Starting 2017 fresh and debt free has awakened a sleeping desire to create. Over the past few years I have come to my studio pulled things out, put them back; started some projects and left them lay…
Until I was just as depressed as before I started and now awash in fabric which had lost it’s meaning.
Previously I had taken the “*Process Pledge” and wanted to share with you what I was doing and how I was getting it done. However, my old nemesis Depression and his side kick Lack of Funds found me not able to function as I had intended. I needed a do over!
The first step in this re-boot is to clean up, sort out what I have, and then finish a gift that is now overdue to my lovely Sister-in-law and a teal block for my friend Kate in Australia who sews them together, quilts them, and then donates them for Ovarian Cancer.
My steps:
- Complete the gift for my SIL and the Teal block for Kate
- Make a wool coat for me which is a lofty ambition, but I have my fabric and my lovely pattern. I will enjoy this even if it is slow work.
- After practicing on me I look forward to a couple of fun coats for my Etsy shop. I have a vision of what I want to create and will be drawing it out before I tackle the fabrics!
- Just keep creating and sharing my progress!
A journey begins with the first step and forward momentum takes it from there
I believe this. So, no resolutions, just a call to creativity for myself and then share the process and progress along the way! The projects will get done when they get done. Knowing this when I start means there will be no pressure and no deadline.
~*~
What lies ahead on your map for 2017?
*NOTE: The Process Pledge was begun by Rossi of Rossi Crafts, who is a creative powerhouse! Thank you Rossi for your inspiration!
Life on the Farmlet 
Your friend Kate thinks you’ve made a good start to the year. I’ll be watching and cheering from the wings! I also want to share a personal theory and modus operandi with you:
Keep moving forward. You’ll trip over something at some stage: an obstacle, a negative thought, a difficulty. Just watch what happens when you trip… Yup. You move forward even faster! The trick is not to do a face plant but to gather yourself up and pretend it was all on purpose 🙂
Yes, Kate! You are an inspiration to me when I read about the things you’ve faced and how you just get up and keep going! You always recover so quickly and it has to be that “…moving forward even faster!” mindset of yours that gets you there. ❤
That constant state of almost falling flat on my face… 🙂
😀
I do find that a proper tidy up is the very best thing when i am feeling a bit stink. Just by taking all those fabrics out and organising them, creating different piles for different projects, I am sure you will find more clarity of mind. It will help. Just a little a day will make that difference you need. Much love. c
The work has already begun, Celi! I am sorting and *curating fabrics to patterns, groups of color coordinated bits for quilting, and each grouping is going into a large freezer back so they can’t get lost in the shuffle!
*Curating seems an over fancy word for my work, but the very idea of it makes my work seem less than ordinary from the start. 🙂
We watched a segment on television the other day, I think it was on CBS Sunday Morning, urging people to dump the trendy verb curate. In searching just now I found an article from a couple of years ago saying the same thing:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/enough-with-curate-218576
I must not be “with it” because I wasn’t aware of the trend.
Steve, I wasn’t aware of this either. LOL! But by Webster’s definition of the word, as referenced in the *article you mention,
“… to curate is ‘to act as curator of…a museum…an exhibit'”
We quilter’s refer to the collection of textiles as our ‘stash’ and when I look at mine, well, it has become a bit of a museum. Ergo, I paint with a broad brush here and use the term to signify my bringing together fabrics and color that will cohesively make a good looking quilt.
Further thought on that tells me that a well designed quilt is art.
I am also very aware, that art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. So we shall have to see what my curating reveals.
*I enjoyed this article! I agree that we overuse many words (terms, ideas, etc) these days and often not in the way they were intended. The English language is difficult enough without skewing meaning or overusing specific words to the neglect of others, which may be more appropriate to convey meaning. Looking for synonyms for curate revealed these on the Macmillan site: http://www.macmillandictionary.com/us/thesaurus-category/american/to-combine-things-or-to-combine-well
So, knowing the true meaning of the word curate can we then conclude, that it’s overuse has morphed it to include these meanings?
You have always kept me thinking where language is concerned. 🙂
I’m taking rather the same approach this year. My first step was to adopt a new theme for my blog. It’s quite a change in appearance from what I had, but I like it. Next, a re-do for my About page is in order. Then — well, that will be a surprise.
I remember so well the coats my mother made for me and for my dolls when I was a kid. Not many of my friends had dolls with matching coats, but I did. I think that Mom probably found a great deal of joy in doing that sort of thing. I wish she were here, so I could thank her. So many of those little details passed me by then, but now I remember them with affection.
Happy creativity, to go with the happy new year. It will be fun to follow along with your new projects, too.
Linda, yes, we are of another age aren’t we? My mother made much of what I wore and made my dolls such lovely clothing. One Christmas she made a blue satin dress with a real *beaver fur stole and many other wonderful things for my Barbie doll. She looked like Jackie Kennedy in those perfectly stitched and coordinated ensembles. Our mothers had to have enjoyed what they were doing to be able to endure the tiniest of seams and hemlines… and the buttons, none larger than seed beads!
You have piqued my interest in your “surprise”, but then, you always surprise me with your posts. Your recent one on the subject of bells was surprising. I had no idea that there was so much involved in the ringing, and timing of tower bells. And that the art is mathematical? Why it never even entered my mind until I read your post.
*Regarding Beaver fur: My mother used a small bit from a beaver coat that had been her father’s from the early 1900s. I believe that she must have found the only bit in the whole coat that wasn’t moth eaten. You may not like real fur, and I know I sure don’t, but in that time the beavers had already given their lives and my mother made one more use of her father’s coat before she had to dispose of it. If it has already been called into existence, then why not use it up?
No reason to be surprised that there’s math in the ringing of tower bells. As Poincaré wrote: “Mathematics is the art of giving the same name to different things.”
True, Steve, you’ve made me recall Fibonacci and his sequence found in shells and flowers. Math is all around us!
Yes, I want to keep moving forward with learning how to be more of a self-sufficient farmer. Creating things from scratch gives me a warm fuzzy feeling and keeps the blues away.
Yes, I just saw your wool and it is gorgeous! This is going to be fun to watch and see your end product.
I’ve always loved the honesty in your blog, especially as I’ve been struggling with the same thing. I’ve really lost interest in everything in my personal life – I thought it was lack of a personality but it’s gone deeper than that. I started by identifying two new(ish) hobbies, neither of which are behind the computer. On my really bad days, I remind myself that I want to use the smokers (I need to eat anyhow) and to do my yoga to help my strength and range of motion.
But lately, even reading doesn’t appeal to me anymore and I can’t remember that ever happening. I’m hoping work backs off, but it hasn’t yet.
Nancy
Nancy, as much as I hate feeling bad, I feel worse when I know my friends are feeling that way too. I am discovering through sharing about it… I am not the only one who has been dealing with this pain.
There are more of us than we imagined out here and we need to talk it out and realize we aren’t the only ones. It is hard to share sad when you think you are the only one. I’m glad that you were comfortable enough to share with me!
PS: On the positive side, I am remembering when you were downsized and now you are sharing about being overworked. I’m glad you have a new job! ❤
Lynda – you are so right about that. I’m happier working, even if it is stressful. And it’s been fun brushing up 20 year old skills and learning new technologies.
🙂
I like the idea of curating. I will try to do more of that this year myself.
Yes, Tom. We all need to do a bit of artful organization from time to time, don’t we?
If I ever get organised, it will be a first. Luckily I live with a good organiser.
Organizing has been the name of the game here too! But “letting go” of some tasks and projects to make way for writing time is on the to do list as well. I am also trying to remain open to what Universe offers this coming year as well. I’ve always been such a planner – and I feel it’s time to be more observant about what presents itself. I think I’ve been way too “hell-bent” on my own agenda that I have missed some wonderful opportunities for learning and growth. Here’s to bright and joyful days ahead! 🙂
Lori, I understand that hell-bent feeling…
And hey, cheers to bright and joyful days! We need more of that. This past year has been rough for everyone I think for many reasons. Now it is time for healing and getting back to working for a common good/goal.
We got this! ❤
We are both starting anew. Though currently debt free ourselves, whether we can stay that way remains to be seen…
I am having that same scary thought… Here, we are waiting to see what the next 4 years will do to/for us.
Happy 2017, Lynda. Let’s hope you’ll encounter a few more great native plants in your vicinity.
I’ll keep looking, but I find that many are eradicated with Round-up and the plow. One of the hazards of living in farm country. In the meantime, I intend to look for happiness in 2017 and wish the same for you, Steve. 🙂
Debt-free is a lovely place to start the year. I don’t make resolutions either. I may have decided on a word for the year, but I’m pretty sure I’ve already forgotten it!
Patti, I have never heard of a word for the year, but if I were to choose it would be “grateful”.