Have you ever had anyone tell you when they look at a quilt you've made and say "I don't have the patience for that". I am sure many of you have. I've asked a lot and many affirm that is true. But I disagree that you need patience...well, maybe at times....but the real issue is PASSION.
When you have passion about something, you do it no matter what. You find a way, you find the money, you find the time, you even find others who are passionate about the same thing you are. It is true with nearly any endeavor you can name.
Photographers hang out with other photographers....because who has the patience to sit for hours to get that "perfect shot" of an eagle, or hawk or sunset, etc? Again...it's not patience that they possess to do that activity. It is passion. Or fisherman waiting for a bite? Or a teacher with a room full of 5 year olds! No matter what activity, passion is what drives those who do it over and over and over again.
It is so true in the quilting world. And there are so many kinds of quilting that even within our world you can focus on just one or two kinds of quilting and be "bored" with something else. My passion is pictorial quilts. However, patchwork does not motivate me to spend hours at my machine putting it all together.....unless some really awesome pattern presents itself to me.....then maybe!
My real passion lies with the quilting process itself. To others, they love the piecing of the tops but hate to do the quilting. I really appreciate all kinds of quilts including patchwork, so as long as someone else is putting them together I am more than happy to do the quilting!
When I run across a photo I've taken or a landscape or even a portrait, I often will challenge myself to create it in fiber. My favorite topics are animals. You might have guessed that if you have seen my gallery.
So the next time someone tells you they don't have the patience to quilt, you can just smile and nod your head and let them think you have the patience of Job, but inwardly you know it's the passion to create quilts that motivates you to do another and another and another! And being part of a community of quilters is pretty awesome, too.
So happy quilting!
~Jo