"The insidious demon of perfectionism can frustrate the artist at any and all stages of the creative process. Perfectionism can delay the beginning of any creative project or stop us in our tracks halfway through. As the harsh voice of criticism within, it says, Don't even bother, you won't get it right." - Creativity and Divine Surprise by Karla M. Kincannon
We, as artists, need to embrace imperfections. For me, sometimes it's the mistakes that lead to something NEW!! I am only just beginning to realize this, however.
The first cut is often the hardest for me.
An example of this is a tablecloth I just recently finished. I bought a number of Christmas-themed bandanas on impulse from an after-Christmas sale. Later, I ran across tablectloth instructions online. I then sat on the idea for several months.
Finally, at the beginning of August, I decided to take the plunge and make the 1st cut, starting with a layout.
I tried a number of layouts on the bed - coming up with one that pleased me.
I then proceeded to sew them together row by row. One of the first imperfections I had to deal with and eventually let go was that the corners of the "square" bandanas did not come together! In fact, the final intersection of corners was WAY off!
My finished large square was composed of 16 squares, 4 x 4.
Because I was not home at the time, I was not able to figure on an exact size for a particular table, so when I returned home, I tried it on some of my tables. I have 2 glass-topped circular tables on our screened porch that are the perfect size for the cloth. However, that wouldn't be a solution because of the Christmas/winter theme. We simply don't use that porch n the winter.
I then tried a card table. The tablecloth was almost to the floor, which I call too long!
Another consideration was the weight of the cloth - too light.
I came up with the idea of turning under the sides and sewing points. This added weight to the edges and added some interest to the sides, besides making the tablecloth shorter.
However, the corner bandanas ended up on the floor! My perfectionism said that I wasted those bandanas, but the artist in me had to let that go.
I am becoming more comfortable with the imperfect in me and embracing the possibilities.
Go for the first cut!!
