Quilting the Dream Goddess Part 2
I’m feeling much better, but I still can’t film today. I can share some pretty photos of my pretty Dream Goddess who is back on the machine after going to jail for a solid month:
Why was Dreamy in jail? Partly because I was getting dead bored of all the feathers in her hair. She has three solid layers of hair filled with hundreds of feathers and…there’s only so much of the same repetitive design that I can take. I’m channeling my inner feather nerd with this quilt, but too much of anything makes Leah a dull girl.
So I was ready for a break and I also had videos for a new video workshop to create. It was a nice timing coincidence and I didn’t feel guilty for abandoning Dreamy for wholecloth quilts for the last month.
I figured by the time I finished the videos for this new video workshop, I’d probably be in the mood to knock out the last layer of Dreamy’s hair. Surprise, surprise, it worked! I’m neck deep in feathers again and couldn’t be happier.
It’s not always easy to balance quilting for work and quilting for my personal enjoyment. Back when I first began my business, I thought I would only quilt what I wanted to quilt, whenever I felt like quilting it.
It’s taken me a few years to find a balance and be willing to trade off between projects like this. The hardest thing for me is not flying through a project, pedal to the metal. While I like to THINK the finished quilt is what makes me happy, really it’s the journey of stitching out every detail that is really the point.
It’s wonderful that this particular quilt is allowing me so much space and freedom as I create her. Dream Goddess is exactly that – how your dreams and thoughts manifest themselves to create your life. What I’ve focused on the most while creating this quilt is figuring out an answer to that question – What do you really want?
I know now what I don’t want: I don’t want to travel. I don’t want to be in a different city every month. I feel totally crazy and out of my element when I’m bouncing around so much, and it’s not good for my family either.
I’ve felt a lot of pressure for years to travel and be in a million places every year. I’m already preparing myself for the hundreds of questions this fall “Are you going to quilt market? Will I see you in Houston?” Nope. Definitely not.
For the longest time I felt like I SHOULD like to travel. Aren’t all successful, independent, entrepreneurial women into traveling? Shouldn’t I want more than my small home in my small NC town?
I think the message this quilt was bringing me the whole time is that no – I don’t have to like those things, or be someone different. I’m enough doing what I’m doing, being who I want to be, even if that is the simple goal to be a great wife and mother and online teacher.
And now that I’ve figured that out, I think it’s actually a harder thing to do. It’s harder to stay simple and small. It’s really hard to say “No” to the options and ideas that will complicate our lives, or make me disappear from my home for days or a whole week at a time.
I want to create is a peaceful, happy home. That is the landscape I’m focusing on, dreaming of, and actively creating every single day.
So what do you focus on every day? What kind of landscape are you creating every day?
Let’s go quilt,
Leah Day
I fully understand you. It requires your strenght to say no. I think you would be corrupted by all that superficial hype it would bring you. Just this morning I was thinking about inviting you to Denmark to encourage people to quilt. But I had a feeling that it was not you. And now I read this today – isnt that strange? All luck to you. If my english is not too well its because I am danish. Pia
Your English is perfect Pia! Thank you for thinking of me, but you are right – traveling is not for me. Get a group together and watch my videos online. I love it when I hear of quilters having a quilting retreat like that!
Good for you for sticking with your commitments to your family! That is respectable and thanks to today's great technology, you can kind of "have your cake and eat it too!!" by staying home and still unleashing your creativity and sharing so much of it with the world, as well as teaching so many of us new skills as we seek to be creative in our own ways via quilting etc.! Keep up the great work!! It is much appreciated by many! 🙂
I think that part of growing older is figuring out what works best for us as individuals. Follow our own drumbeat and not someone else's.
You always amaze me, Leah, in being so open and honest about your life journey. Kudos to you for so many things, that honesty, this wonderful blog that I love so much, and that has taught me so much, your online videos, your staying true to yourself, your finding out just WHAT that truth is for you, and not what it should be according to society or others' expectations. I love this Dream Goddess, love her Third Eye! I still have your goddess with the messages flowing out like ribbons from her mouth printed out and on my to-do list). All the best as you continue to inspired, educate and create. 🙂
This is gorgeous – and yay you for knowing what you want! It's so easy to get sucked into the travel routine, but most people that do that don't have young kids at home. You know what they say – a time and a season for everything. You are rockin' your time and season online for sure!!
Thank you Leah for making me feel better about decisions I have chosen to make that others question me about. It makes me feel lighter knowing that I'm not the only one that feels to much can sometimes really be too much. Quilty Hugs!
It's amazing to see all that can be accomplished. Forging out my quilting path has brought me across many different projects, most of them finished, all with lessons learned. Thanks for sharing your journey, and your lessons learned. I'm still finding my quilting path, but the vision is there now.
Hi Leah, I'm so glad you are you and your sticking too your guns and staying home too! I've loved your classes since I found your site many years ago. I have learnt from you which has made my quilting journey better and easier.But I love all that you do and greatly appreciate your impartation of your knowledge and skills to the world. Thank you for being you.