CHQuilts: #quilting
Showing posts with label #quilting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #quilting. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Homeward Bound is a fun project so far

My latest quilt project actually began in January; it is a Block of the Month (BOM) originating from The Quilt Show, free to Star members. I am proud to participate in the Quilt Show, a valuable resource for quilters. I learn new things every time I sign on.

This quilt is called Homeward Bound and was designed by Australian designer and teacher Sarah Fielke. 

While I have completed four months of this project, I have embarked on a bit of a lull at the moment, having completed my 4th month. I couldn't wait to create the fourth month Coneflowers, so I created my own pattern for them in the 3rd month without waiting for the official pattern. That left the whole month of April free for yard work and other chores that often take a back seat to my love of quilting.

I believe this quilt top will be gorgeous when it is done, many, months from now. 

As is typical for me, I decided to make this my own by choosing fabrics and colors from my own fabric stash rather than purchasing the kit that was offered. Tweaking colors is about as daring as I've ever been to quilt design—which is not very far at all. That is my goal and desire; I want to design my own quilts someday but I feel I have lots more to learn before I get there. At the very least, I enjoy the option to take a pattern I like and adapt it to my own taste through the fabrics and colors I use.

My first decision was to make this quilt with a dark background. I have never made a black quilt before, but thought this might be a worthwhile endeavor as well as fun for a change. All the other fabrics I will use will showcase my favorite colors and patterns; I will use fabrics I have collected over the years. Picking out fabric is an important first step, one over which I often agonize.

With so many small pieces to applique, this might even be considered a scrappy quilt. Quilters always have plenty of scraps to choose from.

I love handwork with a preference for needle-turn applique. I am far from perfecting this skill, so I plan to keep practicing. This project will provide plenty of that.

This is the progress I have made thus far on this project in this, the fourth month. 

This is the progress I have made thus far on this project in this, the fourth month.

I find myself watching the calendar for the next step. I can't wait to get started on it. I can’t wait to see what May has to offer.

Sunday, March 5, 2023

I make quilts, but for now, they aren't for sale

My quilt inventory keeps growing. For some, this might be a problem, but not for me. Seeing quilts all around me makes me happy. When I look at them, I remember working on them as well as the techniques I learned while making them. I like seeing colorful quilts on the back of chairs, couches, hanging on doors, and on display wherever I can place them. 

I recently purchased a ladder on which to display several of my favorite quilts all in one place. 

Oh wait, they are all my favorites!

Ironically, I do not have a quilt covering my bed. I do however have one folded neatly at the foot of the bed. I also have one hanging from a rack on the wall, above, and another quilt rack on the floor that holds the first quilt I ever made and a couple that my husband inherited.

I have been asked many times if I would ever consider selling them, but I just can't. Only on rare occasions have I given some away, but only to family members. I have never been commissioned to make a quilt. 

I have made many different small projects to give away as gifts but I have nearly all the quilts I've made in the last 20 years. None are "put away." They are all out in plain site, which is just how I like it.

For me, quilting is a quest, a project, a challenge, a skill, an art, a learning experience, and therapy; quilting is basically a highly personal endeavor that takes a year or more to complete. There is no way to put a price on that. 

I truly love the process of making a quilt. From choosing the colors and selecting fabric to hand or machine quilting, to hand-sewing the binding to washing the finished product, I do every step of the quilting process myself. I don't employ long-arm quilters. I don't just piece a quilt and then pay someone else to quilt it. I love all that goes into making a quilt and revel in all the many steps it takes from start to finish. 

The only possible exception to that is putting the quilt top together with batting and backing and securing it through some sort of basting to get it ready for the quilting. Because of my limited space, basting is not an easy task and one I'm not too fond of. But once the quilt is sandwiched together, I am back to loving every stitch, whether it be by hand or machine. I love both methods.

I don't quilt when I have the time so much as I make the time to quilt.   

I don't have as much time to devote to quilting as I would like, but I steal away hours here and there.

For the past eight years, I have been the sole caregiver for my husband who is disabled. I do all the chores around the house and in the yard, all the cooking and cleaning and take care of our three inside cats and feed our three outside cats. I do not have much spare time, but when I do, it often involves quilting. If I'm not sewing myself, sometimes I just watch other people sew on You Tube or my favorite quilting sites. Quilting is my obsession.

All this said, I can see a time when I may want to make quilts to sell. It just hasn't happened yet because the challenge is what inspires me the most. I guess that is because I am still learning, still trying to perfect my skills, and most importantly, still challenging myself. But I am getting there. Some day I may go into the quilting business, but for right now I am content with the way things are. There are still so many techniques I want to try and traditional patterns I want to make.

I don't have a quilting studio, so any business I would undertake would have to be limited. I basically have a breakfast bar that I've converted into my quilting space. I've written about my space in the past. It is very small, but it works for me. There is a place for my sewing machine, as well as a cutting and pressing area. What more could a girl ask for? I've machine quilted large quilts there quite handily. The only drawback to a small space is that it must be tidied often. I am limited to one project at a time because there just isn't room for more. That is OK too, since one of the other things I love is all the organization necessary to keep my space functional. I use baskets, cubbies, jars, and whatever else I can come up with for organizing the myriad tools and multitude of what-nots that are necessary for quiltmaking. 

So, for now, I have no interest in turning my obsession into a business, but stay tuned, because who knows what the future will bring. 


Thursday, December 8, 2022

Every quilter needs a quilting cat

I can't help but share the photo of my quilting cat, Sally.

Thursday, September 8, 2022

Latest project so satisfying

I was once terrified of needle-turn applique. So, when I glimpsed this year's Block of the Month project from The Quilt Show, one of my favorite on-line quilt experiences, I wasn't so sure I could handle this quilt, called "Garden Party Down Under."

I had done some hand-applique, but I knew I wasn't very good at it.  

My quilting journey is and has been since my first quilt about 25 years ago, all about challenging myself. So, I decided to give it a try. Even if my skills are less than stellar, I knew this quilt would turn out to be beautiful. 

I am so glad I decided to give this a try.

Despite my late start, beginning the January block about five months into this year, I am well on my way to getting caught up. I have been working feverishly, but not because I'm behind, but because I LOVE hand applique and this quilt contains a ton of it. I am now working on Month 8 (August) and am loving every minute of it. 

The more I do it, the more comfortable it is to sit in a favorite chair as I listen to music, an on-line book, or the television, as I stitch. 

As the care-giver for my husband who suffered a stroke seven years ago, I don't really have much 'spare time.' I have no problem working on a quilt project while the laundry piles up or dishes fill the sink. Those mundane chores will just sit there until I decide to take them on. I refuse to be a slave to such things. I decided long ago that my freedom to do as I please will always take precedence over a perfectly clean house, perfectly manicured garden or having all my chores completed.

Quilting is not just a hobby for me. It is my therapy. It is my inspiration, stimulating my desire to be better at something that matters to me. I enjoy the creative process, making something beautiful, and learning new things.

I remember when I first started quilting many years ago. I knew instinctively that I would always be a quilter. I soon realized that there would be no end to learning techniques, patterns, fabrics. I had no way to know that quilting would be my salvation, a lifeline to stave off depression or to renew hopes and dreams during the difficult times of extreme stress.

Quilting is not just busy work for me. I continue to learn new things. I have spent countless hours studying the work of others and adapting techniques that suit my abilities.

At left is an example of the first two months of work, the center medallion of this quilt designed by Australian artist Irene Blanck. There will be more photos to come.

This project was sold as a kit, but I always like to use the stash of fabrics I've collected. While this isn't considered a "scrappy" quilt, I am using my favorite colors and fabrics, many of which are scraps from other quilts I've made.

I really can't wait to see how this turns out and even better; I can't wait to hand-quilt it. 

I've decided that although I love my sewing machine, I really love hand work. I plan to sew by hand just as long as my eyes and hands cooperate. So far, so good.

 
 

 

 

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

My design wall


I now have a design wall, a do-it-yourself portable, but functional design wall.

As noted in a prior post, I wanted to make The Quilt Show cohost Ricky Tims’ Kool Kaleidoscope quilt. The pattern for this project is available at the above link.

The design requires simple shapes cut out of fabrics sewn together into several strata, and put together again like the pieces of a puzzle. I almost gave up on the project when Ricky said a design wall was a necessity. But then I started thinking about how I might remedy this problem.

I thought about where I could mount a hunk of batting for a makeshift design wall. I have such a small area – a breakfast nook off the kitchen – which I have designated as my sewing space.

Alas, I have just finished my DIY design wall. When I’m not using it, I can fold it and put it away. I’m sure I can even store fabric pieces on it. I tried it out with some orphan quilt blocks from my last project. It works great!

Sometimes solving problems is so simple, if you just take a minute to think them through. This was one of those times. I stapled some extra quilt batting to a cardboard cutting board. Fabric pieces stick to the batting so blocks or shapes can be auditioned and/or rearranged there before being sewn together. 

I've had this board for years. It may have been something I bought when I began quilting, though I’m not sure why. Or it may have been something I used for blocking crochet blocks for afghans long before I started quilting. Either way, it has been around for a long time and has rarely been used. I’m glad I finally found a good way to use it.  

I hope to start on my quilting project very soon. I’ll be anxious to share my progress.

Sunday, September 12, 2021

Bigger isn't always better

CHQuilts: my quilting space with friends
When my husband John and I retired, we downsized from a five-bedroom house. While I miss the square footage, I don’t miss the upkeep. That was the place however, where I made my first two quilts. The funny thing is, I didn’t have a quilt studio then either. It was just a room with a table and a sewing machine.

I was a beginning quilter, so I had no fabric stash, and just one quilting ruler that came with a kit of sorts with a rotary cutter and cutting mat. I did have a quilting book or two and was starting to collect quilting magazines. Still, I had no idea how much fun it would be to collect all the goodies we quilters swear we can’t live without. It was, after all, the early 1990’s. I had no idea what I was doing. I only knew I wanted to do more of it. Those days were way before I ever considered turning my spare room into a quilting studio.

I realize now what a treasure that little room at the top of the stairs could have become. But alas, that was then. This is now. I do all of my work, with a few exceptions, at a small breakfast counter just steps away from my kitchen. I have divided the space into two main areas; the left side is for cutting/pressing and the right is for sewing. What more could a girl need?

I really can’t complain. My space may be small, but it is mighty. Every quilt I’ve made in the last 16 years since we moved to our little house in the woods in the Arkansas Ozarks has been done in this space. I’ve free-motion quilted several huge quilts and put together several quilt-as-you-go projects. Both of these require maneuvering bed-size quilts in my tiny space.

No doubt I am envious of the beautiful quilt studios I’ve seen in magazines, or online which resemble quilt shops I’ve visited over the years. But, I’ve made this work. It is all doable, as long as I follow the guidelines I’ve laid out for myself.

Rarely can I work on more than one project at a time, unless they are small projects. But that fits into my philosophy of finishing what I start. I like working on a project to completion.

In the near future I want to make The Quilt Show’s Ricky Tims’ Kool Kaleidoscope quilt – there will be more on that when I get into it. But suffice it to say it will require that I have some kind of design wall. For non-quilters, a design wall is a designated area, often covered with batting or felt, where quilt blocks or other elements of a project can be placed for review. Fabric can be placed upon the wall and it will generally stick without having to use pins. It can be viewed so as to check for color, placement, or layout. It offers a distant perspective that is next to impossible any other way. Many quilters consider a design wall to be mandatory.

For this specific project, it will be necessary to create a design using many small pieces that fit together like a puzzle. Without it, this project might not be doable. I currently have no space for a design wall. I can pin some batting onto one of the small walls on either side of my space, but it is hardly big enough. I suppose I could cover my window with batting and use that, but I like my huge picture window overlooking the backyard and the woods behind. I also like the natural light from that south window.

I have been thinking about ways to solve this problem. I think I have one. I have a folded cardboard cutting board (for scissors, not a rotary cutter) that I could cover with batting. It is about 3 feet by 6 ft., so it would serve my purpose. And, it could be folded up and stored when not in use. The more I think about it, the more I think this might be my next project.

Because my space is so small, the only way I can make it functional is to keep it organized. I don’t think quilters set out to be messy, but it is almost impossible not to be. While I haven’t quite gotten to the point of throwing things over my shoulder and onto the floor, Eleanor Burns style, there are always scraps of fabric, threads, pins, pin cushion, scissors, needles, a seam ripper, extra bobbins, spools of thread, templates, rulers, as well as fabric that needs to be put away, to name some of what quiltmakers need. My space requirements just dictate that I have to clean up my mess before I start something.

Fortunately, I rather like the cleaning up and organizing my precious ‘stuff.’ I consider it a part of ‘quilting.’ It is a project all its own, that is almost as satisfying as quilting itself. It is positively mindless, which makes for good therapy. When my mind isn’t wandering, I’m listening to music or an audible book on my earbuds. Either way, I’m in another world, one where there is no pressure or pain, no drama, no obligation. It is freedom! What could be better?

At the same time, sorting scraps of fabric into squares and strips, often times by color is a way to keep things neat. Big pieces are put into a basket—I have baskets for everything—and scraps that are too small are either thrown away or kept for applique projects. I am not quite as organized as I’d like to be in this area, at least not yet. Maybe someday…Usually, I just discard small pieces because I really don’t have the room to keep them. I have to say though; it is painful to throw them away. I dearly love fabric, even little pieces of it. When I’m done with a project, I sweep all the scraps that aren’t big enough to sort, into a brown paper grocery bag. When it is full I will make the painful decision to finally toss it into the trash. Until then however, I can always rummage through it to see if there is anything I’d like to keep. Saving tiny scraps that way postpones the inevitable, but because it takes so long to fill up the bag, I might have a better solution before that happens.

My quilting space may never be a feature in a magazine, but it will suffice because where there is a will, there is a way. Oh, and bigger is not always better.