Monday 4 June 2018

Show'n'Tell Monday 4th June 2018


Well, I am finally back to blogging and posting up videos on YouTube.
After a huge couple weeks of gearing up for your First ever Sewing Retreat. 
It was a lot to organise so some things had to go by the wayside in preparation, but 
I am back...Now let's get into Show'n'Tell.

This week's Show'n'Tell write up from Sarah is a compelling one and well
worth a read...While I am not going to get into the nitty gritty's of the
post, there are some very interesting questions that have been put forward...

Here is what Sarah wrote...My video will be posted at the end of the 
write-up 

In 1978 a new defence known as the Twinkie defence was utilized at the trial of Dan White. Mr White had shot Harvey Milk, the first Gay politician to be elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Mr White’s defence was that a change of diet - going from a healthy diet to one consisting of sugar and carbohydrates contributed to his depression and that Mr White had no control regarding an ability to be rational and of right mind. And now we have Roseanne Barr and her defence that she was having an Ambien moment and hence a reason behind her twitter post. Why am I writing about this? Well, its two-fold and as always, dear ones, there is a method to my madness. I don’t know if eating a Twinkie or taking Ambien prior to purchasing a lot of fabric or a new sewing machine will work in your favour. Though Mark and I are using the Ambien excuse even though we don’t use the drug. And I hate Twinkies so whatever I engage in, it will be my responsibility along with the consequences. Wow. What a concept

The second reason I am mentioning the aforementioned and within the context of the Roseanne and her tweet and of course social media and especially ABC’s response to the tweet is where is our responsibility regarding racism, feminism,#metoo, school shootings as a group of quilters? Do we stand united in all things or just things within bolts of fabric and thread?

And yet another reason to live near each other because I do believe what I just wrote is cause for discussion. Let me tell you why. Granted, Nicole’s Facebook page, this page is not about one’s politics or religion. I get that and that the purpose of the page is to learn about quilting, increase and gain skill acquisition and share our craft. Beyond this page though, beyond social media, where do we stand as a group of quilters? When we gossip or post racist or bigoted postings or when we especially read such nonsense, what do you? As somebody who does create and put pieces of fabric together, I understand the process and I’m more interested in building than in tearing anything or anyone down. A seam ripper and words can cut through fabric and the soul just as easily as a Twitter post.

I also don’t think we can remain silent any longer. Oh, I’m sure we could; I know of several people who feel safe in their cocoon and dote on ignorance, however, even quilting organizations are becoming more aware and mindful when it comes to social issues.

For exampl,e QuiltCon 2019 will be hosting two very interesting lectures that I am sure to sign up for and have been waiting for these kinds of lectures for a very long time. Mary Fons will be giving a lecture on “The “F” Word: Why Don’t Quilters Talk About Feminism?” Why don’t we? Interestingly enough, we are grouped into that “quilters” context…. Another lecture is going to be about social activism -“Not a Moment, It’s a Movement: The History & Future of Activist Quilts.” This lecture will detail the Social Justice Sewing Academy and the organization is about kids getting involved in quilt making and using such quilts as their voice regarding social issues. How many quilts do you think these kids will create will do with gun control?

I so get it that among all the chaos in the world there has to be a soft place to land somewhere on Facebook where politics or religion aren’t discussed and the only thing that we have to think about are unicorns and Cotton and Steel fabric. However, what we do as individuals matters. What we do as a group, matters and sometimes, silence can be deafening and dangerous.

Show and Tell Monday, June 4th: It is going to be something different. In light of so much negativity this week in the United States, we are going to actually say something nice about someone in our life. This individual does not have to sew or quilt; doesn’t have to be part of our group but just communicate something positive about a person who just makes you a better person - and if you have a Twitter account, tweet it. If you don’t, let the person know how you feel about them. 


'Till next time
Happy Quilting and Crafting ") N 

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