4th of July Week is Guilt Free Play Time

After my crumby day on Monday, things could only get better.  Does stress make me more creative? Well, yes and no.  When I'm stressed I certainly like to avoid thinking about the things which cause the tension in my life. Life is too short to have ulcers over things that I have no control over! So for me, it's become a habit to find something calming and restorative to help balance out the tough parts of our life.

Orphaned triangles from a 2006 project

I should probably take a walk and get more exercise.  Instead, I usually head to the quilt room.  Which yes, often leads to random projects with strange beginnings--possibly, maybe? a plus on the creative side. However, if I'm too worried, stressed, tired, etc. then it's better to avoid working on projects that need decisive thought and I do better to busy myself with mindless sewing etc.-- a not so creative effect after all.

Just playing, throwing things on the
background fabric until it looks like there's a 'go ahead'

Lately I just want to play and the unwritten rule is that you need 'proper justification' to play. It's the elephant in the room if you have stacks of WIP's laying around and you're, gasp! starting a new project. So I'm rebelling this week. Have you read this post? Or better yet, what about this post? hehe Dangerous thoughts indeed. 

I'm going to shrug off the fact that I've started at least three new projects without any real finishes because I have STRESS in my life, but really, maybe it's more than that.  And maybe it's a good thing. A thing we shouldn't bother to ever apologize for.*wink

Sewing a basic foundation for the applique work

It's the 4th of July tomorrow. My three oldest kids are headed to the Oregon Coast to what used to be an annual event for our whole family. I seriously couldn't be happier for them.  My youngest son chose to go hiking/trail riding with my next youngest sister and one of my younger brothers, his wife and daughter. I know he is going to have a blast. My husband and I? We are staying home to relax and unwind, enjoy a quiet moment before life comes roaring back with all its zillion demands. It feels right. And I want to play with a red, white and blue quilt just 'cuz it's Independence Day. No guilt included.

Trying to figure things out, but....
No, this isn't quite it.

Things are finally starting to look up for us after three (no, make that four) long, hard years of a bad economy. It doesn't happen overnight. I worry that when things finally smooth out and we've readjusted properly, I will simply go back to my bad habits of buying lots of fabric and then only making things sporadically and a sometimes a bit half-heartedly.

After taking all the applique parts off and starting over,
THEN, finally I can see it coming together!

It's not always a bad thing to go clear back to the foundation and start over. The initial idea may have been solid, but it rarely turns out exactly as envisioned the first time around. In spite of everything we've dealt with (and will continue to have to face in the months ahead), there has been good come of this distressing time of our life.  I'm very aware of that! And I'm not just talking about the strange and beautiful quilts (and yes, the quilt tops too) that are starting to stack up around here....

*I do apologize if you like the big reveal at the FINISH of a quilt.  There are rarely any surprises about what I'm up in my quilting room and the finish is usually a bit of a yawn. lol