Current Events

We were in lovely western North Carolina this week where I attended the Fiber Arts Alliance meeting on Tuesday. We did some country road driving so that I could take photos for fiber art pieces I am planning. There's nothing like the mountains in the Spring.





I'm working on small projects this week for String Quilt samples for my lecture and class. Hand dyed scraps will come in handy for today's work...

I also have to do a lot of "sitting" or at least non-standing for a while. About 7 years ago I had a total reconstruction of my left foot due to rheumatoid arthritis, and now my right foot has blown a flat. The last surgery had a 1-year recovery time: no closed toe shoes for a year, hard cast and pins sticking out of my toes for 6 weeks, walking cast for 6 months, then months of learning to walk with crutches, cane and then alone. Marathon recovery.

Hopefully after 7 years some things have changed in the world of surgery, but there's probably no chance that this surgery will ever be done with a scope. At the end of it all, I got a "pretty" foot that worked like it hadn't worked in 28 years. It was well worth all the trouble. I'm trying to remember that as I limp around this week.

Love your feet today.

Creativity

I just checked out Melody Johnson's Fibermania blog and she had a wonderful YouTube video by Elizabeth Gilbert. It is 19 minutes long and is a wonderful talk concerning creativity. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Where does your creative inspiration come from?

Sometimes my inspiration comes from hanging an unfinished quilt on the wall. I will wait for the inspiration to appear, and it always does. Sometimes I go to sleep thinking about a creative problem and awake in the middle of the night with the answer...and have to get up to write it down. I always carry paper and pen to jot down ideas.

I love string piecing and see ideas for string quilts almost everywhere...the trees in the yard, leaves, wood grain, waves, movement, windows, mountains, photos, landscapes, water, sunlight. When I am ready, I never doubt that the ideas will appear.

I am disabled due to rheumatoid arthritis, and in many ways it has been a wonderful gift. I have the time to be creative, and a body that insists on regular breaks and good rest rather than constant activity. Constant activity kills creative inspiration for me. I would never have discovered this truth if I had not become disabled. This is one more reason that I believe in a Higher Power.