Slow down

Echo Lake

"A woman must cultivate the practical arts, and lend to them that satisfaction of beauty, that the soul might flourish, and the hands be remembered past death." 

                                                                                                        A Sudden Country, Karen Fisher

I've kept this quote in my file of embroidery ideas for years.  How I do love to hand stitch:  knitting, crocheting, embroidery, wool appliqué and sometimes even hand quilting.  Of course, this is in addition to all my machine work.  Any time I spend with needle and thread slows me down and calms my soul.  

In the newest issue of Quilting Arts magazine, I found an article written by Mark Lipinski the creator of The Slow Stitching Movement.  He states: ..."you can change your life at the end of a thread"....

He talks about how quilting books and magazines boast patterns that are "fast, quick, easy, simple and fun" the end result being that quilts are all the same, instead of being unique and creative.

I thought about my own work.  Certainly in the early years of quilt making, I cranked out many many pattern quilts.  At one point, this became boring and forced me to start designing my own work and thus I slowed way down.  One of my large quilts will take me a year to make (while working on a few smaller projects).  I always tell people I make my quilts for me. I don't sell them or make them to sell the patterns to a wide audience.  

My book Nature's Journey Appliqué is all about this.  Most of the quilt patterns included are intricate and very detailed.  I know this is not everyone's cup of tea. 

I just finished my largest quilt ever:  Gardens of Rock.  You can read about it in my previous blog posts.  It took me a long long time to complete.  

Gardens of Rock (before borders)

Backing fabric for Gardens of Rock.  Neat hey?

Now it's on to a new project.  I decided I would only use fabrics in my stash for this quilt.  I won't share my idea until it gets rolling, it's still in the design process, in my head and on paper so far. 

Some of my fabric stash 

I'm also taking a Botany in Art class through the county extension.  We're drawing nature and also learning to do water color.  I do draw all my own appliqué designs, but have learned more about technique in this class.  The instructor is a wonderful artist and very inspiring. 

One of the most fun things I've done in the past year is to spend time with my grandson Woody.  I just want to freeze those moments with him.  He has changed and grown every time I see him.  

Grandma and baby Woody sitting on one of my "early" quilts