Yoga and the Art of Free Motion Quilting
If you are of a certain age, you may remember the book “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance“. It was first published in 1974, just as I ran out of money for college and entered my hippie chick years. At the time I remember feeling influenced by the book, yet I don’t think I really did much with it other than think I was cool because I read it, I had a motorcycle and I maintained my own motorcycle. The young 20’s mind is soooo deep.
A little bit of background to understand how this all fits into free motion quilting. I left my hometown of Ottawa, Illinois to attend college. I earned enough money for 3 semester at Illinois State then ran out of money. So there I was, 19 years old, out of money, could not afford a car and had no plan.
I went to temporarily live with my sister in Durango, CO for about 9 months I think. I worked the winter at Purgatory Ski Resort, about 30 min away and hitchhiked to and from work. One day I was picked up by a handsome hunk from Texas and ended up moving to College Station, Texas, home of Texas A&M. I still had no transportation.
I needed transportation to work, and it made total sense in my 21 year old mind to buy a motorcycle. It was cheaper than a car, why not? I ended up taking 2 trips of 1800 mi+ by myself – quite an adventure. God’s hand was on me – I had plenty of harrowing tales as well as fabulous ones, but no harm came to me.
So that explains the motorcycle part but how does this fit into free motion quilting? If you read my newsletter you may recall I recently started doing yoga, hoping to get achieve a more relaxed countenance as well as increase my flexibility. You know how yoga is all about the breath, the focus, the controlled movements. It really brought me back to the whole “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” thing all over again, 45-ish years later, looking inward.
Being a new yoga student with NO natural ability for it, I am reminded of how it felt to do something brand-new and, to be terrible at it. I know how you feel beginning free motion quilters! Note the yoga photos are copyright free images, the quilting images are from my student.
We all start at the beginning. Students rarely “get” all the designs I teach in class, usually just two or so. This is really good beginning work.
My sole yoga goal at the moment is to not fall over. I’m not kidding. I am not doing hot yoga, pretzel yoga or the seriously contemplative yoga (yeah, I know there are technical names for this but you know what I mean). The club describes it: Start here and begin to understand yoga movement while holding the body in long basic poses. So this is basic stuff, like beginning free motion quilting (fmq).
There are poses with only one point of contact with the ground, poses that start on all fours then go to two, poses that are all about balance. I. Can’t. Even. Begin. It feels like I’ll never get there. I am wobbling and almost fall over. But I KNOW that eventually, with practice and perseverance, it will come.
We have this vision in our heads that our beginning work is going to be great – not! I have to accept that even though I am fit and strong, yoga is an entirely different thing and I’m going to have to work at it, just like fmq.
I know that the point of yoga goes way beyond the pose, the strength, the flexibility. It’s about the breath and focus and letting go. But right now, all I’m thinking about is falling down. Kinda like newbie fmq – you can’t focus on stitch length or graceful curves, you’re worried about breaking a needle or even moving the fabric with some sort of smoothness.
And if I’m not careful, I’ll find myself looking at how others in class are doing. That is SO self-defeating! It doesn’t matter how someone else is doing, they may have been doing yoga (or fmq) for years.
And then there are the lithe, tiny little size 2’s that are in their 20’s with nary a wrinkle or bulge. Like being in a fmq class and the student next to you has the perfect set-up and is moving along quite smoothly and confidently while you’re lurching across your quilt sandwich.
All this is good for me, to remember what it’s like to start at the beginning and be terrible at something. I will keep going, getting better over time and maybe I’ll actually be able to do the balancing poses. That sure seems like a lifetime away from now.
In other news, I’ve been playing, no finishes, just play:
First play project:
I took Joe Cunningham’s class a few weeks back and I am waaaaaay out of my comfort zone and skill set by attempting abstract. See my post here about what he did so that you can understand what I’m attempting here. This is far from what I want it to be, but there are elements I like: the ombre and the lighter dotted fabric, I like the 3 mini blocks and the row of 3 black blocks (it’s actually a print of blocks), I like the red and black, maybe the middle green one, maybe the top one, but not all 3 together. And don’t worry, there will be some points of interest on the blank left hand side. I will be playing with this one til the cows come home. At least I’m closer to something pleasant.
Play project #2:
I took a quilt sandwich that I used as a class sample, cut random shapes out of hand dyed sheer, then fmq on top. This holds some promise. I think I’ll paint a water color-y background first on the next go-round.
Terrible photo, but this is a piece I’ve been working on and off for a while. The dots are trapunto’d. The feathers will look infinitely better once I’ve micro-stippled around them. I will probably add the slightest bit of color on their plump ends to make them more sensuous. Then I have plans for fun quilting in the corners. This is on stark white silk. It too has a ways to go.
There ya go – no wins at all this week but a few starts and some progress. I’ll link up with:
Nina-Marie’s Off the Wall Friday
and
Finished or Not Friday
All your posts are a must read for me, but this one – this one was a home run.
Well thank you Toni – high compliment indeed!
It’s a small world…..I have a dear friend who recently gave me his duplicate copy of his all-time-most favorite book–yep–Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I confess I did not finish it but saw how it was very important to him. And you. I grew up quite traditionally in a Texas highway patrol captain’s home and missed the hippy chick phase, so I love reading about yours. Clever comparison of FMQ with MC maintenance. I’m an avid FMQ and enjoy your posts!
Ah lucky you to have such an upbringing! We all have our own histories. I wondered if it seemed abstract to connect yoga and fmq! It is an odd coincidence that you recently got a copy – I think it’s pretty obscure by now. Thank you for your nice comment Martha.
What a great post, Jenny! Uplifting and motivational. It was a reminder that we all start where we are. Thank you for the lesson in perseverance! Skills take time and practice to develop. Sometimes, in this instant gratification world, we tend to forget that fact.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! I forget too, so it was humbling and useful for me to be that inept student again.
I like that you are alway stepping out of your comfort zone with a new project – and I like seeing how they turn out!
And they don’t always turn out!
Fantastic post Jenny – great correlation between beginner yoga (anything really) and beginner FMQ.
Thank you Bernie!
LOVE seeing the early photo of you! We are all still “that girl” we used to be. Great blog this week!
Thank you Donna! I like that phrase, “that girl” we used to be.
Hi Jenny,
I still have my copy of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance on my bookshelf. I never owned a motor cycle, but this book was an eye opener for me. It was the first time I had ever thought about what “being in the moment” really meant. And I began to understand why I found sewing and quilting such a comforting place to spend time. Thank you for reminding me of that valuable learning experience. Quilting is still my sanctuary in good times and bad.
Take care.
I LOVE that picture of you with your motorcycle and long hair!! You know I was born in 1973, right? I feel like I missed out on an awful lot of fun when my older friends reminisce about the ’60s and ’70s! And I’m like, “Yeah, diapers were so convenient but I didn’t have any hair, so…” ;-). Several of my friends will be in your workshop tomorrow and I know you are all going to have an amazing time.
I love that second piece with the colored sheer scraps, by the way, and the trapunto dots and flowers is such a fabulous meeting of traditional and modern. Can’t wait to see how that one continues to evolve for you!
Oh thanks for making me feel old, lol! Half of the people that lived through the 60’s and 70’s don’t remember them… I hope my experiments turn out well, they are experiments after all.
What a vulnerable and poignant post, Jenny. You had me at the title. It is so hard not to compare ourselves to others. It is humbling and edifying to be regularly thrust ourselves into beginner mode. Never owned a motorcycle, came of age in the 60’s and 70’s and have been practicing yoga since 2011. No surprise, you post spoke deeply to me.
Ugh, comparison, it follows me even though I know how bad it is. I hope to get comfortable with yoga, doubt I’ll be a master, just want more peace in my life.
Hi Jenny,
Wow. A little personal history, a little humbleness and lots of inspiring ideas. I have been doing yoga on and off most of my live and some of the balance poses and the forward bends are still not in my practice. My husband does the balance poses like I do stretches, amazing. I never owned a motorcycle, but I have ridden on the back of a BMW for more than 15,000 miles. Most of that in Europe in the late 70’s. Love how you share your artist finds, quilt of the week, and inspire me to do more FMQ. I am such a beginner at it.
Robin as I recall you were doing very well at fmq! Ah, the 70’s, what a great time to be on a Beamer. Interesting that the balance poses are still a challenge. I thought I was supposed to have that kind of balance built-in! I do have a long ways to go on that.
Still trying to square the photo of the long-haired, low-slung-jeans-wearing gal and her motor cycle with the polished, manic-pedicured, put-together artist who does precise work with a sewing machine on silks! ;-)
I’m not a yoga person — the hardest part about long-distance running, for me, was stretching. I could do it, alright, but it bored me to tears. I wanted to *move*! I continue, though, to look at your student’s fmq samples and think…maybe…at least to do a background so I can thread sketch over it, like your lovely flowers. If you decide to paint the background first, next time out, though, you’ll find you get a very different result. I *really* like the abstracted spots of colour, tied together with the fmq stems and leaves, on a simple black-and-white background. It’s balanced, whimsical and just the right amount of colour to draw the eye. (IMHO, of course!)
Hugs, and happy stretching!
No pedis here and I’m not as put-together as you might think, lol! I too want to move, do. not. like. standing still. But I need to stop, slow down, listen, so yoga is what I need right now. Thank you very much for the comment on the sheer piece, I think I agree. Hugs back!