Spiraling
I’m not sure what magic is involved, but whenever I am on the eve of travel I get project ideas. The ideas arrive when I am already annoyed and overwhelmed by the process of packing. I love to travel, but hate leaving the house. Last week, after I made sure I remembered underwear and a hairbrush, I was in the studio packing up my kit for my Bliss Kawandi. It’s too big to drag along on a 4 day trip, but the idea of being separated from it fills me with panic. I guess that tells us how much of myself I am stitching into the quilt. It really IS too big to work on while on the plane, though.
As I’m standing in front of my closet, with stacks of Handloom on the tables on either side of me, gazing at shelves full of things I’m not working on, I had an overwhelming urge to cut some squares of Handloom. Mind you, there is already a bag of it in my suitcase, but no. I need some squares, at least 4 - one for every day of the trip. Plus a few more, just in case plans change. I quickly decided on 5” squares - the same as in a charm pack. I need a square for each day, a needle and perle cottons. Done. Most of this overlaps with my Bliss quilt, so all is easy and good.
The plan is here, and it is fully formed. Every day I am going to stitch a spiral onto one of these squares. I can even tell you why I want to do this. I had been doing my mini landscapes and loving them, but now that I don’t have a vista to sit in front of every day, they feel flat to me. I miss my view of the lake in the hills, and those pieces give me a little pang. What if I strip that project down to just the spiral. Utter simplicity. One piece of fabric, one piece of thread. No marking, no anxiety. Just the meditation of stitching a spiral. The spiral is complete when the thread runs out. I’ve done one so far, and it is just what I need.
The project plan incorporates several things I am enjoying lately. Simplicity. Big stitches. Spirals. A long-term project with no deadline and no expectations. I may quit it next week.
I’ve also been noticing that I really like projects that are very intense. I want more everything. But what if this one is quantity, rather than intensity. I like 100 day projects, but I never keep up - the plan is always too much. This one is small and easy. I can fit a spiral into my day. I can also fit a spiral kit into my purse. The kicker here is that I need a new quilt for my bed. My king-sized bed. With a 5” cut square, I think that means I need 576 squares. So, for the girl who can’t do a 100 day project, let’s do a 576 day project.
My plan is to do one square per day. I’m looking forward to spreading my new quilt on my bed in 2028. Of course, I will probably do more than one per day sometimes, if I’m feeling it. So it may be sooner.
One thing that excites me is that I don’t have to stick with round swirls centered on the square. If I’m feeling it, I can do a squared spiral, or a triangle, or whatever. It can be off-center. It could be fun to do this as a temperature quilt (fabric is the low temp, thread is the high). Or as an emotional journal. I can do more than just the running stitch - I could whip the stitches for a more solid line. I can do a second spiral inside the first. There are so many ways to explore within this simple framework.
For now, I’m going to work with Handloom fabrics from Windham and Eleganza Perle Cotton from Wonderfil. Those things might change - I have an absolute killer stash, and also a large collection of threads. I may dip into stash and pull in other textures. No prints, but maybe some other wovens. I’ll be sticking with cotton threads for this one, although I may do other weights. We shall see.
Want to stitch along? Here is what you need.
5” square fabric
Perle cotton (8 weight)
Needle
Scissors
I purchased a basket to store my squares (I got the x-small size). I am also going to pack up a little purse kit, so I’m never without the ability to stitch a bit, wherever I am.
Fabric - Handloom by Windham Fabrics
Thread - Eleganza Perle Cotton 8 weight by Wonderfil Specialty Threads
Needle - Milliner’s #3 by Sue Spargo