I just finished watching "A Century of Quilts: America in Cloth" that was done by PBS awhile back. I don't know when as I just got it through Netflix. Being the avid quilter I am, I knew I'd love this show. I read some reviews on it where people complained that there were hardly any "traditional" quilts represented in the 100 best quilts of the 20th century. I will agree with that in some way. I think the display was misnamed. It should have probably been the "100 most innovative quilts of the 20th century." The quilts in the show ranged from the very recognizable Amish quilts all the way through the most fantastic quilts that you have no idea how someone thought of it, much less was capable of putting it into fabric. Many of them were artistic quilts. Representations of who that person was and is. There were also a lot in there that I personally thought shouldn't have been included. But that was my personal opinion. *smile* We all have those.
One thing that really stood out in my mind that one of the ladies interviewed said. That the world of quilting is so large and so expansive of creative talent, that everyone fits in there somewhere. Then she asked, "Where do you fit in?" What a great question!
I've only been quilting for 6 years. I feel as if I'm still finding my niche. I have done traditional quilting for most of my 6 years. It wasn't until recently that I started wanting to branch out on my own. However, I am drawn to the older quilts. The ones that require intensive hand work to create them. The intricate hand quilting, hand applique, hand piecing. However, what I find incredibly odd is that I'm personally reluctant to tackle one. How silly is that? I'm fascinated with the Baltimore Album-style quilts. I've made one block from one of Elly's books and I loved every minute of it. It was a papercut pattern of a fleur-de-lis. Absolutely stunning and when I was finished, I felt such an accomplishment. I stretched my applique abilities beyond their breaking point with that one block. I know now that I CAN do it and that I can do it WELL. So, why haven't I tackled any of the other ideas I have in my head? I honestly can't say why I haven't. There is a fear lurking there. There's also my inability to finish projects. They're finally starting to get to me, my unfinished quilts. They don't seem to bother my darling husband at all. Just me. *smile* That's my current "hang up." Or maybe it's just pure procrastination because I'm 'afraid' to attempt one of my own ideas for real.
I think that it's time to start finishing the quilts that are sitting here that I want to do, and I might as well cut some of them loose and realize they might never be finished. In thinking about this, I realized that I'm sometimes frustrated over the length of time it takes to finish a quilt. I think that bothers me more when I'm working on a quilt I really don't want to be working on. When I did that fleur-de-lis, it didn't bother me that it took a full month of a lot of hand work to do a single block. Then it hit me. We are only limited by our time here on earth. So why worry or 'stress out' over how long it takes to make a quilt? I'll keep telling myself that. *grin* Especially while working on a relatively simple quilt that should have been finished 2 years ago and I'm still not sure I can have it done by Christmas. LOL
One more thing about that show and then I'll head off. They were discussing a male quilter that spent at least 4 hours a night, every night, working on his quilts. Wow. What I wouldn't be able to accomplish with 4 hours a night to work on my quilts! Oddly enough, in thinking about it, I could probably do it. I normally don't go to bed until 2 am anyway. If I could just quilt from the time all the kids were in bed until I went to bed, I'd have just about 4 hours. Hmm... I wonder if I could try that idea out for a week. Then I can see how far I got on what I need finished by Christmas. I bet I could pull off all 4 quilts I want to see finished. They're almost done anyway... Two need bindings and a little more decorative work and two need to be finished quilted and have their bindings put on. I bet that by the end of this next week, I could have those first 2 quilts finished.
It's a deal. I'm going to challenge myself to work for a minimum of 4 hours a day this entire next week and see how far I get. I'm interested to find out. *smile*
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