The Honest Scrap Award

In what will no doubt be seen as a blatant bit of nepotism, I've been given The Honest Scrap Award by my son and fellow blogger, Rev. Danny Fisher.

"This award is bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog content or design is, in the giver’s opinion, brilliant. This award is about bloggers who post from their heart, who oftentimes put their heart on display as they write from the depths of their soul." (I'm assuming this comes from the originator of the award, but I'm sorry I can't provide a direct attribution.)

It's one of those "pass it on" blog awards--you get a nice feeling and then get to spotlight blogs you really appreciate. I did a quick Google search and got over 600,000 hits on the phrase "honest scrap award" so I would say this honor is officially viral, but still a good way to link blogs on different subjects to new readers. The original rules are to post ten honest things about yourself and then seven blogs that you think are brilliant. Somewhere along the line, it also seems to have picked up another rule about being able to brag about it a little, too.

For my "brag," I'll share what my son wrote:

Yes, the Quilted Librarian is my mom. She's also a great mom, which I think is probably pretty difficult to pull off if you're not drawing on deep resources of heart and soul. And, relevant to this award, I think that all of things that make her great are splashed all over that blog like paint on a Jackson Pollock canvas.

This is the perfect lead-in for my list on ten honest things about me:

1) I gave birth to two of the most loving, compassionate, creative, and funny people in the world and it astonishes me every day.

2) Marrying my husband, Jim, was the wisest thing I ever did.

3) Not dyeing my hair has much more to do with laziness than with making a statement against ageism.

4) I suffer from generalized anxiety disorder.

5) I am an insufferable know-it-all.

6) I am very bossy.

7) Like Indiana Jones, I don't have a plan (for living my life). I'm making it up as I go along.

8) Jim calls me Mrs. Nice, but sometimes, my niceness is selective.

9) In every situation except when home with my family, I feel like an outsider or interloper.

10) I SOOOOOO need to lose 30 pounds.

And here are the seven blogs that I think are brilliant and written from the heart:

Rev. Danny Fisher
Through his blog, my son has taught me a great deal about content and networking. Buddhist and Buddhism anywhere in the news appear here as well as issues arising in the world of chaplaincy. Dan works the back links and highlights the writing of other Buddhist bloggers. Just enough of him appears from time to time to let the reader know he's there and what he thinks and enjoys.

Attic24
Lucy Oregan not only has the most wonderfully distinctive voice as a blogger, but she is also an astonishing photographer. We know her love and devotion to her husband and children from the first few lines of text, but better yet, we see it in her gorgeous photos that make you ache for the small villages and country vistas of the UK.

Fibermania
Having spent some time in Melody Johnson's presence a number of years ago, I can safely say that her blog flows directly from her bubbly personality and her wonderfully varied creative life. She and her husband have recently retired to Tennessee and her blog is a window into their work to make a home of their house and create gardens around it. In between, she also finds time to create her amazingly vibrant quilts and dyed fabrics.

Simply Robin
Beautiful photographs of Robin's quilts and her creative activities with her family are the highlight of this blog as well as her thoughts on connectedness. Simple is the key word, but very elegant, always.

Pin Tangle
Sharon B has to be one of the best embroiderers and embellishers in the world. Her crazy quilt compostions are fantastic and she shares terrific online resources.

margaret-cooter
Great photography of a life in London and as an added bonus, Margaret is a quilter and art student.

The Chawed Rosin
If you look up "eclectic" in the OED, this blog would be there. Always varied content and always fascinating.