Tuesday, January 20, 2015

create something

So I'm starting to clean out my sewing room and have decided that I have to really get things under control this year.  I'm tired of just moving things around and not really dealing with the mess that is in there.  When I want to be creative, I have to move so many things around, by the time I make a place for myself, I'm so exhausted that I don't feel like being creative anymore.

So, instead of just moving one pile here and there, I'm going to deal with the piles and make some hard decisions.

As I was getting ready for Binky Day, I pulled out some fabric that has been sitting in the way of my old quilting machine.  My husband asked me the other day why I didn't just use the older machine since my new one is broken.  He asked if the older one is also broken and why can't I just use that one to do some quilting on until the new one is fixed.  The reason I can't use the old one is because so much has been piled onto and under it, I can't get to it!  How sad is that?

So, I started cleaning under and around the machine, in case it takes another two weeks to get the new machine fixed.  I have so much leftover batting pieces and the new machine is so hard to used pieced batting on, I really need access to the old quilting machine so I can use up the little bits of batting.

I was able to sort through two bins of fabric scraps to bring to Binky Day for students to cut.  The trouble is, no students showed up to cut fabric.  I'm not sure why, maybe the weather was too nice, maybe they had too much homework, but since no students showed up, the fabric came right back home with me.  Well, I'm not bringing it back into the house, so I't going into the shed until the next Binky day.  At least I will label the bucket so I know it's already been sorted.  Gotta keep one step ahead of myself!

But, while I was sorting, I found this pile of half finished squares.  I have no idea where they came from or when I cut them.  I have absolutely no memory of them at all.  I don't remember the fabric even.  That's rare.  Usually, I remember the fabrics.  I had to have sewn them at some point in time, so it must have been a really long time ago.  Well, rather than just put them in a bag somewhere, I thought they must be enough to make a small quilt top out of.  So, I just decided to see how long it would take to sew them together.  Just randomly sew.  I had no pattern and no rhyme or reason to why I picked one piece over another.  I had to cut two extra pieces, but I happen to have an bag of 3 1/2 inch strips next to my sewing machine from another project and it was exactly what I needed.  I also had a binding strip leftover from something  else that finished off the border perfectly.

It isn't pretty and it won't win any awards, but it is a finished quilt top and it sure did feel really good to sit and sew for an hour this morning.  I also found another pile of churn dash pieces in the same bucket that are ready to go.  That's tomorrow's project.  I forgot how great it feels to just sit and create.  No deadline, no pressure, just sit and sew.  The hum of the machine, the repetitiveness of the thread clipping and when you get up, you have something practical that you know will be put to good use.

I have a need inside of me to create and I haven't been feeding that lately.  I can't forget that it is as important as breathing and exercising.

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