By Kim Jones
I was just reading the article on Quilting as Self Care that was posted in the FMQuilters.org Snippets. I read aloud to my husband the paragraph the started, “The act of sewing itself can be compared to meditation”, to which he replied, “That’s a bit pretentious, isn’t it?” and then added, after a thoughtful pause, “It IS an enjoyable pastime.” (He thought better of commenting negatively on a pastime that I spend quite a bit of time on and out of his hair!) Which brings me to that item from the Self-Care article which I found myself recently experiencing… the mindfulness of tactile engagement and the joy to be found in problem solving.
Oh, how we ponder the decisions that come to us when we’re selecting fabric for our quilts. In my case, I was looking for just the right fabrics that I could use for the backing of one of my most recently finished quilt tops. Having the backs of quilts be as interesting, or a least not something to look past, as the quilt fronts is something that I challenge myself with.
To my great delight I found just the perfect fabric on the sales shelf (50% off!) of a local quilt shop and bought it, but because it was just slightly over 2 yards short of the yardage I needed, the hunt continued. I went on-line searching for the same brand, designer and line of fabric, but much to my dismay, none of it was on sale like it had been at the local quilt shop. What to do next?
Was there possibly something in my yardage stash that could work??? I was doubtful but why not look. The colors on this latest quilt were nothing like others I had done previously so the outlook was dim. Picking through the plastic storage container holding my very selective leftover yardage seemed a bit of a waste, until…there it was! A slightly over 2 yard piece of fabric that I had leftover from a table runner project. It was perfect! Once again that feeling of peace, gratification and fulfillment came over me. Ah, the joys of quilting. I guess I can be a bit pretentious when a quilt project comes together so well.