I recently decided to make a quilt. I’d been thinking about it for a while, and with the easy distractions of the internet and being able to work from my home, I decided that the manual, physical distraction of making something myself would be good for me in the evenings.
There’s something soothing about slowing hand-stitching hexagons together, piece by piece, that you just don’t get from screen time or social media.
And I love that I’m working on a project that is purely for me. It’s not for sale, it’s not a gift, it’s not for clients or my partner or my family. It’s for me. My taste, my colours, my shapes – just for me.
This quilt, currently still in small pieces stored under my sofa as I work on it slowly, has already given me so much.
A big part is the connection with crafty friends. One friend in particular, Kelly, has been named my Quilting Godmother, and has helped me to learn the steps I need to take. I’ve only sewed buttons and bits for the past 15 years, so her wisdom and awesome teaching has been a blessing to help get me started on the road of quilt-making.
I recently met up with her and took some hexagons to show her, to make sure I was still on track. I’d been putting them together, but worrying that I wasn’t seeing something that would trip me up later. Is this corner tight enough? Have I made this too tight? Will the colours work? Perhaps this sense of questioning everything you’re doing resonates…
Kelly kindly looked at my hexagons, told me they were fine (even good!), so I told her I had been worrying.
And then she told me my favourite new mantra:
It’ll quilt out.
She told me, once I’ve pieced everything together, done things I don’t yet understand about batting and backing, the small mistakes won’t matter. They’ll even add to the charm.
Here’s the thing:
Maybe today, Black Friday, the start of the busiest weekend and weeks of the year, you need to remember that it’ll quilt out.
What are the things that matter? Focus on them.
Ask yourself:
