Where, oh where, has the creativity gone?

So, last week I finally reached the end of my rope. My sewing room, yes I am VERY lucky to have one, was a certifiable disaster! I have holiday placeholders ready to hand sew the bindings by Thanksgiving; a fall round robin pinned and ready to quilt by September; a batik kit by Judy Niemeyer partially sewn but lacking inspiration in my color choices; several stacks of purples & greens that I got on a field trip to Fabric Depot in Portland; some New Zealand fabrics sent by my daughter's in-laws; a purple/sage quilt top for my granddaughter, Suzie (above); and a challenge quilt top that my friend Cindy designed the pattern for (above in orange). While I'm sharing my quilting habits, I must also share another secret. I am an addicted knitter as well (socks below) so part of the room has been sectioned off for yarns of all colors & textures. Now let's get real. The room's not that large!!! But it has a door which has likely led to my inclination to spread out.

Last week I was trying to find something interesting that I could sub-contract to my little granddaughters, Suzie (7) and Angela (9), that could qualify for payment with "daily dollars". Daily dollars are real (fake) dollars that the girls get for doing chores, being helpers on one of my projects, or for being utterly fantastic during a day. My daily dollar challenge this past weekend was to clean up the sewing room. That meant unbagging long-held treasures that made it from the store, into the house but not to the shelf, folding up the mish-mash of fabrics that had to be spread out because they were the 'inspiration' for my next project, organizing the threads that had found alternate homes rather than in the drawer, picking up all the scrap that were scattered about. You know the look....I know you do!

Well, here I am on a 4th of July weekend ready to devote my day to sewing. But the room is too clean! I don't know where to start. I've got two tops ready to pin but I've found myself going into the room and just sitting there. I can't find my inspiration! So, I've been to Jazzercise already this morning, had two cups of coffee with one more in the wings and will post my photos to my blog. Then I am going to slip into that sterile room and gently pull out a few fabrics that I love and place them around the room to get me back in the mood! Then I am going to run to the fabric store to get the quilting threads for the two tops. I think I'll leave them in the bags for just a little while before placing them in their prescribed spot. Then, I think I can sew again!

The Devil's Workshop is Decorated in Orange

I can say that it's rare to find my hands idle. Or my brain for that matter. I am addicted to the creativity and sensory experience of quilting and knitting. The excitement that comes with that first glimmer of a new project has particular allure. Whether it is inspired by a new fabric, a new yarn, a new technique or the tactile need to stroke the fabric, I almost can't wait to start. However I know me. I'll jump in head first and worry about the details later which always ends up creating more stress than relieving it. So as I've gotten older, middleaged if I live to the ripe old age of 110, give or take a year, I've committed to staying true to what brings me pleasure.





You see, my quilting friends are to blame. They are incredibly talented. Cindy's the designer, Sue's the color guru, Melissa's schtick is creativity & fun, Trudy's meticulous in the planning, Jani's the productivity queen, Jeanne's going to eventually make me appreciate Country colors, Julie is the do-it-all-and-still-fit-in-quilting Mom and Diana excels in her soft and classic use of color. I just wish I could make anything as well as they can. I tried being the designer using classic angles and unclassic wedges. I was hopeless. It bored me to tears. I tried speed quilting. I learned to hate story problems all over again. "If a quilter chains 1000 pieces of a quilt, how many times will she have to reverse sew before imbibing in 3 stiff shots of Scotch???" But colors?? You betcha. Nary a one has the pizzazz of Sue's incredible use of color, value and patterns. However, I have settled on what I do well. I use orange. My use of orange started a few dozen round robins ago. I applied orange with confidence. However, when I saw my quilting buddys' (herein QB's) eyes fall out and bounce on the floor twice, I thought I may have overdone it. My use of orange may have been a bit bold...


However, over the years I have learned that it's important to use the gifts God gave me. Some days it seems the gift basket was overstuffed with tissue and had the appearance of abundance when in reality, there was a teeny little gift in the bottom of the basket totally overshadowed by fun & colorful tissue. But when I look really closely, I realize how much joy that little gift brings me. I have a passion for color, maybe not those country colors yet, but bright, bold, energizing colors. They bring me comfort, enliven my psyche, and keep me lapping up those 1/2 yard pieces of the newest and brightest colors in my locals shop. My use of orange has matured. I can now use snippets of orange instead of the bold splash of an orchard. But I think it will be a sad day if I lose my passion for the most wonderful color in the entire spectrum!