Processing 2012

1. X2Y4–6Z8O20(OH,F)4: Front, 2. Organic Imperfection (front), 3. Love in a (Snowy) Mist: Front, 4. The Arty Zig: Front, 5. Rainbow Challah Cover, 6. Warm Spring: Front, 7. Spring Green, 8. Topo Map: A Quilt, 9. Curves, 10. Berry Lime Sublime (front), 11. Circle Up, 12. Sand & Sea, 13. New Pillows!, 14. Foxy (front), 15. Challah Cover, 16. Orbs Away, 17. A Zig and a Zag Table Runner, 18. The Accidental Living Room Quilt, 19. Triangulate: Complete, 20. Scattered Color Pop, 21. Good & Plenty, 22. A Little Spice, 23. Sebastian, Literally, 24. Washi Dress!

I think of 2012 in two halves: the traveling half and the quasi-settled half. Despite a lot of roving dissertation research, I still managed to squeeze in quite a bit of sewing time last year. Not in a diligent, disciplined sort of way, but in an unrestrained, furious sort of way.

And so it is true: I am a binge sewer. The latest example merely illustrates my habitual tendencies: I didn't touch my sewing machine for about a month this fall, from Thanksgiving to late December, and then I pieced and quilted like a madwoman for a few days in late December. I finished three quilts (all of which need to make their way to their new owners before debuting here), I started two quilt projects, and I migrated some design ideas from head to graph paper. Then I cleaned up, hosted friends for New Year's Eve dinner, and crossed back into dissertation-writing (and less sewing) land. That's my way, my pace, my pattern, my flow, and it's not going to change. It's imperfect, but it works.

Likewise,  I've settled into my quilting style; I adore minimalism, negative space, and saturated color. Shapes matter, graphic sensibilities predominate, and color preferences drift between warm and cool. I don't think this will radically change, but it will stew, evolve, and mature. I'm starting to concretize a sartorial style as well. Sewing a dress for myself helped me think more about how garments fit and, most importantly, how I want them to fit. I saw a dress I wanted to make, and when I asked a friend about possible patterns for something comparable, she exclaimed "that is So You!" At which point I realized I know what I like and I can identify what will look good on me (a revelation many have before age 32, but late blooming is blooming nonetheless).

But here's what I don't know: where this style will take me, the views it will show me, the people to whom it will introduce me, the ways it will change me, the ideas it will instill in me, or the possibilities it contains. So given this: to curiosity, discovery, and fresh ways of thinking, doing, working, and living in 2013.