A Very Productive Day at the Lake

It's Memorial Day weekend and the traditional kickoff to summer! With an extra long winter of record breaking snowfall and an extremely cold and wet spring, the warm temperatures are greatly welcomed.

Being the first nice weekend in over a month, it was tempting to stay at home and work on gardening or one of the many other chores that seem to pile up.  As is typical for me, I began the weekend with a post-it note to do list of things I wanted to accomplish.

All of the to dos were tossed aside when my husband suggested a day at the lake. Sometimes the most important thing you can do is nothing at all. To stay creative and to create work that evokes emotion, you must slow down from time to time.  Create space to observe, to breathe, to feel.

I have always sung along to this Fiona Apple song, Waltz (Better than Fine) but never subscribed to its message:

If you don't have a date
Celebrate
Go out and sit on the lawn
And do nothing
'Cause it's just what you must do
Nobody does it anymore
No I don't believe in the wasting of time,
But I don't believe that I'm wasting mine

Instead of viewing the time as being unproductive, it should be viewed as quite essential and necessary.  You never know when that quiet moment in your head will spark an idea.  The color combination of a stroll through your garden can reappear as the color story for a quilt. An interaction seen while observing the company around you will bring about a question in which to answer through paint. The point is that for me, being productive by doing nothing is something I need to remind myself. (and not by putting it on my to do list...)

The Changing Face of Creativity

 

Lately I find myself on instagram pouring over the #memademayposts and feeling inspired by the creativity.  In case you are not familiar, during the month of May, people post pictures of themselves wearing their hand made items. It can be anything that you made but mostly it's posts of wearable items.

When I first started to sew, it was to make clothing. I always wanted to be a fashion designer long before the days of Project Runway.  I would spend hours picking out my pattern and make myself all types of clothing; from pajama pants to a lined suit!  Once I got to high school I even began making my own patterns.

Somewhere along the way I decided to quilt which then evolved into what I do now-  mixed media stitched art pieces as well as the meditative stitching on the side. I completely lost all desire to sew clothing of any kind.  And now here I am, back to the beginning wanting to make clothes.

Interesting how the desire to create is a constant but the subject matter is ever changing. Our life circumstances play a big role in this. Before I started my own business, time was never an issue. I think that is why doing something precise and structured like pattern making, garment sewing and even quilting was more enjoyable for me.  As my time became more scarce, the desire to be spontaneous and use creating as an escape mechanism took precedence over creating a functional piece of clothing. The meditative stitching grew from a need for more relaxation and balance.

So what does it mean that I want to get back into garment sewing?  It certainly is not due to an abundance of time!  Maybe the answer is not so deep. Sewing today is much different than when I was sewing as a kid.  Prior to the internet, you were limited to the small selection of fabrics at the local fabric shop and patterns from McCalls, Simplicity or Butterick. These days you can buy patterns from unique young indie designers, fabric of any kind from all over the world and see endless pictures for inspiration.  I already have a project in mind.  We will see what happens and if this creative urge sticks!