Long ago and far away I started a quilt. An older lady taught me a short-cut to all that fabric cutting (back in the day we used scissors). She showed me that you could just easily snip the fabric and tear the necessary strips off.
Seriously. In my naiveté I tried to make a school-house/Irish chain quilt with lots of diagonals and such, but all the original straight pieces were torn. Years later I cringed when opening the box.
All those lovely stretched and warped pieces did not sew together easily and when it came to the school-house blocks things quickly went to custard. Like any good quilter, I had put it in my too-hard-for-now basket and buried it in my fabric stash only to refuse to throw it out during each move, then re-discover it again when we shifted this time.
With each move I had re-discovered several items that eventually got donated to a charity shop...but I still loved the fabrics chosen for that school-house quilt and could never bring myself to toss it. I still loved the pattern. Question was, did I want to invest time and energy into making such a quilt?
The pattern was not technically difficult, there were not interesting twists to make it more artistic. It would not feed my creative heart. Worse yet - it would require re-cutting, fixing and generally re-making most of what had already been finished. There was no actual purpose to the quilt. No-one waiting for it, no bed expecting it, no deadline. Do I, or do I not?
Through the years these decisions have become more about my goals. Many ideas are rejected because of practical considerations. Time needs to be invested not just spent. Everything I create should serve some a purpose. Etc etc.
But when it came down to a final decision, to toss this or keep it.. my general love of quilts and quilting surged. I decide that sometimes, a quilt with no actual home, no purpose, no benefit to some greater ideal could still be finished. Just for the love of quilting. Besides, someone in my family will claim it...
Seriously. In my naiveté I tried to make a school-house/Irish chain quilt with lots of diagonals and such, but all the original straight pieces were torn. Years later I cringed when opening the box.
All those lovely stretched and warped pieces did not sew together easily and when it came to the school-house blocks things quickly went to custard. Like any good quilter, I had put it in my too-hard-for-now basket and buried it in my fabric stash only to refuse to throw it out during each move, then re-discover it again when we shifted this time.
With each move I had re-discovered several items that eventually got donated to a charity shop...but I still loved the fabrics chosen for that school-house quilt and could never bring myself to toss it. I still loved the pattern. Question was, did I want to invest time and energy into making such a quilt?
The pattern was not technically difficult, there were not interesting twists to make it more artistic. It would not feed my creative heart. Worse yet - it would require re-cutting, fixing and generally re-making most of what had already been finished. There was no actual purpose to the quilt. No-one waiting for it, no bed expecting it, no deadline. Do I, or do I not?
Through the years these decisions have become more about my goals. Many ideas are rejected because of practical considerations. Time needs to be invested not just spent. Everything I create should serve some a purpose. Etc etc.
But when it came down to a final decision, to toss this or keep it.. my general love of quilts and quilting surged. I decide that sometimes, a quilt with no actual home, no purpose, no benefit to some greater ideal could still be finished. Just for the love of quilting. Besides, someone in my family will claim it...
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