I belong to guilds in three states and probably enjoy show and tell as much as anything. Each guild varies in how show and tell is treated and when it appears on the agenda. Regardless of when it comes in the meeting it deserves the …
Blue Ridge Landscape Internet connections have been frustrating this past week! I’m glad I have a smart phone so that I can use it to get the basics but connection on it is also not the best so I look for excuses to go into …
It’s Finished!! I said that was gong to be my mantra for the first half of 2015 because I have several items to be finished. While most everyone I know that quilts has unfinished projects some of mine are growing into their teen years. Today I worked on a clamshell log cabin started in a class with Joan Belling about 10 years ago—a mere child. The mitered corners on the border didn’t lay flat and the stripes didn’t match so it was put aside some years ago. I really didn’t have time for mistakes. Corner stripes are now square. Simple quilting highlights the design and binding is on the agenda for tomorrow. As I look at the fabric used I will pull some of the remnants out when we get back to home base in spring. By then I am confident I will have a plan for another creation…just hope I have enough fabric for whatever that might be!
P.S. I also finished the insulation installation for the sewing room. My husband has the sheetrock on the walls. That means we have to tackle the ceiling….how long before I can say “it’s finished”? The DIY Texas sewing room is a little like the UFO’s—but still just a toddler.
February Block of the Month You Are My Sunshine This block was inspired by the month of February—Valentine’s Day, anniversary of my parents marriage and of several of their siblings and probably many others out there. It is named for my parents song, “You Are …
How did you make those branches? On a wall hanging that I posted recently there was a question about how the branches were made dimensional. It is a very simple technique. I cut brown toned batik into bias strips. Length really doesn’t matter …
The Curious Quilter
When people view my more artistic quilt designs they sometimes ask how I got the idea or how I knew to use a particular technique. Usually I shrug my shoulders and say “it just came to me”. And that is the truth—but causes me to question why did it “just come to me”? I think to expand your quilting expertise you have to develop your curiosity. First, you have to be willing to try new things—new skills, new techniques, new fibers and fabrics–even if they don’t work out quite like you planned you have learned something that you may be able to use later. And, for heaven’s sake, do not throw it out. Six months from now it (skill, technique, fabric) may be exactly what is needed to complete a masterpiece.
Secondly, fire that inner critic that judges before you’ve had time to really step back and assess your work. Each of us either spontaneously appreciates or spontaneously critiques a work in progress. Get feedback from both viewpoints to help you form a more credible assessment for your project. (I know which friend to ask when I want the critique and who to ask when I want the appreciative response.)
And third, ask questions. Ask questions of yourself. Not “how” questions but “what if” questions. What alternatives are there? What if I did it this way? What if I used my least favorite color instead of my most favorite color? Ask questions of others whose work you admire. What made you decide to use this technique, this quilting pattern, this color, this fabric?
And do you see? You are right back to the first step—testing the “how”.
The use of linen and lace has become obsolete for most dinner tables and few make their own fresh flower bouquet to grace the table but somehow both continue to hold a place in my heart. (At least the romance of the …
I still like to thread baste to prepare my quilts for quilting, especially when I am in my small space at our winter home (I make mostly small quilts). I made a hard foam folding board (48” x 13 ½”-54)” that hides under the …
Many years ago my father-in-law chided me for having three sewing projects all in various stages toward completion but none finished. It was his belief that one did not start a new project until the last one was finished. How could a person work on more than one project at a time? That was his way. I enjoy the finishing of a project. It feels good, a real sense of accomplishment! However, I enjoy the starting of a new design, the use of a new fabric, the challenge of a new technique, even more. So, I have started more than I have finished in my lifetime. As I age I am becoming fearful that I may not finish all that I have started (I am hopeful that someone will enjoy rummaging through my stash at the estate sale when I am gone.). I am working as fast as I can on finishing and to that end I brought 37 started projects to occupy our winter months in Texas. To date, after four weeks here, I have finished 3 throws, 2 teddy bears, one blouse and one tablemat. In January I will quilt the 7 quilts that were basted. Tomorrow I will baste the 6 projects that were sewn. I spend my evenings hand stitching the three applique projects (one of which was started almost 10 years ago). Next week I will finish the three summer tote bags for my nieces. Too soon I will change my plans and start that art quilt that is percolating in the back of my mind. I have no intentions of finishing 37 projects by the end of March but I do intend to make progress and I do intend to enjoy the process!
We have been in Texas for almost a month. The weeds are under control again. The mosquitos are fewer and the cutter ants have been subdued for a while anyway. And my temporary sewing room is set up in the camper— in fact …