Who thinks this stuff up?

How do you go from this

to this?

Who looks at a mountain and says, “I think I’d like to see George Washington’s face on that mountain.  And as long as I’m carving, why don’t I just add Tom and Teddy and Abe so George won’t be lonely.”  When I look at a mountain, I see rocks and not faces.  But Gutzon Borglum saw faces and went to work to be sure that we saw them also.  Some well placed explosives, drills, lots of time , blood, sweat and tears and there are four president’s faces looking back at you from the side of a mountain.

I get the thought process…the creative vision.  What I don’t get  is the actual process.  I don’t get how you look at this huge expanse of rock and say if I put X pounds of dynamite in this little, drilled hole and press the plunger, I’ll have Washington’s nose big enough to see it in Wyoming.  Well, maybe not Wyoming, but you get the idea.  Someone had the patience and vision to take a small sculpture and reproduce it on a grand scale.

Aren’t we quilters similar to Borglum?  Obviously, not on such a grand scale….although who wouldn’t want to see a quilt the scope of Mount Rushmore?  I think if I had time I could piece it and still have stash left over!  But we are very much like the sculptor.  We take a piece (or pieces) of fabric and we see a quilt.  And we all have our own vision.  I know that I could show a piece of fabric to ten different quilters and see ten different visions.  Some would see flowers, some would see faces, some would see landscapes and some would see abstract shapes.  We would all see something different…something uniquely “me”.  And we would create something that may be similar to something else; (I adhere to the theory that there is very little that’s new under the quilting sun.)  but at the same time, something that speaks to us alone.  And the best part is that we can do it without one stick of dynamite!  Unless we want to…….

I feel vindicated….

I wonder if many of you are like me.  I have a love/hate relationship with quilt shows.  I love to see the quilts.  I hate that I can’t touch them!  I practically have to walk through with my hands tied behind my back.  There’s always the quilt with that little thread on it that begs me to remove it.  I have to walk away fast!

I love the diversity of many of the shows.  People do things with fabric I would never dream of doing.  I always wonder why their minds work differently from mine.  Why didn’t I think of that?

I leave most shows with mixed emotions.  On one hand I am extremely inspired.  I want to go home and lock myself away in my room and sew for days.  And then, on the other hand, I feel woefully inadequate.  Why can’t I make quilts like these?  Why can’t I make a beautiful applique quilt?  Why can’t I make a stunning art quilt?  Why is it I don’t stitch tiny pieces of fabric together in a quilt that looks like a photograph?  Why don’t I put shape and color together to create movement or convey emotion?

I struggle with these questions after every quilt show.  And I have an answer.  I don’t want to.  It’s really pretty simple.  I just don’t want to.  Having said that, I then struggle with these questions….why don’t I want to grow as a quilter?  Why don’t I want to step out of my comfort zone?  Why don’t I push myself?  Same answer…I don’t want to.  I’m happy with my traditional way of doing things.  It makes me happy.  We should do the things that make us happy.  Growth is nice but we don’t always have to grow.  I guess I’m like a little bonsai tree.  A bonsai quilter.

I was thumbing through the latest issue of American Quilter  admiring the winners of the Grand Rapid show and beating myself up because my quilts don’t look like these.   Then I came across and article about Marti Mitchell.  In this article, Marti says “There is  nothing wrong with quilters wanting to buy fabrics and make quilts for their families.”  It occurred to me that was a true statement!  I was vindicated!  I don’t have to step out of my comfort zone unless I want to!  That statement has given me the freedom to admire all of those quilts that I like to look at but have no desire to make and still feel like a quilter.

Hello, my name is Candy and I like to make Nine-Patches.  Wow!  It feels good to say that!