Back to Basics

It's a beautiful Monday morning here in my part of the world and a glorious day to not be working. Today is the day before Christmas and its very relaxed in my household. All the Christmas preparations are done so now is the time to just 'be'. And to just 'be' is what I'm doing right now as I type this post my cat meowing at my feet for attention.

I browsed my quilting bookcase this morning in search of Jenny Beyer's 'Quiltmaking by Hand'. I've read through this book multiple times and its a text I continually go back to whenever I'm in a slow paced quilting mode. I do most of my piecing by hand so it's lovely to read the wisdom of a well known and highly respected quilter talking about the methodology I use most. And I always come away from the book with a positive feeling toward how I chose to piece my quilts.

I pulled out Jenny's book this morning for a couple of reasons. One, I'm hand quilting a section of my Psycho 70's apple core quilt and a stitching refresher is always welcome and two, I recently decided against investing in a machine quilting frame so I'm putting my brain back into its rightful place, I.e., back to basics.

It was a really difficult decision not to buy a machine quilting frame. Before recently I never really considered investing in one of these modern home sewer marvels. But a quilting friend who quilts for a living has decided to upgrade and therefore wants to sell her existing frame quickly. She's selling her old frame (and machine) at a very good price and it made my mouth water thinking I might buy it. However after I took a breath and let my head do the thinking instead of my heart, I knew it was not the right choice for me. I quilt strictly for creative self expression and enjoyment. Because its my hobby and not my livelihood I find it very hard to justify a 4 figure cost. My darling husband, being supportive in whatever decision I were to come to, had to listen to me waiver back and forth for days before I made the final decision and that was not to buy it.

So, in order to get my head, and heart, back into the right place for me, I'm re-reading Jenny Beyer's book and I'm so glad I am. Already I'm looking forward to this evening in front of the TV, quilt hoop at the ready, husband and dog on the couch and me in my favourite chair fighting for space with my cat, quilting away as a movie entertains us. Now that I think of it, it would be pretty difficult to drag a 10 foot machine quilting frame into the living room!

Merry Christmas everyone. I wish you all health and happiness this holiday season. And I hope we all have a wonderful new year ahead of us.

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