Welcome once again to ScrapHappy Day!
It’s the day my friend Gun in Sweden and I host ScrapHappy, a day for showing something made from scraps.
You’ll have to forgive me. This month’s ScrapHappy item looks as sad and dull and droopy as I feel. It’s the very scrappy backing for the Days Gone By quilt, which is now sitting folded quietly in a bag, waiting for the kind quilter to come free in January. I haven’t felt in the least inspired to come up with something else, something dazzling and innovative; losing someone you love seems to work directly on the creative centres, damping them down and muffling the siren song of the scrap boxes. Hopefully a new month and New Year will see a return to my usual form. And before you ask, all those pieces are scrap from other projects. Some of the pieces are saved from 10 years ago.
The table runner I hoped to have ready to show has also slowed to a stop. Hand-stitching gives you too much time to think. I’ll pull it out again soon, but just now, it’s not distracting enough.
ScrapHappy is open to anyone using up scraps of anything – no new materials. It can be a quilt block, pincushion, bag or hat, socks or a sculpture. Anything made of genuine scraps is eligible. If your scrap collection is out of control and you’d like to turn them into something beautiful or useful instead of leaving them to collect dust in the cupboard, why not join us on the 15th of each month? Either email me at the address on my Contact Me page, or leave a comment below. You can also contact Gun via her blog to join. We welcome new members. You don’t have to worry about making a long term commitment or even join in every month, just let either of us know a day or so in advance if you’re new and you’ll have something to show, so we can add your link. Regular contributors will receive an email reminder three days before the event.
Here are the links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy from time to time (they may not post every time, but their blogs are still worth looking at). If you’ve copied this list from previous posts, please use the one below as it’s the most up to date.
Kate (me!), Gun, Titti, Heléne, Eva, Sue, Lynn, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy, Tracy, Jill, Claire, Jan,
Moira, Sandra, Linda, Chris, Nancy, Alys, Kerry, Claire,
Jean, Jon, Hayley, Dawn, Gwen, Connie, Bekki,
Sue L, Sunny, Kjerstin, Vera, Nanette and Ann
See you next time for more scrappy loveliness.
talltalesfromchiconia 
Kate, it’s totally understandable. ❤️ Sending gentle hugs your way.
Thank you, I appreciate it. Hopefully I’ll be able to start sewing again soon…
Building that quilt back must have been pretty distracting! I’m sure we can all relate to losing creative mojo given your recent loss. There will be brighter days ahead… eventually. ❤
It certainly helped! I had to make sure the whole thing was larger than the front by 6 inches in each direction, and kept finding the pieces I wanted to use were 3 inches too small. Annoyance can be quite distracting!
Lots of pretty fabrics there, scrappy or no. Sometimes we literally need down-time when we’re feeling down. Take care ♡
I’m finding a lot of distraction with silly videos on YouTube. Humour really does help…
I’ve taken a bit of a “downer” as well, even though I’d 5 weeks of “off edge” I had managed to make quite a few things…but last week, the “edge came right off” and now I don’t truly have my heart in things…
I think we are allowed to have off periods – so I salute that you have admitted it here to us all…
What I decided to do was to “kind of” make my pad into my own personal art gallery – instead of having the goods in boxes out of sight – taking time but enjoying routing out works and finding places for them…
That sounds pleasantly distracting. I keep trying to start new things and reaching a point that allows me to cruise along, at which stage I start thinking too much. So my sewing room is littered with half-done projects… and a lot of frustration. Never mind, I’ll turn a corner at some stage.
I don’t think the back piece looks sad and droopy at all, and it’s great that it’s done. (In my world it would be the front!)
Sending lots of love xx
It’s not quite as joyful as the front…. but i take your point!
At least there´s a backing and everything doesn´t have to be bright and shiny! That´s life!
You’re so right. Sometimes a nice dull, practical back is exactly what’s needed.
[…] Joining in with Kate and her happy band of Scrappers. […]
Oh yes, I can empathise with that feeling Kate – the world has changed forever and it takes time to realign. Big hugs.
Here’s my December offering: https://daffodilwild.wordpress.com/2020/12/15/scrap-happy-baubles/
Thank you! It’s a strange feeling to know that my generation is now the eldest. Shouldn’t I feel wiser…?
Hmmm? Good question – you do seem very wise to me. 🙂
A carefully cultivated facade….
Both my parents died very close to Christmas and I think that also makes the sadness and depression worse. I’m amazed you could come up with anything at all. xxx
It’s like lugging around a heavy internal stone. Painful, unending, tiring, and impossible to put down. Those who recommend keeping busy are right, but they need to add that the busyness should be totally involving. Keeping your hands busy while your brain is unoccupied is no good.
Binge watching TV crime series, whilst crocheting blankets helped me get through some dark days.
I’m currently binge watching YouTube funnies, amongst other things, and trying not to consume the annual national output of chocolate single-handedly.
Maybe listening to a gripping audio book at the same time would help.
I had the same thought. Two downloaded onto my phone for that very purpose!
how true that our crafting often reflects our mood. At least you were able to get that back assembled, even if it’s not as bright as you usually do.
Yes. One task completed, even if there’s half a dozen more half-finished ones lying around!
[…] I’m not really part of the “Scrap Happy” tradition started by my friend Kate and her friends, I felt I could offer another post on the subject — or at least a continuation […]
Losing someone you love is beyond hard…and there are very few recipe books and no timetable…a scrappy backing for a Days gone By quilt seems perfect for the moment!
My lasting legacy… not! I hope the mojo will return soon, I’m missing the joy of creation.
Totally understandable given your loss and the sorrow you’re feeling at present. There will be a day in the future tho when you turn the corner and you’ll once again start finding joy in the scrappy quilting that you love to do.
I know you’re right. It’s just almost impossible to see round the corner just now. Thank you for the kind, supportive words.
To be honest, I’m impressed that you have managed anything; and what you have managed is just right for it’s purpose, so is a job well done.
Another dear friend of mine has also just lost her elderly parent (her mum), but in a mirror image of your situation, she is here and her mum was in a nursing home in Australia. Her mum’s funeral will be shared via Zoom, but it’s at 1am on Thursday morning our time. I hope that you too are able, in some way, to be present for your dad’s funeral. They are so important for the grieving process… at least that was how I felt when my dad died. And I hope you manage to find some distractions, although that’s easier said than done. Much love anyway xxx
A Zoom attendance is planned, once we have the date agreed; there are multiple family members in Europe at vary degrees of distance and my brother has not yet been able to settle on a date that suits everyone. My niece in Sydney is hoping to come up to Mackay so we can keep each other company while we watch the funeral at 1.00am our time! I had resigned myself to not having even this until my brother arranged for the technology; it’s a tiny church and didn’t have the facilities.
So glad to hear you will be able to have some involvement. Funerals are difficult at the best of times, but at the moment there’s so much extra to contend with.
Consensus I think is we’re all winding down as this year is coming to an end….so many ups and downs ~ here’s to a new better year. Take it slow reflect and try to smile through….sending hugs
It has been a difficult year, and up to a few days ago i was congratulating myself on escaping the worst of it. No coronavirus…. but also, no Pa. After the funeral, I’m hoping for a fresh start.
There is no recipe for grieving – we all do it the best we can. Do whatever gets you through a day at a time and if that involves a lot of chocolate so be it. Well done for finishing your backing piece at all – It looks just fine to me. I think we all hope next year is better!
be kind to yourself and do whatever it is you have to do. It will all come back slowly, one small stitch at a time. Hugs.
The worst is feeling my attention…. dissolve. Halfway through something I have to put it down because my focus is gone. The plan is to stretch the focused periods out till I can actually finish something! Today, I’m not even going to try, I’m going to pamper myself. It’s been an age…!
Hugs to you my friend. Having no Mojo at the moment is understandable… grieving time is very important and should be embraced. You will get there my friend 💝
I agree. Grief needs to be acknowledged and given permission. There’s too much tendency to expect people to be sad for 5 minutes and then pull themselves together as if nothing had happened.
Feeling for you, you did well to post at all. Sorry I am a day late. Life sometimes happens.
It does indeed. And being a day late isn’t a drama. Lots of people don’t look at all the posts for a day or so.
Don’t be too so hard on yourself, grieving takes time, you just have to do what works for you, if that’s just starting new projects and getting halfway, that’s fine, you’ll have lots to do when your mind does want something mindless to do! I found the funeral very cathartic, though it was actually my mother-in-laws a few months later which seemed to be the turning point, clearing my head of the whole year. Take care.
It does take time. The funeral can’t happen until early January, so I’m being kind to myself until after then. There are a few small jobs I should be able to buckle down to if I concentrate…
It started slowly for me then just wiped me away when my mother passed at almost 75. We expected it but somehow it still blindsided me so take as much time as you need to heal that deep pain. The fact that you even tried is impressive.
I just need to hold it together till the funeral, and after that it will be true and real and I can begin to accept it. Meanwhile, I work in 10 minute increments, bit by bit.