Patience and Acceptance - quilt update

Anyone who knows me well, knows that patience is not a strong suit of mine, but rather impatience is my strength.  When I embarked on this challenge in January 2015 I knew that I would be pushed to a level of quilting that I had never dared travel.  Each month I would receive in the mail, the latest packet of fabric for the next block of this quilt.

As background, I am not a detailed quilter.  I choose patterns, that are easy and elegant and I buy beautiful fabric that covers up the mistakes I make because of my lack of attention to detail. Until this project that is...............

Over the years I have learned techniques to ameliorate my lack of attention to detail.  In the third block of this quilt I learned about a scant 1/4 inch seam and used it for the rest of the quilt.  I also have used a technique to line up seams for about 10 years that definitely helps in my accuracy.  But truth be told, I cannot be bothered to get more detailed than these two methods.  I LOVE the quilts that I have created with all of their beauty and blemishes.

Some changes happened during the last few days with "Breakthrough" (name of my quilt).  I became more patient with myself and did not judge my skills.  I accepted that I will never be one of those detailed quilters who win awards for their sewing.  I actually stopped sewing when I felt frustration coming on and got up the next morning to find the solution right before my eyes.  I asked for visual and artistic help from my artist husband, accepted the input, and then told him when his job of advising me was done.  I also do not have to quickly move to finish this quilt.  I won't abandon it as I did in the last 8 months.  The next major part is to put the borders on, which requires a certain amount of accuracy and learning from my mistake with the last big quilt I made, I need to pay attention.

I left the quilt out on the floor, and walked by it 30 times during the day and realized that I am pretty happy with the result, with my patience with myself and with the quilt.

I also did some seam ripping on this quilt that I would have glossed over in the past.  There were two areas that obviously had to be fixed or I would not be happy.  The solution in both cases made it so my eye did not go straight there.  These represent my interpersonal work.  I am not perfect, never will be in fact.  Just as everybody else, I am doing the best I can with the hand I was dealt and the tools I have.

I am on a roll with "Breakthrough" and will be pausing any work on it for the next week.

Nancy, my first and longest friend flies in today from Nebraska and we are traveling to our family reunion in Vermont.  When we get together we revert to 5 years olds again, and we also act as the wise 62 year olds that we have grown into, if only for a brief fleeting moment.  In Vermont we will be joined by many other family members, those close to us, those we last saw as teenagers, and those we have never met.  It is great to have done this work on patience and acceptance as we travel north to be a part of this larger family gathering.