Sometimes, there are solutions to stress right under your nose. Just a day before my DH called to tell me he'd lost his job, I signed up for a "Learn to Quilt" class from the local quilting guild.

At first, going to classes when my DH was home with no job seemed frivolous and even selfish. However, I've found a certain peace and satisfaction in this art form.

Funny thing is, it ties in with my losing weight. Last summer, while I waited to visit the surgeon and jumped through all the hoops like a circus poodle, I was also humiliated to find myself making clothes in a size larger than the pattern companies made. I had to "size up" from their largest, creating a pair of pants that were grotesquely huge. In despair, I never finished those pants. I was too mortified.

The other day, I found those pants buried under the piles of cloth I made teddy bears out of for my grandchildren. I laughed and cut those pants into 6" charm squares for a quilt.

Then I looked at my closet door. Hmmm! I have clothes in there that cannot be re-tailored down, but the memories of the "fat girl" events they represent should never be forgotten.

I now have a pile of clothes to be cut down into a memory quilt of charm squares and black rails, since many of those clothes were black (or matched black) because I honestly believed black was slimming. No, I just looked like a black beach ball.

I'll finish the pretty new blue quilt I'm learning on within the month. Then, I think I'll start on my memory quilt. Maybe I'll use it as a visual aid when I write "No Fat Chicks" this fall.

Lena

What a great idea! What a great way to remember your journey and some favorite clothes from the past!

I've just started DS1's graduation quilt...I make them out of the kids sports/organizations/work T-shirts that I've collected since they were little (w/white rails between that people write messages on/sign at the party), but I machine quilt them.