It never fails; I get such a thrill from finishing a quilt. A completed quilt is always the culmination of a journey filled with challenges and wonderment. The quilts I decide to make always challenge me. It is an element of the process that I can’t seem to live without. I don’t love all quilts. I’m picky. I have to love it because I know what goes into it. That is my process for now. I may be content someday to just make quilts because it is fun. I may make them to sell someday, but for now I am just content to surround myself with what I love.
My quilting process begins with picking out a pattern. I have to love it.
I loved this quilt—Sizzle—the 2019 Block of the Month project, free to members of The Quilt Show. It was designed by Becky Goldsmith, who did an awesome job creating and sharing this lovely pattern and providing instructional videos. She also included numerous tips and ideas that were very helpful.
This
project took up most of 2019 for me, even though I got a pretty late
start on it. The blocks were paper pieced and the border was appliqued.
The project was billed as a kit, but the pattern was free to members of The Quilt Show, co-hosted by Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. There is always so
much to learn, which is what I like most about quilting. I like to learn new
skills and practice all others. I enjoy successes and persevere through the failures,
which are rarely in equal balance. Sometimes, the annoyances from little
things, like thread fraying, sewing for a while before I realize my bobbin is
empty, and dealing with thread tension errors that hone my unsewing technique
as I rip out stitches. All is forgotten though; once I take my finished quilt
out of the dryer, realizing the colors didn’t run or fade and seams are all
still in-tact. At that point I can finally breathe as I inspect and admire the
finished project. Washing a hand-made quilt is tense because you just don’t
know what will happen when it gets saturated. But, it is also exciting because
during the process, magic happens. The fabric shrinks a little around the
stitches, giving it that poufy quilty look. Every time I wash a quilt, I am
excited to take it out of the dryer. I have never been disappointed.
I wasn’t sure how I wanted to quilt this quilt, but I knew I wanted to use free-motion quilting. That is pretty vague, so I took a picture of each motif. My phone has a stylus, so I decided to try out quilting designs right on the pictures. That worked out great.
For the background, I was so happy with how my last little quilt turned out see here that I decided to quilt it the same way, thanks to the inspiration of Angela Walters, a phenomenal quilter whose work I have been studying. I am pleased with how it turned out.
This quilt reminds me of my dad
This quilt means more to me than some of my others because it reminds me of my dad, who died in 2003. My father was one-of-a-kind. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do if he set his mind to it. He taught himself everything he ever did.
I recall one Christmas, when I was very young, my dad made a three-dimensional Christmas star out of cardboard, covered in red, green, and silver wrapping paper. As a little girl, it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen as we put it atop our Christmas tree. I wonder what ever happened to that star. It had perfect points, was completely symmetrical, and was a flawless example of how mathematical equations could make all the pieces fit together. I did not inherit his love of math; in fact I avoid it whenever I can. But I did inherit his ability to learn whatever I want to know, see things through to the end, and exercise patience, even with the most tedious of tasks. So when I look at this quilt, I can’t help but think of him. This one’s for you Dad!
