more yarn in the middle of the bind-off row because I'd foolishly woven in the end and clipped the yarn and everything. Won't make that mistake again. At least for a while...

Anonymous said...

Which poorly planned project would you like to hear about first? The time I tried to sew Peter a shirt without the assistance of a pattern, The day I tore out the kitchen island while Peter was at work or the time I was determined to lift the toilet back out of the bathtub by myself to reset it, all while eight months pregnant just to surprise Peter with a finished bathroom. It really does sound like he's the root problem doesn't it?

If you want a short list I'll tell you about the one's that went right.

Jules said...

Hello! I just discovered your blog today from the dry, windy hills of Santa Fe. I suppose my craziest mistake so far was a pathetic attempt I made at creating my own boning to use for a dress I was making, which HAD to have boning, although there was none to be found in town. Well, plastic wirey bits and seam tape and ribbons and other odd objects later, there was no usable boning. I did however make the dress, add some extra tucks/darts and it stayed up! I do think I spent a few hours trying my hardest to create my own boning..."and why," I wonder, "was it really so necessary..??"

feel free to visit me at significanceof13.blogspot.com

Ciao.