(sp) DIACOTOMY ... quilting I actually do VS what I want to

[Eileen K.]

I actually make fairly simple quilts... Mostly because I am still learning the techniques and I rarely have time to sew ... I have tons of quilts in progress... some nearing completion and some months / years away. I also find I get side track sewing quilts for others.... baby grandson... daughter and various family members.


I would like to make big beautiful vibrant quilts... but some how that is not what I really sew.... In part because I do not yet have the skillls


Do you sew what you really reallllllY want ( or DREAM OF ) to sew... in the style / pattern / theme you want to sew in .....

Or

Do you sew with-in your various limitations ( skill, money, time constraints ) etc.


JUST BECAUSE I AM INSATIABBLY CURIOUS.

[Carla G.]

Lady Rags....

In my case I suppose it is not entirely either, or.... I do most of my sewing in what I am comfortable with.... but I do challenge myself in each quilt that I do, to do something new. And then there are my experimental "practice" pieces I do where I all myself to try a bit of something new and throw it away if need be.

Carla

[Mary K.]

This year I have started quilting more of what I want, but I still do have a few basic quilts in work too. I was thinking the other day that I should count up how many quilts that I have "in work". It is probably around 10..... I have been quilting for ~7 years, and it was only this year that I really started diving into more of what I wanted to make, and less of the basics that I felt obligated to finish from past years.

[Mary K.]

I pretty much sew what I like, regardless of my ability at the moment. For example, I started a Baltimore Album Quilt as nearly my first quilting project! Talk about being in over my head! I have 18 blocks completed and the other seven designed. I figure by the time I'm ready to quilt it (years from now), MAYBE Alex's quilting lessons will have sunk in.

Other than that huge project (which will be a gift for my son's wedding, although he's only 17 at the moment), I tend to jump into whatever tickles my fancy. I'm drawn to artistic, colorful quilts (Rhapsody, Convergence, Art Quilts) as well as fairly traditional (Drunkard's Path), and I have many projects in the works so I don't get bored.

Will I ever finish them all? Probably not, but I'm having fun trying!

'thann

[Eileen K.]

I find myself doing very simple quilts because I have a longarm business and I'm usually busy quilting other peoples' quilts. I have enough bed quilts for now so I'm concentrating on wallhangings. I love to change with the seasons.
eileenkny

[Eileen K.]

I have a habit of starting something new and picking out the hardest thing I can and then becoming frustrated because I don't have the skills. Since I am learning not just to quilt but to sew I picked a couple of patterns labelled easy and am taking 2 "learn to quilt classes" One on Quilt University.com and one at a LQS (it is using Alex's learn to quilt book and begins next weekend). I am giving myself permission to give or throw them away. Then I have my next 50 quilts picked out and they look HARD (and FUN!).

Lisa

[Eileen K.]

I have been a quilter for 13 years. The first class I took was a very difficult hand applique project which I never finished.....but I learned to do great hand applique from a wonderful teacher. Even now, I still love hand applique. The next things I made were several baby quilts and lap quilts which were paper pieced, new york beauty, spinning star, etc...... The first full size quilt I made was Dear Jane 1998-2000. I loved that project and just the experience of piecing all those different blocks. The quilt is not my favorite style, but it was just a great journey and I came away with some lifetime friends. And in the end, it truly is a treasure.

In the back of my mind, I always admired people who could draw their own things or design their own quilts....that's what I wanted to do, but never thought that I could. I think I always lived by too many rules to try it. I didn't like to see myself that way, but it was the truth. So in the past couple of years, I've decided to change. I still love lots of patterns and traditional quilts, but I see myself doing different things starting with the Rhapsody quilt I made in 2007. I am having so much fun and can't wait to see what I find to make next. It's a whole new world for me with endless choices.

As far as the kinds of things I buy...for many years, I thought that I should just buy fat quarters and always have the most choices I could have.......now I don't do that so much. I've started to see that I'd rather have more yardage of what I love even if it means fewer pieces. So that's what I'm doing now.

The part I love most about quilting is that it is a changing process for each individual that evolves into something different all the time.

Dana in Olive Branch, MS

[Eileen K.]

I know what you mean about buying yardage instead of just fat quarters... I use to buy fat quarters cause that is what I though you did when you made a quilt .... I though allll quilts were scrappy... It was not til I went to my first quilt show that I saw the coordinated type quilts.... Talk about being dumb. I still like scrappy quilts but have gotten a lot more sufficticated in my fabric choices and quilt selection.

I now buy 3 to 7 yards of great focus fabrics... I can always find other fabics to blend with the colors even if it is years afterward... I also by tons of blenders or tone on tone in different colors... I have tubs of those and always find ways of using them.

I have 6 quilts in progress but they are getting nearer to being done. YIKES how will I afford 6 quilts at the quilters? They are tooooooo big to quilt myself as they are all queen or king size.

[Eileen K.]

For me, I try what ever catches my eye. I started with pieced quilts, but started getting bored, so moved onto applique, now its curved pieceing. But to try all of these i usually use the easiest method I can find. Like Eleanor Burnes applique, and Sharon Schamber's pieceleque. I was using Sharons method to make fan blocks, and mitred corners.. My most recent new project is a fabric portrait from http://www.quiltuniversity.com .That is a great site to try something new.

As for fabric I also started with1/4 to 1/2 yards of fabric, but then ran into the typical problem of needing more and it not being available. Soo I now round up to the nearest 1/2 or1 yd. mark if it is for a specific project. If it is simply something I like, I usually get a little more depending on my budget. My shopping spree's aren't very often so my budget is pretty good.
Cheryl

[Carla G.]

Cheryl.... ur fabric portrait of ur grandmother is turning out wonderfully. I got sidetracked with my mother and work and haven't progressed much on mine. Once I get mom settled in to a routine again I hope to move ahead.

Carla

[Carla G.]

I have been quilting over 20 years now, I'm a traditional quilter. I've learnt alot over the years but have yet alot more to learn, "its a never ending process". I sew and play by my own set guide of rules enjoying the process while learning,"to me its like what ever works best for you" while learning new things. Kathy

[Carla G.]

Thankyou Carla, I thought there was more than two of us in that class. My thread is in, and hope to start with the thread painting part before the class ends this week. I am saving Marylins e-mail incase I have trouble. I'm a little scared to do anything that will ruin it. Let me know when you work on you Beatle. I'd love to see the results.

Cheryl

[Cheryl K.]

I think my frustration with quilting has been similar to yours. I have finished and unfinished projects. But I wasn't realy thrilled about what I was sewing. In recent years I have been limiting gift items, guilds, etc. I am now only an occasional garment sewer. I even limit computer time...no blogging, chatting and limit forum topics to specifics. Even TQS is once a day.

I have limited tv time in my sewing room. I started this bad habit and have regretted it. I don't even want to add up the wasted time, wasted focus and materials screwed up because I was half focused on the boob tube.

My motto this year is, "Just Don't Get Lazy". I try to take time for exploring ideas and to go just one step further than before. Mostly, this has involved more machine quilting than previously tried. I don't have to start from scratch but I don't just want to copy someone else's stuff. I love Sue Garman's BOM series but decided to only use parts of the pattern for quilting motifs on my UFO tops yet to be quilted. I now have a goal to stretch myself in one way or another with every project. I want to say, "This quilt taught me about free hand straight-line quilting" or "about working with large scale prints", etc. Even projects that tell me, "this type of quilt is just not satisfying for me" is a step in the right direction.

As much as possible, I am trying to stay focused on one project at a time. Even great quilt artists like CBF, Ricky & Alex, or Jane Sassaman have to slug through all the ups & downs of creativity to cross the finish line. And that is just takes plain old work.

I hope this doesn't sound like a lecture..it's not meant that way. I just have come to find out that I can't do everything all the time, but I am now, thankfully, enjoying what I do.

Yeah 2008!

[Eileen K.]

Wow, kmouse. You've really got it going! If I'm not imposing-what led you to your present frame of mind? It seems so thought out. Was there an epiphany or a gradual movement?
I really need this information.
eileenkny

[Patti P.]

I always tackle projects that are harder than my ability. And if I can't get past some difficulty (after many tries) I procrastinate and it takes years to get it done. I'm in that same QU class with Darla and Carla and I'm working on a portrait quilt that has been on my heart for over 5 years. I tried several methods that didn't work for me but this one has gotten me the farthest. But still even tho I have a legitimate hangup - not being able to sit, I am dragging my feet cause I'm stuck on not being able to get what I have in my head onto the quilt. But I usually finish my projects even if it takes decades (unless I don't like them anymore). But so far I seem to pick projects I'm in love with a long standing love. I try to do piecing projects which are easy for me in between to juice up my courage.

I also find I have way more knowledge from my insatiable love of quilting than practical skills. I'm always surprised at my workmanship when it isn't what I have in my head. I think because I read it and retained it, I can do it somehow. ops: