Some Kind of Wonderful

In the face of adversity, great things can occur.

I was doubting this last night when we lost power during a wind storm. This morning seemed as bleak. Rather than working on the second Splendid Sampler block (whimsical butterflies), I found myself in my quilt room this morning doing a little Spring cleaning.

For the last few years my primary quilting has been memorial quilts for other people. I loved the challenge of taking a pile of clothes and cutting and piecing until something magical came out of all that sadness. But it drained me and took the joy out of quilting. There were weeks when I couldn't open the door to the quilt room.

And then this Winter I moseyed back in and worked on my log cabin quilt. I always have a simple, mindless scrap project to pick up and put down. I've been piecing this one for 10 years. After completing my block, I realized I only needed two more for the center of a quilt.

And then The Splendid Sampler came along. I only intended to watch (just like I watch the Stitch-along group). I loved seeing the heart blocks filling my Facebook feed, nudging out the political posts and the Flint Water Crisis rants. When the butterflies appeared, I was hooked. There's no way I can keep up with two blocks a week, work, geocache and continue with my online courses, but I can work on the ones I like and make a pretty wall hanging from it.

So this morning, without power, I found myself back in the quilt room cleaning off the table and putting unneeded fabric away. And, lo! What did I find?

My Some Kind of Wonderful project! 

Look how beautiful it is! And look how many blocks I completed! And this is not all of them. I even found two more in stages of completion! I had safely tucked them away so all the blocks, pattern pieces and fabric were in one place. After my successful Splendid Sampler heart the other night, I have the urge to pull out my appliqué needles again.

I admit now that when I started this project I was potentially setting myself up to fail. To learn how to appliqué starting with a full size quilt is insane! My mistake was not allowing myself time to learn at my own pace. Which makes it so sweet pulling this old friend out of the pile and picking it up when I can. 

Hey, if it takes 10 years to make a log cabin quilt, why am I rushing my applique quilt?