Between illnesses and a writing conference, I haven’t had the time I thought I would in April to work on my March project-of-the-month. As a result, I extended my already extended deadline so I could finish it before May. At first, I was really excited about finishing this project. My interest waned, but I finished it after the universe gave me an unexpected reminder.
Initially, I was on fire. I was going to complete my oldest unfinished project! (I started “Japanese Fran Dance” twenty-six years ago.) And I had finally solved the problem that caused me to set it aside, the background. Best of all, I’d had a bright idea, a change that would speed up the process.
The idea for how to assemble this project came from a talk by an art quilter, so maybe it’s no surprise that I planned this as a quilt. My brainwave was to realize that it didn’t have to be. It’s destiny was to hang on the wall. As long as I finished all the seams neatly, I could put the figures on a single layer of fabric and call it done.
It wasn’t that simple, of course. After I popped some stitches removing the pattern papers, I had to stitch around every piece of fabric to make sure things would stay together, sometimes twice. Important details required hand-embroidery so they wouldn’t disappear. There were ribbons, patches, and a label to sew on, plus I had to figure out how to hang it.
And I got sick. Twice.
Sticking with a single project for weeks on end is not my forte. I took breaks in addition to being sick to play with other crafts. While art journaling, I found a newspaper article about my aunt and her Japanese dance group in my ephemera. I didn’t even know I had it. But it was this propensity of hers, to dance wherever life took her, that originally inspired this wallhanging.
That article was the kick in the butt I needed to get back to sewing. I’ve had to force myself to sit down to the sewing machine, and I’ve had to talk myself into being okay with less than perfect results. It’s taken way more discipline than I imagined, back when I thought “I could finish this — fast!”
82″ x 60″
It was not a fast finish. But it was an important one. I’m really pleased to finally have this tribute to my aunt Fran completed.
Maybe you’ve been putting too much pressure on yourself, Kit. It’s supposed to be fun and make you happy. Maybe ease off a little bit??
Maybe. I think being sick was what did my in. I was sick for two weeks, got better, then wound up in the ER and was sick for another two weeks. It’s not surprising that I got depressed. I am definitely going to take it easy for the next few days… and might take May off from my monthly project. We’ll see how I’m feeling next week.