Cutting Room
Here we are, 15 days into the new year, and I have yet to sew a single, solitary stitch.
Strange, I admit.
Ok, I have done a bit of needlepoint and a little knitting. I have also been cutting fabric. Lots and lots of fabric. Three quilts worth of fabric. They will be the first quilts I sew this year and will make up the majority of my charity quilting for 2015. Last year, while I was head down working on the book that is not to be, I did manage to complete two quilts that I donated to our school/church carnival. Both of those quilts were completed tops and the fact that the tops were ready was one of the main reasons they ended up in the dontation pile.
This year, I want to be more intentional with my donations. I want the quilts to be bigger - a good throw size at least. I also don't want to have to think too much about these quilts. Of course, it's a given that they should be beautiful and well-made, but I don't think it is necessary that they be my original design. So, this year I bought three quilt kits on sale. Of course, I could have purchased patterns and sourced the fabric myself (from my stash, no less), but this way it all showed up in a box, ready to go. There is something extremely liberating about approaching my donations this way: no over-thinking, no indecisiveness, no extraneous choices. I just get to cut and sew.
I'm finding that this is a wonderful way for me to ease into the new year. I spent a lot of time last year thinking about quilts, trying to find perfect fabric combinations and testing new ideas. And it was great, but it was exhausting at the same time. I'm enjoying this small respite that I have created for myself. Without knowing it, I gave myself the permission to rest. And I still get to sew, to create, to make! Win-win-win!
I realize, now, that this forced break might possibly be the best gift I could have given myself. I imagine that once I get these three quilts all sewn up, I will be itching to make something of my own. And if I'm not, I'll probably buy another kit.