I finished three quilts this week. That felt great but I always have a kind of wobbly moment when a project is done. With the machine troubles, I wasn’t able to back or bind things easily, so it waited. I had 6 quilts backed up, ready to bind. I have three done, three left to bind.

After you finish, you look around the studio and try to figure out what’s next. In this case, a whole lot more binding. It’s not encouraging.

In Myers-Briggs speech, I’m an INFP. The P stands for perceptive. The N for intuitive. What that means is that I don’t like finishing.

When I start a piece of art, it’s truly a part of me. It comes out and is connected to each day in the studio.

But as it grows, it develops a life of it’s own. There are things that quilt will demand. Some of which aren’t what you normally do. So you separate slowly, as the work finishes.

When it’s finished, it’s itself. It has it’s own destiny. It will do what it’s supposed to do. And I desperately need another piece to fill the void.

I suppose it’s separation anxiety.

I’m very anxious when I finish work. I don’t know what to do with myself until I start something new. The process itself is how I live and breathe. One quilt flows into another. One piece suggests something else that has to be tried.

Lucky me, I have three more quilts to back and bind. It’s not my favorite part. By the time I’ve finished that, I’m done. And part of me longs to be off with another piece, figuring out its background and thread colors.

But there is something wonderful that happens when a top becomes a quilt.

It feels finished. It feels complete. It’s ready to be shown and shared. It’s a finished chapter.

It leaves a hole.

I’ve been riding a I need to take my new work, this new wind and use it to safe a place for my work. Besides, it makes me crazy not to show it off. It has a life of it’s own. That life shouldn’t be just the closet.

So I’ll grind through bindings, and flip through books until the next thing grabs me by the neck and must be made.

The embroidery makes me happiest. After all, it’s color therapy in thread.

I’ve randomly added pics of the finished quilts. They are up and for sale on Etsy

This article has good information about the Myers-Briggs personality types. It’s a helpful way at looking at how others view their worlds.