It's working! Mastering this blogging software (sorry, I just found the spell check feature, I will have to backtrack to proofread) and trying to capture thoughts and experiences from the past six weeks has led to a new habit of journaling consistently. I'm zeroing in on things to record and noticing thoughts that may be noteworthy.
This morning after taking the mammoth quilt from the dryer and doing the final thread snipping, I realized that every quilt has a process in the "birthing" process. The excitement of the idea conception, the attention to the nurturing of the design and accomplishment of the piecing, the drudgery of the machine quilting when the mistakes are glaringly apparent and the worry of whether the finished produce will be accepted or rejected, the point where I always want to give up from discouragement or the realization that the piece before me does not come close to the vision in my head/heart, the final push to just complete the dumb thing and that whatever comes, the search from family members for critique with hope for approval or even applause, the commitment of the new life to the washer/dryer for a good cleaning of the creation process and finally the look, feel, smell of the newly born quilt as it emerges from the dryer with the flaws not so apparent and the warm folds welcoming, the history recorded and it ready to be folded gently and placed into the arms of the new owner to be cherished, hopefully for as long as they both shall live.
This morning I was thinking that it would be great to eliminate that middle-to-last stage where I hate the project, am thoroughly discouraged with my abilities and the look of the piece in general and skip right to the end where the satisfaction and the burning desire to do-it-again ignite, but I now realize that this isn't possible and that it's the process ... and the going through it.... that make the end result so delicious. Without the low there is no high. Without the struggle the satisfaction is diminished. Without the success there is no future attempts.
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