Monday, March 10, 2008

Feeling Wonky


This is MS Awareness Week, and many crafters, quilters, and bloggers with MS have been asked to share their stories. particularly the impact it To illustrate some of my early symptoms, I pulled out a quilt I was working on just before my diagnosis.
  here's the quilespecially how it impacts their creative endeavors. I did one better, I dug out the I was working on when I first began experiencing symptoms
Block Party
37" x 51"
machine pieced and quilted
© Diane Burdin, 1997

The mid 1990's were a particularly stressful time for me. Since stress aggravates MS, I’m not surprised that it lead to my first serious exacerbation, a curious numbness and tingling in my arm that lasted for months. Over time, other unusual symptoms began to appear: fatigue, dizziness, depression, all of which my doctor attributed to stress. His advice? Slow down. Make a concerted effort to relax. See a therapist!

Meanwhile, some friends had organized a quilt challenge. I joined in, hoping the creative exercise would help me relax. Typical of these design challenges, the theme fabric was a hard to use print,  a wild "op art" pattern that made me dizzy if I looked at it too long. That became the theme of my quilt -- feeling "wonky."


It was the perfect opportunity to try Gwen Marsten's liberated piecing techniques for constructing wonky quilt blocks. I started with houses:

My first attempt wasn't nearly wonky enough.

Now I was getting the hang of it. No right angles here!





I tried a church with stained glass windows and a wonky sun.



Here's our house, with William peeking out the upstairs window.


Once I'd made enough blocks for a little neighborhood, I arranged and rearranged them like pieces of a puzzle. If a block was too small, I added to it. Several house blocks, for example, were enlarged by adding trees. If a block was too big, I simply trimmed it down.



For interest, I scattered bits of theme fabric throughout the quilt and also included other types of blocks -- all "liberated" versions of traditional quilt patterns: log cabin, nine patch, flying geese and stars. 



The thing about making a quilt this way is, you never have more than a general idea of how it will look when finished. Much like Multiple Sclerosis, it's hard to predict the course it will take. When faced with a challenging fabric or a challenging symptom of MS, the strategies for coping are much the same -- add a little something, trim a little something, adapt, change the plan. Chances are, you'll still create something beautiful.

8 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you are all doing this. I think there are so many people who just don't know much about this awful disease. MS is particularly prevalent here in Washington and Oregon. For a long time people didn't know why. Apparently there is now new research pointing in the direction of a deficiency in vitamin D in early life. That would certainly explain it around here - so very many cloudy or rainy days we have that kids aren't out playing in the sunshine much of the year. I know personally only one person with MS, but I know of many more. There are three in my SIL's family alone, and though his symptoms certainly point to MS the doctors keep saying he doesn't have it. The step-daughter of one of my Tangled Threads friends has had MS for some time, and a couple years ago she was picked as one of the national representatives for MS and posed for posters that were all over that year. I pray for both a way of prevention and a cure one of these days - it's such a crippling illness.

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  2. Good for all you with MS,don't give up. As they say BE ALL YOU CAN BE!Wig.

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  3. Diane,
    That is a great picture of you! It is good to see you smiling, but then you are always upbeat. It is TIME for them to find a cure!

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  4. I agree with Wanda on everything: You do look marvelous and there definitely needs to be a cure.

    So sorry you were feeling out of whack when you made the quilt, but what a fabulous quilt to have made. I love it.

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  5. What a great post! I love the photo - your smile is just beaming *s*

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  6. Oh goodness this is a lovely post and I dont know why it didn't display until this morning. I'm very confused! :<

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  7. How wonderful that you were able to make your fun Block Party quilt in spite of your symptoms. One of my favorite local quilter-friends has MS and I'm always surprised at what she accomplishes! Love the way you've used your other little quilt as an analogy for your condition too :- )

    I have become very skeptical about the things doctors and researchers and insurance companies say too, as a result of my recent medical experiences. It's really too bad that we're expected to become advocates for our own health when we're incapacitated.

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  8. I love your block party - and I think you are beautiful in your picture! I had a friend at work with MS until it just got too hard for her to work. I"m so glad you all are sharing your experiences and information.

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