Quilting and A Sense of Accomplishment

When reading other quilters' blogs and talking to quilters I know, it seems that the favorite part of making quilts for many quilters is the piecing process. Taking those small pieces of fabric and putting them together is a bit like completing a puzzle. Using a pattern but then changing it slightly and using different combinations of colorful fabric are parts of an intense creative process. And then seeing the whole quilt top coming together right before your eyes is especially satisfying. Doing the piecing as I put the quilt top together has always been my favorite part of quilting. 

Even though I have always enjoyed the piecing process more, I used to follow through with layering the quilt top, the batting, and the backing so that I could quilt the three layers together. As a matter of fact, at the end of 2017, I had only one quilt top that I had not finished. Somewhere along the way, I told myself that I could always finish the quilting later, and lo and behold, before long I began to have a stack of unfinished quilt tops! That stack grew to be a whole drawer full of unfinished objects (or according to quilters' lingo--UFO's). 

To be successful at quilting the three layers together requires practice, and for some quilting techniques, it takes lots and lots of practice. I had good intentions. I would prepare some practice squares while setting a goal of trying some new quilting techniques every day. I didn't do so well with that goal because it was always more fun to work on piecing another quilt top. I'm at home most of the time because of the pandemic, and at the beginning, I made lots of face masks. However, after completing many masks, I decided to move on to some quilting, and one day, I opened my UFO drawer to reacquaint myself with those quilt tops I so enjoyed making. By not finishing those quilts, I had banished those tops to a drawer instead of giving them a place in my home where I could enjoy them daily. That realization turned into determination to complete those UFO's! My nearly empty UFO drawer speaks to the number of quilts I have finished so far. 

The feature of this table topper is the colorful bird fabric.

What to do with a small amount of fabric?--Make this table topper.

Butterflies are the focus of this table runner. It just calls for
a  vase of spring daffodils in the center!

This pinwheel quilt features cardinals on a snowy black fabric.
The picture was taken before the black binding was attached.

This multi-colored runner is made from charm squares (5 inch squares).

This three fabric quilt turned out to be one of my favorite quilts that I've made.

And it's already displayed on a quilt rack in my living room!

With all the work to complete the quilts came a true sense of accomplishment. I am still not as confident about the quilting process as I am about piecing quilts. The quilting I have used on these completed UFO's is simple, mostly using a walking foot instead of doing free motion quilting (which requires more practice). However the sense of accomplishment that I experienced as I finished those UFO's will give me the motivation I need to once again complete quilts right after the piecing process. Hopefully my UFO drawer will become the former UFO drawer when it no longer holds unfinished quilt tops! 

Curiosity

Quilting is a passion of mine, but at the same time, it is a calming and meditative activity for me. I sometimes listen to favorite podcasts while I'm in front of my sewing machine. Other times, as I've mentioned in a previous blog post, my time spent quilting gives me time to think about all kinds of topics. Quilting in combination with listening and reflecting often leaves me with new insights.

I have been sewing a lot lately, working on a new quilt top. It's a simple pattern using only three fabrics, so it's been a perfect time to ponder topics that come to mind. 

Curiosity has been at the forefront of my consideration in the past few days. My husband and I recently attended an event where the theme was curiosity. Although the speaker for the event was pleasant and personable, I felt he didn't cover the topic of curiosity in a very convincing way. What the event did, however, was to spur my own thinking about this subject.  

Just the word curiosity takes me back to my teaching days. What I wanted most for my students was for them to become life-long learners. I truly believe that maintaining a sense of wonder and curiosity fuels a desire for learning during one's entire lifetime. On occasion, I asked my students to find and share a few "wow facts" which were facts that made them stop and think, "Wow, that's amazing!" As these wow facts were shared, there were a lot of wide eyes filled with wonder and curiosity (including mine). This assignment gave me insight into the topics that engaged my students' curiosity. 

As we know, curiosity seems to come naturally to humans. We can witness this natural curiosity in toddlers and young children as they explore their world and ask many questions, including the famous "Why?" that many young children continue asking until their understanding is satisfied. As children grow older, it seems that some of that natural curiosity gets drowned out with other parts of life sometimes getting in the way. The question then becomes how we can rediscover our natural curiosity as adults. I have a few suggestions:

• Slow down and take time to allow for wonder.
• Show interest in others and their pursuits.
• Know that there is always something new to learn.
• Make a point of being around others who voice their wonder, curiosity, and amazement.
• Find activities or hobbies that spur creativity and innovation.
• Spend time in nature where it's so easy to be amazed by awe-inspiring sights and sounds. (Many of those wow facts shared by my students related to nature.)

To close, I will share a few quotes about curiosity:

The important thing is to not stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.

                                                        --Albert Einstein

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious, and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

                                                       --Walt Disney

Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.

                                                       --e.e. cummings

Ways To Be Creative

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have."
                                                                      ― Maya Angelou

Some would argue that any part of life can be a foundation for creative energies. In my experience, however, I must find chunks of time to plan, imagine, and create. Without this reserved time, my life does not feel as complete or fulfilled. Not only do I need time to pursue my own creative interests, I also find enjoyment in learning about how others fulfill their creative needs. 

I spent some time recently with my sister-in-law, Lynn. With our husbands, we traveled together to a couple of national parks. However, we also had some extra time after our trip to discuss our individual creative pursuits. Lynn enjoys making art using the medium of paper. Her artisitc ability is evident with her delicate and intricate origami. At first viewing, I found myself wondering, "Is that really made from paper?" Here are a few of her origami creations.

Lynn also has found a way to craft paper into beautiful flowers. Her flower arrangements are so realistic they could pass for real flowers. Can you spot the dollar bill flower within the arrangement?

More recently, Lynn has pursued a craft called quilling. Quilling is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued to create decorative designs. After seeing some of Lynn's finished creations, I was very interested in learning more about how she creates these absolutely beautiful pieces of art. She starts with cutting tiny strips of paper using a paper cutter. 

Lynn then uses special quilling tools to roll and shape the paper. You can see some of her lovely creations here. Take special note of the tiny bee among the variety of flowers. The intricacy of Lynn's work amazes me.

Finally, Lynn puts together her individual quilled items as a type of collage and frames them. You can see here some work by Lynn that my husband and I treasure as it hangs in a special place in our home. 

Other friends and family members enjoy creative activities as well. My friend, Debbie, uses her creative energies in a variety of ways as she creates beautiful tablescapes and seasonal decor in her home. Recently, she made a seasonal craft that she can use during the upcoming holiday season. Debbie is also a writer and a blogger, further reinforcing her broad abilities as a creative person. Click on the links above to visit her blog and view some products of her creativity.

My friend, Judy, is a fellow quilter. We enjoy sharing our creative passion as we visit quilt shops and quilt shows together. We share ideas and show each other our current projects. Beginning in January, we will be taking a seven month course to learn a new quilting technique. Our finished product will be this quilt called "Glacier Star" which is an original design by quilt designer Judy Niemeyer.

Glacier Star designed by Judy Niemeyer, Quiltworx

My daughters also enjoy creative pursuits from photography to woodworking to cake decorating and more. As you can see, I am surrounded by friends and family who enjoy creative pursuits just as I do. 

What creative endeavors do you pursue? Please leave a comment and share.

Linked with: Wonderful Wednesdays

Nourish to Flourish

When we hear the word "nourish", we often think of food. More specifically, when I hear the word, it conjures an image of feeding a young child in a such a way to promote health and growth. However, we can also use the word "nourish" more broadly. We can nourish our bodies, our minds, our spirits. I believe that how we nourish ourselves makes a difference in our health, growth, contentment, and joy.

I have not always been very good at nourishing myself. My focus for many years was on how to nourish my own children as they grew and on nourishing my students. I remember a day at work, quite a few years ago, that had been very challenging for me. A co-worker walked up to my desk at the end of the day, and in a voice filled with kindness and empathy, she said to me, "Go home, and do something really nice for yourself." She was suggesting that I find a way to nourish myself. I appreciated both her kindness and her suggestion, but after she left, I remember thinking, "Well, how do I do that?" I was not used to purposefully and intentionally finding ways to nourish myself. Asking myself that question was the beginning of taking better care of my own needs, of finding intentional nourishment.

Now that I am retired, I am finding that once again, I am questioning how to best nourish myself. I have realized that my mind was nourished by my career--in teaching children (where I was a learner as well) and by belonging to groups that provided intellectual stimulation. I certainly have more time now, as a retiree, to pursue hobbies such as sewing and quilting. 

Creative activities, such as these, have always nourished me. I find time falling away as I enter into the "flow", a state in which a person performing an activity is  immersed in a feeling of full involvement and enjoyment of the process of the activity. (Click here to read more about "flow" and about a leader in this field of positive psychology, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.) But how do I find a balance of nourishing my body, my mind, and my spirit now that I'm retired?

Recently, I heard a podcast which recommended not setting particular long-term goals but to instead ask the question "Will I...?" or "How will I...?" followed by a short term goal. It seems that research supports this questioning method as a more successful way to ultimately reach one's goals. After thinking about that podcast and putting that information together with my question about nourishment, I came up with an idea. Each morning, I will ask myself, "How will I nourish myself today?" 

Even though I just recently began this daily questioning, I will have to say that it is working well so far. I have been more mindful about eating healthy foods with an added intention of eating more vegetables daily. Since my husband is an avid gardener, I am looking forward to the upcoming growing season where we will have an abundance of those veggies in our backyard. It will be much easier to answer my nourishment question each morning when I can walk outside and pick from a variety of vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, collards, and kale among others. 

spinach and parsley, 2016 garden

broccoli, 2016 garden

I am now paying closer attention to activities and events that feed both my mind and spirit. Recently, along with my friend, Debbie, I attended an event at a local bookstore. We listened to the author, Helen Simonson, tell her story about how she started to write later in life. It was a delightful evening learning from an author whose work has brought literary pleasure to so many. (You can read more about our experience here at Debbie's blog.) 

Then just a few days ago, my husband and I attended a WORD! event at the main branch of our county's library system. For two hours, we were immersed in the talents and skills of artists as they told their own stories through poetry, storytelling, and song.  

Raymond Christian, champion storyteller

Attending these cultural events certainly fed both my mind and spirit, but part of that nourishment included being able to share the experiences with special people in my life.

So as I move further into retirement, I plan to continue to pay attention to what I need to nourish myself in body, mind, and spirit. Stay tuned to see how my daily question leads to new experiences as I pursue a balanced and flourishing life in retirement.

Please leave a comment and share what nourishes you.

Stitching at Seven

A Very Short History of My Life in Sewing

Public Domain Image

Remember those troll dolls?  The ones with the fluffy, colorful, wild hair?  Well, at age seven, I was a fan of those troll dolls. However, I soon found out that the reason I liked them so much was because I could sew for them. I might have had the best dressed troll dolls around! 

Public Domain Image

Just like a quilter's stash of fabric, I had a stash of felt squares in every color imaginable. I cut out two pieces of the felt from a small pattern, and I used a whip stitch to join those two felt pieces into a one shoulder outfit for those trolls. This was my first experience sewing, and it certainly was a foreshadowing of the rest of my life's passion for fabric and sewing.

I kept sewing, and I graduated to making my own clothes as a teenager. Then, later in my life, when I had my own children, I sewed for them. Making their Halloween costumes was a favorite thing to do since it required more creativity than the average sewing project.

I made window treatments and home decor items, but it was only a few years ago that I followed a friend of mine into the world of quilting. Cutting out pieces of fabric and sewing them together in all kinds of different patterns challenges me and satisfies my need for creativity. 

What about you?  What type of creative outlet do you pursue?  Please leave a comment below and share your creative interests.