Too Much Inspiration

The other day I went into Barnes & Noble to get the current Fiber Arts Magazine -- but it was the wrong B&N. There are three stores that are on my usual routes around town but it seems only the one closest to me ever has Fiber Arts. That doesn't make sense but .... when I can't find one magazine, I can usually find three others. Which is what happened. There's a series published, I think by McCalls with interviews with well known quilters-teachers. I really love interviews so, when I saw the latest I bought it. They also had the New Zealand Quilter, which I find only rarely. A rare find demands to be pounced on. Right? The third? Shambala, a Buddhist magazine that often features writing by the wonderful Pema Chodron, a nun who lives on Cape Breton Island, a wise woman with several books in print, any of which I'd recommend to anyone looking for perspective on life's problems.

Three magazines to read and during the course of this week, the quarterlies arrived, along with Quilters Newsletter. Quarterlies being from American Quilter's Society and the National Quilt Association. All full of beautiful stuff, articles, some interesting, some not -- as usual -- I'm overwhelmed with sparks of inspiration. This idea, that idea -- that would be interesting for a certain piece of fabric I've been wondering how to use ... etc. Too much inspiration. Too little time.

I have a certain disdain for the 'Quilt in a weekend' idea. I don't need quilts for their own sake. I want to explore new ways to put together patterns or colors, new things to try. It's okay if a quilt is labor intensive, I'll learn while I labor and I'll have peaceful moments while I work. Happily I have a weekend that I can choose to spend quilting -- although some basics have to be attended to -- you know, laundry and vacuuming, etc.

We'll see what wins ... there's also a fascinating novel -- the hero is back from Abyssinia alive but the next half of the book is bound to be full of more complications and adventures before he can win the lovely girl from the clutches of her awful family. Reading a book set in the early 1600s but written by a man of modern sensibility has a nice piquancy -- looking at people of a past time with the same personality flaws we see today, but showing them with wonderful irony and humor. Contemporary writers were just learning to compose novels and were more heavy handed ... except perhaps for wonderful Cervantes, oh, and there was Shakespeare who showed us a few fools along with the heroes -- but, of course, WS.wrote plays, not novels.