September’s box is Frivols #8 and is a tin from American Jane, with a whole host of fancy and fun prints. The Moda blog notes that:
“There is a correction to the pattern – Background, Sashing, and Borders. The first line should say 3 – 5 1/2″ x width of fabric strips. From the strips, cut 18 – 5 1/2″ squares.”
Duly noted. I’ll figure it out when I get there.
Here’s the layout of prints from their blog–colorful and charming. And I was happy to see that there are fewer half-square triangles in Sandy Klop’s quilt design.
The freebie for this Frivol is a sweet little tin with this month’s quilt design, that is just about the size of a charm square, perched up there by the bigger tin. I also love the quote on this month’s card: “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” While it is attributed to Oscar Wilde, this attribution — as in so many other quote attributions — is a little squishy. For more discussion on this, visit the Quote Investigator. In fact, if you read this article, it seems like Wilde was a bit more pessimistic about this whole idea of authenticity:
It is tragic how few people ever “possess their souls” before they die. “Nothing is more rare in any man,” says Emerson, “than an act of his own.” It is quite true. Most people are other people. Their thoughts are some one else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation. (c. 1900)
I happen to like the Thomas Merton version:
“In an age where there is much talk about “being yourself” I reserve to myself the right to forget about being myself, since in any case there is very little chance of my being anybody else. Rather it seems to me that when one is too intent on “being himself” he runs the risk of impersonating a shadow.” (c. 1967)
I have to say my favorite instance of this idea is from Gordon B. Hinckley, an earlier president of my church. He writes about discouragement when he was called on a church mission at age nineteen, feeling like he could never do what was required of him:
“I wrote a letter to my father and said, “I’m wasting my time and your money. I don’t see any point in my staying here.” And in due time a letter came back from him in which he simply said: “Dear Gordon. I have your letter of [such and such a date]. I have only one suggestion: Forget yourself and go to work. With love, your father.” [from here]
So often we can focus too much on ourselves, and how we feel from moment to moment. While this aesthetic — to “forget yourself and get to work” — seems to hail from another era, I like to think about it sometimes, when I often can’t find the energy to finish up the chore, to get the work done, to complete the task. I felt that way with Frivols #7, as you probably know. And somedays I have to ask myself: “What do I want to have done by the end of this day?”
Perhaps all this seems so far from the supposed Wilde quote of “being yourself,” but for me they are linked. Perhaps the work is me, the getting done is the shaping of who I am. And hopefully, in forgetting myself and getting to work, I will become my best self.
Onward!
OccasionalPiece--Quilt! 
I definitely see the link in being yourself with doing what we do well! I love the look of these Frivols fabrics! And the bear paw is such a classic block! Will you choose a plain pale solid for the background or something more ‘bold’?!
What a fantastic little tin of fabric. The subscription “box” concept has really taken off with quilters I believe. This is one of the cutest I have seen. Those fabrics are “just my style”. I love the vintage charming prints. I wonder if they are the type of prints you would pick up when out shopping? I look forward to seeing your “finish” and how you punch it up to your modern quilting level! Moda would do well to check in with you about the quotes they are using. I’ve given up on being the “ME” my mother expected, and just being the “ME” that I am. I guess that means I’ve stopped trying to please other people with “WHO I AM”. Turns out THIS ME is pretty fun, has found a creative outlet in quilting and so much more.
You have lots more HSTs to do this month. I am really liking the yellow, orange and reds in there. I actually would be selecting many of those prints.
Thanks for the comments on the quotes. I especially like Hinckley’s father’s advice. Forget yourself. When I was depressed, one of the things that seemed to define it was a NEVER-ENDING succession of questions to myself: “How do I feel now? How do I feel NOW? How do I feel now?” Aargh. Never before had I spent so much time and effort thinking about that, digging through how I felt. It wasn’t basic self-reflection. It was temperature taking. It was awful. What a relief when later I could forget myself a bit. 🙂 Thanks.
This month seems to have a much happier mix of colors. I hope it goes together well for you!
This really is the prettiest collection of prints. I enjoyed your quotes and thoughts about being oneself. I think different and even contradictory quotes can often speak to us. I like the Emerson quote and also the one from your church. I feel, perhaps, it’s a matter of keeping a balance over time between self and work with each being equally but neither exclusively important…Certainly interesting to ponder 🙂
I think this is my favorite Frivols box so far! Love the variety of quotes and nothing makes me happier when everyone is doing their own thing in terms of quilting— no two alike. Here’s to us!