Books, Music, Podcasts, Studio

Progress and Fear

Interesting combinations of words, huh? One sounds positive (Progress) and the other sounds, well…fearful (Fear)!

Actually the title is about two positive things!

PROGRESS

Making progress on the five (5) quilts that are back from the long-arm quilter and need bindings to be completed (refer to the posts “Some Progress Made” and “The Quilting Husband Saga Continues” for more info). Terry the Quilting Husband assembled the bindings and I have sewn them onto all 5 quilts. Now they are waiting in a nice pile to taken turns sitting on my lap and have their binding sewn down. Then they will be complete!

"Please complete us" (Pile-o-Quilts waiting for their bindings to be sewn down)
“Please complete us” (Pile-o-Quilts waiting for their bindings to be sewn down)

FEAR

My previous post was on Creative Inspiration: Words. Currently listening to Susan Jeffers’ fantastic audiobook Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway and feeling very inspired. I wanted to share her 5 Truths About Fear she has published on her website (susanjeffers.com):

  1. Fear will never go away as long as you continue to grow (this is a good thing)!
  2. The only way to get rid of the fear of doing something is to go out and do it!
  3. The only way to feel better about yourself it to go out and do it!
  4. Not only are you afraid when facing the unknown, so is everyone else!
  5. Pushing through the fear is less frightening than living with the bigger underlying fear that comes from a feeling of helplessness!

I am really enjoying this audiobook. Of course now you all expect that I will quickly complete the bindings on the stack-o-quilts as I should feel pretty fearless about them now…

Creative Inspiration

Creative Inspiration: What Others Are Working On!

Please check out Sassy’s Schnauzer Snips page for her latest adventures, and check out The Wardrobe Meets the Wall’s post In Progress (Vessel) for photos on my current art quilt project for our collaborative collection. 

Creative Inspiration: What Others Are Working On, continues the series exploring Creative Inspiration that began in the post Creative Inspiration: Family. Other posts in this series include Creative Inspiration: Nature and Creative Inspiration: Fabric.

Winter's Houses (2015). Based on Sandy Bonsib's "House Block", 1998. Pieced by Tierney Davis Hogan, quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe.
Winter’s Houses (2015). Based on Sandy Bonsib’s “House Block”, 1998. Pieced by Tierney Davis Hogan, quilted by Betty Anne Guadalupe.

If you are a quilter, this may feel familiar: you are at a quilt retreat, or at a quilt class, or you go over to a quilting friend’s house and you see what someone else in working on – and you are suddenly inspired to make something like their piece! 

You have just received creative inspiration from someone else’s piece in progress.

This has happened to me several times. A couple months ago I went over to a friend’s house for a “Sew Day” to each work on our separate projects while hanging out together. I saw what she was working on – these adorable house blocks based on Sandy Bonsib’s 1998 “House Block” (which is easy and fun to assemble, free pattern available online).

I attempt to shy away from traditional quilt blocks but what grabbed my attention (and inspired me to make one too) was the very creative color palette my friend had selected: Orange, Gray and Black.

As you see from the photo – I was inspired to experiment with this color palette and create the same quilt myself. I named the piece Winter’s Houses and used a Moda fabric that reminded me of snow at night as the border. Sometimes someone else is working on exactly what you know you should be working on!