Was there actually a what-stinks look on her face or was it just in the tone of her voice?
Yes, sweetie, I am the one with the owls.
After that, this same person became in charge of the Guild's swaps & challenges & handed out a list of fabrics that were unacceptable for participation in them:
no batiks
no blenders
no reproductions
no novelties
nothing from the big box stores
etc, etc
Well, this freed up a lot of my time because, with my odd & old stash, I no longer felt welcome to participate in the swaps & challenges with my guild friends. It also made me really dig through my stash -- not to get rid of my offending fabrics, but to pull them out & try to use them in ways that Modern Quilters would not find so offensive. What began in a state of peevishness has turned out to be a whole lot of fun! I wish I could impress upon younger quilters what a thrill it is when a long-time member of one's stash comes together with some newer members & the combination makes all greater than themselves. Then there is the creative fun of trying to make something lovable from not-so-lovable fabrics -- it's easy to make something beautiful from beautiful fabrics, much more of a challenge using ones that are less than beautiful.
It isn't accurate to say I don't love the owls & browns (all from big box stores, not a single designer's name on any selvage) in this project, because I really do -- the chocolate-y browns & the big-eyed owls really make me happy. But somehow it had gotten sidetracked. I pulled it out early this year & have been building away at it. Then Shug said that he really likes it, could see it as a summer quilt on the bed. Well OK then. The quilt of undetermined size that I had been dabbling at now became a quilt of determined -- & quite large -- size that I was motivated to finish.
Time to get sewing!
p.s. Did you notice my new banner? I thought it was time for a fresh look. And my new "picture"? My avatar, if only I was as cute as her! It was recommended that I add an email update feature, useful since my blog posts have become pretty erratic & a translator, if English is not your first language or if you want to see if I make more sense in Urdu than in English.
