I have been thinking about Failures lately. I thought I would bring the subject up today because I have been sewing on a fairly small project for the last few hours and now that I have come to the last "turn" before the finish line, I realize IT is a FAILURE....
Well, I guess that of course depends on each persons' opinion whether or not it has turned out to be a failure. I got a stack of upholstery fabric samples a few weeks back -- for FREE. I have been thinking about what to do with them.
I do have another project on the go, and it is turning out to be quite fine, so like many quilters I thought I would start on this other idea. I knew it would only take a couple of hours to put it together, then it would be back to the QUILT project I am doing.
So, I pulled out the upholstery samples and cut them into 5" squares -- the idea being, to make SPLIT NINE PATCH blocks. I like this block because it can look so complicated and random yet is just one step beyond the basic 9 patch block.
I got the nine patch blocks done. I made 5 of them and then cut those 5 nine patches into 4s.
Now when I got this piece together, it seemed to me that by using the samples that belonged to one "collection" nothing about it was pleasing to my eye. The fabrics were too close in colour and they did not "land" together very well.
This was not a particularly easy fabric to sew with, it is a slippery poly but yet heavier than dress weight. I feel like the idea of it was good, but something about the fabric and its colours just does not please me. Maybe it will please someone elses eyes?
Now, the thing I have come recently to realize about failure is that it more often than not is actually a GOOD thing! So many of our teachers, and that includes our parents, show disappointment at failures, whether it is failure of a test or a project or a relationship. Now, I have, I am sure failed in things many more times than I have succeeded and most of those failures get hidden away if at all possible. But without those failures I realize that I would not have learned that something did not work and not only that it did not work, but WHY it did not work!
So yes, failing at something can be the best way to learn to SUCCEED at it! I wish that someone had told me that it was okay to fail a long time ago. I often work at a project and throw it away or hide it until the guilt of failure eases and i can take the next step in using that failure as a learning experience and a way to Success.
I surely don't know at this point if this small project will progress into anything else, but it has taught me, that even if some things appear like they belong, well, maybe they are not the optimal choice...
Have a great weekend, EVERYONE -- Autumn is upon us!
