The Unseen Work
February has been bitterly cold, the kind of cold that makes even simple tasks feel heavier than usual. I’m also in the middle of that familiar rebalancing act: day job obligations on one side, Happy Kiwi work on the other, and me in the middle trying to rebuild a rhythm that holds.
This month’s journal post is about the work that doesn’t photograph well. Because a lot of the real progress… doesn’t.
Sometimes I’m racing ahead. Sometimes I’m simply enjoying the making. And sometimes I look up and realize I forgot to take progress photos because I was too busy doing the thing. The sewing and the designing are visible, but the rest of it is quieter: spreadsheets, templates, cutting tables, diagram logic, seam-direction decisions, writing and rewriting instructions so they read clearly instead of sounding like a running commentary inside my head. That’s the unseen work.
Quilters often talk about UFOs, and I understand why. Many people enjoy having multiple projects in motion, and there’s something joyful about dipping in and out of different colors and textures. I’ve learned that I don’t work that way. Too many loose ends make my brain itchy. When I say I finish a quilt, I don’t just mean sewing the top. For me, finishing includes:
writing the pattern
taking and editing photos
setting up the digital assets
getting everything organized so Future Me doesn’t have to untangle a knot later
I learned this the hard way. Last year, I got moving fast enough that I had multiple quilts in progress at once. The fun parts were flying, but the digital side was lagging. Eventually, everything got scrambled in my head, and it took me about two months to catch up and rebuild a process that felt steady again.
Now I try to complete the designing, making, writing, and asset setup for one quilt before moving on to the next. Not because it’s the “right” way, but because it’s the way that lets me do good work without burning out my brain.
Here’s Gracie on Modern Love, looking like an extremely serious quilt model who isn’t in it just for the cookies. This photo is better than the one I took when I originally made the quilt, which feels like a perfect illustration of how this project is progressing. The systems inevitably improve between when I make something and when I release it. The quilt stays the same. The way I document it gets better. And honestly, who doesn’t need a little more love in February?
This second photo is the fabric pull for my XOXO reboot. I’m remaking that quilt because I knew it was off when I first made it. I liked the idea, but I didn’t love the result, and I still forced it into being. Now, when I think XOXO, I think Valentine’s. Hugs and kisses. Warmth. So I’m remaking it in pinks and reds on a deep blue background, leaning into the feeling instead of just the motif.
I’m a little obsessed with Kona Prussian (the blue in this fabric pull) at the moment. It looks good next to almost everything, and it shifts depending on the light, sometimes deep blue, sometimes teal, sometimes almost green. I love how color does that - changes its mind depending on what’s beside it. So yes, I’m remaking XOXO simply because I want to.
So that’s where I’m at: quiet work, steady systems, fewer loose ends, and a quilt reboot that will be better than the first attempt. Progress is there, doing its thing in the background.
