Truth or Fiction?
May 9, 2013 § 14 Comments
Last year during my photography class we had a discussion about whether photos tell the truth or not. Originally, with film one assumed that the photo never lied. But now, with digital, it’s hard tell what is really the truth.
As my hubby is struggling to install bamboo flooring in the living room (we are extending it from the kitchen remodel out into the rest of the house and it’s not going to be perfect!)… I’m in my sewing room trying to keep myself busy, out of the way, and helpful when needed. I’m browsing blogs intermittently while working on my Bee Blocks* from 2011 (above). And you know how some blogs just always look perfect? Perfect photos. Perfect life. Perfect house.
Well, this flooring project is emphasizing how imperfect our house is. And the contrast between the perfect blogs out there that we all drool over & our imperfect house in here, makes me want to rebel and post about all my imperfections for a good dose of reality. But I can’t quite bring myself to completely reveal ALL the ugliness.
The amateur photographer in me still needs the photos to look nice. The pile of my grandmother’s dishes** sitting on the stainless steel work table look pretty if you zoom in close enough. And then I had to move them so I could make bread today.
While the floor is disappearing (we call it Flat Surface Syndrome***) in my sewing room from an overflow of scraps, projects and bags, they look inviting if I crop out the rest of the room. I really should have tried to get a decent photo of the spare bedroom turned storage room for the week!
And the crab apple blossoms live on in a photo (from last week) even though they are all gone and have fallen on the ground, wilted, this week. I guess there needs to be a balance between appreciating the little things (how pretty the dishes look stacked up) amidst the chaos around it all. And… remembering that no matter what the photo says… that may not be the whole story!
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* I’m thinking these Bee Blocks need to become our beach quilt, or picnic quilt. The liberated piecing style seems to want to be spread out on the ground and laid upon while watching the clouds drift by or flying kites on the windy beach. I’m also thinking that maybe it should have a denim backing to increase it’s durability. And I’ve been craving to make a tied quilt. Weird huh? What do you think? Could this one be tied? I’ve only ever tied one quilt before in my life. But I don’t use it. It’s more of a memory quilt.
** We really should use these dishes more often rather than letting them collect dust inside a cabinet.
*** Usually, it’s just the dining room table, or the counter tops, or the coffee table that are prone to this syndrome. But no flat surface is immune! If there is a flat surface available, it tends to collect things!
Bloomin' Workshop 
Love the background fabric Anita on the quilt on the wall! Is it a current collection?
In fact, most pictures have cropped out a lot of of the real story! I think once in a great while there are quilts that might actually look better tied. Personally I think it depends a lot on the quilts intended use! And once again I’ve fallen behind on your Random Sampler QAL. Better take a look at the last block(s).:)
So funny, I bought a yard of that border fabric you’re using in the top photo. But I bought it online, and haven’t liked it so much in ‘real life’. Yet in your photo it looks stunning!! Perhaps I’ll dig it out and try mixing it with other things. Photos can be really helpful!
Sometimes blog photos make me feel so inadequate and dissatisfied. We are long time sufferers of flat surface syndrome and I fear there is no cure, at least in our home. I’ve never been interested in tied quilts, but I bet a great blog photo of one could convince me. Love your background fabric.
Wonderful, thought provoking post. Also, I’ve been feeling the urge to tie a quilt as well, so I say do it! Lovely quilt and beautiful photos.
Funny to read your post this morning about ‘flat surface syndrome’….my sewing room seems to be the spot where no flat surface is safe. Started working on it yesterday….
I still love tied quilts for some purposes, and why not a picnic quilt? Your block colors are perfect, and when you tie your quilt, you never have to rip out the threads 🙂
Ha ha~ We have a “flat surface” problem at my house too. My hubby periodically complains…”Evey flat surface in this house is full of stuff!” To which I retort…”Well, if they didn’t want us to put stuff on them, they wouldn’t have made them so perfectly horizontal, now would they?”
Yeah, I know, it doesn’t get me anywhere, but I gotta say something, lol!
I have chronic flat surface syndrome. They say nature abhorrs a vacuum. ( and some of us abhorr the vacuum cleaner!)
Gorgeous quilt! I think it’d be wonderful tied. You and I are on the same wave length there. I’ve got plans to tie my next flimsy.
Flat surface syndrome…Ha! I love it :o) Before my son went away to college this year I thought he was the creator of all of the messes in our home…now I learn that I am in league with him :o) Every, and I mean Every, flat surface in our home fall victim…so sad.
You know, it’s not just blog photographs that tend not to tell the real (or whole) story. I find that most people are the same way…always just showing the “good” stuff going on in their lives or with their kids. Kind of that “everything looks good from the outside” thing. Being that way makes other people feel like they don’t measure up, or wondering why things are not perfect in their lives. When I was in college I had a dear friend who always seemed to be living the dream life. She is a super sweet person, but it always drove me a little crazy that nothing ever seemed to be a trial in her life. I decided I never wanted to make other people feel that way. We all face struggles and have challenges. I think it lifts others up to see that we all encounter these things in life and no one has it perfect.
I say, Love you home, imperfect as it is…that’s what makes it a comfortable home to live in instead of an untouchable show-place. However…I don’t think I’ll take a close-up picture of my floor for all the world to see the layer of dog hair covering it :o)
I zoomed in on grandma’s dishes. I think it is the same pattern as my mother’s china. Your photo makes them extra pretty!
I just love your photo of the * Crabapple Blooms”
Let’s just call it our version of the truth. It’s the beauty amidst the chaos. And by the way, my husband said that our next set of furniture will have tables with rounded tops like a mushroom so I can’t pile anything on them. I seem to have a problem with flat surfaces also! Your pictures are all beautiful. I have only ever tied one quilt and I hated it, (the process, not the look). I doubt that I will ever do it again, willingly. Thanks for sharing your imperfections with the rest of imperfects. It feels good to know we’re not alone! Have a great day! 🙂
Oops, I missed a word. I meant the rest of “us” imperfects. It just exemplifies my point, imperfect.