A Quilter's Gratitude

I used to keep a gratitude journal but that fell by the wayside a few years ago during a time when life just got too busy. I must have felt that I had been blessed enough and didn't need to write down my blessings anymore.

Nothing to be grateful for??

Thanksgiving week is always the week it comes up again and lately I have been reflecting on just how much I have to be grateful for. Loving family, good friends and health are at the top of the list and even though there have been so many stresses this year, there's still much to be thankful for, even when it sometimes seems like there's not. I'm grateful that my illness wasn't more serious than it was and that I was able to recover nicely.

Being grateful for material provisions may seem . . . materialistic . . . but I'm thankful nonetheless to have a house with a bed to sleep in, food on the table, surrounded by nice things and being able to help provide for our family in these uncertain economic times. 

I may not write in a gratitude journal, but I say a silent "Thank you" often during the day. Sometimes it's for the little things, like:  I finished another quilt without having to stop and thread the bobbin, which was almost empty  . . . The dog went out to pee a few minutes before the rain came and so we didn't get wet  . . . Even though traffic was heavy this morning and I was running late for my doctor's appointment, I found a great parking spot right near the door and I got in before it rained again  . . . Or, the grocery store was not one bit crowded last night while I shopped for Thanksgiving dinner food, I finished in 40 minutes flat, and they weren't out of cranberries or cornbread stuffing as in years past! It's the little things . . . .

I know being grateful can seem silly to some people, so "Oprah" if you know what I mean. I don't care. I'm grateful my daughter bought me this lovely journal awhile ago to help me remember to keep track. I'm going to use it.

So what else does this quilter have to be grateful for?

I couldn't quilt for a few weeks because it hurt to sit for too long - so I'm really grateful I now can be back at my machine if I don't overdo it. I'm grateful I took it in for a tuneup before I got sick.

I'm grateful for the automatic threader on my machine, every time I use it.

I'm grateful for all the tools we have to make quilting easier for us than it was for quilters long ago. Can you imagine cutting everything out with scissors and not having any choice but to piece everything by hand? It works for some people and some projects, but only when I choose. I can use modern technology if I wish.

I'm grateful for the abundance of fabric I can choose from to make colorful scrap quilts. Overflowing sometimes and almost never ending.

I'm grateful for the opportunity to have had four books published and that people actually want to buy the books I write and make the quilts I design! And even though I'm a Sentimental Quilter, I won't get too sentimental about it here . . .

I'm grateful that quilters are the nicest people you'll ever meet, much nicer than say, fiction book or movie critics, LOL. Also, some politicians and cable news anchors . . . . I definitely chose the right business to go into.

Look, they're all so nice - listening, enthralled, hanging on my every word. Except for that one lady - I suppose she was probably looking for her camera . . .

As we celebrate this season of gratitude, what are you grateful for in your life? Look around you, there's so much. Me? Today? Kids and puppies, as always. Even puppies with bad hair days.