So I’ve been a designer at C&T for almost 8 years, and I still consider myself a “newbie sewer”. I know! How is THAT possible? I work in an office full of sewing/quilt-making experts eager to give new sewers like me some guidance and I haven’t taken advantage of it! But you know, it can be quite intimidating. I watch these talented women share their amaaaazing projects that they literally whip out in one weekend…hand-dyed fabrics perfectly pieced together, harmonious color/pattern combinations, flawless bindings, imaginative block settings, lovely quilting…and I think to myself, “who cares about my silly little project that I fumbled over for weeks?”

I might feel like my project is alright at home, you know, “not bad” for a newbie, but as soon as I muster up the courage to bring it to show the C&T Quilt-making Goddesses, every single little flaw jumps out at me and I stand there, my face red with embarrassment. After all, I’ve laid out well over 50 books on quilt-making, you would think that I would have gained SOME knowledge from all of that imagery and instructional text! But I don’t learn by reading, I learn by doing and I’ve been frozen by intimidation.

What am I so afraid of? These are some of the C&T Quilt-making Goddesses just waiting to help me with my latest project.

I remember back to my figure drawing days when our instructors preached the importance of drawing every day, no matter what it was. As difficult as it was sometimes to sit down with my journal and my marking tool of choice, I was always glad I did it. I became more confident and was able to stop focusing so much on the technique but rather on the content that was inspiring me. I miss that ritual and that connection with myself and I’m realizing that I am missing out on an opportunity to become acquainted with a new art form. I’m surrounded by creative, enthusiastic, and amazingly supportive sewers that are always happy to look at anything I’m making, no matter how imperfect it is. It’s time to thaw out and get sewing!

So…

I am going to commit to completing one sewing project each week—I have a 22 month old, so I am giving myself a week instead of one day. I will post my meager little projects because while critiques can be intimidating, I always learn from them and they give me motivation to keep going. As much as I’d like to jump right in to making a quilt, I think the best thing for me to do is start small. Baby steps, Kristy, baby steps.

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