on again...
embroidery is one of my favorite ways to use my hours
and i can get lost in it
just like getting lost in a book...
but...
i have delusional optimism about embroidered quilts that totally defies my Reality...
an embroidered quilt around here, anyway is gonna be years
not months
in the making...
i KNOW this...
when i started working on Crab-apple Hill's Susan's Dresden Garden
i should have known...
i traced out all the embroidery and started with the petal outlines...
one hundred forty-four petal outlines...
it was tedious and boring
and i wanted to get on with the fun stitching
but i ALSO wanted all of the outlines to be the same
so i plodded along till the outlines were done
and then i put it all away in the Great Pile of Stuff...
fast forward...
i was looking through the Great Pile of Stuff for something else when i stumbled across the Dresden petals...
ooo!!! the tedious and boring stitching is done!
and i started the plaid petals...
they were tedious and boring, too
but i wanted all of the plaids to be the same
so i plodded along till the plaids were done
and then i put it all away in the Great Pile of Stuff...
fast forward...
i was looking through the Great Pile of Stuff for something else when i stumbled across the Dresden petals...
ooo!!! the tedious and boring stitching is done!
and i started the lily of the valley petals...
they were tedious and boring, too
i wanted all the lilies to be the same
but i didn't want it enough to actually plod through them
i put it all away in the Great Pile of Stuff...
fast forward...
i was looking through the Great Pile of Stuff for something else when i stumbled across the Dresden petals...
ugh!!! these are tedious and boring ... i don't think i'll EVER get these stitched ... do i even WANT this quilt anymore?!?
yes.
yes, i do...
it is gonna take years
and i will get bored with it
and when it becomes so tedious and boring that i just can't look at it anymore...
i'll put it away
and that's okay ...
eventually i will be looking through the Great Pile of Stuff
and stumble across the Dresden petals...
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
Philip K. Dick
ReplyDeleteYou perfectionist you! Someday you'll find it in the great pile of stuff and all the stitching will be done, perfectly, and all you'll have to do will be the layering, quilting and binding and won't you feel good, even if in you're in your nineties by then?
Two suggestions, because this quilt is going to be stellar when you are finally done!
ReplyDelete1. Kathys Quilts has espoused "slow stitching Sunday." Only handwork on Sundays. At first Bernie balked, since I was ignoring her, but now she's enjoying a day off. And I'm plodding through hand quilting the border of a 6 year old WIP. I'll finish the quilting in 2017. The scalloped binding might add another year...
2. Treat yourself to a peek at Urban Threads. Most of their samples are machine embroidered. BUT, there are directions for hand embroidery too. I'm gonna do this one for my son... http://www.urbanthreads.com/products.aspx?productid=UTH1091
Keep on stitchin!
I know a project you could take a break with BWAHAHAHAHA!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is gonna be gorgeous when you are finished!
Tedious and boring it may be, but it's going to be oh-so-gorgeous when it's done! My mantra is, you can't rush genius......true genius must be nurtured and allowed to flower steadily.
ReplyDeleteYou're too funny! You've been a busy girl -- I can't keep up! That little embroidery might be tedious and boring, but it sure is pretty -- I'll bet it's going to be a spectacular quilt!
ReplyDeleteThat's absolutely beautiful. Potentially. And happy birthday!!
ReplyDeleteHey girlie! I've missed you too! I feel so nostalgic seeing all the "old" bloggers whose names I recognize commenting on your post. There's a Crabapple Hill Facebook group that I joined--no I still haven't done the Halloween one that you did--"HPV." BUT I'm enrolled in a Crabapple Hill retreat in July 2018, so there's still time. I love seeing you're still embroidering.
ReplyDelete