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Working On…….

I was asked recently what I am working on these days and instantly my mind raced from “should finish projects,” to “want to finish projects,” and then on to “can’t wait to get started” new ideas. My thoughts became a blur, and I found myself in the same quandary I face almost daily as I consider how I will spend the little time I have for stitching at the end of each day. However, rarely does a day go by that I do not spend some time stitching.

Working On.jpg

 

Years ago I worked out a plan to guarantee that I would “work on” a quilting project every day. That plan has evolved into my spending time hand quilting every morning. It is my quiet time and it is a time for mentally working things out, both big and small. I love the combined process of thinking and stitching. In a quiet house it is easy to hear the click of the needle against my thimble and the tiny whispering sounds of thread moving through fabric accompanied by my own rambling thoughts. The quilt I am now hand quilting will not be finished for about a year, but I am content with my daily progress. To be completely honest the quilt is important, but time alone with my thoughts and a quilt in my lap is of greater value to me.

The prospect of having one or two hours to spend hand quilting before my day begins is the reason I get out of bed without an alarm clock at 5:30 or 6:00 a.m. every day. Often those early morning hours are all the time I can fit into a day for stitching. I am not complaining, however, because I realize that life is more than quilting, it is about working, living, enjoying and serving others. Quilting, on the other hand, is a solo activity for me. When I overindulge on quilting it becomes a selfish pursuit and I find myself becoming one dimensional.

Back to the subject at hand of what I am working on, I must first confess that I am a great starter and a slow finisher of quilting projects and so there are many. However, I am happy to report that there is a project nearing completion…….and planned publication for next Spring.

I, and a group of approximately twenty quiltmakers in a monthly quilting class, have been working on a new Christmas quilt that I designed. They, my class, have been great motivators because every month they expect to see progress in the form of another element added to the quilt. After all, they are not far behind me. It has worked and my “An Old Fashioned Christmas” quilt is taking shape. It includes both piecing and applique.

Working On 1.jpg

 

So, the short answer to my friend’s question is….a Christmas quilt. However, there are at least two other quilts in the “idea only stage” that I am more than anxious to begin, and several others that have been started and I really want to see them finished. So every day I plan and try to be more efficient in my work so that I can get time to work on them too…..and………. there it goes again, my mind in muddled confusion of decisions and plans……….



6 Responses to “Working On…….”

  1. tracey Says:

    October 25th, 2007 at 5:37 pm
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    “instantly my mind raced from “should finish projects,” to “want to finish projects,” and then on to “can’t wait to get started” new ideas. My thoughts became a blur, and I found myself in the same quandary I face almost daily as I consider how I will spend the little time I have for stitching at the end of each day.”

    Okay…when I read the above, I had a huge sigh of relief come over me! Oh my gosh, Jeana…it is *so* good to know that I’m not alone on this. Yes, misery loves company! ;o)

    Your current project is lovely. I recognize some of your fabric choices, and the quilting is adding so much to it.

    I was just wondering the other day what you had up your sleeve for publication, and here you are teasing me. The Christmas quilt is absolutely beautiful! I hope you know that you alone are being held responsible for making me yearn for more applique. Yes, it’s true. In the 20 years I’ve been making quilts, I’ve never *yearned* for applique. I’ve done it plenty of times…but piecing was always what made my heart leap. Oh my goodness, I can’t wait until I can get my paws on that Christmas quilt pattern.

    Now you have my mind in a muddle of decisions and plans. :o )

    xoxo

  2. paula, the quilter Says:

    October 25th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
    Visit paula, the quilter

    Such a tantalizing glimpse of the Christmas quilt! I, too, can’t wait for it.

  3. Christine Says:

    October 26th, 2007 at 10:38 am
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    Jeana,

    Your entry today is better than a bowl of chicken soup! I have a bad cold an a headache that won\’t stop throbbing. The picture of the brown quilt will get me through the day! Thank you sooo much for sharing it.

    During the class when I went to reach for my camera to take photos, I wasn\’t able to find it and thought I had left it home. Later that night when I was unpacking my bag of goodies,I found the camera just where I had put it in the bottom of the bag…sigh…

    My two children ages 5 and 7 are home schooled and I have very little time to stitch. I often wonder why it feels like I never have anything finished. But I know that to everything there is a season. There will be days for quilting and finishing. Until then I dream and plan, and sometimes start some of those quilts for finishing. The brown quilt is one that I can picture myself working on while we move through different parts of childhood and some day many, many years from now having a quilt stitched full of wonderful memories..

    Tracey said it best, \”piecing was always what made my heart leap.\” I enjoy piecing so much that I will do much of it by hand. I have stitched many blocks while listening to the children read their lessons aloud. I couldn\’t do this if I were sitting in front of the sewing machine. I would happily lay down my 4\” Ohio star blocks for the Christmas applique blocks. I look forward to Spring for many reasons, but especially this next one and the Christmas applique quilt I plan on starting and finishing..someday..

    Best Wishes,
    Christine

    Your words warm my heart because you sound like me years ago when my children were young. I had a \”need\” to stitch and so little time for it.

    I think it was during those years that my mother told me her story along the same lines. She was the mother of eight children during the 1950\’s. It was a time when we all wore cotton dresses and cotton shirts and when clothes dryers were a luxury–to say nothing of dishwashers… She scheduled her household tasks on days of the week, such as wash and dry laundry on Monday, ironing on Tuesday, baking bread on Wednesday, etc. She truly had very little time to spend on herself. She loved to crochet—not afgans or scarves, but delicate doilies crocheted with the finest of thread. She told me once that every morning she made plans to crochet that evening and she would work as fast as she could all day long, thinking about her plans for free time in the evening to crochet. More often than not, when the day was through she was too tired to crochet and simply went to bed, but the thoughts of what she would do with her evening got her through many long, hard days. In her later years she did have lots of time for her hobby, but the mere thought of the pleasure of sewing added lightness to her days when the reality of her world was hard physical labor.
    As you said in your post, in this life we pass through many seasons. Looking back from where I am now, I would say that for me the sweetest years were the ones that you are now living. Find time when you can and savor the possibilities in creating quilts, but don\’t forget to enjoy the here and now.
    I am sure my advice is unnecessary, but I have enjoyed the reminder of how it feels to yearn to stitch while nurturing my little ones. Thank you for writing and please write again.
    Jeana

  4. Caron Mosey Says:

    October 30th, 2007 at 6:58 am
    Visit Caron Mosey

    Jeana,
    I love this quilt! Looking at your hand quilting makes me want to get one of my finished tops basted in into my hoop. I need to get started on that… nothing I love more than hand quilting in the winter! I also adore your blog and have added you to my Google Reader. Thanks for the great writing and beautiful work and photos!

    Caron Mosey, Michigan
    author of:
    “America’s Pictorial Quilts”
    “Contemporary Quilts from Traditional Designs”

  5. Lucy Says:

    January 17th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
    Visit Lucy

    Dear jeanna,

    Do you quilt in a hoop. Seeing your long needle I don’t think so. Which techni

  6. Lucy Says:

    January 17th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
    Visit Lucy

    sorry,I pushed already the send button while I wasn’t finish with my sentence…
    …which technique do you prefere?

    Love,

    Lucy