Unpicking

Writing a book and making a patchwork quilt have a lot in common. (Have I said this before? No, just checked – I said it was like having a baby.) OK, back to the book analogy….There is the original idea and attendant excitement, the planning, design, redesign, hours of tedious application, bursts of joy, and then the huge satisfaction of the finished product and (you hope) enjoyment for other people.

But there is sometimes a moment when you look at the work in progress and think – Aaargghh! This is not working!

Then you have to sit and think and let a few days go by, while you work out what the problem is, and what you can do to put it right.

The patchwork project that I started last winter has come out of the drawer again (because there is less fun to be had outdoors) and I can see that the misgivings I had about it earlier in the year are sound, and that it needs a complete reworking. So I have started unpicking the pieces already assembled. I did two hours last night. When it’s all unpicked, I will spread out the pieces on the floor again and redesign the quilt from scratch.

On the book front, we’re currently considering the ways in which the first draft does not pass muster, and how to put things right. There’ll be some unpicking, but it won’t be as drastic as that required by the quilt.