What Matters Most

Isadora Duncan said, "All that is necessary to make this world a better place to live is to love as Christ loved, as Buddha loved." Then, if you look at the quotes attributed to them, your world expands. 

What we think, we become. How we love makes the world a better place to live.

Yesterday, my Finish Something Friday, I kept working to finish up some June Swaps before leaving on my trip back to the Midwest on the 11th. One of them is a Fat Quarter swap. Each swapper lists the colors or fabric styles and exchanges four FQ's. No where in the forms we fill out do we say what we are going to use the fabric for, so this time, I included a pattern for this really cute kitchen towel that hangs on the oven door handle.

Then the other swap I finished and am shipping this week is for the 12" Christmas Quilt Block Swap. Only one block is required in the exchange. I've been wanting to make this cat block for some time. However, I do not know if my swap partner likes cats or what she plans to do with the blocks she receives in our swap. 

When I think about the act of loving or being loved, it starts with loving myself and being true to myself. I enjoy the full out colors of fabrics and enjoy the brighter look of finished quilts. I love cats and dogs (haven't found a dog-block pattern I like yet), and enjoy this holiday, so many of my quilts are made with these fabrics.

My swap partner for this month indicated on her form that she wanted any style Christmas block. So I pulled out another pattern I've been wanting to make and auditioned several fabrics & came up with this combination. I was attracted to this pattern's crisp look, and yet, while it seems like a simple construction, it wasn't so simple. Again, not knowing how she will use it, all I can do is hope it fits into her plan. At least with these two she will have options.

I re-programed my thinking about this block's construction. How I thought about it was how it manifested. When the form says "Any Style", that gives the quilt-maker freedom to try new skills or expand and learn something new.  Not everyone is comfortable giving that freedom and not everyone is comfortable taking that freedom. It feels pretty risky. You have to be in a place where you have a certain level of confidence in your fabric art, and trust that what you create will be welcomed.

Which brings me back to love. Not everyone is open to receive it, and not everyone is open to give it. I held this swap partner close to my heart as I cut and pieced these two blocks. I set into them the energy of love from one quilter to another, from one woman of spirit to another. I may never know what she does with them and that part doesn't matter. I actually did the same with the selection of Fat Quarters. And in fact, I do that every time I create a quilt.

What matters to me about what I do in every aspect of my work is that I love.