One of the hard truths about life is that whatever time off you want or need must be paid for somehow. Bills keep rolling in, the mortgage doesn’t stop and food is still a necessity even when the income wanes.

After a show and a massive amount of work in 2006, I was beyond burnt out, creatively, mentally and financially. I decided to take a year off and not sew, not draw, not create. I took a job where someone else signed the pay cheque and rejoiced in stability for a time. It was no small measure of how exhausted I was that this felt right and did me a world of good. The bank account stopped gasping, I stopped worrying, my husband stopped stressing and I stopped trying to squeeze creative juice out of a chunk of granite. There was relief all round.

This past spring, I taught a workshop at Quilt Canada about landscape quilting, creating textile and elements of landscape design and it was fabulous. For the first time in a year, I felt like I was ready to get back at it.

So here I am, back again, armed with a new sense of perspective and some fresh creative ideas. My daughter is in school now, so that pressure is somewhat relieved as well.

It’s good to be back!