Moving Through Time and mistakes you only make once

This piece, Keeping Balance

was created to go with the piece below,
Staying in The Light, that I created about 8 months ago.

The last year and a half has been a challenge as my husband struggles to find a job in a difficult economic time. This situation has created many obstacles for us to deal with individually, together, financially, and spiritually. There have been many moments that tested us in many ways, including our love for each other. Sometimes things can seem so hopeless that finding the light of hope is a struggle. At times we feel alone and lost, but in the end you realize the comfort of faith keeps you in the light, even if your reality seems dark.

Staying in the Light was part of The Sacred Threads exhibit:
http://www.sacredthreadsquilts.com/

It is now over two years that we are still dealing with this situation with little hope in sight of it ending anytime soon. My husband and I have struggled to figure out how to keep balance in our life during this challenging time. Through many ups and downs, arguments and discussions we have somehow figured out a way to work together. In Staying in The Light we were going in two different directions and often had a hard time communicating, or figuring out how to get through the situation. Now we are in sync with each other, working together to keep our life harmonious and functioning with very little friction even though nothing about the situation that is causing the stress has changed. I attest this change to our great love of each other.

Here are the pieces together, I call them, Moving Through Time:

I hope to make a third piece to go with this series, but I have to wait until we get to the next place on this journey. My hope is that we will be relaxing together peacefully, and all the pieces have fallen into place where they should be.

I learned a valuable lesson working on this piece: always double check your materials, and know what you are using. The finished piece is actually the second one I made. I had spent two days putting the quilt top together, then had great difficulty when I tried to sew it. I checked what I had used to fuse the fabric and realized it was Heat n Bold Ultra Non-Sewable! After a slight breakdown, I got back to work to make a new top. It ended up being a great learning experience in the process of working on a series. It is interesting what slight changes you make in the design and color choices when you have the opportunity to make something a second time. I know I will never (knock on wood) make that mistake again, and it was upsetting to learn that I had to re-do the top, but I did enjoy the learning experience in the end.