Thursday, July 8, 2010

Square 17: Mickey. And, a Decision

I dashed outside in between tropical downpours to take a quick picture of my next square.  (I think it's going to be a long hurricane season, y'all, but I digress.) So, here it is: a big pink Mickey head.  Oddly enough, this square, along with a few comments on my last post, helped lead me to make a big decision: I've decided to revise this project, from here going forward.  Here's why:

I've been wanting to stitch this silly Mickey Mouse head for over a month now.  But every time I sat down to do it I thought: Is Mickey Mouse a blessing?  Sure, going to Disney World is a blessing, family fun is a blessing, etc., but is it really worthy of a blessing square?  Do I have anything profound to say about it?  Is Mickey too shallow for a square? Round and round like this I went -- and nothing got stitched.

After mulling it over a bit, I've decided that for me, having every square represent a blessing is just too much pressure.  It was taking the fun out of the project for me.  I think that's why I hadn't been enjoying it as much (or working on it as consistently) as the 39 Squares project.  For 39 Squares, I just stitched whatever I felt like stitching on that particular day.  Sometimes it had meaning, but sometimes it was just a flower.  You know what I mean?  It was fun, creative, relaxing, even therapeutic.  That's what I missed when that project ended. 

Now, this isn't to say that some of my squares won't still pertain to blessings.  I have a lot of blessings in my life, and I'd like to incorporate them into this project when I can.  (Not to mention the fact that I have a central design that says "BLESSINGS.")  I just think that from now on, I'm going to free myself to stitch whatever I feel like, even if it has no deeper meaning or I have nothing in particular to say about it. 

So, given all of that, I give you: the big pink Mickey head.

Happy Stitching!

7 comments:

  1. Nothing like looking at a Big Pink Mickey Head to bring back all the memories of my youth spent in front of the TV watching Annette, Bobby, Cubby, etc on the original Mickey Mouse Club . . . what a lie full of blessings I had then and didn't even know it . . just, as any child would, I took it for granted.

    GREAT DECISION!

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  2. I love it!

    I know just what you mean. I haven't worked on mine forever! Trying to think of something I can actually stitch, that represents a blessing has brought my project to a halt. I'm a beginning stitcher.

    I think I will add in things that just make me happy....that's a blessing isn't it?

    Thanks Alison!

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  3. Yes! I agree, anything that brings you happiness is a blessing. There are blessings that nearly all of us have and blessings that are unique. I like the variety. Mickey makes a great square.

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  4. I guess it was a good thing that I made too many squares and had to decide to stitch more than blessings. Something I considered was that it's a blessing to have a joy in my stitching, or that learning a new stitch is a blessing, too. So on some level, even if a square doesn't represent a specific blessings, I think that overall they all portray blessings in stitches. Oh, and I like what Donna said, what brings us happiness is a blessing.

    ~Faith
    Sew Many Blessings
    Needle & Fabric Art
    airycat at airynothing dot net

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  5. Your squares are absolutely the most beautiful.....I cannot wait to see each one you create. You work is lovely. I need you to give me some lessons on embroidery. I love your blog. Hugs, Genie

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  6. I think Mickey is a blessing...I mean...it represents so much. This little mouse that created "the happiness place on earth" ... hehe! Thanks for sharing...I'm still trying to catch up and visiting all the folks stitching along!

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