Sometimes it is satisfying to work on a small scale. The pieces stay within your peripheral vision, and if there is a blind spot you are sure to notice it sooner. The work can go a little faster as you don't need as many stitches. And it can be cheering to accomplish something in a shorter amount of time, a little instant gratification is needed every now and then.
On the heels of the SAQA Spotlight Auction, to which I had donated my little 6" x 8" quiltlet, Go Fish, SAQA has put out a call for 12" x 12" quilts for their main fundraiser in September. I have bristled at donating work because I have seen disappointment in the past, but after giving to SAQA once and feeling good about it, I sat down to make another piece for the organization. I also noticed one artist, Daphne Taylor, on her website, said she had "gifted" a piece to SAQA, rather than saying she donated it.
The Gift is just that. I thought about all the ways I turn inward, and considered what it means to reach outward. [Amazon Affiliate links follow (2)] The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein came to mind, but it is a little sad! In the well-known book, The Gift: How the Creative Spirit Transforms the World by Lewis Hyde, he examines cultures where gift-giving is woven into various cultures in important ways, and particularly how artwork and ideas become valued in the giving cultures.
A piece of a previously made stencil of interconnecting humans in the upper left corner; the back of a cutout from a previous quilt stitched onto hand-dyed green velvet
and the back:
Pieces left over, "gifts" from other quilts.
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