Quilting - again

Recently I noted to a friend that I could easily see how you can sew your emotions into a quilt top, that the process of cutting and piecing and stitching mirrored your daily life and emotions. Sometimes everything goes smoothly and sometimes the thread breaks and you have to pick up the pieces, and rethread, check for tension, and learn when to put it away for the night. (And this is in the day of machine quilting - imagine what it was like when everything was pieced by hand)

Fern recently mentioned the quilts of "Gee's Bend" which I had never heard of, but am now a total fan (absolutely amazing - go check it out) . I also think that the following statement is oh so true, and would love to have the experience of a quilting bee - which is basically the sloggy part of the whole process.

"The women consider the process of "piecing" the quilt "top" to be highly personal. In Gee’s Bend, the top—the side that faces up on the bed—is always pieced by a quilter working alone and reflects a singular artistic vision. The subsequent process of “quilting” the quilt—sewing together the completed top, the batting (stuffing), and the back—is sometimes then performed communally, among small groups of women"

In my journey of artistic expression I have learned alot about myself from all different kinds of artwork. I draw silly but cheerful line drawings. I don't know alot about techniques of paints. I like to play around with different mediums and the journey is more important to me than the end product. Quilting has taught me the lesson of patience, measuring twice and cutting once, consistency and how to sew love from a pile of rags.