What To Do With A Funk

Have you ever had the realization that you were just spinning your wheels (mentally) in your studio and literally couldn't figure out what to do next? Well, that's how a few days this week have been for me. I had finished--ahead of time--all of the projects that I had planned to work on while in Charleston and I still have four or five weeks left until we go back to Hendersonville. What to do?

Well . . .one of the things I had thought about doing was entering one of the fabric manufacturer's quilt challenges. I ordered the fabric and then thought about what to do with it. I spent the better part of two days drawing a design. I really liked what I came up with. The only problem was that it didn't go at all with the fabric I had to use. So, back to square one with that thought. The other thing was that I had planned (and still do plan) on using the drawing as the center of a larger quilt; however, the fabric that I want to use is in Hendersonville. So THAT will have to wait.

So, now I'm spinning in circles as to what to do next. Several other projects that could be worked on are also in "you know where." I could, as a last resort, do housework, but that held little appeal. Finally, I decided that I would make a scrap quilt because, heaven knows, I do have lots of scraps--probably enough for 20 quilts. Of course, once you decide to make a scrap quilt, you then have to decide which scrap quilt to make. And that entailed looking at pattern after pattern, rejecting each one because, by this time, my brain was really frizzing. I then remembered that I had won some templates this year from Marti Michell (and she is a GREAT sponsor for many quilt show prizes). Among then was the template for the Tumbling Blocks. At last an Ah-Hah moment. I began sifting through my wrinkled, scrunched and torn scraps and chose lights, mediums and darks. I ironed and cut them and began to piece them. Gradually, my funk died away and I began to feel centered once again. I'm not creating a great piece of art; rather, I am recycling my quilt history--remembering the stories that are embedded in each remnant of fabric. Maybe I'll figure out what to do with that fabric challenge fabric--and maybe I won't. But, for now, I'm happily working away on a pleasant project.

One final piece. I also completed another unfinished project last week from a class I took with Carol Taylor. I call it Life As I Know It. It seems there's no straight and narrow in my personal environment!