Balance

This is the quilt I made for my sister's graduation from college a couple of years ago. Yup - the same year my step-brother graduated. Talk about a stressful year! The blocks were from a mystery class from several years earlier. They didn't work out as well as I liked, so they just sat in my UFO pile for quite awhile after the class. Later, at a retreat, with the help of a friend, I figured out it needed more contrast, so the sash and post setting was added. The additional blocks were added at the top to make a pillow cover. (We had to hold the quilt sideways because everyone in my family is short and we weren't tall enough to hold it the longways for the picture.) Now that I have a design wall, I'll be able to take decent pictures of my large quilts.

It's interesting to go back and look at old projects. Especially when the heat is so high and energy levels are so low. It is in the upper 90's to 100's in the Twin Cities this week and there is no relief in sight. Fortunately, my new design studio is in the basement and what is usually a chilly place to work should be a delightfully comfortable and cool. I long to sneak down and work on something creative but have been busy running kids to and from hockey camp, dance camp, the library and several other activities this week and I'm frightfully behind on laundry and chores. So I should be plugging away on gotta-do's instead of playing in my design studio.

There is always that struggle between the wantas and the gottas and finding the balance between the two is where real grace exists. I wish I could say that I've found that special balance but it's always a struggle and I suspect it always will be. But the pleasure derived from the creative process is so worth the effort that I'll continue to wrestle with it. Having children and educating them is the joy of my life and the family God has blessed me with worth the effort of caring for them. The pleasure of creating fiber art also is rewarding but it is more transitory. So, I must head off to care for my family, and if I get a few minutes later tonight, maybe I can sneak off to my design studio and get a few more stitches in on a WIP before bedtime. Either way, I can say I've been blessed.