Printed Quilts and Good Books

Printed quilts. Summer plans. Artistic direction. Lovely moments. Sweet rememberings. Ohio stars. Michigan.

I don't know where to begin and what to share. I've been feeling many directions recently. Homesick. Frustrated. Loved. Supported. Far away. Overwhelmed. At peace.

I suppose though, I want to talk about quilting. I've been treating it like my job. When I photograph projects like this, I am full to the brim with excitement and inspiration, and I love it. When I come home from a long day in the lab and feel like curling up with dinner and a good book, I don't love it. I savor that evening. It's glorious and wonderful, and I am so thankful for those times. But I go to bed feeling I wasn't productive enough, that I didn't sew, sandwich, print, or accomplish enough.

This is not how I want it to be.

Do you ever feel like this? Somehow the bloggers and instagrammers can pull together entire quilts, whole fabric lines, and gorgeous photos with time to make dinner for the kids and go on vacation. I don't understand how they they make it happen, but I know that I want to stop trying to measure up. I thought this might mean focusing on just one: quilt design or fabric design. I prayed about it, thought about, talked it out, and journaled.

My conclusion is Neither. Neither will I feel like I don't have time for all my quilting dreams, nor will I hold such high and grandiose expectations with such short timelines for my fabric designs. In fact, I will not focus on either one for the next three months.

I am twenty two. Twenty two. I don't need to be the same place as those people with books and fabric designing jobs and thousands of followers. This summer I am going to sew myself a dress. I am going to plant an herb garden. I will hang art on the walls. I will cut myself slack because I am working on my PhD. I am going to read books and cook food and visit my family. When I turn twenty three, I can decide where the road leads next, but for the next three months...the deadlines and comparisons and timelines will be set aside. How freeing does that sound?

Will you support me in this?

Ohio Star Progress

Finals, term papers, and visits from the boyfriend have made sewing a little scarce. Plus, a mini break was in order after turning in the thirty-page paper to grab coffee with friends and read a book for fun. However, projects are afoot! I'm piecing some Ohio Stars to print, like I did for the Lenten Twelves Two quilt.

I also started some circles like I used in Lenten Twelves: Sabbath. I know I said I would never do appliqué circles again, but something came over me last week, and I ironed 16 freezer paper circles to some neutrals. I don't know what I was thinking! All hope is not lost; there is still time to bail. I guess, we'll see what I decide. Don't they look so cute, though, in the sketches?

My first Ohio Star went together like a breeze, but these are proving a tad more difficult to match corners. I don't know what I did differently this time, but I thought perhaps pressing my seams open might help. Do you know any tricks for Ohio Stars?

My last final is tomorrow, and then summer begins! No homework, more time to focus on sewing! I'm excited for these to come together and print them. Actually, truth be told, I'm not super excited. I'm mostly unmotivated, which is why I'm sitting at sewing night blogging instead of sewing. Hopefully being done with finals will reignite my fire for quilting. It'll come back...right?

I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday on FreshlyPieced for the first time in a long time. Go check out the other projects!

Lenten Twelves : Two

Do you ever get a quilt pattern or color palette stuck in your head? Two summers ago it was triangle quilts. Last winter it was coral and navy. Then it was plus quilts. Now it's Ohio Stars.

I try so hard to resist (not quite sure why honestly, probably just my stubborn nature), but I've come to the conclusion that it's best to have out with it, the better to move on (or at least the better to make use of the single-minded concentration.) This week I had an evening star completely sketched and calculated out when Printing marched into my creative mind quickly followed by Ohio Star. I went with it. What better way to play with ideas than a weekly twelve inch quilt?

Feasting into creativity with my mum this Lent has been really lovely so far. We keep each other accountable and check-in with one another. Last night she provided the pep talk I needed to get off my butt and actually sew. She really is great. I'm so very thankful for her.

And speaking of sewing last night, I tried free-motion quilting on my Bernina for the first time, and it was like butter! I didn't realize how difficult my Brother had been until just last night. I will definitely be practicing my free-motion quilting more in the coming weeks through these quilts, and I feel much less reluctant to try now! Hurrah!

What sewing mental blocks or fixations have you been experiencing lately?

Any you might tease out in a quilt this Lenten season?

If you missed the LentenTwelves Intro Post, go follow the link and read it now for background on the challenge my mum and I took up this Lent. If you'd like to join or just follow along, you can find us on instagram with #lententwelves or just check out her blog Fibermusing  and her Lenten Twelves.