Wednesday, February 27, 2013

I Am Enough

As I mentioned in my previous, somewhat delirious, published at 12 am post, I have a few issues with myself.

Who doesn't?

These are things I really want to work on, therefore, I'm working on them through this quilt. Leah Day also uses these words on her quilt, "I am enough."


I am enough.

I am enough.

I am enough.


It's true, I am pretty enough, I am smart enough, I do enough, I make enough.



I felt so empowered while stitching these words. I truly feel that I am enough. I can't quite explain the happiness I felt while thread painting the words "I am enough." It almost made me feel whole. 
Then I finished, pulled it off my Singer, looked at it, and exclaimed... I did that!
I did that! And it's beautiful! And I am enough! 

This quilting experience had already been so therapeutic for me. Then I added three more magic words. 

Let it be.
I, like millions of others, suffer from anxiety. I spend countless hours worrying over what will be, what could have been, what should have been. I need to now let it be. 




         While stitching the letter L, this happened. 
... and this happened. 


Then, don't you know it... son of a... this happened. 


I didn't cry, I didn't hate myself, I didn't pull it out and start all over. 
I laughed. 
I laughed so hard at the irony of it all. 


Do you know why this happened? I didn't make some colossal mistake. I didn't choose the wrong thread. 


I forgot to put my foot down. 



NOOB! (for those of you who aren't nerds, a noob is someone who is new to something and makes lots of mistakes... in this case a very silly mistake)

I'm actually still laughing about it now. 
What a powerful message the universe sent me right then and there. 

"Let it be, Alyx. Just let it be." 

So I let it be, this is how it turned out. 







Beautiful.



Quilt on, 
Hoppi





Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Express Your Love

It's not often that I do something for myself. In fact, I don't recall the last time I ever did anything entirely for myself.
Last week, I decided to do something for myself.

That something is called Express Your Love.

It's a quilt, an art quilt to be exact.

I fell in love with quilting in November, when I first taught myself how to piece. Now I want more! More knowledge, more stitches, more designs, more fabric, more art, more, more, more! I've made about 9 quilts, and not one of them did I keep.

This one, I'm keeping.

A few months ago I started feeling really down on myself. I felt ugly, fat, poor, dumb. I felt as if I were going no where in life. To be completely honest with you, I still feel a lot of these things.
I'm not doing this because I want your sympathy. I don't. I am doing this as an outlet, to share with you why I chose the words I did to write on this quilt, why I decided to make the quilt in the first place, and what my journey means throughout making the quilt.


Here it is.



I am making this quilt to express my love of myself. 

This blog is to document my first art quilt, and hopefully many more after this. 

I am using the pattern created by Leah Day. Check out her website, she is awesome. 

Quilt on,
Hoppi