International Women’s Day.
The cynical part of me thinks, another day? For what? I suppose I should at least be a tiny bit happy that there is one day in a year that is dedicated to women around the world. What about the other 364 days?
There was the usual morning tea gag at work. I saw a person I didn’t like, unfortunately, another woman, who hasn’t learnt a good way of working with other women, other than with bullying and passive aggression. But it is my workplace too, so I see no reason to avoid the morning tea offering just to avoid seeing her. As it was, there were plenty of others I could converse with. Sadly no gelato pop-up stand. That would have been a hit. Clearly the organisers haven’t gotten into the minds of women. Boring substandard biscuits, cupcakes, fruit and carrot sticks bought from the local supermarket aren’t very tempting. At least make some special effort and bring in some fancy cake!
I’m really hoping another colleague will be able to realise the idea she wants for celebrating the women at our workplace. Documenting the individual stories of women we know, particularly the ones who come from diverse backgrounds, would be a wonderful legacy
Lately I’ve been spending a lot of time on textile work. People around me seem to be hatching babies left, right and centre, so this would be the 3rd baby quilt I’m working on since January this year. Which is incredibly fast for me. There is something incredibly meditative about handsewing. Yes, it is a heap slower than using the machine, but handsewing projects are very portable, I can take them almost anywhere, do them whenever my full attention is not required and I can put my hands to good use (I’m referring to those never-ending work meetings….). Funnily enough, for patchwork piecing, handsewing is much more accurate than machine sewing. It’s a trade-off I am willing to accept.
I have a favourite thimble, a silver once which I bought 12 years ago from an old lady who collected silver thimbles. I wonder if she is still living. I remember driving all the way to Ashgrove to look at her collection. It was during the visit that I received the phone call from my obstetrician’s office confirming that I was pregnant, although I didn’t know I was having twins at the time. She seemed genuinely pleased to hear my good news.
I wish more people would do handsewing. It calms the mind down beautifully, and at the end of it you have a lovely and unique object. I love the sensual feel of threads, fibres and fabrics in my hands. I have lots and lots of fabric scraps, some bags are swapped or gifted from friends who sew. Currently I have a slight obsession with making crumb patchwork patches and sewing little hanging ornaments with scraps. Gifting them to people always brings a smile.
I never thought I’d be someone who could be overjoyed at the thought at being gifted fabric scraps that many other folks would throw away.
