Deliberate and Determined Creating

Far too often, I fall into the trap of believe that “true creativity” must be spontaneous and on a whim. And sure, sometimes creativity is a sudden spark of inspiration you just can’t help but act upon and that spark keeps you going until the end of the project. But sometimes, perhaps even most times, we need to be deliberate in our choices so as to set ourselves up for successful creating, where we make choices that help us rather than hinder us in enjoying a project right through to that last stitch.

I’ve dabbled in a range of English paper piecing (EPP) over the past few years. From a full-sized quilt to a few mini quilts, to finished quilt blocks sitting in a drawer and a large, abandoned WIP (I’ve done one more small rosette since then) in a bag hanging on the back of my door. And rather than thinking that this makes me an EPP failure in comparison to some of my friends who are EPP Fiends like Jane and Jodi and Sharon, I look at it as discovering more about myself as a creative.

I like to have a handwork project on the go, that is small and manageable. I do not enjoy big and unwieldy (for me) blocks and projects.

I like to piece small blocks that are quickly finished. I do not like to EPP a whooole quilt.

I like to dip in and out as the mood strikes; I cannot have deadlines on hand sewing.

I like the mindful, repetitive nature of sewing with my hands, keeping them busy and not scrolling. I don’t enjoy it as much in the summer when I find my hands get quite sweaty and can’t grip the needle as well!

So, with the cooler weather well and truly upon us, as well as a need for calm, mindful projects, it is no surprise that the itch to English paper piece has struck once again.

But this time, I’m prepared for how I know I work with EPP! I have purposefully and deliberately chosen a project that matches well with all the criteria above – the Plenty of Thyme pattern by Tales of Cloth – because it’s small EPP blocks but then appliqued onto larger background squares that are then machine pieced together. Thus creating a usable-sized quilt much more quickly, but without the awkward juggling of hand-stitching larger sections and rows together that I detest.

I’ve even tried a new way of basting in that I’ve simply cut squares of fabric with my AccuQuilt, and not individual octagons, to help simplify and speed up that part of the process. I don’t know yet what that will be like to applique, but I’m not stressed – I can snip excess off then if needed.

If there’s one thing you take away from this, let it be this – it’s ok to do what you need to do to get the project done with the least amount of dread.

I am determined to enjoy the process. I will batch cut and baste if I’m in the mood. Or I’ll stitch the blocks together if that’s what I feel like doing. Or I’ll applique them onto the background squares… by hand or machine, gasp! 😉

I spoke at a local quilt group last week, presenting a trunk show of my book quilts, when someone noticed that I machine bind my quilts. You could practically hear the collective internal gasp from many of the members (predominantly older, more traditional quilters). It was oh so amusing! I joyfully shrugged and shared that binding is one of my least favourite steps of making a quilt, so if this is “what it takes” to get a project done, then so be it. One lady jokingly called out, “That’s a D for you!” (referring to grading my work), to which I quickly responded, “D is for done!” which has now totally become my motto for quilting, especially as a clapback to the “Quilt Police”.

Perfectionism is overrated. Joyful creating is underrated. D is for done.