What, you may wonder, exactly do I mean by “Living Life in Pieces?”

Obviously, as a quilter, I mean pieces of fabric. I love fabric. All kinds of fabric! And quilts—especially scrap quilts. The scrappier, the better. I love bright colors, I love muted reproduction colors, I love pastels, I love black and white. I don’t think there is a color that I don’t love.

And I love taking many pieces of fabric and turning them into something so beautiful!

But let me show you the other “pieces” of my life:

These are four of my pieces; though they are all much older now. That little boy is a published author, a part-time baker, and a math tutor. The little girl in the middle is married and has a bachelor’s degree. The redhead is serving an 18 month mission for our church and wants to be a lawyer, and the  littlest is entering those tumultuous teenage years!

These four, along with their father, are the biggest pieces in my life!

Here’s some more in no particular order:

This is Jet. Always willing to lend a paw in the sewing room!

This is Devon. Getting awfully gray around her face.

It’s hard to get a good picture of Newbird. But he’s been part of our lives for 22 years! And yes, that’s really his name. When he came to us, we had another bird, and we could never agree on a name for this one, so he just became the New Bird!

And if you’ve clicked around the site at all, you’ve already met Scout—the ultimate chill cat!

We have hermit crabs, too, but I will spare you the photos of them, though my youngest thinks they are beautiful!

All of our creatures have been rescued; Devon, from a rescue organization; but I literally picked Jet up off the middle of a busy road; and Scout was taken from some children who were tormenting him. He was so young we had to bottle feed him.

And more pieces: my religion is a huge part of my life, not just a Sunday thing; my health— unfortunately having a chronic illness that causes pretty much constant pain means I can no longer take simple pleasures for granted. Like sewing all day, or hiking with the family, or even shopping for more than an hour or so at a time.

All of these pieces and more add interest to the quilt that is my life. Most are happy, beautiful pieces, but sometimes those ugly fabrics get thrown into the mix just to add interest and depth. We all have them, and when we look back we can see that they without them we would not be as strong or as interesting ourselves!

As I figure out this whole blogging thing, I hope you will share pieces of your life with me. Together, we can make a beautiful quilt!