Quilting is a process

"Periwinkle Blue," named for a song by Doris Day and my favorite crayon color, is finally done; well almost. It still needs the final binding on the edges. Then I will be able to throw it into the washer and dryer and see if it comes out looking like a quilt, all scrunchy, warm, and inviting, with its stitches still intact.

What a joy it has been to make this quilt.

I will never tire of the process of turning a pile fabric into a completed quilt. This was more than a year in the making, and I loved every minute of it.

Not only has this been enjoyable, but I learned so much. 

I started making quilts about 15 years ago, on a whim. I have been on a steep learning curve ever since. From those early days of writing about quilt shows for the local newspaper, to watching Alex Anderson on 'Simply Quilts' every day, to the present, I have been somewhat surprised at how much there is to learn about this art form. 

To me, making a quilt is so much more than simply creating a cover for the bed. In actuality, the utilitarian aspect of a quilt is far less important to me than the process of actually creating it. That doesn't mean I don't like to snuggle up with it once it is done. I treasure that part. But even more so, I am drawn to the creative process. Each of the now nine quilts I have made has been a learning experience.

For me, quilting is also a therapeutic activity. It is that quiet time that we all cherish. Admittedly, I have no problem leaving dirty dishes in the sink if I feel like quilting. 

Making Periwinkle Blue

This quilt started out as a block of the month project through a free on-line class on Craftsy, taught by Amy Gibson, in January 2012. A new block, actually two, were chosen by Amy for each month, unbeknown to class participants. 

I cannot express how much fun I had doing this class. I looked forward to the first of the month every single month, always anxious to see what the next blocks would look like. Amy Gibson is a sweet, gentle woman who reminds me of a kindergarten teacher--my kindergarten teacher. Taking her class conjured up memories of Miss Carr, back about 55 years ago. I don't remember what Miss Carr looked like, but now, in my mind she looks like Amy. Amy is also an accomplished and prolific quilter.

Early on I decided this quilt would be in shades of purple, what has long been a real favorite of mine. I am really fond of monochromatic quilts. That is my comfort zone. While creating the blocks, exactly as directed, I started thinking about different ways they could be changed, altered, or what they might look like with an entire quilt made from them. I do have some favorites as well as some I wasn't crazy about. I didn't let my taste dictate anything. I just went with it. 

When this project was completed, I had stacks of blocks that I wasn't really sure what to do with until I heard about another Craftsy class, taught by Leah Day--Free motion quilting a sampler. I debated about paying for this class. Money is really too tight for such things. When it was offered at a special discounted price, I signed up. I'm so glad I did. Leah's class was specifically related to showing how to free-motion quilt the sampler quilt I had just completed. My question of just what I wanted to do with all these purple blocks was answered.

I was already familiar with Leah's work, which is the most exquisite I've ever seen. In my view, watching her was almost akin to Michelangelo taking his brush to the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. This woman is an amazing artist. She makes it look so effortless. I assure you--it is not! But, it was fun! I made my little ole sewing machine do things I never even knew it could. 

The thing about quilting is, I love every part of the process. And there are so many parts. Each one requires some skill. From the fabric choices to the precision cutting, exact 1/4" seams, to the assembling, to the actual quilting, this is a fun and worthwhile activity, every step of the way. I never knew piecing a quilt top was so involved. I never knew that quilting was so involved either. I will always love hand quilting, but I admit really being intrigued by free-motion quilting. I will do it again, particularly on small projects. I can also see projects with a combination of both hand and machine quilting in the future.

It was very easy to maneuver the quilt block in the sewing machine. There is a lot of twisting and turning with free-motion quilting. I'm not certain if I am ready or even able to tackle quilting an entire quilt in that little tiny space of my machine. Just maneuvering the quilt to add the binding strips was a chore. I can only imagine what trying to maneuver a whole quilt would be like. 

This particular project was also new to me, in that it was done as a 'quilt-as-you-go' project. That method requires that all the blocks are quilted first and then assembled by sewing together with binding strips. Traditional quilts are constructed just the opposite--with the quilt top layered with batting and backing fabric and then quilted.

I almost forgot--the very best part is the result after the quilt is washed and dried. I just did this and could barely believe my eyes. I was worried about the imperfections in my sewing. It doesn't matter, because the texture created by the stitches is extraordinary. I absolutely love how this quilt turned out.

I highly recommend quilting as a pleasant and useful activity. Whether you are like me and love the process, it is so rewarding to finish a quilt.

Periwinkle blue; a quilt in the making

Believe it or not, this is an entire quilt. I will call it Periwinkle blue after my favorite crayon color and song by Doris Day on an album my father used to enjoy.

I started this project a year ago and thanks to two Craftsy classes, I'm hoping it turns into more than just a pile of purple.

The first, a block-of-the-month class was taught by Amy Gibson. The quilting will all be done on my little inexpensive Jenome sewing machine, using a skill I haven't yet perfected. I have high hopes however, due to the Craftsy Class on free motion quilting  exquisitely taught, by Leah Day. I just completed it.

I know I've said it before, but it bears repeating that Leah Day is an amazing quilter. She is to machine quilting what Jinny Beyer or Alex Anderson are to hand quilting. All three are absolute heroines as far as I'm concerned. While I'm name-dropping, I cannot say enough about Amy Gibson either. She has to be the sweetest human being on the planet, and she quilts. Beautiful quilting is only one of her many attributes.

This project will be my very first use of the 'quilt as you go' technique, whereby the blocks will each be quilted individually before being sewn together rather than the traditional method of stitching the blocks together  and then quilting the entire piece. This quilt will be a reversible, purple quilt, which I'm planning to fall in love with. Purple with all its values and shades was my favorite color, even before pink.

This above stack contains 20 squares of batting, (the bottom white layer), 20 different background squares, which are all different values and patterns of purple, followed by lavender border strips, which I will sew onto the original blocks. Finally, there are 20 different sampler blocks representing a year in the making. The purple fabric will be the binding, though I haven't cut it yet. That's it! I'm anxious to get started. I plan to practice the pattern for each block before I begin. I haven't decided yet if I am going to buy a shade of purple thread or use the silver/white thread I already have. I am leaning toward the latter. Wish me luck!

Determined to learn free motion quilting

A few months ago, I set out to learn free motion quilting. I am making some headway, thanks to the excellent advice and technique taught by Leah Day, who is probably the best machine quilter I've ever seen.

Her work looks like something done on a long arm quilting machine, but it isn't; it is done on her domestic sewing machine. She really puts her machine through its paces. She claims anyone else can do it too.

I started reading Leah's blog the Free Motion Quilting Project. What Leah has done is truly amazing. Not only is she an accomplished artist, but she is young, pretty, sweet, patient, and a natural teacher who is willing to share her expertise with anyone who is interested. Above all, she is an inspiration.

I took her up on one of her quilt along projects, just to see if it was possible for me to even learn FMQing. The project was a small, whole cloth quilt. She provided the design.

I had only dabbled in FMQing a tiny bit, as seen in a previous blog post Trying new quilting challenges. I was intrigued enough that my insatiable appetite for learning kicked in. I knew I wanted to know more and practice more of the skills that until recently I didn't even know existed. Here is the result:

While there are tons of mistakes and a few total screw-ups, the overall result wasn't half-bad. In fact, I rather like how this piece turned out. It was certainly good enough to make me want to get better. I could see how practice would improve the look and feel of my work.

When I saw that Leah was teaching a class at Craftsy, I was interested. As much as I wanted to take this class, I couldn't afford it. Times are tough and I have been cutting back even on my beloved quilting magazine subscriptions. But when the class went on sale, I signed up.

The class, called Free Motion Quilting a Sampler, is to quilt the Craftsy Block of the Month, which was taught by another of my favorite quilters--Amy Gibson. Amy's class was free. It offered some new piecing techniques that provided a new modern take on traditional blocks. Some of the techniques were not yet in my limited quilting repertoire. I really enjoyed the BOM, looking forward to the first of the month every month for a year.

Leah's class, used that BOM quilt to teach FMQ designs, like a follow along project.

I finished watching the last lesson yesterday. I didn't quilt along, at least not yet. I will watch the lessons again when I'm ready to dive in. I wanted to take the entire class before making any decisions on how to quilt these blocks. After all, the 20 blocks that will make up this quilt span an entire year of work. I had already decided to FMQ this quilt rather than to hand quilt it. I love hand-quilting, but I already know how to do that. I need to know how to quilt on my machine, so that decision was an easy one. Besides, I have other projects that can accompany my mindless television watching at night.

The biggest decision was whether to quilt the entire quilt or to use the quilt-as-you-go technique. I chose the latter, simply because I really am limited by space, as described in a previous post, Happy New Year Happy Quilting. Besides, I had no idea how to quilt the blocks and then put them together to make a finished quilt. I have wanted to learn that technique for some time. Now is as good a time as any. I was initially concerned that this would require wasting fabric, but I now know there is no such thing. Even the tiniest pieces can be reused in another way. For one thing applique projects are great for this.

I am not sure when I will actually put one of my blocks beneath the needle, but I have been doing a little practicing. I had some old flower sack dish towels that had seen better days. In fact I just replaced them with new ones, so I sewed some batting in-between two of them and have been doing a little practicing.

Leah taught many different designs in her class. Some are easier than others. I won't be happy until I can make pretty free-hand feathers. While I'm still in the process of making the decision about which fabrics to use for sashing and backing, since the quilt will be reversible, I know it won't be long now. I have already purchased the batting, which simply needs to be cut into squares. I'm pretty anxious to get started, and will post my progress.

Happy New Year; happy quilting!

It is only Jan. 8th.

My apologies. for starting my first blog of the new year a full eight days into it.

The truth is I've been busy following my primal instincts to organize. My body clock is somewhat confused. It can't discern whether it wants to warm the nest for a long winter or start cleaning for the coming of spring. Darned climate change has me so confused. I'm working entirely too hard on this nest! Being the consummate optimist though, I see this as a positive. I love being organized, although most people who know me think my chaotic surroundings are simply messy. To me though, my messes are methodical.

Anyway, I've been trying to get my quilting life in order. Order is the key word in our tiny retirement mansion that consists of only two bedrooms. We previously lived in a huge two-story house. There I had a sewing room on the second floor. The problem is, I had just begun sewing. When we left there I was working on only my second quilt. Now that I am really into quilting; I need lots more room and I just plain don't have it. No problem though. A little organization can do wonders. It is something I have been working on over the last couple months as I continue to collect a fabric stash and get more involved in quilting projects.

My quilting areas can be broken down into three main areas. The first is the most important.

It is where I can get creative--where I sew. I just converted what was supposed to be a breakfast nook just off the kitchen into a mini sewing room. It is a perfect out-of-the way place, with natural sunlight streaming through the window and in close proximity to the ever-hungry felines in our house.


The 'bar' is divided into three sections.

The first is a cutting area. This is where I keep all my rulers.

TIP: I keep my rulers handy and accessible by using two plate holders--you know those little plastic hinged pieces that fold up when not in use. They are expandable, so they are perfect for the many different sizes and types of rulers needed. I have one ruler that is about 24" long--way too long for one holder--but not too long for two of them side-by-side.

There isn't much that can be said about the middle space. It is my sewing area and contains my sewing machine. I have a Jenome that I bought at Sears many years ago. It was probably the cheapest machine they made, but it is a little work horse. I keep it on a cutting mat for last minute trimming.

It is very convenient to keep my pressing area close to where I sew. My husband made a little ironing board out of plywood on feet that I covered with fabric and batting. It is perfect for pressing those perfect 1/4" seams.

The other parts of my sewing life would not be complete without storage areas. I keep all my fabric in shallow bins that store under my bed. I sort it all by color. I generally buy 1/2-to 1-yard pieces of many different fabrics rather than large yardage of a few. I love the variety. I love the colors and feel of the fabric. I love just having it; looking at it. I'm the same way about yarn, although that has taken a backseat to quilting of late. I have been crocheting and knitting since I was a youngster, but quilting is still fairly new to me. I have so much to learn.

I also have a bedroom closet converted into a sewing storage space. This is where fabric goes before it gets sorted. I consider sorting fabric into bins rather like filing paperwork. I don't do that often either. I just happened to have taken these pictures after sorting. Otherwise there are stacks and stacks of fabric in there.

This closet has lots of goodies in it--knitting needles, crochet hooks, sewing and embroidery thread, rolls of eyelet lace, ribbon, quilting magazines, batting for the next several quilts, and all kinds of stuff. Those tubs are filled with fabric scraps. The cedar chest on the bottom left, contains my husband's grandmother's tatting shuttle, which I've yet to learn how to use. One of these days, if and when time permits.

Bonding with my sewing machine

Happy New Year!

I hardly noticed the date change since I've been spending time bonding with my sewing machine. I'm pleased to say we are becoming good friends. I believe 2012 will be a very quilty year.

Since I wanted to learn to machine quilt, that is what I set out to do. I'm fairly happy with the results, not because I'm good at it, but because I see where with plenty of practice, I could be good at it.

 
The Christmas table runner I was working on during my previous post Attempting to learn hand-quilting, has turned out pretty well.

Thanks to a quilting pro friend of mine, who does longarm quilting and does some of the most beautiful work I've ever seen, I learned that my bobbin tension needed adjustment as evidenced by the photo.

That makes sense. I had a terrible time trying to get the stitches to be uniform in size. They still aren't, but at least now I know what to do. My first couple of tries were definitely not good. I attempted to unsew them, that is, take the seam ripper to all those stitches. The stitches were so tight though that it was next to impossible to sneak the point of the seam ripper under them. I took great pains not to cut the fabric in the process, which was a failure. I actually did poke through it in a couple places. No problem, though as this table runner became a practice piece as soon as I made the decision to give machine quilting a try.

I actually think I could use this piece again, albeit under something larger than the tiny Christmas tree in the picture.

By next year, when it comes back out of the attic, I hope to be much more skilled at using my machine. I hope to laugh at myself the next time I see this piece because I will be so much better. So, onward and upward in this new, previously unexplored world of quilting.

Attempting to learn machine-quilting

Image via Wikipedia

I am attempting to teach myself to machine quilt. I remember the first time I saw stippling used on a quilt. It was at a quilt show in Peotone, Illinois, where I first got bitten by the quilting bug. This small project, hanging in the First Presbyterian Church there, was a quilted scene--a wall hanging. I was really impressed by the look of it. I had never seen anything like it, but then I was experiencing quilts for the very first time.

Since then, I have seen some of the amazing work done on long arm quilting machines, something I know I will never be able to afford myself. There is nothing more exciting than a beautiful pieced quilt that is expertly quilted. Wow!

I had never really entertained the idea of machine quilting. Truthfully, I was just glad I could master the art of quiltmaking. I love hand-quilting and want to continue to perfect my skills. There are so many different steps to making a quilt. Each one contributes to the overall project, which makes all of the steps important. One failure in design, color, cutting, piecing, sewing, and finally quilting, and an entire project can suffer. When all those things work together, the result is astonishing.

I've always felt that for some reason, machine-quilting seemed like 'cheating.' I do prefer the feel of a hand-quilted project. But, I am dismayed by the time it takes, not to mention the wear and tear on my hands. Four years for one quilt is just too long, though. The other day, I figured, what the heck. I may be a senior citizen, but I like instant gratification too.

Now that I have dabbled at machine quilting, I am pretty intrigued by it. This is a good challenge and there is nothing I like more.

The hardest part was getting my sewing machine to cooperate. I spent almost the entire afternoon yesterday playing with tensions and different colored threads. Several more hours were spent trying to figure out how to 'stitch in the ditch' in a straight line. I can see where machine quilting for straight line work could speed up projects substantially. My recent log cabin quilt was all straight line work. I can see where a combination of machine and hand-quilting might be beneficial.

One of the things I love about quilting is the precision. Today's tools allow for good cutting and good quart-inch seams. There is nothing better than good sharp points all in the right places and corners that match precisely.

So far I'm not all that impressed with my machine work. It seems really cumbersome and odd to manipulate the fabric that way. I can see though how practice might help greatly. I do, however, enjoy the speed at which a project could be completed. There is nothing like a completed quilt. And, of course I love a good challenge.

When I was little, one of my favorite toys was the Spirograph. I used to doodle with it for hours, creating the most intricate and beautiful designs. I would make a simple design and then add designs to it in  increments. What resulted was a beautiful, intricate motif. A long arm quilting machine reminds me of that toy. I would love to make stitches like those designs. To me, those would be the ultimate quilts. Perhaps I will win the lottery one day. If I do, I'm going right to West Plains, MO to the Gammill sewing center store.