Watershed moments in my quilting journey

This simple, little scrappy lap quilt could be a turning point for me.

Up until now, quilting has been a learning experience. Nearly every quilt I have made has been a challenge, which is why I still consider myself a quilting newbie, despite the 25 years I have been making quilts.

Nothing drives me more than a challenge. It is personal for me. I have no desire to enter shows or to win ribbons. I just want to continue to do the best of my ability and to perhaps enhance that ability along the way. There are so many skills I have yet to master. That can only happen through diligence and often times, repetitiveness. I haven’t given myself that opportunity. For varied reasons, I haven’t devoted myself to quilting. I’m afraid this attitude has limited me. I struggle way too much to enjoy the absolute joy of quilting. This little project may be a signal. That may be changing.

In addition, I have always had a desire to design my own quilts, rather than simply following someone else’s pattern. I want to change that, which circles back to this quilt.

It started years ago

This quilt was a fun project in that many months and maybe even years ago, I just started sewing pieces of scrap fabric, of which there is a mountain of it, into configurations that could be trimmed down into blocks. The exercise is very enjoyable. I put on an audio book and listen while I sew. It is mindless work, which makes it easy to concentrate on the book, rather than what I’m creating. Once enough pieces are sewn together, they are trimmed to make blocks. While doing this recently, it occurred to me that I had enough blocks to make a small lap quilt.

I added a few border pieces around the blocks, added sashing and corner squares to ‘round it all out,’ and I ended up with a quilt.

When it was all put together, I had no idea how I’d like to quilt it, so I started with the dense quilting on the bottom border. I wanted to create a shadow effect, so I wanted the bottom border to be darker than the side border. I tried to achieve that through quilting. When I finished that, I wondered what to do about all those wonky blocks. The answer to that was pretty simple – stippling.

Stippling was a turning point for me

I remember the first time I encountered a quilt that was machine quilted with stippling. It was during my journalism career when I covered a quilt show for the local newspaper for which I worked. It was a long time ago – back in the 1990’s – when machine quilting was just starting to compete with the long held tradition of hand-quilting.

I fell in love with the effect. It is so simple; it is one of the first stitches new machine quilters learn. I asked the quilter about it and right then and there, I was hooked.

That was the day I decided I wanted to make my first quilt.

I have no idea where this journey will take me, but so far, I’m enjoying the ride.

Hand quilting vs. machine quilting - I love them both

It is such a good feeling to finish a project. I finished this quilt top last summer, but was unable to quilt it, due to my recent heart attack. 

Once I started feeling better, I couldn't wait to get back to my quilting, an activity that screamed normalcy to me. There were times I didn't think I would ever feel normal again, but I knew that getting back to stitching was a big step toward that goal.

This was a special quilt project as evidenced in a previous blog post here. It was my first attempt at a making a Judy Niemeyer quilt, something I longed to do. This quilt kit was given to me by a dear and generous friend who is a fantastic quilter in her own right. 

I thought I might hand quilt it, though I also love machine quilting.

Hand quilting won out because I was anxious to finally use, for the first time, my hand-crafted lap quilt hoop custom-made by Harry Barnett of Barnett's Laptop Hoops. I have had this beautiful laptop hoop, a piece of art in its own right, since 2021. 

Because I really love doing hand work, it felt good to hand quilt the star in this little Lone Star quilt. While contemplating what to do about quilting the background, I started watching You Tube videos by Angela Walters, a phenomenal quilter and instructor who I had known about but never studied. I began watching with a keen interest and soon was inspired to give her method of overall quilting a try. I made a scrap quilt sandwich on which to practice. I liked how it turned out. I was hooked. I couldn't wait to try it on the background of my Lone Star quilt. In about 3 days, I finished the entire project, including the binding.

So basically, this quilt is both hand-quilted and machine quilted. I had such a good time doing both methods. I love the results of both also. I plan to hang this quilt on the wall of my sewing studio. Every time I look at it, I will be reminded of how good it feels to just be normal again. I will think of my friend Jane. And I will simply enjoy the lovely colors and beautiful stitches. 

Have I said lately how much I love quilting? If not, let that be my final thought. I love everything about quilting.

 

Finishing a quilt is such an accomplishment

I am always excited when I finish a quilt, especially this one. It had lots of firsts for me.

Looking back through the posts on this blog, it is evident how long it was in the making. I actually started it in September 2017. That really IS a long time.

It was a Craftsy class project, designed and taught by Lynette Jennings, a quilter I have admired for years. I was honored to do one of her quilts, despite this one being way outside my comfort zone. Even though I felt it was too busy, I was drawn to it.

I liked that this was a medallion quilt, which was new to me. Even though I’ve been quilting for more than 20 years, I still consider myself a novice. There are so many things I’ve never done. I’m a perpetual learner. I want to try everything out there. You might call me an adventurous quilter. The result is that I’ve never stuck with one thing long enough to become proficient. I guess I’m still searching for the best techniques for me. Trouble is, I love them all, from intricate piecing to paper piecing, applique, and everywhere in-between. This had a little of everything.

My first and perhaps biggest challenge was the color pallet. I wanted to make it my own. After all, isn’t that why I collect fabrics, to have my own stash? Since there are a lot of colors, this task was a little daunting, but I persevered. I began my quilting life making monochromatic quilts. I was drawn to one basic color and all its variations. But, I’m growing. I’m beginning to love all colors. In fact, the more the merrier. Named the Garden Charms Quilt by its creator, I recognized that gardens, which I love, contain all colors. And so should my quilt.

I enjoyed the construction phase. I love cutting, piecing, and sewing. While I don’t ever achieve perfection, I always strive for it. I often have to settle for the best I could. I did a few motifs more than once, ripping out more than a few seams. I wanted points to match and seams to line up—again—not perfect but acceptable. I even made a table runner to practice one of the parts I was struggling with.

Once the quilt top was finished, I labored over the most daunting part about this quilt, machine quilting it on my little Janome. I never machine quilted a huge quilt before. I wasn’t sure how this would turn out, but I was encouraged by those in the quilting community that have already accomplished this. I figured I could to. I do have a stubborn streak when I make up my mind to do something.

While I pondered and questioned my own skills, and sought computer guidance, my poor quilt top just sat around. It was quite some time before I finally got around to working on it again. Life gets in the way. While I am busy taking care of my disabled husband, the house, our six cats, and all the other things that must be done around here, admittedly, I was also terrified of how difficult it would be to quilt this humongous quilt in my teensy-tiny quilting space. I don’t have a nice sewing room with tons of space. I quilt at a breakfast nook just off the kitchen. But, as it turns out, this was not a problem, at all.

A couple of months ago, I was ready. I had talked myself into jumping in with both feet. So last December, I got busy. The eight yards of fabric I was to use for the quilt backing, was still in a bag. I took it out, measured, cut, and pieced it. I dragged out a roll of batting, and lay it all on my small, round dining room table. I put my ironing board at one side, and pressed the backing, quilt top, and sandwiched it all together. I then pin basted it with curved safety pins. Pin basting is not fun, but when it was finished, I got a sense of what this might look like as a quilt. That was an exciting step.

A little more than a week later, I started quilting. I had no idea how I was going to quilt it, but this would be the fun part. I started in the middle and worked my way out. I did just a little at a time so as to now overwhelm myself.

I am still a little surprised that quilting a huge quilt in a breakfast nook would be possible. But, it turned out that was a perfect place. There is a wall behind my machine, so the quilt can’t fall off the back of a table. I keep an ironing board under the counter, and could pull it out when I worked, so it could hold the quilt on the side of me. When I was finished quilting, I just put it back in its place. Between the kitchen and laundry room, my sewing area is out of the way so I could leave the quilt piled up next to my machine still under the needle. I could pick up right where I left off whenever I wanted to. It was perfect.

I finished it a couple of months later.

As it turns out, this is my favorite quilt. The latest one always is. I’ve been watching TV on the couch with it draped over me, usually with a cat or two on top. It is cozy; I love to feel the stitches. It reminds me of when my kids had their favorite blankets—their Neenees. Well this is my Neenee. The quilting is diverse with stipples and squiggles, grid work and feathers, giving it lots of different textures.

Quilting is simply magic!

I have been sewing Christmas table runners to give away as gifts for the last several weeks. This one will go to my daughter, Jenny.

I made two that were identical, using Christmas candy fabrics I had collected. I thought it might be easier to 'double my recipe.' It turned out that it probably wasn't any easier. In fact it was a bit more confusing to do two projects all at one time, since each table runner consisted of three identical blocks plus sashing. That meant cutting and sewing 6 blocks at a time, which translated into 6, 12, or 24 of each piece. I figured that with two projects, I could illustrate and share my thoughts about what I refer to as 'quilting magic.'

Consider this my version of a study in magic.

This first photo, is what the item looks like when it is merely pieced and pressed, and pin basted. It is waiting to be quilted.

At this stage it is hard to imagine the finished item. The piecing and joining of each block is the dominant feature here, which really accentuates the precision of the cutting and sewing of each piece. 

Imperfect points are obvious. If there are any puckers or less-than-perfect seams, this is where they are most evident.  

It is almost finished. The quilting is done and the piece is quilted, and the binding is meticulously added to finish the edges. 

Now, the quilting is the dominant feature. Any imperfections in piecing are far less obvious. It is the quilting that stands out. This happens to be machine quilting, but hand-quilting offers the same magic. 

So, even if the stitching isn't perfect, and it rarely is, the eye seems to take in the overall look of the project. 

But, it isn't finished yet.

I never consider a piece finished until after it takes its first bath, both washer in warm water and dryer at the regular setting. To me, this is where the real magic takes place.

I tend to stress out at this phase, because I've heard horror stories. Thankfully I've never experienced one. But because after all the work that has been put into a piece, the last thing you want to see is a color that bleeds into another or seams letting go, or whatever other calamity might be possible. 

Whenever I wash a newly-completed quilt, I always use a Shout color-catcher. This product has never failed me. I highly recommend it. I've never been disappointed, even when washing browns, reds, blues, and black fabrics. The color-catcher has always done its job.  

Each time I take a piece out of the dryer, I marvel at how it looks. The quilting causes some shrinkage in the fabric that makes it look like it has relaxed and nestled in around the stitches. I liken it to putting your head onto a soft pillow at night. Your head sinks down into the pillow resulting in the kind of absolute comfort that allows you to fall asleep. 

I think washing a quilt enhances the beautiful texture that quilting creates. 

Gone are any imperfections. There is no more thought about imperfect cutting, sewing, or less-than perfect points. Even slightly wobbly seams just no longer matter. What results from all the processes that make up quiltmaking--each one that I love--is to me, just simply magic.