Thursday, March 1, 2012

Balance sought, not yet found

At the start of this teaching session I warned you it might take me a while to find some balance, but now, here we are 7 weeks into classes and it'll all be over next week (we teach 2 sessions each university semester), and still, I never found a way to balance work, quilting, blogging, and housekeeping.  Well, that's not exactly true.  Life does have a balance, but blogging just never made it smoothly into the equation.  I go to work, prep after class, clean the house as necessary; we've scaled back on our play-date schedule, but we spend lots of quality time the 3 of us.  Every night I cuddle with George in bed as he falls asleep and I've somehow found a way to slow it down and really enjoy those moments, instead of wishing he'd fall asleep faster so I could get up and go do something else.  I think AmandaJean's new year's resolution to be more intentional has found a place in my life as well, but I'm not just trying to be intentional with my sewing, but with all of my actions.  If it's not worth it, I don't do it, and then I release myself of the guilt and don't worry about it either.

A few weeks ago I sorted through all the big pieces of fabric in my stash (haven't tackled the fat quarter bins yet).  This was brought on mostly by the fact that they had migrated off the shelves and onto lopsided stacks all over the futon and the rest of the room, and I needed the futon to be cleared off so I could use the space to organize another project.. but the process was really insightful.  I touched each piece of fabric and decided if it was something I wanted to work with this year, or if I should shelf it for "later".  I have this goal to bust stash, and you can't really bust efficently if you don't know what you have.  You can't make quilts you like if you can't find the fabrics you love, and for me, they were all there, I just couldn't find them.  So I sorted and I thought, "What colors and patterns do I want to have around me?"  Out came all the strange prints that I loved but didn't know what to do with, and a stack emerged of balanced neutrals, small prints, and sentimental fabrics collected on trips here and there.  those are the ones I want to live with..  I'd take a picture if the light in the sewing room weren't so bad (damn overcast day)..
But hopefully you'll see those fabrics put to use over the next few months. 

I'll end with a photo of the pillow I made for my mom for Christmas.  I sent it off to her before I could get a good photo, but snaped this one when we went to Chicago in January.  The center fabric is one in my "neutrals" pile.. I'd like to use up the rest of that piece this year..

5 comments:

  1. Yes, finding balance is always a challenge... but I like your approach. If it's not worth it, don't do it and don't have guilt over not doing it. I think I'm going to adopt that. And that's a lovely pillow - I bet your Mom loved it.

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  2. Great pillow! My mom would absolutely love it, so I'm guessing yours did :)

    I think you have a good attitude about balance, and all the important things will find their place if you live life that way...

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  3. two months into the year and i'm finding that being intentional is kinda hard. ok, really hard. but very worthwhile.

    now, about balancing blogging and real life. if you ever figure it out, please let me know! :) and if you figure out how to bust your stash...i'd like to know some tips for that, too. LOL!

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  4. I guess without realizing it I've been 'busting stash' in the last few years too. What I held in my mind was that I wanted to 'turn over' my collection, because much of what I have is from my first decade of quilting, circa 1983. The funny thing is, I went to make a memory quilt for myself recently and as I went into the stash I couldn't find 'my favorites' anymore. It was a moment in time for me as a quilter. I couldn't find that terrific yellow calico I'd used in my Russian Sunflower wall hanging or the forest green from the Irish Chain I'd made for my second son when he was five - he's now 29. All I found were current prints - that is, stuff collected in the last ten years, and I wasn't as moved by them. But I know as I use them and put them into my current quilts, they will magically become my new favorites. :) [I think this is a blog post of it's own, hmmm...]

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  5. Jessica, please let the blogging community know that I absolutely love my pillow because it is such a part of you and my darling grandson. I'm also so proud of all of your accomplishments and when you took an interest in quilting, I saw so much of my mom and grandma in you. It's a joy watching you!

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