Taking the "Road Less Travelled"

Results of my Confetti Quilts class with
artist Sally Manke.

   So often in our lives, we are presented with forks in the road.  Do we go right?  Or is left the best choice?  The reality is that either choice will give us unique circumstances that will teach us new lessons, or maybe reinforce old ones.

  As quilters, a sure sign that we are taking the same fork every time we pick a new project or buy more fabrics, wools, etc. is that we are making the same basic choices over and over.  Do you have 30 quilts all made out of Kansas Troubles?  Do you have so many wool projects that you don't have room for anymore?  Does your stash look like a rainbow threw up with not a dark and dirty reproduction fabric to be found?  Is your closet full of 1930's quilts, and, yet, you keep buying more 30's fabrics because they are just so darn cute?  If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you are in a rut!

  In order to really grow as people, and as quilters, sometimes we need to take Robert Frost's advice and choose the "road less travelled" in life.  Those less familiar roads can be scary!  I have found that one way that takes a bit of the scare out of new experiences is to share them with friends.  Taking classes with other quilters is a great way to try something new without having to do it all by yourself!  Most people in the room are there because they don't already know the technique you will be learning.  They, too, have never made this type of block, or this type of quilt.  They, too, are stepping outside of their comfort zone and learning something new to them.  This common bond makes the class not only informative, but also provides another chance to bond in the sisterhood of quilters.  (Yes, I know that there are brothers in the "sisterhood!)

Photos taken by Edyta Sitar at her Spools class at AQS 2017

  Another way to take a less traveled road in our quilting journey is to step outside of our comfort zone and make a quilt with fabrics that we never use.  Love 30's?  Try making a quilt out of Civil War reproductions instead!  Love Kansas Troubles?  How about making something out of batiks?  Your independent quilt shop owner or worker would absolutely love to help you find fabrics from a genre that you normally do not choose.  Let's face it, if you hate the end result, there are all kinds of people and charities who would love and cherish your experimental quilt!

  I am so proud of some of my quilting friends on my Sewing with Sandi facebook page who are stepping way outside of their comfort zones and working on a modern quilt called The Gypsy Wife by Jen Kingwell.  That quilt is not traditional in either its fabrics or its style.  It is a road never travelled for some, and I applaud them!  Some of the ladies are using their stash, some have purchased fabrics, and some are still deciding whether to participate in our little sew along.  I can't wait to see the end results!

   Be brave.  Take the road less traveled in your quilting journey.  You won't be sorry that you did!

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."  -Robert Frost