Coast to Coast Traveling Bee Quilt 2

I was chatting with my super wise quilting sensei, K, this week about the pendulum swing of self-doubt. And I've got be honest, this week was a doozy of a swing.

This is Susan's quilt for the Coast to Coast Traveling Bee. The thing that stuck out to me on her list was a request for lots of movement. Susan made this gorgeous feather and flying geese ring, and then Alison contributed a glorious batch of ninja stars--ahem, I mean friendship stars!--and I was left pondering, what can I contribute? How can I make this quilt move?

I spent a lot a lot A LOT of time thinking about this. And in case that sounds like I'm complaining, I'm not trying to--this kind of thinking was super invigorating and pleasurable. I was trying to hunt down the perfect addition to this already stunning WIP, and it was fun!

I pulled a stack of rainbow, which was probably the easiest part of this. Early on, I thought half-dresdens might be nice, so I started piecing wedges and when it was obvious they were going to be stunning, I thankfully was a smart girl and pieced one extra for me! (I might already have plans for it.)

And then this idea for arrows formed in my mind, but how to fit them? Why, around the corners, of course! This pattern is by Sew What Sherlock, and I always enjoy how crisp the points turn out.

And when I had pieced all the dresdens and all the arrows, and all I really had to do was fit everything together, I had a major moment of self-doubt. I was convinced it was all terrible and all wrong and horrible and WRONG. I started thinking of other things I could do and would I possibly be able to make them happen before the mailing date? And I was tired because I had felt so sure that the plan I'd had was solid and perfect, and here it was, a massive failure and who's to say the next one wouldn't be quite so horrible? (Admittedly, I can be a *touch* melodramatic at times.)

Except, it wasn't. Not at all. The swing back to confidence started with a good talk with K, who assured me it was great. The photo I took to send to her gave me a different eye. It shrunk down the quilt, and I was able to weigh my concerns using its help. I appliqued down the wedges, and I decided they could stay. I started adding the arrows, still half-convinced they were going to have to go. And slowly, I finished piecing my portion of this quilt.

And friends, I think it looks pretty smokin' awesome! I'm hoping that the next time I face such a moment of self-doubt, I'm able to continue forward because maybe, just maybe, it'll turn out grand.