The beauty of living on the East Coast is getting to experience the four seasons.
Watching Nature change her clothes several times a year has given me a new appreciation
of the steps involved in quilt making. A few years ago a catalog bulb company made
an error in my order. Instead of one bushel of daffodil bulbs (200), they sent three!
I went feverishly to work that November planting 600 spring bulbs, not knowing the
wonderful surprise I would receive come March. The breathtaking display of yellow
in all its glory was only enhanced by the spring green background. It was a welcome sight
after a long, hard winter of gray, white and dull brown.
Spring is like buying a new piece of fabric. When I see it in the store I am taken
by the colors, mixtures that I've never considered before but which excite me, inspire
me, to a new quilt design. Spring is not shy about what colors she combines: deep
violet veined with orange in the Dutch Iris; dramatic Lilies of garnet and vivid yellow;
and mixing yellow with red or pink -- not a problem if you're a Tulip! I rush back
home and pull out fabrics from my cupboards which have been patiently waiting to
find life in a quilt. I fight back the urge to use plain muslin as a background fabric. After
all, winter with snowy grounds is over. Spring selects green without apologies as
her background fabric. I feverishly sew and play with new color combinations. This
is not unlike the rapid growth of spring -- new flowers and blooms each day from the palette
of Mother Nature. She only uses the very best paints, the truest colors, the finest
quality for the longest lasting display to delight those who view her work.
Summer comes and settles in slowly. After all, we can't keep up the pace of Spring
for long. The hues of Summer are deeper, richer, more mature. My quilting becomes
more relaxed. I've finished the piecing. I'm settling on a quilting design and I
mark the top and baste it in preparation. As I quilt it, I again enjoy the colors and pattern
I have chosen. My eyes travel over the surface, marveling at my boldness to include
yellow here and there amongst the purples, red, and taupe. Somehow it glows. I was
generous with the green just as Summer's foliage spreads out to enhance her non-stop blooms.
But all gardens must rest. They need to replenish themselves for next year's show.
Autumn is a different kind of busy. Some of my perennials need to be moved -- they
were too crowded or they would create a more striking presence if surrounded by another
plant. I dig up here, I plant new perennials and bulbs there in anticipation of another
Spring performance. It's time to clean up my fabric stash! I rediscover the beauty
of a piece that was hidden behind something else. I realize it would be perfect with
another new fabric I forgot about. All this moving, reorganizing is not wasted quilting
time. Things are happening beneath the surface. Roots are shooting out, establishing
a basis for another sensational display.
I'm not afraid of Winter. Even in my quilting. Things may come to a dead-stop. The
outside produces no new life. But it's just a resting period as things are happening
underneath. When I'm stuck on a project, a design, a quilt, I have learned to walk
away from it. I let it lie just like I do with my bulbs. In fact, if you keep digging them
up to see if they're growing you will destroy the work in progress! So, I let them
ruminate. They are sending out roots and I must not touch. I stop mentally straining.
After all, can you imagine a tulip bulb grunting in the ground trying to force itself
to grow? How silly! Time takes care of this effortless activity.
And so I turn to my garden catalogs for inspiration. It's such a cheap fix for those
of us craving Spring in December. I leaf through my quilting books and back issues
of quilting magazines. I gather inspiration from quilt shows. And, of course, I visit
my local fabric shops on a regular basis!
My yearning for Spring is almost unbearable. I want to create something new. When
the first green shoot of a crocus appears I am reassured that more is to follow.
I am relieved to see that Nature hasn't forgotten its promise to come again. My quilting
dry spell is over as I am once again inspired by another glorious piece of fabric. I have
visions of another project that I can sink my hands into just as deeply as the sun-drenched
earth. I am busy once more and my sewing room is wildly strewn with fabric just as Nature tosses her colors so boldly onto her canvas for all the world to see.
What a show!
Back to Quilter By Design Homesite
This page has been accessed times