This weather!

I don't know about you, but this winter weather is doing me head in. I feel like a hermit! It's too cold to enjoy the snow, the driving conditions are treacherous...

So I've been going down to the shop to work a bit. If I have to be cloistered away, I may as well get something done. Though, if I'm to be frank, the weather has also slowed my creative production as well. I'm very inspired by bright colors and sunshine (luckily we've at least had sunshine - even if it means frigid temperatures).  This led me to think of this scary topic: COLOR!

I know. A lot of people are afraid of color. Silly, you say? Not really. Especially here in my area. Whole neighborhoods are built with beige houses, white carpeting (in Minnesota? Really? Not smart), brown furniture. Even if the furniture is a non-neutral color, it's a muted, muddied, grayed color to make it neutral. Yuck. I would kill for a fainting couch in purple velvet (like Willy Wonka's top coat - Gene Wilder style).

My front door is yellow. Not pale yellow, nor is it tinged with gray or brown. It is YELLOW. I searched and searched for the right, true hue. I finally found it. Of course, I had to put a few coats of primer over the deep pink I originally had. The primer was the color my neighbor liked. She was disappointed when the yellow went up. Luckily, I live in a city where I can do that and I don't have to abide by neighborhood association rules. I know of a woman who kept having her watering can stolen and finally discovered it was the "wrong color". The association president also informed her that she couldn't grow tomatoes because they aren't aesthetically pleasing. Come on, now.

I know a lot of people who only wear neutral colors. It's easier, they say, they don't have to think when they get dressed in the morning. Everything matches.

It's this sort of conformity I've never quite been able to swallow. I doubt I would've been labeled as a non-conformist in school, though as I look back with friends they do say I always did my own thing. I may not have had the purple mohawk, but my friend, Nikki did. I may not have worn bondage pants, but I did wear plaid ones.

I'm not saying you have to go nuts, but why are people afraid of color? We're surrounded by it. Why should we be content with putting on neutral plumage while a cardinal, a gold finch and a blue jay sit on our windowsill? They don't have a choice but to be naturally bright, but we do! Why should we cover ourselves in grey flannel while a cerulean sky and turquoise waters envelop our world? Why be afraid of wearing color? Why is the corporate world so afraid of color? I could never work in a corporate job. I'd wither and die. I also don't think you have to be a dramatic designer or artsy fartsy like I am to be colorful.

For example, I have a blazer I found at a thrift store. It's an Asian brocade in teal, gold and coral. When I wear it, I'm always complimented. "I LOVE what you're wearing!" The compliment is always followed by, "It's really you. But I could never wear it."

When I finally asked a friend why she felt that way, she went on about how she wore neutral colors most of the time and just didn't want to draw unnecessary attention to herself - in case she looked stupid.

I didn't know if I should be insulted or not.

I'm pretty sure I don't look stupid when I'm brightly dressed. In fact, I have an over-abundance of confidence when I do. I'm happy and outgoing. It's when I'm in something dark and/or drab that I pull into myself and feel awkward. Even if someone did think I looked stupid, that's their issue, not mine.

I also don't do it to gain attention. I can do that all on my own. I'm loud, funny, opinionated, smart, and some have even said I'm striking to look at even without all the fun clothes. That came out wrong, but never mind.

It's sort of like when I'm in a show. I don't quite feel my character until I've had my first costume fitting. Then I know how that person is. Costuming is a bit different than real life, of course, but what are your clothes if not the costumes for your life? I'm not saying you have to get all Hallowe'en-y and steampunk-y on a daily basis. That's a heck of a lot of work. But, as I've said previously, even putting on jeans instead of staying in my pjs has made a difference in my productivity. If you want to do costumes, get into a Cosplay group. But in your everyday life, reassess your wardrobe. Do your clothes make you happy? Are you purposely blending in? If so, why?

You have a color assignment, flowerpots. Yes, yes, you do. For the month of March, bring some more color into your world. Put a hyacinth on your desk. Wear purple earrings. Wearing your beige corporate uniform? Fine. But wear cobalt shoes and a print scarf. Instead of simply wearing green or orange on St. Patrick's Day, wear a rainbow. For the love of Judy, be bold. If that's too scary, get a pair of brightly striped socks and wear them under your boots so no one knows they're there but you. For one month, don't worry about wether or not you look "stupid". If someone says that, it's their problem, not yours. You have no control over what people think, that's just a fact of life. You do, however, have absolute control over how you feel about yourself and how you react to those boring, gray people. Surround yourself with Spring and you'll find that proverbial spring in your step.

Flippin' Doodle Dots!

That's the minced curse my kids say when something isn't going right, and I have had a week in which I may rightly use that phrase.

I was working on a Dresden Plate quilt. I put together the plate blades very carefully (just about did me head in!) so that when I got back to them, they would be in the right order. I got two of them done and the third one was half way complete when I noticed that it couldn't possibly be right. So now I have 1 1/2 Dresden Plates and a large Wagon Wheel and I have no idea how they got messed up. I had clipped them together in sewing order for the express purpose of not getting a headache!

Determined to make lemonade out of lemons, I took the remaining blades from the ferkachte plate plus my extras and stitched them together in a series of strips instead of a circle. I squared them off, trimming the angled edges and now I'm going to have a totally different quilt than I originally intended.

I had also purchased a hunk of denim at the Mill End GOOB sale that I planned on using as a background. Nope. Wrong shade of blue. On the other hand, I also got a few yards of linen in a strange, orangey shade of tan that works as a background. Huh. I had planned on making a jacket out of that, but I'm liking the look of it for this piece more and more.

I tried stitching the two background pieces together for a throw, but I'm just not getting a vibe from the whole thing. I take that back. I'm getting the wrong vibe from it like that. So, plan "C" is to take them apart and use the denim to make a doggie bed for my mom's arthritic dog when they come to visit (we have hard wood floors, not very comfy) and use all the pieces on the linen for a wall hanging.

Sometimes you really have to step back and reassess.

On another note, Sewtropolis, to which I had been planning to go for a field trip, has closed its doors, becoming a strictly online entity. The woman who ran it is still teaching and (thankfully) still quilting. I'm dropping off the quilt top and backing for my friend, Rachel's quilt with her today. I'm so relieved! I had driven by where Sewtropolis used to be the other day and couldn't find it, so I got on her website and all the pictures of the storefront and the address were missing from it. PANIC ATTACK! I went to her facebook page where I noticed someone had asked if she had closed the shop and, yes, it had closed in December. What a bummer. At least she still has an online presence and I can't begin to tell you how relieved I am that she's still quilting.

Flexibility is a trait that I feel doesn't come naturally to me. I get nervous when I get interrupted or realize that my plans aren't quite working. On the other hand, if someone else's plans get twisted, I'm very good at coming to the rescue and jury-rigging something for them. Like some people are really good at giving, but lousy at taking their own advice.

Going through my stash of fabrics has helped a great deal with flexibility. I've had so much fun with making quilt tops that I've changed my mind with some of the fabrics and pieced together more quilts instead of oh, say, a sundress. There are some things which really must be made into the garment I intended for them. They'd be just too great not to. On the other hand, I'm making peace with not (necessarily) going according to plan.

Your assignment: Let go of one old idea that you feel is holding you back. I'm not even going to make suggestions for this, since it's a very personal assignment. Let your mind be aware of the new-found freedom that gives you, even if you only do it for a day. See how that works out for you. The next day, try a different obstacle. Maybe something you thought was in your way of progress really wasn't and you can use it to your advantage instead?

It's okay to let go, my flowerpots. It really is.