Finally, a sort of an update on our recent failed adoption and how I'm doing. Way back when (as you may recall) I began working on a purple quilt for Peapod. A is the kind of person who cannot rest until a project is completed. My mother is the kind of person who has a dozen works in progress at any given time. I sort of split the difference. I may have one or two projects going, but I have no inordinate compunction to complete them. In the case of Pea's Purple Piece, I had been waiting for a class in hand-quilting (ie--I sewed the pieces together by machine, but wanted to do the actual quilting by hand).

I took the class in April and began the work on the purple quilt in May. I took it along in the car on the way to GA to meet our potential birthmother to while away the hours of driving. I had worked on it a bit since getting home, but hadn't touched it in weeks. The other night I picked it up again and a flood of emotions overtook me. Emotions I didn't realize were there. Emotions I didn't realize were connected to my neglect of the hand-quilting.

This is a little difficult to put into words. I have turned a corner from dwelling on the disappointment and the previous situation to looking forward to a new first family and a new adoption. My thoughts have been more about what might be coming rather than what has passed. But, somehow, picking up that quilt again brought back all the weight of the emotions surrounding the last time I'd worked on it. The hope during the trip and disappointment that followed on its heels. While I was surprised to find those feelings hiding out in there, they weren't all that powerful and were easy to deal with. I guess you just never know what will bring up unresolved emotions.

I had planned on giving Siah the quilt for her birthday (she's seen it and knows it's hers, but I just thought that would be special). There's no way I'll get it done in time (5 days from now!), especially since I'm now considering appliqueing a butterfly or two on it as well!

Here's a few pictures of what I've been up to. The white "border" will be cut off--it's just extra room to work with. The idea is to start in the middle of the quilt and spiral outward. The hoop on the left in the photo is the area I'm working right now. It's very difficult to see any of the quilting in this overall view since the quilting thread is also purple.

A good detail shot where you can see the stitches well. I'm really pleased with the dimensionality the quilting is providing.