Quilter's Block

So I think I had quilter's block the past two weeks, off and on. It must be what writer's block feels like (which I of course have never had). I had to make a banner for church. I had two weeks, but thought I had 3. Oops. Suddenly, I was stuck.

White is the color of Easter. So I went to the LQS and picked up several quarter yards of whites-on-white and golds-on-white. Went home and waited to be inspired. Sunbursty starbursty images seemed appropriate. Mike and I talked about it. I drew some ideas on paper. Looked good.

I divided the quilt top into quarters, made freezer paper patterns, and got to work. Two hours after I began, the Saturday before Palm Sunday, I had the smallest quarter done (the work was off center on purpose). I didn't like it. Mike made some suggestions. I started getting a creeping feeling of doom.

Sunday, we did other things. I did spend about a half hour fixing the first bit, giving it a little more depth, which worked, sort of. I still didn't like it, though. I thought maybe with more of it done...

See, the center of it was this beautiful little starburst. Beautiful. Done with paper piecing, tiny little pieces. The whole thing was less than 6 inches across (or, for Ann: acrost) and had 36 pieces sewn into it. I loved it. But it wasn't enough to carry a whole banner. And the rest of it was not coming together like it was supposed to in my head.

This made me consider things about my faith, actually--why is it that the Incarnation is so much easier for me to wrap my head around than the Resurrection? But maybe I'm sleep deprived and on a deadline and that's all.

My grandmother came over Monday of Holy Week (more on that later) and I finished abother quarter. Mike came home and his face said the same thing I was thinking: it wasn't good. So Monday evening I went back to my local quilt shop and tried again. I settled on a green and purple batik-ish tie-dye-ish piece of fabric. I went home and prayed that inspiration might come.

It did, sort of. On Tuesday, Ann held Leo and I got the top and back done. I liked it a hundred times better than my first try, but I was still not sure. I pinned it together Wednesday and let it sit Thursday before I quilted it--Holy Thursday was kind of busy for me. Mike was off on Friday and I knew I'd have a good chance to get most of it done (it was due Saturday evening).

I like words, and the Christmas banner I made has Numbers 24:17 as its inspiration. I flipped open to the Gospel of John, just by chance, really, instead of one of the synoptics. Found the Resurrection narrative and settled my eyes, kind of lectio style, actually, on the words "And so she ran" in John 20:2. I like the image of haste, the connection to what a blur the last few days must have been for her, the other women, the apostles. I can feel her panic. I went to a nice concordance online with the Greek words--"and so she ran and went to Simon Peter" doesn't seem to quite convey what it said originally. More of something like "And OF COURSE she ran and went to Simon Peter." I liked that.

So I quilted it in. In Greek. The translation is in smaller letters on the main vertical ray of white; other Easter words are in the other rays (Peace be with you, Alleluia, she came to the tomb early in the morning).

I like the greeny-yellowish blur on the right side, kind of like dawn before it is light, but look, the dazzling white all around you, brighter than the dawn. The quilting near the center of the rays is a tomb image (in my head, at least), with the stone rolled back. I still don't think I like it for our church. But I like it for its own merits. And I could always try again in a few years.