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Most everyone will say that people, train horses…

It has been almost 13 years since I have been on the back of a horse.  My love for these animals, and riding them, began when I was 6 years old and my mom brought home the movie: Wild Hearts can’t be Broken.  The movie is an inspirational true story, about a girl who comes from the poverty stricken “Great Depression” era of America; runs away to escape the lonely and futureless life she leads at her Aunt’s home, and finds a horse diving act at the county fair.  Horse diving? Yes, literally taking a horse, running it straight up a steep inclining pier, where a rider is waiting to jump on their back at the very last second, before plunging from a very high distance, into a pool of water below.  Señora Webster (the main character of this story), becomes blind, halfway through the movie, due to an unintentional misstep that happens when she hits the water with her eyes open, which causes both of her retinas to split, resulting in lifelong blindness.  Her story ends in a positive way, which I will not spoil for those of you who want to see the movie, but it is inspiring non the less.

What is it about horses that renders them so majestic? So awe-inspiring? Is it their graceful movements? Their speed? Their stamina?

I’ve been asking myself that same question, every time I see one.  I believe it is their appearance of complete and absolute freedom.  Think about it.  No really; think about it.  It doesn’t matter if they are in a paddock, or they have a rider on their back.  Horses always seem to look free. How mesmerizing is that?!

About 10 years ago, I suffered a leg injury that has kept me from doing THE ONE SPORT (all caps because in no way am I an athletic person), but THE ONE SPORT, that I fell head over heels in love with.  When I was younger, I rode.  Every Saturday.  For 12 years.  I was captivated by riding.  It was my kind of sport.  It was an escape.  It was pure happiness. It was freedom.

Well, I’m so happy to say that after 10 years past my injury, I am well enough healed that today, I got “back in the saddle again”, on the animal I admire most.

I have experienced a few business related trials and temporary stresses in the past few months, that made me seriously question humanity and the morals in people. I got on the back of that horse today, and all of that melted away.  It was like it never happened and never existed. When I was on the back of that horse, it was: my breathing and his breathing. His step and my body’s response to that step.  It was the up and down motion as we trotted around the inclosure.  It was the focusing on my leg muscles to give me the balance and stability I needed to keep me on his back.  It was the concentration and centering of my upper body to maintain posture and position with the rhythmic “up/down” motion of posting during the steady and consistent trot. It was rhythm. It was harmony.  It was perfection. When I was on the back of that horse, I remembered what I loved most, about me.  It was that I am free.

Most everyone will say that people train horses;… but I believe horses train people – to be free.

 

 

 

For a while now, I have been eyeing so many gorgeous scrap quilts on Pinterest and Instagram, that it has fueled me into get back into sewing.  Not just because I missed it, but because I missed the satisfaction I use to get from creating with my hands, things to accessorize my home with; something that you can curl up on your couch with on a cold day and know that you made it. You pieced every single part together, and it is yours. And just like that, it hit me like a wave of fabric fueled creativity, that was just the  breath of fresh air I needed, but hadn’t had in a while. So, off to Fabric.com I went!

I love knitting, and I spend over 40 hours a week surrounded by yarn; but I wanted to make something bigger.  Something utilitarian. Something the whole family could enjoy….a quilt.  That was my new mission.  To make something comparable to the gorgeous, chaotic, and haphazardly pieced fabric masterpieces I had seen on the interwebs.

I spent hours, scouring the internet for the perfect fabric.  Would I go with florals? Would I take on solids? How about modern? Animal print?  And then I found it! Cotton and Steel. A brand with a fabric print for everyone! They had it all! Contemporary, modern, solid, small print, large print, florals, animals,….a constant array of endless possibilities!  And the colors! The color palette they have is phenomenal! Bright, bold, dark, rich, and everything in between.  It sold me on the spot!

I ordered a bunch of fat quarters and half yards, because I had no idea what I wanted this scrap quilt to look like, and basically, I fell in love with everything they had. As it stands right now in my creative process, I am sewing, cutting, sewing again, cutting again, and my quilt pieces are beginning to take shape.  I’m enjoying the process of just sitting down and sewing; letting the fabrics merge together with no formula that strives for perfection. Not having to measure, not having to cut out perfect pieces that will eventually evolve together to create a mathematically perfect cotton mosaic,….just sewing.  It’s the creative balance I needed in my life, and is very much fueled by the instant gratification of watching the quilt develop with no direction or plan to hinder a fluid creative flow.