Jon’s Flower’s Potholders

I sat on my studio floor, the box of folded fabrics in front of me.  I pulled each out one by one and stacked them on the floor.

Some I put aside in a separate pile.  These were the ones that gave me a feeling, whose colors and patterns spoke to me.

The rest of the fabric back in the box, I stood at my work table, now cleared of the material for Ellen’s quilts. It was the time to edit the fabrics I had chosen.

A couple of days ago I had an insight during Therapy that made me feel as if I’ve been living inside a thin shell that got a crack in it big enough to let the light in.  The sense of clarity I felt was shocking and exhilarating.  I feel as if my psyche is still adjusting, trying to process and embody the information.  The past few days, I’ve been experiencing highs that make me feel like I’ve been drinking caffeine. Then there are lows that leave me in a fog.

It’s the highs I wanted to capture in my potholders.

So when I looked again at the flower fabric with bright colors and bold shapes, it was easy to choose.  Then, as I was sewing together the first one, with the other fabric I’d chosen from my shelves, I realized that my potholders reminded me of  Jon’s Flower Photos.

Referencing Jon’s Flower Photographs seemed the perfect expression of what I was feeling.  Because I know how much joy they bring to him and the people on his blog.  I know how healing they are.

I had enough fabric for seven potholders.  But I wasn’t done.

I looked at the scraps of fabric I had on my worktable and wanted to make more.  So I found the elephants that also had those cheerful colors and made six Elephant Potholders.

Jon was so happy when he saw the Potholders his flowers inspired, he wrote about them on his blog.  When he suggested, once again, that my potholders should cost  $25, for the first time I didn’t disagree.

A couple of months ago I raised the prices of my potholders to $22.  That extra $2 has not made the difference I’d hoped it would.  I know my reluctance to raise my prices has a lot to do with my feelings of self-worth.

I also like to keep the price of my potholders affordable.

But I realize as I look at the prices of the things I buy, from food to  thrift shop clothes, that $25 is affordable for one of my potholders, which are a piece of original art and functional too.

I will have all these potholders done next week and put them up for sale in my Etsy Shop.