A letter on starting again

If you have a half-finished project tucked at the back of a drawer, this letter is for you.

I have one too. A quilt top, pieced about two years ago, that I never quite got around to backing. Every so often I pull it out, look at it, and put it back. The fabrics still feel right. The piecing is fine. But the moment for finishing it never quite arrives.

The thing about unfinished projects is that they aren't a failure. They're a record of a season when you had the love but not the time, or the time but not the energy. Putting them away was the right choice. So is bringing them out.

If you do bring it out, you don't have to do it all at once. Lay it on the floor. Iron the seams again. Cut a backing. Pin one corner. Then put it away if you like, and try the next thing tomorrow.

The studio is full of half-finished things. So is everyone else's. Wishing you a kind, unhurried evening with whichever project is calling you.