The Bigger Picture

"A frog living at the bottom of the well thinks that the sky is as small as a cooking pot lid."

-Vietnamese Proverb

My husband has become frustrated with many of my pictures. What looks good, or at least passable in a thumbnail all too often looks blurry in a larger size.

See what I mean?

My natural inclination is to put the camera right up on whatever I want to focus on. I have struggled with using the close up setting on my camera. All too often, I waver and the picture turns out fuzzier than Fuzzy Wuzzy (who was a bear.)


He has since introduced me to the wonders of the crop function.

Which turns this picture of Rose...


Into this...


And this...


Into this.


See how well that works?

I have to fight my natural tendency to narrow my focus.

That is what I did on my vacation.

I stepped back from Sunflower Designs enough to see the bigger picture.

Much as I love my work, much as you may love yours, we all need to step away on occasion in order to gain perspective.

In my design process, I work from small motifs to large wholes and back again.

I begin with a big idea, then look for small bits & pieces to work into a harmonious overall pattern.

I step back and try to see with fresh eyes, and then I go back to the particulate and tweak the parts that don;t flow. I figure out how to make it better.

This creative tension between the large picture and the small details is what makes the design sing.

So too, in our lives. If we are always, like the Vietnamese frog, looking at the world from the deep well of our own perceptions and ideas...

The infinite sky looks small.

Sometimes, we need to take a break, climb out of our holes, and look around at the bigger picture, lest we lose our focus.


We can always crop the picture later.


I am off to visit my family in Leland Michigan for a long weekend and will have limited internet access . I will check messages and fill orders once a day from the local coffeehouse. I will NOT be having a stash sale this Saturday.

If you cannot wait on a pattern, I recommend you order on Ravelry.

I appreciate your patience and beg your understanding.

After all, family is a vital part of the bigger picture of life...