This week has been fantastic and labor intensive, exhausting and triumphant, nerve wrackingly bold and just plain wonderful.
I've been piecing. I've been machine quilting.I've been pushing my computer limits. Some days this week, it has felt like the "clock" never ran out on the amount of work to be done.
I have been using piecing to avoid machine quilting for about two weeks. My long arm bobbin winder has needed a little tlc, so I "couldn't" use the Gammill for about two weeks while I waited for hubby to fix it. He fixed it for me last night.
And this morning, when I faced my quilt on the long arm with no more excuses at hand, I learned something about myself. I let the technical problems stop my progress because it was a handy excuse. Facing the quilt that I had abandoned two weeks ago, I realized that I had been hiding from my quilt because I don't love the quilt, and I really didn't think that the custom work that I had started was suitable.
Realizing that I had been making excuses was not a pleasant experience, but I chose to forge ahead with my new found clarity. I finished the dreaded quilt in 20 minutes and forced myself to move on to the next.
Three hours later, when I unloaded both quilts from the gammill, I discovered that I liked both quilts. The custom work looked much better than I thought it would.
So what did I learn today? I learned that I can still deceive myself. But. I also learned that I can overcome my self deception with ease once I am aware of the motivation for behavior.
I also learned, just a little bit more, how important it is to ignore that nasty little voice inside that criticizes every artistic expression that is off the beaten path.
Tonight, when I showed my quilting to my guild, I expected them to criticize my work more harshly than I do. I was wrong. When I shared my art, I was met with praise and appreciation. Several ladies approached me after the meeting to ask for my professional information so that they can hire me to quilt their tops. Lesson number three, today? It is always worth the risk of sharing your soul in order to share your art.
I've been piecing. I've been machine quilting.I've been pushing my computer limits. Some days this week, it has felt like the "clock" never ran out on the amount of work to be done.
I have been using piecing to avoid machine quilting for about two weeks. My long arm bobbin winder has needed a little tlc, so I "couldn't" use the Gammill for about two weeks while I waited for hubby to fix it. He fixed it for me last night.
And this morning, when I faced my quilt on the long arm with no more excuses at hand, I learned something about myself. I let the technical problems stop my progress because it was a handy excuse. Facing the quilt that I had abandoned two weeks ago, I realized that I had been hiding from my quilt because I don't love the quilt, and I really didn't think that the custom work that I had started was suitable.
Realizing that I had been making excuses was not a pleasant experience, but I chose to forge ahead with my new found clarity. I finished the dreaded quilt in 20 minutes and forced myself to move on to the next.
Three hours later, when I unloaded both quilts from the gammill, I discovered that I liked both quilts. The custom work looked much better than I thought it would.
So what did I learn today? I learned that I can still deceive myself. But. I also learned that I can overcome my self deception with ease once I am aware of the motivation for behavior.
I also learned, just a little bit more, how important it is to ignore that nasty little voice inside that criticizes every artistic expression that is off the beaten path.
Tonight, when I showed my quilting to my guild, I expected them to criticize my work more harshly than I do. I was wrong. When I shared my art, I was met with praise and appreciation. Several ladies approached me after the meeting to ask for my professional information so that they can hire me to quilt their tops. Lesson number three, today? It is always worth the risk of sharing your soul in order to share your art.