The one with the Lemoyne Templates

This morning, the postman delivered a parcel from a friend. She is culling some of her crafts so she can be more focused on things she loves.  I get that. I completely understand how easy it is to become overwhelmed in creative options.

She thought I might like her english paper piecing templates and "some random quilting templates." Oh, yes please. That was yesterday afternoon. The parcel was here this morning. It was such a terrific bundle. It had some hexies in a size that I needed for a bag project and a mysterious set of six plastic templates labelled Lemoyne Star Template from Margaret Kirkby, 2007. It had no directions, but that rarely slows me down. I knew what a Lemoyne Star looked like but I was a bit confused by the inclusion of a random trapezoid. After scouting around, I learned they belonged to a bigger set sold locally. I seemed to have everything except piece a which was big square which will be easy to cut sans template. 

As much as I love sewing with fabric, I also love playing with shapes and templates. I love seeing how the pieces work together and what I can make beyond the intended. In fact, it was this time last year that I was playing around with Periwinkle Star templates with the same aim in mind. It is certainly my number one Sizzix activity. I love plotting future blocks from my dies and putting them together in unexpected ways. So this morning, I measured up the templates allowing for the faintest margin of error and set to work in Inkscape.

The parcel came at 9am. By 9:30, I'd worked out several variations on the Lemoyne Star that I could make with the templates. 

All those possibilities and so much more when you include fabric variations and the effects you can get with well placed text and stripes!  But maybe the template could do more? So I turned to smaller squares.

..and then I turned to chevrons...

...and then I took a break.  I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the possibilities. Needless to say, I was happy. Thank you, Bec, for thinking of me.

Like Bec, I've found that sometimes I need to cull my craft room in order to keep myself in check. It's always a fine balance between wanting to try everything and focussing on what brings the most joy. For myself, a lot of joy comes in learning and exploration; less so from the the finished products. It's a tough one for creative people. How do you decide which medium to work in?  And how many irons in the fire are too many?  I'm curious how you keep that balance.