Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Colcha Finale: Crafting Beer

Well we finished our Colcha!! 

I can't believe how quickly the deadline got here!  We had our last meeting (for the Colcha) this past Sunday, and worked hard to finish the quilt in order to mail it out this week.

Here's a preview of us placing the panels together & figuring out how we would stitch it together.  (I'm pretty sure my hops look more like grapes... but, whatever!)


 Barbara's Wheat preparing to be attached to the "yeast" background square...

Babs working feverishly on her barley!
Here's Risa freaking out as I cut her artwork to make the sashing fit to bind the quilt squares...


Always some crap involved somewhere...

 Risa sporting her new "Happy Hooker" t-shirt...

  We drink, therefore we CAN!

Phew!!

 The finished product!  Hops, Barley, Wheat, Yeast & Water!
And some final thoughts on our time together...

Heather:  With our busy lives, it is hard to make the time to get together to do projects like these.  We tell ourselves it is easier to work alone... Yet, when we do make the effort, we are rewarded by new friendships and a sense of well-being that can only be achieved in a group setting - shared with others.
Sunday night, I arrived to the meeting to realize that this project had become a source of frustration for one of our members (and to be honest- I was working feverishly to finish my work right before the meeting as well).  We were faced with a project that needed much more work done to finish, and no time left.  So, rather than let this get us all frustrated, or blame each other, or ourselves, we pulled together & decided on a revision of the original design & worked together for the next 3 hours to finish what we could as a group. 
I was very proud of what we accomplished, once we changed our mindset, and our design to something we all felt we could handle, the tension eased & we continued to share our stories as before, discussing all things (Grammy's, work-related issues, partnership issues, movies, generational music), and ended up singing an accapella version of "Me & Bobby McGee" while we stitched away... We also discussed how we are going to create a WIP Craft Group and have monthly get-togethers to share work, enjoy each other's company, and build on the community we have crafted.  I have really enjoyed getting to know both Risa & Barbara better & look forward to our future meetings!  Thanks so much for this wonderful project!
Risa:  What an experience this has been.  For me the one who barely knew what a crochet needle looked like it was an introduction to a new experience.  I am still truly a novice but I hope to develop this skill.  It is truly a relaxing experience.  For me it continued to be an opportunity to make and develop new friendships.  In the end, as the deadline was upon us stress came to the project.  For a few moments we thought about abandoning the project.  Ultimately a decision was made to rethink and redesign.  I have to share that my contribution was the least challenging but it was inspirational to witness the determination to confront and overcome frustration.  Thank you Heather and Barbara for time shared I hope it will just be a beginning.
Barbara:  As the night started out I was quite anxious, as it had become apparent that I had bitten off more than I could chew.  However, Heather saved the day by arranging our Colcha around my unfinished panels and I crocheted malted barley grains at a furious pace.  Risa kept the conversation going. We enjoyed a few beers and worked through the evening.  As our Colcha took shape we began looking forward to our next projects.  It occurred to us that we enjoy working on our crafts as a group and the gears are in motion not only to bring our craft projects to the Schnitzel House to work on while in the presence of friends, but to invite all of our friends out to join in the fun and camaraderie!

Lift a glass to barley wheat hops and water!
If you can guess we lift a glass to you
Who knew what barley,wheat,hops and water could do?
- Risa Novikoff