Another Challenge

As I started attaching the side border to the Constellations quilt, something didn't look quite right. Back to the pattern. I had gone merrily on my way as I put this quilt together, thinking I knew what I was doing. And no. I didn't know what I was doing. I assumed I knew what I was doing. I had to come up with a new solution to make it work without ripping out the blocks. Its not that its wrong. Its just different from the original plan the pattern-maker had in mind. 

One of my quilt teachers said that we become quilt-makers whenever this sort of thing happens and we have to come up with a new solution...a new soul-ution.

There is a form of therapy started in WI several years ago called 'solution-focused brief therapy' which is goal oriented, targeting the solution as something to be worked on rather than focusing on symptoms or issues that brought up the challenge. With this method, therapist encourage the client to imagine the future they want, and start working on steps to achieve that goal. The person looks at their skills, and resources in order to attain the desired outcome.

We can only do what only we can do. I think it is called a brief form of therapy because it gets to the solution right away and acknowledges that there were problems leading up to this moment, but so what? Get up and get on with it!

Each of the two quilts I am working on presented challenges with different issues; the Cat quilt has mis-matched seams and needed to be ripped and re-sewn, and the Constellations quilt had an issue regarding the border. It only required a shifting of the side borders to make them LOOK like they were supposed to go that way. 

(I think it will pass the horse-test, which I have adopted as a legitimate quilting tool.)

I feel pressure of wanting both of them to look good, and become beloved quilts to the two people who will receive them this year. Its not like I have been rushing through them but that I took on quilt patterns that were challenging. They are not UFO's. They are WIP. I am not giving up.

And here it is, solution. Soul-lution. I looked at an online dictionary for words that end in lution, and among the many you can find are: Absolution, convolution, dissolution, evolution, pollution, resolution, and revolution. Oh my. OH MY! If all I do is look at these few words and apply them to my mental state about this sort of challenge, they contain such amazing power. Power to forgive, to take away the guilt and shame, and moreover to grow up, as well as to experience negative power to fall apart and blow away. 

Fact of the matter is that the more risks a person takes in any endeavor, the more chances to fail they have. However, its what a person does when they are faced with the conflict that matters.

I fell into such a deep funk at first when I discovered my error. I shifted the border segments from how it was supposed to be just enough to make it work. I have an amazing sense of accomplishment having done this. THIS was the solution according to the SFBT theory. 

I would really like to avoid those deep funks I fall into every once in awhile. However, it seems that when I do, they act as a sort of catalyst to stop my whining and get going with the task at hand. And I am smiling. While I have won my way through the conflict, I also lost a bit of confidence in the moment. 

As soon as the corner triangles go on, it is ready to measure and purchase fabric for the back. My Daughter-in-Law recommended a flannel back for those cold Minnesota Winters. She says they appreciate getting more quilts so they each have a couple layers.