Thursday, January 25, 2018

January blues



Thank you very much for your concern for Ruusu. She is not yet well; she has almost completely stopped producing tears and that is a serious problem. She is being treated, taken to the vet frequently, we are doing all we can and hoping for the best. She is full of life and playful, not in pain, but she needs eye drops constantly. She takes them well and so far, her eyes are the same, not worse, not better. And yes, I do love her a lot, we all do. She is kind and loving little thing.  
Do you remember the little quilts I made in 2012-2013? How I in the fall of 2012 I was at loss what I should do with my creative side and somehow ended up making little quilts.
I set myself parameters: one quilt a week, little bit diary-like, small (only about 10” square). The intention was to keep making, not stopping to worry, having to decide quickly about the design and moving forward. I made 31 small quilts altogether.
The last one I did not finish. I did learn a lot, made lots of bad choices and bad (ugly) little quilts, but every single one has a meaning today. I gave myself a permission to make mistakes, and I did.
Last weekend I happened to glance out of the upstairs window and I sighed when I saw all the snow and thought that we would be buried soon.
There are not that many steps downstairs but on the way down, I knew I had to record the feeling. Went into my messy craft room, and right away knew what fabric I needed to find. Luckily it was not buried deep, and I could locate it, and in a whim, I had cut a small piece out of it. It is Marimekko print.
Small piece, little bigger that 10”, maybe 12”, but small nonetheless. It must be small so that I can finish it and that it will keep me interested in it for a few days. My attention span is short – sadly. Often trying to rekindle old interest doesn’t hold; when the first love is gone, it is hard to be enthusiastic about it again, but right now, I am loving the idea of making small diaries again.

Why? I could ask. I don’t have an answer. I don’t need them, but I love sewing and fabric and holding a small needle feels good. I love the tiny embroidery stitches, I love to see how the picture grows and comes to life and how it begins to mean something. Most of the time, in the beginning I don’t have a clue what it is going to be in the end. I just follow the instinct, the unconscious, and at some point, I know what I am aiming at, but the work still follows its own rules and path.

I am setting myself again similar playground, small, one a week mostly, of course this is only a plan, usually life gets in between and there are going to be weeks when I cannot do this, but this one a week means that I must move, I cannot stop for a long time, I get to try many different things and I will stay in the process. Getting back to the process is always difficult. I am adding one new feature though – there must be yarn involved, maybe some crochet or some knitting. I am sure this is going to be a problem at some point, but I want to be challenged somehow. I have been thinking about the shape, do I want square or rectangular, but I might skip the shape rule – thus small, but any shape is fine. (I am thinking of adding wider binding than usual, but I am not sure of this yet.)

I know many of you come for the knitting. I am not abandoning that either, I could not, but of course the knitting content will be thin at times. I am taking pictures of the quilt process and will write every time I finish one, so that would be once a week, but I hope it will be more often. I might upload pictures on Instagram and then write about the process here, but I might skip Instagram.
This new little blue quilt started with a thought of a house buried in snow and of dark, blue January. There has been hardly any sun for weeks, at times only a faint ray through the clouds, or a quick peek over the horizon. I have been trying to find beauty in snow, thinking of the world turning into snow garden, trying to picture giant snow flowers in my daily walks, in the similar manner one looks at the clouds and begins to see shapes.
This is just the beginning so far, but on Sunday it should be finished. This first one has less time than a week, but it just means that I need to record the most important things.
At first, I added yellow embroidery to the windows, there is light inside the house and blocked out some background noise by appliqueing blue fabric, added some embroidery to the flowers in the foreground. Not much yet, but I know where I am going next.

Wool with you,
Lene

10 comments:

  1. Oh wow! Love this. Beauty in snow. The Marimekko fabric is gorgeous. I was not reading your blog back when you first created your little diary quilts. This is going to be fun to watch your journey - looking forward to it. Thinking of Ruusu - prayers for her healing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I enjoyed the snow pictures, and I love your quilt pieces.

    Please give Ruusu a kiss from me.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You pick the craft, we'll follow. Love Marimekko fabric. One of the first wall hangings I made back in the 1960's involved their fabric.

    Wishing Ruusu's eyes heal soon.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm definitely not here for just the knitting - I love everything you make and the insights into your life! That snow!

    I loved the little quilts and will be interested to see where you go with the new ones.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'm here to see whatever your hands want to make and your heart is willing to share. I look forward to watching this quilting process (and whatever else turns up along the way) unfold.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Where ever your needle leads you, the project(s) will be lovely. I so enjoy the way you approach your creating and making. What an inspiration for your readers.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yes!!!!! I love, Love, LOVE your small quilts!!! Every so often I go back into your archives to see them. They will lift you (and us!) out of the bleak midwinter. :D

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's wonderful to see how you get inspired from different crafts. I make quilts but not like this.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love everything you write and make - the quilts seem like a wonderful idea. And I envy you the snow though I understand that you can get enough of it ...

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous13:53

    I am glad to hear that Ruusu is not worse, that is a good thing. I understood your saying trying to rekindle that first love, I too have felt that. I tell myself that I do still love it, its just not the same. I also don't just come for the knitting. Knitters do a variety of needlework so please show us your projects. They are always lovely. I find your creativity inspiring and calming. When I am calm then I can start my own creativity. I wish I could look out and see all your snow, ours is very little this year, but all the snow on our trees is beautiful. Have a calm and creative day!

    ReplyDelete