Wednesday, January 11, 2012

part two

Quilters have unfinished projects.
No truer words were ever spoken.
Some of us have many unfinished projects. There is no shame in this, rather it is a barometer of sorts. A method of measuring. If we folded all of our unfinished projects into a neat stack, they should be approximately half of our height and weight.
A creative mind needs that sort of variety.
One must not let a compulsion to complete, interfere with a compulsion to create. It is not unlike the new approach in school classes to simply write, without pausing to consider rules of grammar and spelling. Just get thoughts down, and come back later to tweak and improve. Similarly, quilters slice and dice, press and piece and voila, a quilt top emerges. We come back later, sometimes much later to sandwich and "quilt as desired." The secret I think, is to look at the finishing as a creative endeavor as well. To try something different and scary. To stretch and learn.
This January, buoyed by the fresh winds of the New Year, I am resolving to turn a few unfinished projects into creative endeavors, part two.
I have included for your approval, a project begun in 2009 and left to ripen on the tree. It is ready now, and I will try free motion quilting its vast expanse. I will try not to pick out any stitches. It seems the right quilt for this honor, marked as it is by lessons learned the hard way.
It is flawed though beautiful.
It will soon be flawed but finished

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