Observations and Musings While Creating

What an interesting several days it has been.  Like other states in the West, Colorado is suffering from wildfires and one of the worst droughts we’ve had since 2012.  I know that sounds like nothing to folks from California who have things much worse than us in Colorado.  Still, the days feel weird because we’re getting all the smoke (and ash) from the wildfires, even though we’re many miles away from them.  The days are unusually hazy, ozone alerts are in effect, you can feel the burning in your lungs and eyes, the sunrises and sunsets are highly colored red, there’s an odd reddish/orange glow to the natural light, and a distinct smoke smell fills the air.  Hot and dry.  I’ve hoped for rain for some time now, but it generally seems to pass us by.  When we do get any, it gets gobbled up by the earth so quickly you can’t even tell it rained.  I’m hoping weather patterns will shift…and soon. In the meantime, I try to appreciate the flame red glow of the circular sun as it sets in the evening.  You can look straight at it and not bother your eyes because the smoke is so heavy; it feels almost like the light of an eclipse.

There is beauty, even in this smokey haze.  And, I guess maybe it teaches us to appreciate different things – or to just learn to develop an appreciation for what comes your way, knowing that, eventually, this too will pass and things will get back into some level of balance.  That’s how I view the pandemic, too, I guess.  There’s a reason for it – the reason, though, hasn’t made itself known. Maybe the reason is within ourselves to learn to develop appreciation for simple things – or get us to start invoking our creativity.  I get a post from one of our local eateries that we frequent – the owner writes the posts himself and ponders a lot of the things going on today.  I find his posts interesting as he and his crew work tirelessly to stay in business – and stay sane, themselves, through all of this, and how they invoke their creativity to stay afloat.

The quilt guild I’m a member of started a “jelly roll” challenge as a fundraiser for the year, since most of the general fundraising activities were curtailed, because, well, you know…  The challenge was to make a quilt using a jelly roll (or 2 ½” strips you cut from your stash).  I decided to invoke my creativity and create something that is made with a jelly roll, not exclusively, but in part, because I wanted to try to create something different. I invoked my creative inspiration (as I often do – being inspired by the likes of Ruth B. McDowell, and others) and drew up a leaf, standing tall.  I knew, when I drew up the pattern, I wanted to use red as the background (I’m not sure why, I just did), and I wanted the leaf to be a prominent strong point – BOLD – in color and stature. So, here’s where my creativity landed me for the last couple of weeks. 

The start of figuring out what fabrics to use...and cutting apart the pattern...

I’m now piecing the “piece” and hoping I can get it completed in time for the fundraiser.  I’m slow in starting, but sometimes seem to work better under pressure of a deadline.  The leaf is made from jelly roll strips – those 2 ½” wide strips that normally I don’t use.  I buy yardage (grunt, grunt), not precut items (we all have our preferences!).  So it was a bit of a challenge for me to figure out how to use 2 ½” strips instead of whole pieces (I may have cheated but they never said the WHOLE quilt had to be made with the strips… Yikes…maybe a technicality…).  I wound up sewing strips together, then cutting out the shapes I needed, which helped create the leaf structure itself, even if in an abstract way.  The piece is about 20” square, so hopefully I can get it done in the next two weeks.  I love using fabric with varying scale, and was able to select all the reds from my stash (they aren’t jelly roll strips).  We’ll see where it goes. I admit, when I look at it, it makes me smile.  Maybe because it is bold – or maybe because it’s a design I created and executed…

More fabric choices made... I just love the red and white contrast to the greens...

Arrgghh...a little yellow on the photo coloring, but you get the idea of where it's headed...

Meanwhile, I finally sandwiched another quilt – a retirement quilt.  I might get it completed for a friend who retired 2 years ago.  (I think I said I could be slow…)  So, it’s on the quilting table and I’ve started on it.  This hot weather will drive me to the basement where it’s cooler, so I’ll be doing some more quilting on it soon.

Pinning always takes a while, but it's ready to go.  I offset the quilt with an applique border on one side.

I noticed on Pam’s blog (Applique Paintbox), that she said the selection of Kamala Harris as the VP candidate with Joe Biden gave her hope.  I am glad to see a woman potentially making it to the White House.  I think our country is long overdue.  I think we’ve been so polarized in this country for far too long.  We need to get back to a place where we can respect each other – maybe not agree all the time – but come to a place in the middle where we can function again – creatively solving issues instead of stagnating.  We just might make it this time.  Time will tell. 

Keep on finding your creative voice.  It’s there – channel it and watch it grow.

Cheers!

Linking up with Nina Marie at Creations-Quilts, Art, Whatever