Clinging to mistakes

Every so often, I think it’s useful to talk about lessons as well as success.
I found a quote along the lines of: “Don’t cling to a mistake, just because you spent a lot of time making it” (Unknown).
I wrote these pearls on my board and read them occasionally as I walked past.
A week or so ago, I had the opportunity to realize the wisdom of these words.  I had been weaving the third Tapestry in my Blue Mountains series, of the iconic Three Sisters, at Echo point. 
As I worked on it, I was aware of issues, and had corrected some, but hoped that sometimes like a painting, the sky would snap it all together (it’s very satisfying when it does).  As I approached the sky, I realized that the composition wasn’t going to work.
I paused, and considered my options: applique, remedial removal of sections (very time hungry), or simply letting go.  Over that weekend, I was showing a workshop student, and realized I couldn’t exhibit the piece, and that it had to go in the “lesson” basket.
So, I started again.  I wove beside it and used its failures to inform its second iteration.  Compositionally, the Three Sisters are tricky, as most vantage points actually look down at the formation, rather than across. 
As I pried my fingers off the first attempt, I started to solve the issues in the second.
It was a setback, time wise; but an important lesson to learn, particularly in the sequential medium of Tapestry.  Mistakes made at the beginning of a weaving are not going to be sorted out by the end, and it can’t be painted over.

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