Cutting Loose

Winds of change....

 Some of you will get this....the last week I have been going in and out of my sewing room (the place I make the quilts) and not really getting much done. Sometimes I just go and sit and look at quilt pictures and projects. Other times I was organizing things that really didn't need to be. I've been doing this for a few weeks. I thought it was maybe the "let down" of the book being done. I have been so focused on that, I wondered if now that it is done if there was anything else for me to strive for. 
 
Then I realized that I had this Dr. appointment this week. 23 years have gone by and yet it's there. Funny how it is in the back of my mind. Until you have faced that giant you probably cannot understand. It's not fear - I'm not afraid to die. It's not even about getting sick again. What I discovered it is about is the fact that a lot of years have gone by and I have lived more life than I have left to live. Something about the ski racer turning 60 this year......maybe? I don't know.  What I do know is I'm taking stock and contemplating cutting things loose.  Not just in my sewing room but in my house. I have so many quilts - show quilts and snuggle quilts and quilts I made when I was just starting out (not that many) and my house is full of them.  This list from my insurance agent for my land and sea policy that covers them is 2 pages long. So I have begun to look for ways to cut some of them loose.

So last night I was going through the lovely boxes up on the shelf above my design wall where I store projects in process (see the pic of my sewing room above and imagine about 2x as many as when that pic was taken) and asking myself questions like "do I even like this fabric" or "do I really plan to finish this" and "will this quilt make my heart sing while I work on it?" Honestly there are so many projects (and so much fabric) that I feel the need to clear out. I'm being brutal with the answers and several projects have already been cut loose. Luckily I have a BFF who loves random blocks and makes beautiful things with them so there is no guilt.  I can give them to her and put the rest of the fabric that was set aside back into my stash.

But I think the whole Orlando tragedy, the fact that I'm getting older and that another cancer anniversary have all converged into "what do I want to really accomplish before I leave this earth" and while I don't have the answer I feel energized at the process. Like I don't want to waste a minute.

So I have come up with some questions regarding my quilting; works in process as well as future quilts:

Will it make someone else happy to see it?
Will it make me feel good while creating it?
Is this show worthy? Do I want to invest that kind of time in the quilt?
Who else in my life needs a quilt made by me?
What charity group that I support could use one of my quilts for an auction?
Do I have any bed in my house that could use a new quilt?
Is there another book in me and is this project a candidate?

I have the answers to a few of the questions but time will tell hopefully about the others.  But it does not end here....


I also have a studio.  

My studio is where I quilt and embroider. It is also where a completed top goes and is no longer considered a UFO. I know that's a bit crazy but it works for me.

My "to be quilted" closet is full to the gills. Charity quilts, a few customer quilts and lots of quilt tops I have made over the years that were just for fun and are still not quilted.  Show quilts have a deadline so they get quilted and are not usually in that closet for long. But it's full.  I need to find time this summer to make a serious dent in that closet or cut them loose for someone else to complete.


And then there is the stash!

I have a relatively small sewing room with a large closet - it is full.  I have a cutting table that has a skirt and under the skirt are wire basket drawers that are full.  Bolts are under my sewing table and there are more in the studio that could be backings...... It's starting to come in on me, not so much that I want to get rid of it but more like "Get busy Missy and make some quilts!"   





I have gone through much of it and culled a ton of fabric that is now in bins for use on Quilted EMbrace quilts.  There is so much, I could make hundreds of quilts and probably not make much of a dent.

 And then there are the bins of string strips.  I love making those quilts but how many strings does one girl need?

So I'm reviewing everything.  Deciding what I'm really interested in working on and with and what I need to cut loose!

Now the question goes to you ~ the reader of this blog:   

Have you been where I am and what did you do to navigate it and did it inspire you to new a greater things and more creativity?  Please share below.

~ Blessings
          Linda