Outgoing, and Soon-to-be-Outgoing

I'm usually quite content to be sitting at home interacting with no one. But there's a big difference between having nice, quiet, introvert time alone and being wonderful, busy, Mama all the time. I'm not really alone anymore, and while my little 'co-worker' is a lot of fun these days, it's just not the same as any introvert time. Since there simply isn't more time to turn into introvert time, I'm looking for new ways to feel like I'm rebuilding myself, new ways to find a little more energy.

So, in terms of trying something new... well, what's newer for an extreme introvert than getting out and doing something interactive?

In June, I sent out a message to someone about sharing hand-me-downs, joined a local caregiver/child group, and joined a facebook group: Quilting for a Cause.

To some, that might not sound like much, but for me, that was a lot of 'risk' -- and so far, I think it is paying off.

These are the two blocks I made for the first quilt I'm participating in. I really wanted to do a #QuiltsforPulse, but I know there's not time in my life to do a whole quilt myself right now, so I'm glad to be participating in a group project.

What I learned so far? I made all my paper pieced butterflies backwards (mirrored?). Since I was working with myself, it didn't matter. But the first heart I started making for this project was mirrored, so it turns out I've been doing it wrong! I was able to print off another pattern and make another heart, but I did lose the green I'd really been hoping to use. I found an alternative -- not my favorite, but most of my greens turned out to be yellow-green, which wasn't what I needed. So, it was a surprise make-do moment, but I think it turned out alright.

I'm a little nervous my background choices on the orange one might be a little bit 'out there' too, but, I like it. I think it's more fun than the background choices on the green one.

Anyway, so I'm getting ready to ship these off.

Just participating in this, it's been a lot of fun. And yes, it's helped me feel a little better.

The other two 'outgoing' things have yet to turn into anything I can do yet, but I'm still feeling a little better than I was for a while. It's not quite getting out, or having coffee with friends, or whatever moms are supposed to do to help refill their personal cups, but it's helping.