I'm between projects which always makes me uneasy. It means I have to begin something new and I always procrastinate. I've tried to figure out why I do that because there is no lack of ideas floating in my head or projects I need to get done. I've decided it is because I'm afraid I'll fail. Aren't we all afraid of that in one way or another? My Landscape Quilt is not finished but the major work is done which is the pieceing of the quilt top that took me 6 months to complete. As I observe it hanging from my design wall, I know it needs some life. What is a Spring garden without robins, butterflies and a toad? So I fashioned a couple of robins and a toad out of fabric scraps and will applique them onto the quilt top once I have decided where to place them. I am leaving the thread painting and quilting and applique until the new year when I can attack it with a clear mind.
Another project idea for the new year will be to finally produce some artwork for my daughter and her husband. It's going to be a piece that will remind them of God's faithfulness to them while they have lived and worked far from family and close friends. Because they have lived in BC, Ontario and now PEI, I want to bring images of all those places into it. I completed a sketch which will now give me a jumping off point. When I'm procrastinating, the best thing to do is just make some marks on paper knowing that this is just the beginning; not the final product and much can still change. The sketch below still needs a section with something from Marcel's hometown of Smithville, Ontario and I have commissioned Amy to get me some photos of places and structures that are meaningful to him.
In the meantime, during this in-between project stage, I will try to do some sketching which, when I am busy on projects, I don't take the time for. Sketches are the basis of much of my work and a good exercise to keep up observation and drawing skills. They also often are the inspiration for a new project.
