Sticks & Stones

Can I be really vulnerable with you for a minute? Of course I can. It's my blog, lol :)

As I've mentioned before here, I recently went through a creative rut. Finishing up my book coincided with giving birth to this guy (now nearing 2):

So not only did I have the huge letdown of coming off of a huge project finish, but I also had the crazy life-altering phase of life which is having a baby. I love 'em, but let's just say they make showering, eating, sleeping, etc., a bit of a challenge (much less quilting time! ha!).

So I feel like I've been clawing my way upstream to get back into the groove. In order to find my way back into creating, I've been finishing up old quilt tops (like the Wuthering Heights project) and making quilts from patterns (like Tula's Butterfly Quilt and the White Rainbow quilt). I tweaked the pattern for Crackle, which was cut from the book for space reasons, and created that. I loved it! But as far as designing new quilts that visually and technically meshed with the quilts from my book - I've been stuck.

Finally, I decided just to move on. I'm sure I'll find that old groove again, but for now, I've been working in a different direction. Rather considering the quilts of Paper Pieced Modern as defining my style from here on out, I've decided to view it as a collection of sorts. They hang together. But it's time to move onto a new collection.

I've been working a lot on designs with tribal flair. Some of the quilts are finished, some are in progress, some are planned but not sewn. Some have been more successful than others. Some are more "me" than others. I'm pushing myself to try new styles of fabrics. And while not everything turns out how I envision it, I'm excited to start sharing these projects with you.

I have more I want to share with you about this 'collection', as well as some of the emotional ups and downs of the creative life - but for now, enough talk. Onto a quilt to share with you!