you never know when inspiration will strike

So you probably picked up on the fact that I have been struggling to find my creative art quilting mojo the last 6 months ago.  I think part of the problem was that I was too hung up on trying to merge my photography with art quilting and I no matter what approach I tried I just couldn’t get the two to come together cohesively.  Every time I tried something new that ended up not working my frustration and disappointment level got higher.

And then I had a light bulb moment:  My photography and art quilting don’t have to work together.  They are two very different artistic pursuits for me and I like that they are separate.  My wildlife photography gets me outside into nature with the birds which is one of my favorite places to be.  My art quilting is whimsical and fun and lets me give my imagination form.  I enjoy each pursuit for different reasons and I’ve let go of the idea that I need to merge the two.

And wouldn’t you know that as soon as I came to that realization inspiration for a new quilt struck.  Fall in New England means leaves all over the ground and one of those leaves made their way into my car.  I looked down and saw an orange leaf at my feet and was about to bend down to pick it up and the thought “leave it be” came to me and the idea for a new quilt was born…

“leaf it be” 43″ x 71″

I used Cherrywood fabrics for this quilt rather than dyeing my own (although the black is my own hand dyed black) because I wanted to jump in and get right to work on it.  It was fun to do and I am very happy with the result.  Best of all, I feel like I’ve got my art quilting mojo back and I have started sketching out some more ideas for new quilts to work on over the winter…