Projects to which I must refuse

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The smaller version of the Ice Cream Soda block; while I adore this block, an entire quilt of them isn't in the cards.

 A few weeks ago I considered taking on yet another English paper pieced quilt. I bought some papers, just to make a few blocks, which I did, and while I enjoyed stitching those blocks, when adding the attaching diamonds, I realized fashioning an entire quilt in that manner wouldn't actually be something for which I'd be thrilled. I then made the same block in small shapes (see above), mostly because I already had the smallest pieces basted, inadvertently tucked away for this precise moment in time. Past Me nods, with a sly smirk attached, while Future Me shrugs, not willing to give anything away. But in my heart, I've accepted that this particular pattern, while still tugging on my soul, isn't for me.

Book ideas are similar, characters and plots that call to me like sirens, aching to be realized in manuscript form, not merely languishing in my head. And yet.... Instead I'm writing something that hit me with a sledgehammer earlier this year. Will those other stories ever emerge, I can't say. Well probably not, but I'm not going to carve that in stone. Yet most likely those tales will live in my memories, some sketched out in longhand or in brief notes on my phone. Yes, I make book notes on my mobile because sometimes I don't have pen and paper but I usually possess my phone.

Half of Alexandra, the other side much the same.

It's tough saying No Thanks to a design or idea, in that when something catches my fancy I feel obliged to give it all due consideration, assuming it's a go until it's really not. I still have no plan for my Alexandra EPP (shown above). Right now it's a large circle, taking up space on the banister (not to mention all the basted pieces, many stitched together, that dwell in a tote downstairs). It could be hand-appliqued to a large piece of fabric, made into a wall hanging or enlarged with borders, becoming a lap quilt. Then there's a 40K story that I haven't written off completing, begun shortly after we moved to Humboldt County, based upon said county, lol. Maybe when I finish the current WIP, unless upon completion of that saga another plot muscles its way into the fray, bumping off older ideas like an assassin. Somewhat brutal, I accept, but that is often how projects usurp one another in my crafty life. One helluva plot or pattern stage a coup, and the hapless remnants slink away, hiding in totes or flash drives for an opening.

It's just how life goes sometimes, great ideas unable to come to fruition. I don't (overtly) berate myself for moving on because life is short and positive creative output sometimes looks a little devious from the outside. Maybe orphaned books aren't salvageable, but experimental EPP blocks will eventually be put to some use. And those stories gathering virtual dust in my Novels Not Currently Under Construction folder upon my computer had some worth, even last year's NANAWRIMO bust, which I lamented in a previous post. All writing and sewing matters, if only for the practice of the craft. Yet not only for practice, but purpose, in that I did write this or that, just as I sewed this or that. Nothing may come of any of it, other than self-satisfaction of time spent doing something I love.

That's why I write, sew, etc. I am actively engaged in something so meaningful to me. Quite a blessing indeed.

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