Digging Out of the Digital Hole
Lately, I’ve found myself in a bit of a standoff with the digital side of things. After a stretch of concentrated studio work—cutting, sewing, editing layouts—I hit that familiar pause where the fun, hands-on part is done, and the computer takes over. And instead of switching gears, I’m hesitating. I think the burst of making was partly momentum, but if I’m honest, it might also have been a well-disguised form of avoidance.
Now I’m playing a quiet game of digital chicken with myself. I know the next quilt idea is ready. I could start cutting. But I’ve made a deliberate choice not to, because the real work right now is finishing the things I’ve already made. Getting the patterns written. The files cleaned up. The instructions double-checked. Creating the digital assets. This is the part no one sees, and it’s what turns a personal project into a business. It isn’t glamorous, but has to be done.
I don’t mind the pattern writing. In some ways, it feels like notetaking after a good hike—just recording what I did, how I got there, in case someone else wants to follow the trail. But the rest of it? The formatting, the prep, the marketing tasks? That’s the steep incline. Starting a creative business isn’t for the faint of heart. Consistency and discipline are just as important as creativity.
This year has been full of creative output at breakneck speed. A lot of quilts, a lot of energy. Maybe too much at once. I’ve been trying to slow down, to shift into a pace that I can sustain. That’s part of why I’m choosing to prioritize the digital work right now (and okay, not gonna lie, I am forcing myself to do digital work instead of sewing right now). It’s not flashy. But it’s part of the job I chose when I committed to this project.
This photo belongs to not one but two quilts I definitely made to avoid digital work. Both still need quilting. For each, I pulled fabric from my resource center and didn’t bother with calculations ahead of time—just vibes. I came within millimeters of running out. The yellow pieces? I was sure I’d need to stitch these scraps together just to make the last cut. A few seam allowances are a bit lean, but I made it. Barely.
Of course, making quilts to avoid digital work just compounds the problem…
