Around the World {Blog Hop}

My friend Heidi, of Fabric Mutt, invited me to participate in the Around the World Blog Hop. Thanks Heidi! *waves* The blog hop is a casual get to know you blog hop that goes from one blogger to another with the aim of getting a peek inside how our creative brains work.

Just how do I do what I do? What is it that I do? Who am I?! (Do you know? Please tell me! But seriously, do you ever feel like that? Everyone seems to know who and what they are, and I am just over here flailing about. I know others are like this so let me come out and say… I’m still figuring it out. And I’m fairly comfortable with that. Or I’ll let you know when I get to the end!)

Maybe I’ll just attempt to answer the questions? Yeah…

1. What am I working on… 

This month, I’m finishing up 2 quilt patterns for release. I’ll be self-publishing them as PDF downloads in late September, hopefully. I’m SUPER excited about them. Right now, awesome pattern testers are giving the patterns a whirl. In a few weeks time, I hope to be posting sneak peaks but for now I give you the quilt back of one.

Sorry that is obnoxious, but it could be my favorite quilt back of all time.

I did just finish the mini maple leaf quilts pictured through out! *high five*

2. How does my work differ from others in its genre … 

In short, I differ because I am me – whoever I turn out to be. I think what makes my work unique is my use of color, I like it. I like most of it. And I like a lot of it. I also like to work with a lot of singular shapes, not that that is all that unique.

I think what makes me really unique, is my tendency to straddle many lines. I love many genres, many specific and possibly unrelated parts of many genres. While I used get frustrated because I thought myself wishy-washy, frenetic, indecisive, and boring for not being able to identify a “style”. Now I’ve embraced this part of myself as not a weakness but a strength. If I can’t decide on whose category to fit myself into, then I will make my own category and take everything I love and moosh it all together to make one new awesome category that I love. And maybe indecision is a “style” after all because I’m not sure I want to be all that predictable.

But in the end, it turns out my style resembles a lot of what is being sold in the Crate & Barrel catalog. (Ironies and hypocrises abound!) So maybe I don’t differ that much at all. 😉

This one’s my favorite mini maple! 

3. Why do I write/ create what I do? 

WHY!!!!???? I ask you, why!!??? There are many times where I’ve run myself ragged doing what I do and I find myself asking why I do this to myself.

The answer struck me hard in the gut last year, while working on my book proposal. At the time, I didn’t know if my proposal would be accepted and I was constantly bothered by the doubting questions, “What if all this work is in vain? What if my proposal isn’t accepted? What if everything I was working on was a sand castle waiting for the tide?”

The answer came quietly and poignantly one day… I create because it is who God created me to be. Be it a masterpiece or complete garbage, the act of me creating and making are to glorify Him and for me creating/ making can be a form of worship. You know that sweet spot where creating can feel almost like a tangible, ecstatic energy? That but also the drudgery part of creating and making.

From that day on, I knew that I create because of God. I am His brush, he is the artist. He may use me as He purposes and I will (try to) be obedient.

4. How does my writing/ creative process work? 

There are probably a few different ways I approach a project, but I’ll talk about 3 because they are most salient.

It could be weird, but usually I get a flash or a vision of a shape or color scheme I want to work with. I can’t think about it too hard or directly otherwise it will disappear. I try to approach the vision peripherally if that makes sense. Once I have the vision, I sketch it out – first on paper then in illustrator. Sometimes, my sketches just stay in my sketch book to simmer or fester. Once, in illustrator I will make my virtual test blocks, play with layouts, and work out the math. Then if I like what I’ve been working on, I will make an actual test block, tweak the math or pattern. Then I will make the quilt. Sometimes, I will succeed in meeting my vision, but often times the finished product resembles my initial vision only slightly.

Other times, I just have an idea or a question that I want to work out without a finished product in mind. It’s more like me asking a question and making/ creating my way to an answer. What would happen if …? So I’ll give myself some constraints or rules, and let the creativity go from there.

And other times, I just want to make. Not necessarily create anything new. Take the maple leaves. Nothing new, I just wanted to make some maple leaves.

So that’s that. Now for next week’s Around the World hop … I’ve tagged Kristy of St. Louis Folk Victorian, who is just a riot and smart and stuff. Christa who shares her quilty adventures over at Christa Quilts. And finally Allison of Little Island Quilting.

Thanks for reading!