Letting (My Brother-in-law's) Freak Flag Fly

I had a heavy Mom day on Sunday. It had built up over the preceding three or four days. I felt off, down, edgy. And then on Sunday, I was gripped by grief as profound as when she died.

Fortunately, I have a husband and son who hug. And as an extra-added bonus, I got a timely phone call from a friend in Colorado who, unfortunately, lost her Mom and Dad a year ago. She knew exactly what I was going through.

Friends in my quilt guild had warned me that these waves of grief could crop up months after Mom died but the ferocity of it shook me up.

This all a preamble to say that I felt boneless yesterday morning. But I have found that work and creativity are the best way for me to deal with difficult emotional stuff, something to keep my head and hands busy while my inner processing goes on without interference.

So what does that have to do with a freak flag for my brother-in-law? Terry's birthday is coming up quickly and this year especially, I wanted to make something special for him because he was so kind while I was living in his house while Mom died. Some brothers-in-law can be awful but I'm lucky my sister had such good taste.

Ever since my quilt guild did its first annual Ironing Women Challenge in early August (a design free-for-all done in small teams), I've wanted to play that way again. So last night, I pulled a bunch of fabrics out of my fat quarters and large scrap piles, found a panel from artist Laurel Birch and I was on my way.

Terry and my sister are big into their RV, a Bluebird, so that had to be part of this. In fact, it was the only design element that I knew for sure would be in this creation. It took me a while to find a clear image of the logo (Wikipedia comes to the rescue again) and it took some manipulation to get into a fusible-fabric form. But after that, it was play all the way.

This is not backed or quilted yet. I'll get that done today (I hope) and send it off so it will reach Terry before his birthday.

The morale of the story is, when life hands you garbage, compost it and make it part of your garden.

By the way, if you are on Cape Cod and need your car repaired, Terry is your man. He and my sister own Mr. T's Auto Repair in Mashpee. Tell them Sonja sent ya.