Submitted by Dianne McD.
Every time I hear someone say “You need to move out of your comfort zone…”, I want to gnash my teeth. I’ve set up housekeeping in my comfort zone and I’m very happy there, thank you very much!
On Tuesday, January 24, 2023, MPS hosted Frances Arnold as our speaker for the evening. She spoke to us on the “Challenge of Challenges” and took us along on the journey of her challenge quilts beginning in the 1980’s to her latest quilt that was accepted in the 2023 Quilt Con show. Before she began, she shared this quote from Richie Norton:
It’s not about getting out of your comfort zone to reach your goal.
It’s about widening your comfort zone so far that your goal fits comfortably inside.
I don’t know about you, but that is much less threatening to me. As she spoke, Frances told us what she learned with each challenge and how she approached the next one. Before she was finished, many of us were filled with inspiration, ideas, and a hope that maybe we could approach challenges with less fear and trembling.
The timing of her presentation was perfect for MPS because, as it happens, we introduced a new challenge for the guild members back in November of 2022. We’ve named it “Heritage on a Small Scale”. We are to look to our own personal heritage for inspiration for our quilt. What makes it even more challenging? We are encouraged to make a small quilt! The maximum perimeter or circumference of the quilt can only be 100 inches; but we can make it even smaller if we want. And we can make it any shape we want, too. Our thanks to MPS Vice-Chair Ruth T for coming up with this challenge. You can learn more about the challenge by clicking on the button. 2023 MPS Challenge
We’ll reveal our quilts at the November 2023 Guild meeting, and I can’t wait to see what everyone has created. We are a diverse group of quilters and learning about each other’s heritage will be a good way to spend the evening. Meanwhile, I’m going to look around and see where I might add some square footage to my comfort zone…
Do you like quilt challenges? Why or why not? Let us know in the comments below.
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I loved your comments, Dianne. I also need a shove into a wider comfort zone.
We have had some amazing quilts created since the 2020 quilt challenge of 20 fabric, picked in 20 minutes and pieced into a 20×20 inch quilt. And I think the challenges gave us a distraction from Covid in those first couple of years. Whenever I hear ‘challenge’, my first reaction is generally ‘oh, dear!’ But with every challenge, I learn something new about myself and quilting. So glad we have November to share all our challenges with each other!
I think sometimes challenges lead us to our biggest accomplishments and joys. It’s time to return to our childhood and just have fun!
Inspiring. You have caused me to start thinking and planning.