Ties to the Past

My husband and I checked into the hotel. After we freshened up, we walked to a nearby restaurant for an early. dinner. During our evening conversation, I mentioned that I would sleep in and join him later the next morning after I stopped by a quilt shop. He thought that was a terrific idea and asked me if I was looking for anything in particular. As a matter of fact, I was looking for something to go with a colorful quilt that I was designing. Some Laurel Burch fabric would coordinate beautifully, and the shop in town carried her fabric line.

The next morning, after a quick breakfast, I walked downtown to the quilt shop. As I got closer, I saw a large sign on the glass door that read "Sorry we missed you - Closed for Remodeling - open in 2 weeks". Oh no, I was so disappointed. Looking through the front windows, I could see lovely bolts of fabric to the right, with an area taped off with plastic sheeting. Sure enough, they were in the midst of renovating.

I walked back to the hotel. Just as I turned the corner and had the entrance in sight, it started to drizzle. It seemed that the weather connected with my heart. I texted my husband that I was going to stay at the hotel - I brought plenty of reading materials and workbooks, so I would keep myself busy.

From the 2nd floor covered patio, I sat with a small notepad and wondered what I was going to write. Then, inspiration took over and I decided to draw the Laurel Buch fabric I wanted to purchase. I hadn't really begun my doodling practice, yet - it was a couple of years prior to losing our house in the wildfires - I just felt the need to draw something!

For the next 3 hours, I visualized a yard of fabric and what design I would like to see. I focused on the shapes, not colors or a repeating pattern. After some time, my husband texted that he was on his way back and would see me in a few minutes. I was emotionally exhausted but creatively inspired and when I turned the pages of the notepad, I counted 11 designs! I saw that I had even named a few: Tri-Gratitude, Cat Tails, Heart Waves and Tag-Along.

FAST FORWARD

One of the go-bags that we loaded into the car (in August 2020) held some of my workbooks, my writings, other book projects and the small notepad with the Laurel Burch-inspired drawings.

I had just finished writing a short-short-story about a quilt with a few satin tumbling blocks. Some of the fabric in the un-labeled quilt reminded me of neckties so the story's title became "Ties to the Past". In the short story, you'll discover what else Monica finds while sorting through Iris's cedar chest.

"When we think of the past it's the beautiful things we pick out. We want to believe it was all like that." ~Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale

As I still am working to fine-tune my 'signature style' for my fabric designs, I wasn't planning on designing a fabric for each short story. However, I referred back to my notepad recently and found the drawing with neckties and christened it "Ties to the Past".

With this post, I have attempted to neatly tie my pattern designs, creative process and short-stories all together. The writer Jodi Picoult stated, "You might not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can't edit a blank page."

I have found that inspiration often does begin with a blank page and pen to paper. I would have never thought I could create 11 designs in a 3 hour session. I hope you save all of your doodles, writings, and notes and refer back to them for inspiration on your creative journey.

Thank you for stopping by.

XOXOX