Sunday, March 2, 2008

The Humility Block

Had I not pointed it out, you might not have noticed. I have a Humility Block on my card.

What's a Humility Block? Here's how the story goes: In Colonial times, the Humility Block was a quilt block, which was purposely pieced incorrectly and usually placed in the lower-right section of a quilt. The belief behind the Humility Block was that only God was perfect, and therefore, a woman could not/should not produce a perfect quilt. Later, it was said that if a bride made a perfect quilt for her marriage bed, the marriage would be an unhappy one. I came across this story several years ago when writing a story about quilts and quilters for the newspaper. It was just one of many myths and stories I discovered about quilts and quiltmaking - fascinating stuff.

I've thought of this story often when cardmaking and again today when, in my top row of blocks, I stamped the green block in the top row upside down and out of line with the others. It was the story that made me decide to leave it alone. I thought I was going to have another humbling experience, too, when I decided to round the corners of my chipboard piece to match those of my cardstock. I clipped the first one off easy enough, but after that, the corner rounder was stressed. Luckily, it didn't break like I was sure it would. I won't try that again.

Humility Square or not, I can't say I love the card. What I thought would be a good color combo - what is a good color combination for some things - isn't great for this particular card. Maybe it's just that I liked the brighter cards I posted the other night so much . . . Oh well, I can't love 'em all. At least, it afforded me the opportunity to tell a fun story.

Tools and Materials: White Daisy, Baby Pink, and Heavenly Blue cardstock; Baby Pink, Amethyst, Heavenly Blue, and Key Lime ink pads; Floral Elements stamp set; Flower Garden Dimensional Elements; Corner rounder.

3 comments:

Maricar said...

Love the story ... and I think I will remember the humility block from now on!

Love this stamp set. I just saw some cards on the Artwork board and it's now on my list to buy. It made me laugh when I saw that you made something with it today as well. Definitely will get it now -- I have to keep stalking what you have! :)

Lisa Stenz said...

This card is great Kathi! I love the colors and the story is great as well. I will have to pass it along to my friends who quilt. Thanks for posting this.

Jeanne said...

I've heard of that before, but hadn't really applied the idea to stamping or other types of crafting. At least not in that specific way. I usually say, well that makes it handmade and special. Love that you shared the story. And you're right, I wouldn't have noticed had you not pointed it out. Lovely card!