Motivation*

*quite different from inspiration!

Painting is just another way of keeping a diary. [Picasso]

I have been asked how I get my quilts completed in what seems to be a short period of time. Well, I am a "completer", I have no UFO's {Un-Finished Objects}at the moment, just several quilts in different stages. I like having 1- I am piecing, 1- I am quilting, with one on deck. I have something I can do at any given time, to fill the time I have available. This is my therapy, my relaxation, my expression, my true passion. When I do not have the opportunity to do my quilting, I feel crappy.  

At the moment I have just completed a charity quilt for a fund drive at work, I am hand sewing the binding on my "Sargasso", I have the binding of "Phases" ready to hand-stitch and a new quilt top completed, ready to layer and baste. Then, on deck is a Christmas quilt for my son's room. It is how I like to work and it has evolved over time.

That did not answer the question, though. 

The important thing is to create. [Picasso] 

I have a full-time job, leave the house at 7am, return at 6pm. Most nights, my husband and I walk the dogs, fix dinner, eat, chat, etc. Then I head up to the studio for 1-2 hours. Saturdays are generally errand days, but I like to get 2-3 hours in; Sundays I like to get 2-4 hours in. I usually select fabrics and lay out blocks on the weekends, I have the daylight then. And then I have my projects lined up for the following week.

My husband and I are involved in community and family, they are also a priority.

My quilting, is my gift to myself. When my son was young, I did not have the time for it. I made collages, scrap booked, beaded, did smaller projects that were easy to put down and pick up. My creative urges have always been there and part of my life journey has been exploring the ways to express them. I still sketch, now I sketch quilt layouts and quilting stitch designs. 

My quilting is a priority for me. I have to create. I have so many quilts in my head, I need to make them, to get them into the daylight. Perhaps that is just me. The quilts motivate me to make them, to bring them into the world.