Way Forward

My Greek Cross quilt is finished at last, beautifully quilted by my sweet friend Jennifer of Farm Fresh Stitches, washed and dried to crinkly perfection, and now lovingly draped across the arm of the overstuffed chair in my bedroom. A quilt used to take me about a month to sew from start to finish. This time it took a year and a half from piecing the first block to putting the last stitch in the binding, but considering everything else that happened in that span of time, this feels like a special victory.

This quilt was for me and my husband, so I used a lot of vintage style prints for the centers since we both love that look. Each block felt like its own little work of art. I've really come to believe that if you love every block by itself, you'll love them all together as a group, especially if it's a large group. Sometimes quantity really does seem to enhance the quality.

I've been doing a lot of cleaning and purging over the last few months, trying to let go of things I don't need and share them with others who might be able to use them. As I was going through my storage room, I came across several large containers of sewing samples made over a few years. It was a little sobering to look at all those projects, sewn up quickly and compulsively so that I would have a large enough supply of bright, shiny photos to put in my Instagram feed. I think I would rather stop sewing altogether than get back on that hamster wheel. Meaningful, enjoyable projects -- no matter how long or short a time they take to complete -- seem like the sane and happy way forward.