I got into my studio early and got right to work on my Moth quilt. I was scheduled to work at the Cambridge Co-op today so I wanted to get as much work in as possible before going there.
I tried out a couple of different fabrics to go between the squares I pieced together yesterday and decided on the green with the tiny leaf pattern. I liked how it picked up the other greens in the quilt and was a more subtle transition between the pieces than the browns I was also looking at.
Then I chose to repeat the blue and green organic pattern from the African fabric.
It turned out when I got to the Co-op, the weekly order that I was going to help pack out came early and was already done. So there wasn’t any work for me to do. I picked up some yogurt and canned tomatoes and headed home, eager to get back to work on my quilt.
I had been working on the bottom strip of pink when I left for the Co-op, so I got right back into it.
I liked the green in this piece of the old quilt top, but the white and brown stripes didn’t work. So I cut it up and kept the green but replaced the white with the orange and blue piece of African fabric above it in the photo.
After this, the quilt was a struggle. By 5:30 I had tried so many different fabrics on every side of the quilt to figure out what came next. But I was having a hard time making a decision. It took me a while to accept it, but I was creatively spent.
When I left my studio I was somewhat convinced that at this point the quilt needed a thin dark brown line around it to frame it as it was. I have no idea if that’s the right decision or not. But I’m not going to think about it anymore tonight. I obviously need some space from it to be able to know what to do next.
Sounds like you are suffering from decision fatigue. In decision making and psychology, decision fatigue refers to the deteriorating quality of decisions made by an individual after a long session of decision making. You should be recovered today, sleep is a magical restorer. You know that.
Interesting Sharon. I’ve never heard of that before. Kind of good to know it’s a “thing”. IT’s something I’ve felt before, but didn’t have a name for. And you’re right when I got back into my studio today I knew what I liked and didn’t like on my quilt.
I am deeply interested in how your quilts come together. The time you spend on the thinking process explains why they end up being so balanced and so beautiful, although put together from “bits and pieces”.
Yesterday I read some lines from a favorite author of mine, the Scotsman , Alexander McCall Smith. I can’t get them out of my head and I want to send them to you because I think you will agree with them as much as I do. I have been married since 1976 and still I need these lines in my life. Here they are:
Love is to be found in things unsaid.
When it would be easy and tempting
To say something harsh or unkind
Love is a matter of silences.
It is part of a poem but this is the essence.
IT’s beautiful Erika, Thank you. Something to think about and be aware of.