In a previous post I wrote about coming back to blogging. I had planned to take a short hiatus to take care of some personal and professional business, but then as often happens life intervened and before I knew it the time I'd spent blogging and quilting ended up being gobbled up by other things.
This has happened to me several times in the 40+ years I've been a quilter. When I went off to college, started one of several careers, had a child, and started my own graphic design business. During those times my life was so full, and I was often so exhausted that the thought of pulling out my sewing machine and digging through my quilting fabric overwhelmed me.
I've never stopped loving the art of quilting, or even all of the steps involved. Sometimes I feel like I've put off starting a new project because I enjoyed the anticipation of working on a quilt almost as much as actually doing it.
I've also been fortunate in that my career path has been more art oriented in the last 20 years so I've been able to express myself through art, even though it wasn't quilting. My creative side was satisfied.
However, I have never loved any creative activity more than quilting, It's the whole package. I get to play with color and pattern, with the added bonus of dimension. There is nothing like a quilt, and nothing more satisfying then the process of creating one. I've missed it.
I've also missed the community of quilters. Before I retired my other endeavors were business oriented. Designing websites and graphics, creating packaging and label designs, dealing with printers and web hosts and learning the new language of coding. It was exciting and challenging, but a lot of the joy was missing.
Since I've been on extended hiatus, a lot has changed in the quilting world. I've kept up by reading quilting magazines, and visiting quilt stores when I have the chance, so I'm somewhat familiar with the changes. It's amazing that our quilting community has so many dimensions. The traditional hand pieced quilts I learned to make are now a rarity. Art quilting and currently "Modern" quilting are all the rage. The skills of long arm and other machine quilters fill me with admiration and quite frankly, give me a headache! So many new things to learn and explore, and discuss on this blog.
I was timid about starting it up again, but then I realized that having been away for a while I would have a different perspective that might be interesting to other quilters. And, frankly, when I encounter something new and/or different, writing about it helps me process it better.
I've lived long enough to know that you can't go home again. It's never the same, particularly when you've been away for a while. I suspect that my re-entry into the quilting world will bring many surprises, some good, some not so good, but then, that's life!
Now that hopefully the Covid crisis is waning, it will be interesting to see what the quilting landscape looks like. I know that we've lost two of my favorite local quilt stores. They just couldn't survive the lockdowns. I know that the major shows have gone "digital," that guilds are "zooming" if that's possible, and that sewing machines have been in short supply. Interesting that a new interest in sewing has been spurred by mask making, who would have thought that could happen? The good thing is that more people have sewing machines now. Who knows, there may be a new generation of quilters on the horizon!
Out patchwork tent is already big and with all the fabric we have we can always add more squares so more quilters can join us. This could be fun!
Happy Stitching!
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