What I haven't said

Tete-a-Tete

What I haven't said is that I finished this quilt, sometime over a week ago.

I'm really pleased with this, and feel that I have reached a certain level that I was aiming at. Unfortunately, reaching that level then sent me into a tail-spin.  Now what? was all I could think.  

I wont go into all the self-abusing thoughts that then ensued, because that isn't helpful.  But I kept going back to Tete-a-Tete, and thinking about the experience of making that quilt.  It was tedious, in that I actually made pattern pieces for almost every piece of fabric used in the quilt. But there was something zen-like in doing it that way; it brought me, mentally, to a different place.  I was in the moment, not trying to hurry up and finish.  I was taking my time, and enjoying it, so that in that sense, it wasn't tedious at all.  I realized I was enjoying the precision of the process.

Precision was a word I grabbed onto.  What connotations does the word have for me?  It was then that I discovered a new direction for my quilts, and made this sketch:

Now, this sketch is small - under 12 inches square.  And it came from an earlier sketch that included many more fiddly bits. I cleaned up that sketch to create this composition, which has just the right amount of fiddly bits to suit me.  I was particularly fascinated with the idea of machine parts and tools going into the composition of a quilt.  It seems like boy things going into a girly craft.  Just seems, I said.  Don't get all weird about that comment.  So, here it is all made up:

Artwerk #1