thinking small

After a weekend full of house guests, eating, swimming and amusement parks visits I am feeling the need to clean and regroup.  While my knitting has been moving along nicely, I find myself surrounded with too many large and unfinished projects in the sewing room.  When I began my quilting journey I worked on many small projects that I could finish quickly, teaching myself new methods and techniques along the way - mostly through trial and error.  Although I no longer want to make the kind of quilts I made years ago, I feel the need to "work smaller" once again so that I can try out all the new ideas floating around in my head.  I want to try out new color and fabric combinations, new piecing methods, some hand stitching, and new-to-me free motion quiting designs. 

All this brings up the age old question of what to do with numerous small quilts that inevitably end up resembling place mats.  I think I may turn some into pillows or totes or place mats even, but the rest will simply serve their purpose in helping overcome boundaries that I have unintentionally set for myself because of the fear of "ruining" a large quilt.  I look forward to sharing what I learn along the way - both my successes and failures.  But before I embark, I will be completing my log cabin quilt and posting notes on how I sandwich, pin, quilt and bind it.  Completing this quilt first will help me feel better about having finished a large project as well as free up some much needed space in my sewing area.

On the knitting front, I've been working on the rusted root - mainly in the car as this has turned out to be the summer of driving...

and thinking...

and discovering new treasures in the garden.

I am so grateful to summertime for providing me with the opportunity to think and discover and just "be."

 

Comments

[kristyn]

can't wait to see your quilt all together. it's going to be stunning! adjusting to life, adjusting projects, adjusting expectations all signs of a wise woman who knows herself!

[Carrie :: The Rocking Yak]

I love the gray sweater you are working on. What pattern are you using?

[Lisa Q]

I'm sure that as you work through your new ideas, more will come and you'll have a great new plan for all your smaller sized quilts. Can't wait to see! The Rusted Root looks great. I love the varigated yarn that you chose. And, I'm glad you're getting time to just "be" this summer. It's such an important thing!