Show'n'Tell Topic

This weeks show'n'Tell is an awesome one...

I love reading what Sarah has to say each week

when she offers up the weekly topic and this week 

is no exception...

As Sarah wrote this week for DDs Quilting & Crafting Group 

see the topic at the end of the post...

I’m going to try and not get too convoluted about next week’s Show and Tell topic though it is pretty interesting, well to me anyway. Another reason why I wished I lived closer to everyone. This topic would certainly inspire a couple of hours of great conversation and coffee. Perhaps some bakery items but to be honest, I’m not a huge fan of Starbucks bakery. Plus I’m back at school - UVA having received the official word that I was accepted into their PhD program in psychology. One of my coping skills is when I hit a wall about trying to understand the human condition, I add another degree. lol. Plus I want to just finish my trilogy so it's a good thing.

In 2015 Mark Lipinsky started this group and, I guess philosophy pertaining to creativity. Slow Stitching basically inspires people to slow down the actual process of creating so that one can enjoy the activity; that “enjoyment is spent that has a positive effect on the body, on what you create and your legacy.” I love that, said the person who owns an Instant Pot, an Accuquilt, a Walking foot, sewing machines that can FMQ and the fastest internet speed on the face of the planet. I am always appreciative of anything that makes quilting easier. I thrive on shortcuts but I’m not too sure that “fast” is conducive. I do wonder about future generations who attach themselves to the process of quilting but may never experience how to cut a piece of fabric when they have something like an Accuquilt at their disposal. The process of hand quilting may indeed become a lost art in lieu of FMQ, which is an art in and of itself but a long arm makes that process (FMQ) faster than hand quilting. And of course, sewing machines that zoom across a piece of fabric instead of hum. Oh, and I have one of those machines that zoom.

Sometimes the rationalization of faster is due to the limited amount of time that pushes people into a mind frame of “getting it done the fastest way possible. Moving on to the next project becomes a goal and I wonder what that does to not only the creative process but to the actual enjoyment of the time spent making a quilt. Shortcuts are appreciated but shortcuts may spill into the reality of life where instant gratification takes priority over delayed gratification. I for one think shortcuts are a privilege rather than a right. For myself, learning how to do things “old school” creates the underpinnings of having a solid base of understanding how things actually come together and especially answers the question of “why.”

When Sophie was a child (and this couldn’t be a Show and Tell Monday if it didn’t mention my gem. I’ve learned so much from being her mom that that knowledge does spill over into quilting) we didn’t have velcro shoes. All of her shoes had laces so that she could tie her shoes and understand the concept of tying laces, a skill that should be acquired and practice before allowing a shortcut. We also got rid of all of our digital clocks so that she could learn to tell time using a face clock with numbers and with Roman numerals so that time wasn’t just reciting numbers on a digital clock but actually understanding the concept of whole numbers along with minutes and seconds. We would rather have heard “the big hand is on the 5 and the little hand is on the 12” then a just a recitation of numbers.

I like taking my time when I have something under my sewing machine needle. I don’t like to be rushed and usually, when I hear “shortcut” my mind is already wondering what was the traditional way…what am I missing…fill me in and let me decide which way I want to go? Slow and steady is my basically my motto when I create. One part of the philosophy of the Slow Stitching group is that of legacy. To me, it doesn’t matter if I finish something quickly where I end up with a thousand quilts, bags, mug rugs, embroidered stuff but through that rush and the acquisition of so many projects my neck and back ached, I skipped knowledge, I missed time spent with Mark, Sophie or my friends and family or the worse yet, I can’t remember having actually made something because it got lost in that rush. I gave my brother and his wife this quilt I had made last year and it was nice being able to tell them the details of how the quilt was made instead of having a blur. The quilt wasn’t just a pattern and fabric but the representation of what was going on in my life at the time.

Show and Tell Monday, April 23 - Tell us about one traditional skill you have acquired that you refuse to relinquish to a “short-cut”

Have a GREAT weekend!

Thanks again for another great topic, Sarah...

come back on Monday to see our Video, or better still 

Join our Facebook Group and Join the Fun...You can do this 

by clicking on the little pink heart at the top of the page.

'Till Next time 

Happy Quilting & Crafting ") N