Crumb Quilting and Anxiety

When trying new things gives you anxiety - be brave, my friends!

I love trying new techniques and different methods of quilting I've never done before...

That's a lie.

When it actually comes time to try a new technique or sometime I've never done before, I get so much anxiety. My brain goes to work giving me thoughts like "you don't know how to do this" and "it's not going to look good."

That's what happened when I started my first crumb quilting project. Crumb quilting takes all of your small, leftover, uneven scraps and turns them back into usable pieces of fabric.

This is a great scrap-busting technique that's supposed to be free flowing with no rules, yet my brain wants to make it complicated.

Are these fabrics good together?

How should I sew these?

Where should I cut them?

There's literally no wrong way to do this technique but my first thought is I'm not doing it right.

Why do we do that to ourselves? Why do we default to "I'm not doing this right"?

To be fair, the brain's job is to conserve energy. When we try something new or move away from our comfort zone, the brain tries to stop us. It likes to stay cozy and safe and not expend too much energy. Your brain will offer you all kinds of sentences about why you shouldn't try new things. But, come on brain, we're not doing rocket science here! We've just doing a little bit of crumb quilting!

This is why it's so important to be aware of your thoughts and how you feel. When I started laying out all my fabrics and sewing them together, I could feel myself begin to tense up and I wanted to run away from the project. I started spinning out with anxiety.

This is the moment to tap into awareness.

What am I thinking that's causing me this feeling of anxiety in my body?

How you feel is always caused by what you're thinking. When you realize that, it's a game changer.

Here's good news; you don't have to believe all the thoughts your brain offers you. You don't have to believe "you don't know what you're doing" or "it's not going to turn out well." In fact, I suggest you actively reject these thoughts! We actually DO know what we're doing (easy, there are tutorials on YouTube) and it WILL turn out well.

I know when I'm doing new things, my brain is ALWAYS going to offer up doubt in my abilities. I can anticipate that. New thing = brain objections. I can notice it when it appears and say not today, brain. We're doing new, fun things today no matter what you have to say about it.

Be brave, y'all.