Beginning in the Middle

I have been doing some kind of handwork for the last 45 or so years.  Sometimes sewing.  Sometimes beading.  Sometimes painting, or crocheting, or building things.  I started quilting about 18 months ago, when I realized that I had been so busy taking care of my children and elderly relatives and making an interstate move that I hadn't done anything that felt tangibly creative in way too long.  My beads were boxed up, I couldn't find my paintbox, and my sewing machine was buried in the garage, along with my boxes of fabric, fripperies, and notions.

I started looking through our church website looking for some kind of class to take.  Anything to take my mind someplace other than whether my disabled eleven year old would make it through his school day or my mother-in-law would be making another ER visit--things over which I had no control and nominal influence.  The first listing was a quilting class that, providentially, was starting its first session in an hour.  I ran through the shower, jumped in the car, and registered online from the church parking lot before dashing inside.  I had always assumed that quilting would be far more complicated and difficult than it is.  Doing it really, really well is difficult.  But I quickly learned that a finished quilt is always better than a perfect quilt and that the wonderful group of women I would be spending my Mondays with--most of whom had been coming to the class for many years--just wanted me to love quilting as much as they did.  Not one person was critical or discouraging.  Many encouraged me to reach for artistry and to consider altering my path on that first quilt.  I made lots of mistakes and learned a lot about the "why" of the rules.  My first quilt won't win any prizes, but it was a good effort and my daughter likes it.

Since then, I've made six more quilts and have two in progress.  I've also made 12 ER visits, built, planted, and harvested 400 square feet of vegetable garden and filled a freezer with homegrown produce.  And I'm back to homeschooling my now 12 year old.  The transition to middle school was too much for him.

I used to sing opera.  Quilting is like the opera of sewing.  Instead of having the plot, the libretto, the music, the singers, orchestra, the acting, the ballet, the set, costumes and lighting, you have the block patterns, the colors, the prints (or lack thereof) the layout, the sashing and/or piping, the borders, the backing, the quilting, the binding, and the label.  There are so many ways to be creative--all of which are significant factors leading to the final outcome.  Change one thing and you have a very different quilt.  Do one thing poorly, such as forego squaring up as often as needed, and the whole quilt is affected.  When it all comes together just right, the satisfaction is enormous.

This year, I am looking forward to trying some new ways to be creative with my quilting.  I intend to work on improving my skills while following the rules, but I also want to step outside of the rules and use those skills to do some things that are outside of the block.  I have nothing to lose but some thread.  Even if I don't like what I end up with, I can always cut it up and sew it into something else until I do like it.  So here goes . . .