Different Kinds of Creativity

The past few weeks I've been working on a different kind of project, along with my books. You all know I'm not that great of a gardener (although I try) and while I can cook well I don't really enjoy it. But I do like (and I'm getting good at) sewing and quilting. And so when new fabric for a new baby nephew arrived on March 1 I knew I would get right down to business cutting out squares and piecing together sashing and figuring out block placement and binding and all the rest.

I like quilting because there are rules - you don't put a navy fabric right next to a swatch of black, for example, because there isn't a lot of contrast. Just like - unless you like giving your fingers the twitchies - you don't cut down your squares or triangles into 1/2-inch pieces. And you don't sew Row 1 right side up and Row 2 right side down (unless you just enjoy sitting for 30 minute stretches with a magnifying glass, a seam ripper and some alcohol).

I also like quilting because you can break the rules. If a pattern calls for it, you can but navy and black next to one another and forget those rules about neon pink and orange because it's possible with the right placement they actually do belong together.

I also like to quilt because you can fix the problem areas. Those rows you sewed backwards? Yeah, you'll have to use the seam ripper, but you can fix them relatively quickly.

Yesterday I put the backing, batting (middle, fluffy, warm part) down along with the top side. And I cut the backing a smidge too narrow - like, less than a half-inch. Does it look odd? Right now, yes, but that is a good I can fix when I put on the binding next week. And, as I was stitching in the ditch, bebe asked a question and I kind of left the ditch for a second. Stopped, pulled out those stitches and replaced them - this time with the door closed.

All the while I've been letting the new book percolate and I've been writing scenes and laying out scene ideas
on a ribbon board and picking out songs for my playlist and pictures for my pinterest board. And I'm loving the story that I'm telling. I also love that, whenever I see this quilt, it will remind me of the journey I took in this book while I was taking a quilting journey.