Leaning to loafing

I’ve been on a go-slow this week, not doing much more than tweaking and touching up here and there on the shops and my various other online homes. And there’s not been too much of that to do either. 

After the at times relentless pressure – self-imposed, I know – to get all the new designs online and my online shops set up the way I want them, it’s felt a bit strange and somewhat surreal to wake up and not get straight to it as soon as I’ve got a cup of tea in hand. But despite feeling a bit aimless, I’ve rather enjoyed loafing off. And it’s the only way for me to jumpstart creative thought and allow my brain the room to start firing off ideas again.

To this end, I’ve started a bit of a concept wall. Really, it’s just small, rectangular cards stuck on the wall behind my desk. And I’ve kept them all boring and white so I’m not swayed by the colour of the card to prioritise one idea over another. It’s a nice way to make sure I don’t lose track of any ideas and I can move them around as I consider which ones to focus on first and start fleshing out into tangible new embroidery designs and concepts.

The week started off rather cold and dreary (although it’s hotted up substantially since), which is always a good excuse to do some crocheting. I finished enough of the rose and daisy blocks I’ve been plugging away at to make up the throw to the size indicated in the pattern. I had planned to quadruple it in size to fit a double bed, but – and there’s no other way to say this really – I’ve lost interest. It happens. I’ve loved the freedom of picking out colours randomly for each multi-coloured block, but I’m ready to move on to other things. 

After laying them all out to get an idea of how they should be joined together, though, I’ve decided to add an extra round of white to each square to give the brightly coloured centres a bit of room to breathe. It goes fairly quickly and I think it’ll look better once they’re all joined, plus add a bit to the finished size, which is rather small for all that crocheting!

My mind has also been wandering to quilting for the first time in absolute ages. It’s probably because the quilt on our bed was my 21st present from my mom and it’s starting to show its age, so to speak. I’d rather use it occasionally and prolong its lifespan, but that means it needs a stand-in.

I’ve always liked the simplicity of an Irish chain design, so perhaps that’s an option. I don’t know, it’s no more than a thought at this stage, another time-consuming idea that needs careful consideration as the last thing I need is another project lurking around for months on end. But it could also be the nudge I need to finally learn how to hand quilt. Hhmmm.