Having a Ball in the Messy Middle

Living in chaos, making stuff, and pretty palettes

Welcome to Making Time. Helping you find more joy in simple, everyday pleasures. I write about seasonal eating, building a garden, and a slow life in rural Oregon. If you’d like to follow along, you can subscribe for free.

Hello my friends! It’s been a while, but with good reason. I’ve been taking a big long exhale after turning in the final edits on my new sewing book (coming March 2027)! I will write more about this book later when I’ve gathered my wits, but for now a quick update and a few fun links to share…

For months, my office has looked something like this:

I decided to get rid of the giant murphy bed and bookshelf unit that dominated the room, and ordered some lovely low white oak bookshelves from Room and Board. We have these same shelves elsewhere in the house in a different configuration and I just love them. They’re modular and totally customizable, great quality, made in the US, and their service is fantastic.

But they do take some time to arrive, so I lived with the chaos for a while. Books on the floor, books in boxes, moving books and quilts and chairs to get from one corner of the room to another.

When the shelves finally arrived, it was an absolute pleasure to unpack everything, organize into neat little piles, and fill them up with books, baskets, and knickknacks (with Rusty “helping”, of course). I finally had a place for the vintage posters I bought in Paris. I breathe a sigh of relief every time I glance into this room now.

But sometimes things have to get worse before they get better, you know? I started with a fairly well-organized room that just didn’t feel right to me. I then made it feel 10 times worse as I tore everything apart and turned it into a cat jungle gym for three months. Eventually, it all came together again.

Most creative projects are like this too, including this book I just wrote. It starts with a grand idea, descends into chaos and “omg, what have I done??”, and eventually, gradually, begins to take shape into something truly surprising and completely your own.

And a lot of creativity is just developing a tolerance for that messy middle. Maybe even learning to play with it a bit, to laugh at the ridiculousness of your own ambition, to have some faith that it will, eventually, become something worth all that time and attention.

A few interesting links…

Lately, I’ve had this wonderful (though gradual) sense of lightening. A bit less overthinking, a bit more just living in the world as it is. I’ve been thinking of ways to bring that lighter, more playful feeling into this newsletter, so look for some new formats soon as I mess around.

In the meantime, here are a few inspiring links:

• Artists’ palettes from The Met archive: I could stare at these all day long. A visual representation of the messy middle, if ever there was one.

• Winners for the Edward Gorey House Envelope Art Contest: This is from last year, but what better time to be inspired by kids’ takes on the theme of The Evil Garden? All of this work is fantastic. I’d just love to visit the Gorey house someday.

• Two useless Love Stories: Useful < Joyful

• The Greatest Sculptures of the Ancient World: This newsletter illuminating the stories behind great works of art is a fairly recent discovery for me, and I’ve been enthralled by every word.

• I just finished reading the epic novel Paris by Eric Rutherfurd. Honestly, I found the writing quite bland, but I sure did learn a lot about Parisian history and I may pick up some history books next. I expected something more like a French version of Pillars of The Earth (which I loved and have recommended many times).

If you have thoughts on what you’d like to hear from me in future letters, just leave a comment and let me know! Links, books, recipes, crafty things… I’m in the mood to play around and have missed chatting with you all. ❤️

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