Shhh...Don't Tell Joel

For the last week I've been working on a special project for Joel's birthday. It's something that I have never done before and it all started the week before Chinese New Year....

Kezia's preschool teacher asked me at the end of Jan. if I could sew, I told her that I don't really know how. It was like she didn't hear me because she went on to ask if I'd be willing to help sew the dragon for the New Year's celebration. I repeated, I don't really know how to sew, and she said, "Oh it's easy, can you sew a straight line?". "No, Corina, I can't really sew". "So can you come tomorrow?". Sigh. "Of course I can come and try and help".

The next day I showed up, Corina pointed me towards the sewing machine and the material, explained what she wanted, and walked out of the room. I thought I would be working with someone (I can do that; confidence in numbers). I was left alone with this foreign contraption, this sharp, skin puncturer, it knew I was afraid of it....

I read the manual twice and then carefully placed the fabric under it's jaws and stepped on the pedal ever so gently. Keeping my flesh clear of the needle, I managed to sew a semi-straight line. After a while, my confidence grew and I was able to piece together the end of the dragon tail. When Corina returned, she was thrilled and said that I did a great job. I even got a bit innovative with attaching the plastic "ribs" of the dragon. Hah! I had survived my encounter with the machine.

A few days later, Corina said that she was so impressed with my sewing skills that she wanted me to take it home and try a few projects. "Corina, I can't sew". What was I going to do with a sewing machine? She insisted that I at least try maybe making a simple blanket or something. "But I can't sew". "Isn't it Joel's birthday soon? Why don't you make him a quilt?". "Corina, putting together scrap material is one thing, but I can't really sew". This went on for about 10 minutes, and finally I agreed to take the sewing machine home, just to make her happy.

The thing sat on my kitchen table for about a week and I was about to take it back, when I happened to be at Walmart. Now I usually go to Target, but today I was picking up pictures. I was only with Asha and thought I would just take a peek in the fabric section. I was just browsing, when I stumbled upon this amazing Lightning McQueen fabric and this cool black and white checkered material and then I got to thinking......

Oh please Kathy, you can't sew. Ms. McLean told you in eighth grade that you can sew because you couldn't even finish a pair of shorts by yourself. You can't figure out seam allowances, you can't load a bobbin, and you can hardly cut straight, let alone sew straight! Mom Heppner isn't here to help now, Danae is thousands of miles away.... But wait a second Kathy, you did teach measurement in high school. You can figure out area and perimeter of a composite figure; you probably can calculate your way along....

So I went home and kind of mentioned the idea to Carl, and he thought it was a great idea. He did remind me that I would have to be patient and figure out what I was doing before I started chopping. And he suggested I call his Mom.

I received very good advice from Ruth, looked on a few websites, and talked to the lady at Walmart. I bought the material, batting and thread and headed home. I was excited about starting my project, but I knew that I could only start once all the kids were in bed.

Each night for 5 nights I pulled out the sewing machine and started at about 9:30 p.m. I worked until about 1 a.m. or earlier depending on how tired I was. Though I had conquered the machine, I knew that if I became tired and careless, it would sense that my defenses were down and chomp my fingers together.

And finally on Wednesday night (well, actually Thursday early morning), I finished the quilt. It's hiding in my closet in a plastic bag and Joel has no idea. I'm pretty proud of my accomplishment, and I certainly learned a lot from my project. I can't wait to give it to him on Sunday.

I told Corina on Thursday, when I picked up the kids, that I would return the machine because I had finished Joel's quilt. She asked me if I had done one for each of the girls, and I said no. "Well, you just keep that machine until you can do quilts for the girls too! If you don't do it now, you'll never do it. Why don't you try patchwork this time? Let me know how they turn out". And she turned on her heel and walked away.

But Corina, I don't sew.....