feeling stuck? Let’s make a quilt!

I’ve been in a funny mood. Lack lustre, low, aimless. This happens from time-to-time. (Sadly more often than not lately). Business is slow, and that’s affecting my energy levels and motivation a lot.

So, instead of being in my head about it all, I decided to grab some fabric and make a little quilt. Yes yes, for just doing the thing.

I put on my headphones, danced and sang in my studio (hi - studio neighbours; did I sing too loudly and out of tune?!). I started with this little pile of fabrics from my small stash I have at the (not-at-home) studio. Some of the Japanese pieces from gently dismantled kimonos, and some Indian block printed cotton. As well as little bit of some naturally dyed linen - it went in multiple dye pots, so I’m not entirely sure what the colours are from. There’s a few iron-mark patches on the purple-ish hue.

And then I cut different pieces of fabric and joined it back together.

A stack of fabrics for a quilt. Japanese kimono silk and cotton, and Indian block printed cotton. In blues and reds.

The start of an improv quilt - stuck to the wall. Indian floral and spot block printed cotton, Japanese bright red Shibori silk.

I stood back, looked at it, cut up some more. Added, subtracted, joined, pieced.

And all the while the music in my headphones, the fast pace of simply cutting and sewing (machine, not hand), gave me momentum. Put me out of the overthinking, and into the doing.

Creativity always begets more creativity. It unsticks me whenever I’m stuck. Often I forget this. I’m glad, yesterday, that I remembered. It was fun, joyous, delightful, invigorating, inspiring.

As I’m working, there’s a few bits that don’t quite line up. I actually love this. This is what happens in my quilting. Where I need to make a decision as I go, as I work. Will I machine stitch this piece, or maybe this part needs hand stitching so that I can accentuate the raw edges. Or this little curve here got a bit out of control, and needs some ‘repairing’, so I hand stitched to fix the error.

For me, this is how I quilt. This is why I call it Fear-Less quilting. I don’t follow a certain way of doing the project, I the fabric to tell me what I need to do. I stop and listen. The editing process happens in a flow with the creativity process. I don’t overthink. If a section needs to be pieced or joined by hand, then that’s ok. That’s not a mistake, or wrong. That’s part of the way the piece - the quilt - has evolved.

Now I have to baste, quilt and bind this piece. And even though I am currently quilting another (much larger) quilt, I’m excited to work on this one. The edges are wonky and strange, so I have to problem-solve that aspect. I love problem solving quilts and my makings. It keeps my brain working. Making up new ways of doing things. No rules, just doing, and seeing how it works, how it doesn’t work. What to do next.

I think I will try to do something like this once a week. So liberating to turn the music up and just do the thing without worrying about the outcome. Like a sketch that an illustrator or painter might do in their book. These are my sketches.

Perhaps you’re interested in learning how to make your own improv Fear-Less quilt. I have an online course here that might get your creative juices flowing.