Making Friday: More haste…

Honestly, I can be such a nitwit.

Every week in my studio, I’ve been merrily hand-printing linen panels for a quilt I want to make. So much fun!

In the back of my mind I’ve known I ought to have washed the linen first (for shrinkage), but I was too impatient.

Now I’ve finally tested a piece of the linen for shrinkage, and… well, it shrank. A lot.

So now I’ve bunged all my printed linen into the wash, and am chewing my nails to see how it survives.

It’s been a bit upsetting, but it’s revealed something to me too:

When I felt I had no time to get to the studio, this kind of impatience was understandable. Huge gaps between studio visits meant no continuity of process, so it didn’t really matter what I made, because it seldom really went anywhere. Studio time was too intermittent to be very impactful.

But this year – The Year of the Studio – I’ve been keeping a promise to myself: Every week, I spend one full day in the studio. And the result of keeping my promise? I’m able to tackle a longer-term project (like a quilt) and reasonably expect to finish it.

Does that sound obvious? It is, I know. But after the last 3 years, where my business has dominated all my time, and creative exploration has been squeezed into the occasional weekend or evening, it’s something I’ve needed to re-learn.

So now, even if my quilt shrinks appallingly, the whole thing makes me feel very lucky. Because I can start again! And now that I’ve re-established my weekly Making Friday, my studio practice can encompass all aspects of the process, good and bad.

Funny how mistakes can make you feel good sometimes.