When Smart Women Make Choices

Sometimes in the exuberance of creating and working with our arts, we plunge ahead without thinking. Yet, in our hands is the greatest tool, the ripper. Just in case.

As I sewed the binding for this little grrrlie-grrrl quilt, I recalled hearing that it is better to do the final stitches with the machine. Seems that many young children work their fingers into a seam, hole or binding stitch and keep pushing and pulling til it gives way. So I thought, maybe I better sew it up with the machine. I got maybe a couple of feet on it and realized I simply don't like the way it looks. 

I cannot be responsible for what a child does to their quilt once it leaves my hands. If it comes apart on seams, it does, and then it shreds. And then what? It might go to a pet as a pet blanket. What's wrong with that? It might go to a thrift store where someone buys it for pennies. What's wrong with that? It might even be used for cleanup or a painter's rag. And what is wrong with that?

My fun was in creating it and doing my part to use fabric. So I am taking smaller stitches while sewing the binding on, to do the best I can knowing the possibilities. And then when I am done, it is done and what happens to it is no different than what happens to us in our lifetime. We learn, we laugh, we play, we work, we sleep, we age. And then...