Creativity

I am on a sewing rampage for the first time in several years. I'm not a confident sewer, have a hard time following patterns and an obstinate old sewing machine with a tension which is never consistent so...I rarely sew. At Christmas a friend passed on to my six year old the most amazing canopy to hang in her room (it is now over her bed). Green, with faux flowers and ferns all around the crown of the canopy, it inspired me to look the room she shares with her toddler brother in a new way.

I went to the fabric store and was delighted to discover a beautiful fabric that looks like a nature print of birds, ferns, and flowers and (oh joy!) it has the Biblical verse from Matthew woven in among the flora and fauna, "Consider the birds of the air...they neither toil nor spin..". It is simply beautiful fabric and works for a girl or a boy.

I can sew straight lines so I whipped up simple curtains. After hanging them up I realized that certain vibrant colors did not stand out as much from across the room. I bought some yellow ribbon and trimmed the curtains with it and they were transformed! ...which led me to sew up plain yellow curtains for the closet without a door....and to trim those with a green ribbon which coordinated with the original canopy which started this whole project!..which also led me to make a little ruffly curtain to put on a spring rod across their bookcase to hide toys....(as you can tell my seamstressy confidence has grown by leaps and bounds!).

The Springy colors delighted my youngest children and ministered to my soul as I battle the Winter doldrums in a big way at this time of the year :).

I began to look around at other rooms with a new inspired gleam in my eye. I have blue-checked curtains in my room (bought at a thrift store two years ago) and they have needed to be shortened since I bought them. I have a red and blue school house wall quit and a red and blue patchwork quilt on the bed so I got some cheery red ribbon and trimmed those curtains! (No, I will not trim every curtain in the house with ribbon but, by golly, it really worked for these two rooms!)....which led me to sewing up some plump decorative pillows and ....

This post is beginning to sound like the book If You Give a Moose a Muffin! Ha!

With all these unusual forays to the fabric store I have had the opportunity to think about the joys of creativity. Apparently, I am not alone in my surge of January crafting because the cashiers at the store said it has been very busy after Christmas. As I waited my turn to get my fabric measured and cut I looked at the other ladies in line and how they smiled with anticipation as they watched their choice of fabric and ribbon being measured. Many of us chatted with each other about what we planned to do with our purchases and the atmosphere was one of friendly comaradarie.

We all could have gone out and bought something instead of sewing it-maybe for less money (like my thrift store curtains) but we wanted to create. We needed to create, perhaps because of this dark, wintry time of year.

The same creativity oozes from the homemaker as she flips through cookbooks to choose a new cookie recipe or scans decorating magazines before she starts rearranging furniture. It delights the soul to create in even a small way. It changes us and develops our soul.