Wednesday, July 17, 2024

Auditioning for "Best" Choice is the Key to Stash Busting Quilt Projects

 I should have kept count of the number of projects I've seen "die on the vine" so to speak while students and customers hunt for more of the exact same fabric or the perfect fabric.  Certainly, that was my excuse for not finishing projects until I discovered picking the "best" of the available choices gives me excellent results!  

Not only has that strategy helped me get to the finish line over and over again, but it's led me to create some of my best quilts -- no make that some of my favorite quilts!

Now I confidently dive into my stash and audition my way to the "best" available choice -- it's worked before and I know this strategy will work again.

First, I own lots of fabric and I've chosen each piece myself because I love it, so it makes sense to shop in my stash first.  I love to buy fabric as much as anyone but I love the feeling of delight when I use something that has been "aging" in my stash.

Case in point - currently I'm participating in the Darty Kite Pattern Company's mystery sewalong -- the only thing we were told going into it was the shapes being used and the finished size. A couple days ago, we received instructions for the fourth step.  

Thank goodness I was finished with the third step and ready to move forward.

At this point, I don't see myself adding new colors -- the fussy-cut lavender background floral was my guide for settling on the purple, blue, and green palette with pink accents.  So I started to pull possible prints for the next round based solely on color.  

(Do you recognize any of these prints??)

For example, I brought the entire stack of blue prints with a similar value to what I've already used over to the design wall -- then pinned any up there that caught my eye and put the rest back on the shelf.

I left the room for a few hours and when I returned, I quickly pulled down the blue prints that "stuck out" leaving me with the two you see above.  I repeated this step for each color group until I had a small assortment of choices.  
Elimination is definitely the easiest way to make a decision!!

"How did you think to chose that color/print?" is a question I've been asked many times about many of my quilts.  The truth is, I don't think about it as hard as you think I do -- I react to the possibilities I've assembled.
I'm not more clever or smarter -- I've learned to listen to what my mind likes.
The only advantage I've had over most quilters is that I've been part of hundreds of similar decisions in my teaching career coaching other quilters to adopt this "best option" approach.
So yes, I do make it look easy.

If I took this top shopping I might find something different but not necessarily better.  The important aspect of making choices for me is to like my choice and use my stuff (which at my age might otherwise be doomed to a yard sale)!

So here are the winners for the next round!  One more night on the design wall and tomorrow I'll reaffirm my choices and start cutting
 Between bouts of piecing this quilt top (by machine, of course), I'm knocking out charity quilt tops to use up more UFO finds and keeps me supplied with productive "leaders and enders".  Last week, I found two more unfinished teaching samples -- arghhh -- but by the time I get this step finished, they will be ready to layer and quilt!

These demo samples using Marti Michell's Flying Geese Ruler are becoming a couple of wheelchair size lap robes.  There were a few left to piece and it was a good reminder of how accurate the pieces are when cut with this ruler -- uniform and square "geese" units that are going together beautifully!!
And this pile (which I don't even recognize) will go up on the design wall next for some creative exercise.  More Marti Michell demo pieces of course!  I do love that print!!
Summer here is rushing along -- I found my first monarch caterpillars of the year early this week and today I watched a spicebush swallowtail lay a few eggs on the spicebush in the side yard!!
Plus "the tomato" has set on and is growing -- I have one Mr. Strippy heirloom tomato plant in hopes of having one excellent homegrown tomato in August!!  You see, I love tomatoes but my body does not -- they really crank up my arthritis so I only eat one excellent tomato annually.

Time to cut 120-some hexies!!

Mary





Friday, July 5, 2024

An Ode to Straight Lines

 Okay, maybe this won't exactly be an "ode" but as I was quilting this Mississippi Mud over the past couple weeks, I found myself expressing gratitude to my brain for finally coming up with a good quilting strategy for this pattern.  

How many of these have I made?  
How many of these have I convinced other quilters to make?  
How many hours have I struggled to meander quilt Mississippi Mud with consistent spacing and scale?
"Straight lines" or almost straight lines is what enabled me to quilt 21 tops in 2021!
Remember all those quilts that moved off the "to be finished"?
About half of them were quilted with straight lines or straight meanders.
And many more have recieved the same treatment since then.
I can do either on my big APQS George or my standard Bernina with a walking foot.
Not only is it easier to do, it's become easier to figure out how to do it!
So reconsider the straight line and quilt one of those tops in your stash this month!!

I've prepped a scrappy binding from my 2 1/2" strip box -- there's another idea that just dawned on me?!?
How many scrappy bindings have I made and never thought to dig through that box?
I layered up the second one of these Mississippi Mud lap robes yesterday and began the machine quilting this morning.
While you are here, type Mississippi Mud into the search bar (right side near the top) and see all the variations over the years of my pattern -- many are from students.   Quilting these two tops has another idea brewing in my head for a variation of it - if it happens, I'll share it.

And you can purchase a copy of the pattern HERE -- downloadable PDF so you can start a new project right away!?!  

Finally, I'm going to break one of my personal rules and make a current affairs statement.
If you are concerned about the Supreme Court ruling about "presidential immunity" this past week and the potential danger of this distortion of the Founding Fathers' intention for balanced government -- I urge you to write to your federal legislator's and express your concerns.
I saw on Instagram this morning that the ACLU is urging us to take action.  
As one commentator said last week, we the people need to act for the good of our descendants.
We elect presidents not kings and that's what set the United States apart 248 years ago.
This isn't about political parties -- this is about democracy.
Don't ignore this.

Respectfully,
Mary