The other day I picked up the Teresa Duryea Wong book Magic & Memories: 45 Years of International Quilt Festival as I’ll review it soon. Quilt Festival is so much part of our quilting culture now that it’s hard to imagine quilting life without this annual event. It is without a doubt a, with this little bit of perusing a book each quilter should read as Carey and Nancy’s work through the years will continue to influence the quilting world for years to come. Knowing this history will help ground us as we reach for the stars, pushing the boundaries of quilt making. Beyond the writing content it is a beautiful book, full of inspiration, connecting our quilting through the years.
Build
Connect
Gratitude
Focus
Journey
Ponder
Each word holds within it some sense of promise and fulfillment. One of these days I’m going to make a word cloud with these words. Shifting from making resolutions to setting intentions made a dynamic impact for this quilter. I can see how each one of the words still influences what I do. Quilting is a journey that I am grateful to ponder on, connect with, build, and focus on. Being a journey I still don’t know where exactly I’m going, which is beautiful, incredibly freeing and a wee bit scary. I want to compete again very soon as there is something wildly fun about that. Competing is, for me, about putting my work out into the world. And there are quilts niggling at the edge waiting for the time to make it from my brain to finished quilt.
A few weeks ago in chatting with a friend I bounced a couple of words off her finally settling on
Imagine
And imagining I am. I’m imagining finishing a couple of quilts. One of those quilts needed the right for me tool, and I have it now. Another quilt is waiting for about half of my thread stash to come back. The other quilt is waiting for time, and since I’ve decided to take my machine on the road with me there is time. I’m imagining teaching, and a cover reveal, and possibility. I’m imagining building on experience, learning from life and quilting experience and taking that forward. Experience teaches me that some things will be a struggle, that 2020 will have it’s issues and that I’ll wade through those as best I can. Experience teaches me that 2020 will have incredibly beautiful times. Each are necessary for a life of, and quilts alive with depth and beauty.
I’m off to go do a bit of quilting, planning, and imagining for the year ahead. And I’m imagining cracking open a new journal tomorrow morning. Fresh year, fresh book.
Imagine.
Happy Stitching,
Teri
