A Little Encouragement from Gwen Marston

Earlier this year I found Quilting with Style: Principles for Great Pattern Design by Gwen Marston & Joe Cunningham.  It's primarily a book about hand quilting -- choosing quilting designs, adapting patterns, about marking patterns, etc. -- with quilting encouragement throughout.  When I was reading it I didn't know about the Gwennie Inspired Medallion Quilt-Along, but the words below struck me then and now seem particularly appropriate as I work on my Gwenny quilt.  Great encouragement, I think.

     Working on quilts or any creative process can be lonely.  For us it helps to remember that we are not alone.  We are not the only ones who have ever felt intimidated, who have ever felt inadequate to the task, who have ever wondered why we started this in the first place, or who have ever gotten halfway through a quilt and had a sinking feeling that there was something wrong with it.
     These feelings are all part of the creative process.  Try not to worry about them.  Just keep working and you will soon feel some of the other feelings that are part of it as well:  the feeling that you are the only one who ever made this particular quilt, or that, unlike with many of your daily activities, here you have something to show for your efforts.  And nothing can top the feeling of getting a quilt done and sharing it with those you love.

I love those words of encouragement.  Don't you?  Just keep working.  Just keep going, past all the uncertainties and doubts.  It will become something in the end.

I hope you have a great weekend.

--Nancy.
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