The trouble with inspiration

Posted on Leave a comment

I spent a few days being sick, or working on other things, so I haven’t had a lot of sewing or quilting time over the last week. Then when I have had a little bit of time the sheer amount I could work on is almost overwhelming.

But today, some inspiration struck. I pulled out my bags of solids sorted by color and started sorting each colorway into scraps and 1 yard cuts or more.

This led to more inspiration from patterns I’ve wanted to do, but hadn’t yet matched up to fabrics I had.  Of course, now my problem is the pile of “quilts I want to make” has gone up by at least two – wait, three more.

And this leads to my conundrum. The reason I plowed through my finishes last year was to get through the massive amount of quilt tops that were sitting and waiting, some as old as four years. There are still tops waiting but the pile is much smaller now. I think maybe 5 or 6 need basting, all have backings now too. There is one quilt half quilted, one top near complete and maybe two or three in progress.

So, the largest pile at the moment is of quilts to make – fabric pulled, pattern chosen, just waiting for me to cut into it. And today I *really* wanted to cut into some fabric and get sewing.

But that is where I stopped.

And I had to examine why and talk it over out loud to figure it out. I stopped for a few reason – I didn’t want to get interrupted. It was later in the day and I had maybe an hour at most. Why start if I cant fully enjoy it and have to stop just when I really got into it?

Really this shows how spoiled I am at have a day or a two A WEEK to do nothing but sew. Sheesh. And if I enjoy it, I should enjoy whatever timeI have, right? I’ve been known to make sure I sew for as little as ten minutes to make sure I enjoyed a bit of sewing that day.

Another reason was I didn’t want to get stuck with a pile of mostly done quilt tops. Or do a bunch of quilts with no recipient in mind.

But – I have managed to finish a whopping pile of quilts in the last year. While musing out loud I said to my husband, if I do twenty quilts in a year, does it matter if I do them one at a time, after another, or all at once? Probably not.

I mean, maybe if I start all of the ones pending that might be a bit much. I do want to know what it’s like to work on one thing only, but I suspect I’ll get bored. And looking back, I *did* manage to start and finish multiple quilts in a short time frame because I was motivated and inspired. Part of Past Me had started so many quilts at once because I was terrified I was going to forget my plans. But this time, i have things all sorted – fabrics bagged with patterns. There’s no mistaking what I intended, especially with sticky notes left on bundle for backing, borders and binding too.

And so what if some have no intended home yet? some I’m making just for the joy of making that particular pattern, or using that fabric. Some I know I want to sell afterwards. I clearly love the process of it more than the finished object itself.

So why am I making it hard and over thinking?

Of course, now it is the end of the day and I’ve run out of time to sew or even play with fabric. Alas. Maybe tomorrow.

Working through it

Posted on 1 Comment

On Friday I got word that a good friend had passed away. The details don’t matter, I guess, but hearing the news as people discovered it was terrible.

Kim & I met online, but she wasn’t just my “online” friend. It didn’t matter that we hadn’t actually met in person until last October. We had a lot in common, and she always said she’d take me on a tour of quilts in Amish country near her home.

She wasn’t a quilter, but she loved my quilts and always encouraged me.

By Saturday, news was still spreading, tears were still flowing, and I was beside myself. I had to do something, but there was nothing helpful I *could* do.

So I quilted.

Because Kim was so encouraging and believed in me, I picked up a quilt I had set aside. It had been basted for a good couple of months, waiting for me to work on it.

The truth was, I was scared.

I had an idea and was unsure if I could execute it, even if it was half formed. But Kim knew I could do it. She’d kick me in the behind too, giving me a push whenever I sent long emails full of angst.

Another good friend of mine says everyone grieves in their own way, and for me, I need to keep busy. So I wound a few bobbins, picked up that quilt, put it under the machine, took a deep breath… and quilted.
IMG_2323

The design itself is an explosion of foliage trailing across the quilt top. Some sections are breaking out into the borders. It’s a celebration of life – a life well-lived.

IMG_2329

I only have a vague idea of what to quilt in the background, between the leaves and loops and fantastical flowers, but I’ll forge ahead anyway.

IMG_2328

I’m not even sure what will happen to this particular quilt when it’s done. I only know that every time I see I’ll think of it as Kim’s Quilt.

First Friday finish!

Posted on 1 Comment

I finished the Glimmer table topper last night, hand stitching the binding down.

I cut the binding 2.25″ instead of my usual 2.5″, on the straight grain.

Press, sew to front, fold to back and even pressed to help turn. Hand stitched in white quilting thread that was my grandmother’s. It still in excellent condition.

IMG_2319

Then I realized I’d made a lighter mostly red topper and had a matching mostly green topper from the same line of fabrics.

IMG_2320

They even stack nice! All ready for next Christmas.

IMG_2321

Linking up to Crazy Mom Quilts and her Friday finishes, which are hard for me to post to, since I do the bulk of my sewing on Friday/Saturday – my days off – and I try and spend little time on my computer. So I mostly forget by Sunday/Monday to go back and link up.

Trying out graffiti quilting

Posted on 2 Comments

I can’t remember if it was early in the last year or before that, but I first saw Karlee Porter’s graffiti quilting on Pinterest and was, quite simply, blown away.

So when she finally came out with a book, Graffiti Quilting: A Simple Guide to Complex Designs of course I put it on my wishlist and eventually bought it.  Shipping stuff to Canada is expensive, ugh.

Anyway, by the time I got my hands on the book itself, I’d practised on paper.

IMG_1919

And I practised on fabric too. But after reading the book I sat down with my large box of coloured threads and went to town, copying one of her pieces (which she highly encourages, for practise).

IMG_2230

In a way it’s hard, like any FMQ, because you’re not sure what to do next, or where to go. You have to really stop and think. So in one sense, you can’t really mark it on the fabric first, if you like doing that. You’d have to do some rough sketches first. Also, if you use thicker thread, you have to manage the thread build up, maybe incorporate it to look like thicker lines in the design itself.

But in the other sense? Oh boy, what creative freedom. It’s almost scary.

I have a quilt all basted and ready to go and has been sitting waiting for a least a month. I plan to do something similar to graffiti quilting but not as visible, just all white thread on a quilt with a white background.

And yet I still hesitate.

Looking over last year’s posts, I did see how I had issues working on one quilt and the gap of creative constipation in there is noticeable when I scroll through my photos.

I mean – what’s the worst that can happen? I hate it? If it doesn’t turn out as good as I see in my head, why does that matter? It’s not like anyone else can see what I see in my head, even if I sketch it out before hand. Right? And it’s going to be white on white for the most part… sheesh.

I need to take my own advice and just stitch it already.

Almost got another finish in under the wire

Posted on Leave a comment

I ordered a pile of stuff from Fat Quarter Shop on Black Friday. My grubby hands finally got a bunch of Jaybird Quilt patterns, including Glimmer.

I used the Pillow option to make a small table topper in some remaining Jingle All The Way Christmas fabric.

And then last night I squeezed out some time to do this:
IMG_2313

IMG_2314

It was pretty fast, maybe 40 minutes? And I had to change bobbins twice, mostly because I was using up half empty ones. I did a different design in each color section.

Now all I need to do is bind this in the matching red print and it’s done. First finish of 2015!