Today - for the first time in a long while--I held a quilting needle in my hand. And quilted. It felt so good. Like putting on a pair of old comfortable shoes. Like riding a bike. Like an old song I used to know. There is something about the rocking motion of a needle in a sandwich of fabric and batting that is incredibly relaxing. So relaxing that I wonder how I could have possibly given it up.
I have so much information swirling around my head. Nothing urgent. All work-related. Quilting takes me away from there. It takes me away from just about everything. The kids have told me that they like when I quilt. Quilting makes me slow down because there is no way to speed up the process.
Handquilting allows me to connect with every square inch--sometimes every square quarter inch--of my quilt. I certainly understand how people may choose to machine quilt their work. I assume those are the people who enjoy putting together a quilt top. I don't like putting the top together. My favorite part is the quilting.
I remember several years ago on a couple quilting forums to which I belonged, every so often there would be a huge debate as to what was more authentic, better, real--hand or machine quilting.
I don't think it really matters. It's not the quilt, it is the process that allows us to reconnect our creative selves. It doesn't matter how we get there, just that we get there indeed.
