The View From Down Here

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New Moon Who Dis, a sketchbook collage from 2020

I’m a creature of routine. I love routine, and I love changing my routine. Part of embracing routine is, for me, embracing change. Tweaking when things aren’t working right. Adjusting when I’m uncomfortable, or need to get uncomfortable. My routine is mostly defined by days and weeks, but at the prompting of Austin Kleon, I’ve begun to think in lunar cycles and seasons, too.

​Kurt Vonnegut said that four seasons don’t really make sense, especially depending on where you’re at in the world. I agree. I love his notion of the Locking and Unlocking times. We’re leaving Estivation, on our way to Wintering. The wheel turns.

I definitely reawaken at the end of summer. I also seem to have a burst of energy at the beginning of the calendar year. How about you? What’s your favorite season?

Don’t forget to look up at the night sky this weekend - you’ll see the Harvest Moon. NASA gives us all the details here.

Fallow Fields

They say the full moon is a time to harvest your endeavors. I want to tell you about a new quilt, Fallow Fields, that was born out of frustration at unrealized efforts.

Fallow Fields​
Reclaimed garments, reclaimed linens, hand-dyed cotton, and other fabrics, machine pieced and quilted. 39”h x 41”w. $850. Click here to purchase.​

Back in 2016 I was invited to produce a series for (the now-closed) Current Studio’s Art of the Month Club. I made a series of small quilts I called the Current Blocks. I got on a roll and made more than were needed; some remained unfinished in my generously-named “works in progress” bin.

Earlier in 2022 I emptied that bin and spent a few minutes feeling frustrated at all the projects I wanted to make but haven’t made/had time for. I spotted several unfinished Current Blocks and decided to take action: I cut them up. (Quilters get to do this a lot; it’s so liberating!)

Here’s my design wall with those pieces, plus a few fragments pulled from my fabric stash. It felt fabulous to turn frustration into a new creation!

I’m sharing this story to bring you a particular message:

You have permission to start over.
You are allowed to stop or change something that isn’t working.
You are allowed to take an old thing and transform it into a new thing.
Sometimes a thing needs to lie fallow before it can become what it is.

Ta-daa! Feel that fresh energy? (whoosh, whoosh, fairy dust)

snippet.the-socials

The View From Up There

Quilting and mapping have so much in common. I’ve started a swipe file of screenshots from this Google Earth browser extension - so many of the images are begging to be quiltified! I guess I’ll add them to the “Future Projects” stack…

Now Accepting Commissions for Custom Quilts!

Would you like your very own quilt inspired by a Google Earth view? Let's make it happen! Visit my Commissions page to get started.

A GIF For Those Who Read This Far

…may you live in your season.

See you next time,
xoxo Sarah