Morning Make September 2020

Another month of painting. More focus this time.

With the kids returning to school I really, really needed something both a bit quicker than my doodles of last month but also still meditative. I decided to draw and paint a series of quilt blocks and turned them into cards.

My knowledge of traditional quilt blocks is not terribly deep so I pulled some classics off the book shelf for inspiration. I still used my quilting ruler, but wielding a pencil instead of a rotary cutter. My trusty watercolours and a black marker for outlining rounding out the supplies.

For the most part I limited myself to just a single block in the painting. Sometimes, however, you need a few repeats for good effect. With each block I played with colour in my paint choices, but not really anything fancy. I am no watercolour artist, but I am definitely improving. At the very least I am capturing what I want and that makes me happy.

Now I have a collection of 30 cards!

Which really means, now I have a collection of letters and notes to write. Would you like one? We could all use some happy mail these days.

The first 25 people to send me an email to cheryl@cherylarkison.com with a return mailing address and a short request will get a card. Please include a bit about yourself or your online presence so I can truly personalize these.

Exclamation Points!!

I’m not sure I’m done saying the words that need the exclamation points, but it seems I am doing sewing the exclamation points.

This 100% Covid inspired quilt top is now ready for a date under the needles to turn it into a quilt. That’s the point when I can be more reflective, maybe a bit more quiet, possibly a tiny bit excited. Or still saying a lot of things!

Free Video Tutorial! for this block.

We are still very much in Covid times. We are still very much in a reckoning regarding Black Lives Matter and a strong need for anti-racist actions. We are still tired, stressed, privileged, scared, bored, anxious, frustrated, angry, grieving, and maybe a tiny bit hopeful. We still very much need words that end with exclamation points.

Here, our kids are back in school. We had a choice between online and in person. Our kids are social creatures and the numbers, while not good, are low enough with regard to community spread (at the moment) to make us feel okay with their return. We’ve already had one round of isolation and a test for a kid with a cold, so we’ll see how it all pans out going forward. For now they are happy to have some routine and greater social interactions than the 4 families we bubbled with. And, thankfully, they all wear their masks and understand the rules.

With them in school I have some semblance of a routine developing. I’m trying to catch up on our family business. I’m also starting some online teaching. Right now it is all through guilds and stores, but Zoom is indeed a remarkable platform for delivering classes. It’s working for me. I’m even managing a bit of yoga and dog walks while still feeding sourdough and stress baking cookies!

It’s all good, until it isn’t. As we’ve been saying to the kids since March, we take this one day at a time.

Morning Make July 2020

How has your creativity been during Covid? Creative action is fantastic, but true bursts of inventive creativity? In full force or nowhere to be found?

A lot of what I’ve been doing in the past 5 months is forced action. Most definitely creative actions - painting, sewing, fabric play, sketching - but little of it is true creativity. The kind of creativity where your brain and body get excited by new ideas has not been happening. There is little space or energy for it in dealing with the day to day these past months, and still.

That being said, sometimes it is good to force the issue a little.

So for July that is exactly what I did. I haven’t been writing much at all this year. I want to, but the energy and inspiration are just not there. My friend Kate says that sometimes you just have to get your butt in the seat and do it. I wasn’t going to be able to tackle the essays or novel I started, that I knew, but I decided to force the creativity by writing down story ideas each and every day. None of these were anything that I’d thought of before. Instead, each morning, I would take my pen and my book and stare at the abyss (or my desk artwork courtesy of Bari J Ackerman, Andrea Tsang Jackson, Tim Johnston, Marissa Cummings, and my daughter) and extract something from my brain. It wasn’t easy and it definitely isn’t pretty. But it was absolutely worth it.

At the end of the month I had some good ideas there. Some not so good, but some well worth pursuing. I also had motivation again for writing. I got two articles done and started a picture book manuscript. I’ve also been able to brainstorm some new things not even related to writing. But the juices are flowing a little and that makes a world of difference.

More than I once I’ve said that creativity begets creativity. There are times when the movements of a creative action are enough. Other times you have to grab the wand and grudgingly pull the ideas out of your head. Once you do though? Magic!

Not Reaching Your Goals is NOT a Failure

54 is decidedly not 44.

A year ago I set an intention to finish quilts. I had 54 projects on the Quilts Under Construction list. So, in the year I was 44 I thought it would be am good idea to get that list down to 44. It seemed reasonable. It is reasonable. And I did finish 6 projects. Some of those held long time spots on the list, or short spots. Some were started and finished in one go. I did, however, start a number of projects as well. They are taking up room on the list as blocks or completed quilt tops.

So be it.

In a few days I turn 45 and 45 is 54 backwards. That tiny fact appeals to me. Since I can’t be 44 forever, and I still don’t have 44 projects on the Quilts Under Construction list then I will hang on to this little tidbit of cheer.

And really, when it comes down to it, I don’t care about that number. I don’t care that I started more than I finished this year. Why? Because it all represents the joy of making. The process is so, so great. I don’t want to get hung up on the number of finished quilts. If that is all I wanted then I could just go buy a quilt at the mall. Okay, maybe not right now, but you get the point.

As I look through my master list I am reminded on projects started for specific reasons and that memory makes me smile. I see projects that started as a moment of play that grew and grew. I see old projects that I am, admittedly, a little sad, aren’t getting their time in the sun. I see quilt tops I am anxious to quilt (and the 4 big pieces of batting I bought recently calling their names).

Mostly, I see my time invested in myself. That’s right, not invested in the projects, in myself. That’s because this is 80% about my mental health and finding joy in the creative act and 20% about making a quilt. And this past year, especially these past few months, have been stressful and busy. Without a creative practice like quilt making I definitely would be full of anxiety and tears. Those things are there, but I can manage them because I make.

Long time readers will probably think I sound like a broken record. I can’t argue with that. Right now though, we need to see this more than ever. Make for the sake of making.

So on my distanced birthday this year I will likely get a few stitches in a few different projects and none will get finished. It will be glorious. One of these days I will get down to 44, or maybe even less? Or maybe I won’t.