Riding the creative wave

There are moments when I feel like I need to create right then.  Unfortunately, it's not entirely possible or practical to give in to those whims all the time. The other night, however, after working on auction projects for many hours, I gave in to my desire to make.  I quickly gathered a pile of scraps from the over-filling grocery bags on the studio floor. The blues and bits of red were calling to me so I dug until I had a good assortment to choose from. I started playing with fabric, cutting bits and stitching them together.

I guess you'd call it a potholder - there are a few layers of batting sandwiched between all the fabric and I did add a red twill tape loop. In my mind, though, it's a little more than that. One of my goals this year is to not be so restrained when it comes to sewing. I really want to play more - developed palettes, use different techniques, loosen up a bit. I want to ride the creative waves when they appear and see where they might take me. This is a start.

I used free motion for the quilting which I find much easier to control when I use it for small details. Go figure. As I said, the fabrics are all scraps, including the linen piece with the nest. I printed that with my gocco a few years ago and was happy to find it in the scrap bag. I quilted the back differently because I didn't want the reverse of the words showing. I think it was a good decision.

It felt great to make something without a plan. I need to give myself permission to do that more often.

In the meantime, I'll be working on the auction quilts (almost done!!!). As I finish up the other projects, I'll share those, too. I'm really happy with how they are all coming together, but there is still quite a bit of work to do.  Back here soon.