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| Five quilts in process. Can you find them all? (See the rack in back!) |
I have written before about how I cannot stick to one project at a time. Perhaps some of you are like me? It is the same with quilting projects as well! At the time that I embarked on my New Year's resolution of finishing my seven unfinished quilts, I really wanted to start new ones!! In starting more, seven looked like less! Yes, I am certifiably crazy!!
While looking at materials on Sewitsforsale@yahoo.com and quilts on pinterest and ebay I schemed and purchased new fun materials to play with and even found myself bidding on a few small quilts tops. I have since sat down and figured out how many years I will have to live to complete them all, and it is enough to make a me suicidal!! Oddly, I think many quilters are like me? If overwhelmed, take on more, not less!
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| Hand-quilting practice on this small New York beauty bought on ebay! |
I carefully calculated how many hours it would take to finish each quilt and devised my Three Ring Circus Plan but before long I was as behind as ever, or so it seemed. Some days my body just doesn't cooperate!! Being, like Pooh Bear and a person of little brain, who doesn't change plans, but instead pushes harder, I am working to focus on my projects and shifting from one to another as I carry-on!
It has all begun to make some sort of strange sense. I first started quilting when I was in my twenties and jumping back into quilting now has been no small venture. My skills are rusty at best and at worst I knew I needed new techniques to do the sorts of quilts that I see at shows.
While I was my mother's quilt consultant until she died nine years ago and she considered me a bit of a quilt expert and critic, the truth was that my early learned skills are in much need of practice. What looks easy is not and I have worked hard the past few months practicing the following skills: machine stitching uniform patchwork; making delicate hand-applique stitches using cotton fabrics that necessitate first turning the edges under with precision and glue, unlike wool applique; and brushing up on my hand-quilting skills. I have yet to do much machine quilting except on some throw pillows, but that will soon start as I machine quilt my 9 Patch/9 Patch quilt strips and I will then join them together using a "quilt-as-you-go" technique, making them easier to work on, incrementally.
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| Practicing making more precise 9-patch quilt blocks using a paper guide. |
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| 9 Patch blocks ready to be sewn with plain blocks for 9 Patch/9 Patch blocks. |
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| 9 Patch/9 Patch blocks to sew to make strips for Quilt-As-You Go Quilting. |
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| 9 Patch strips to make 9 patch/9 Patch blocks with pink instead of muslin. |
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| Practicing freezer paper applique technique. |
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| Practicing turning edges under and gluing for precise applique work. |
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| Wall hanging ready for quilting. Made with Daiwabo Japanese Fabrics. |
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| Purchased quilt top, ready for practice quilting--see on rack in first picture. |
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| Washable sanitary pads make for much cutting and machine sewing practice. |
My multi-project approach is actually serving me well to practice all these skills. Pictures show my projects in progress and the caption, what skills I am working to master. Warning: watching quilts in progress is a bit like watching grass grow! It is slow and tedious work, especially as I hop from project to project, but alas progress is being made, especially considering that my work is combined with life, but that is subject matter for another blog!
