Sewing Inertia

a confession and antidote

Do you suffer often from sewing inertia? That’s when your patchwork project stalls out and there just doesn’t seem to be a way to set it in motion again. The fabrics are chosen, maybe even cut, but you can’t seem to take more than a few stitches at a time.

When this happens to me, I try to see it as a signal rather than a failing. I have probably lost my sewjo for a reason. Maybe it’s the colors, maybe it’s the piecing itself, maybe it’s just the time in my life. Set the project aside and come back to it with fresh eyes. Sometimes that solves everything!

I started my Rosemary English paper piecing project last year, totally inspired by Jodi’s book The Seedling Quilts. I adore her version, but my version never really got legs. My vision of the quilt always felt blurry and thus I never really yearned to sew it. I think I would have had more success if I tried to imagine my own, totally personal version of Rosemary, rather than mostly trying to recreate Jodi’s.

I am craving a hand-sewing project that feeds my soul: something longterm and fussy-cut, a refreshing dose of creativity that I can take home with me from the studio and take on vacations, of course. Rather than forcing myself to redo Rosemary, I am starting something new (and donating Rosemary - Jodi gets first dibs, but let me know if you would like to do something with these sewn pieces).

Enter Evensong Quilt! This is another EPP pattern and kit available from Jodi of Tales of Cloth. The block is the traditional Rose Star, scaled to a generous size. I love Jodi’s quilt, but am going to take mine in a different direction so as not to get stuck in the same trap. Here goes!

Fortunately I have enough random leftover paper pieces from previous Tales of Cloth projects, plus several of her fantastic and super-handy acrylic rulers too. I am going to seize the moment and start stitching my first Evensong blocks right away, while I am waiting for proper reinforcements from down under.

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