Arbroath Abbey… clearly an odd topic for a quilt. However, the idea is an intriguing one and fires my imagination. It definitely has possibilities, but also presents challenges which raise questions. When it comes to designing and making a quilt, you need to be fully grounded in your topic… reasonably sure of the how’s and whys behind the piecing and construction. Okay… really sure. There can be little room for doubt. Doubt shows itself in mistakes and errors which don’t usually happen. The result is frustration, and you come to feel a dislike for what once offered joy. This let-down and disappointment can hit right in the ego, denting your confidence. So, it’s important to ‘listen’ to those doubts and questions. They are there for a reason.
Doubts and questions serve a purpose. Similar to a “Go Slow” traffic sign, doubts keep you from rushing in where angels fear to tread. Questions make you stop and think about what you’re doing. And this is a good thing, because it can lead to answers you wouldn’t otherwise have. Sometimes the only way you can be sure – is to doubt… and question
Starting a quilt is always exciting. The joy of new beginnings is a heady and empowering feeling. Who wouldn’t want to cultivate that? But then… those little questions start to make themselves known. Second thoughts as it were. And there are times when second thoughts are more grounded in reality than we are. That’s when it’s time to listen, and address those questions the doubts are raising.
The topic of Arbroath Abbey is a natural outgrowth from the quilt Stirling Rising. Both are connected to Robert the Bruce and places of historical significance. Stirling Castle and the Battle of Bannockburn saw the fight won for Scottish Independence. Arbroath Abbey, and the document bearing its name, cemented what Bannockburn was all about. The tenets written in the Declaration of Arbroath have rung true down the centuries… to this very day. Just ask the Ukrainian people who are currently living it. Is it any wonder then, that there is a desire to commemorate this? And… celebrate it!
Yet despite desire, doubts set in. How can you take the ruins of an 8th century abbey and make it live? Can flat, one-dimensional facades of stone be fleshed out in fabric and made to breathe again? To give even a hint of what it once was? That will be the challenge… and is also the question. When all is said and done, I am a quilter not an architect.
However, there are times you won’t know for sure, unless you try. So, approach it realistically, open-minded, and answer the questions raised best you can. Can the doubts be overcome… and belief in the topic be strong enough… to provide the answers needed? That’s it in a nutshell.
The initial sketch is completed, the fabrics chosen. Do I have the technical ability to translate it into a quilt – of sorts? To interpret what Arbroath has come to stand for and do it full justice? Can I infuse it with enough meaning, to surmount the limits of simple fabric and thread? There are doubts how to take such straight and rigid lines; somehow curving them beyond the one-dimensional so they have depth, and a greater sense of form. No one has ever accused me of being able to draw a straight-line… this too is a challenge.
Doubts and questions offer clues to where our limitations, and/or weaknesses lie. Enabling us to better meet and overcome them. Or alternately, find a feasible way around. Oddly enough, having an awareness of this is a strength. Granting us the knowledge to equip ourselves with the means to meet and address any obstacles. And if doubts raise questions for which we have no answers? Well, that’s okay too. An easy answer isn’t necessarily the right one. And occasionally no answer, in and of itself, can be the answer. Sometimes we have to work for it, and in doing so are presented with choices we would not have otherwise seen, to our benefit.
There is the joy of beginning a new quilt… tempered with a more clear and realistic view of what the difficulties are and how to face them. Leaving me more fully grounded in the subject matter, and willing to take on the challenges in technique and interpretation this presents.
Doubting has been the pause which refreshes… allowing for a greater understanding of the how’s and whys. All of which will help make Arbroath a better quilt. Infusing it with a bit of heart pulsing from that infamous Declaration.
It’s all anyone can ask. So often quilting becomes a metaphor on how to approach life. And the lessons learned from such, apply well to reality in the every day.
Stay grounded, however you can. Ask questions, and don’t be afraid of the answers. Welcome the doubts, for they are the seeds of what may very well turn out to be something which will bring you great joy and satisfaction. Something well worth your time and effort. You don’t want to miss it for want of a question or fear of a doubt.
And come back again soon.
There just may be a new Quilt Corner Tale to share… Abroath: Quilting a Declaration.
2 thoughts on “Considering… Arbroath”
I am intrigued. Quilting as a metaphor for life. Self doubts assail all of us at some point. Be it a small matter or a life-changing matter. I eagerly await Abroath: Quilting a Declaration. Good luck, Beverley!
So do I… eagerly await to see how it will turn out. Cutting, piecing and sewing… Arbroath is proving a challenge – just like life sometimes. Yup – definitely a metaphor!!
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