Change of plan

Last night, my friend RexieR sent me this picture of a quilt from an older magazine she has (McCalls Quick Quilts October/November 2012 issue) and I fell in love with the pattern. She knew I was not happy with how one of the patterns I had here was failing my goals.

Good quilting friends listen to us and can lead us in directions that work better for this fabric art. Hey! Good friends do that too, now that I think about it.

You see, once I finished assembling those 16-patch blocks using 2.5" squares, then and only then, did I realize that they made an 8" block! The ones I pieced turned out really cute. However, as you could measure, they are still only 8" and even with another 2.5" sashing, the way they were coming together, they would not have made a decent lap top quilt for my very tall Nephew-in-Law to use. 

The struggle goes on for me about working without a pattern. Just about the time I think I need one, I go quilting outside the rules, outside the box, and then like what I make.

The pattern RexieR shared was made of solid fabric boxes, and yet there was no reason why they had to be uncut and un-pieced. I went back to my shoebox stash, and started matching more little squares last night. I calculated that the pattern will need 56 of these blocks to fit my very tall Nephew-in-Law, so I am back at random pairing of squares and ready to start the piecing process again.

Change is an important part of life if we want to finish things we start, and also as a way to prevent inflexibility. Any time we refuse to change, all sorts of things can happen like being overcome by self-doubt, resentment, discouragement and a sense of failure.

Sometimes, people have gotten scared of how quickly I can change...change my mind, change my habits, change my life, change my location. I seldom hold onto to anything that doesn't serve my greater good. I like living on the edge, being outside the box and not always playing by the rules.

Maybe that will make me a good quilt-maker some day. It must go with the territory. That, or you end up with a LOT of UFO's.