I want to address the Jo Morton Club “thing” that I have been struggling with the past few months. I had decided not to officially have these meetings any longer and not to carry her line of fabric. The reason for the fabric part of this decision was that there was a new group coming out every five minutes and our shop was going in a new direction and we were needing to order more fabrics from other sources. Money is always the bottom line. There were other reasons. I am not a good “rule” person and there were too many rules in this club to make me feel comfortable. At my present age, I have decided that if it isn’t fun, I’m not doing it if at all possible. This applies to most everything except paying taxes. I can’t find a way around that one. And in case you are wondering why I don’t include dying along with taxes it is because I can’t think of anything more fun than meeting Jesus. But back to the Jo thing. We now have all of the Cocoa Express group of Jo’s line and will probably be getting more. As for the meeting part, if anyone would like to continue to meet, please call me and let me know. If we do form a group , the agenda will be different. We will meet to work on pieces we have not finished or new patterns using Jo’s fabrics, start a new pattern (Jo’s or not) using her fabrics or working on whatever we want using the fabrics we want to use along with Jo’s fabric line. I have met Jo and she is a lovely person. You would have to look far and wide to find fabrics to compete with hers. Her fabrics are lovely–very lovely. I just don’t want to be told what I can and cannot use in a piece that I am making. If any of you want to be in this group and want to only use her patterns and fabrics, knock yourself out. Quilting should be creative and fun and an individual journey. This is just my opinion. We may call this group the Jo Mortonish Club or The We Love You,But….Club or The Whatever Club or not have it at all. This is my playhouse and I should be able to decide what happens here. I want fun and creativity to happen at Las Colchas. Let me know what you think.
Some of this goes along with a quote I read on Denyse Schmidt’s facebook page. It reads Denyse Schmidt Quilts “Work done with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender.” – Bhagavad Gita. We worry so much about if we are doing things right or if other people will like what we are choosing. I include myself in this group. But I often think of how wonderful children are in their freedom to put clothes together that don’t “match” or color outside the line, etc. until we start telling them how it should be. The lucky ones hold on to their creativity and free spirit. We had a customer in the shop that may have been one of those free spirits. She was dressed “differently” and I had to tell her how much I loved her style. It was fun and joyful and she seemed so focused on her finds (wool, buttons, ribbons, flannels) and who she is inside. I am working on this very thing. I have a little ways to go……but, I am on my way. Francine
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