Designing, Planning and Balance

I was reading about the purposes of design today and thinking about where my art quilts fit into the categories of descriptive, narrative, emotive, decorative and utilitarian. None of my quilts are utilitarian - at least yet - and all of them are decorative. Many of them are narrative and/or descriptive and emotive. For me, if an art quilt is purely decorative without also being narrative, I have a sense of something being missing. I made a few quilts like that when I took an on-line class and focused on trying different techniques with a largely decorative and descriptive design purpose. I still don't feel completely satisfied with those quilts. So I'm attempting to define and refine my sense of style, and I'm realizing that some of the impetus behind my work comes from a drive to tell a story or convey a message.

I also spent time organizing my list of intentions for this year into daily, weekly, monthly and 'one time' categories, followed by collaging them onto a poster so that I have a visual representation of them all in one place that is easily accessible and will help me stay on track. I marked down a few items in my day minder as well - and I'm thinking that I may have taken on too much even without having set amounts of time for fibre work. What I don't want is to feel as though I am failing if I don't do what I set out to do. So - this will be a trial and I will stay open to modifications as needed. Some idea of where I'd like to go can be good to dream ideas into being - and - too much rigidity and too high expectations can end up thwarting me by causing stress and draining fun. This is often a tricky balance for me.