Building blocks

I love making quilt blocks, they are my foundation, so to speak. Combining fabrics & assembling them into blocks -- it is so much fun! I know I am not alone in this thinking. One can easily find stacks of un-assembled blocks at garage sale, estate sales, antique malls, any of our storage closets. A quilt block is an independent unit that, when combined with her sister blocks, will make a beautiful whole. I can't think of another creative process that has anything similar, do you?

I've got quite an array going on right now.

Hater no more

I've always loved making quilts -- picking patterns, colors, fabrics. There is nothing more fun than seeing 2 fabrics joined together with stitching! Then laying out the units to make the whole -- pure joy! But in my long history of quilt-making, different phases of the process have come & gone as my least favorite part.

I think when I started out, I liked least/hated cutting out of the quilt. I suspect the reason may have been that I was using scissors & sand paper templates. Rotary cutters, rulers & mats were brand new when I began getting serious about quilting (does that make me sound ancient!?). Once I got my "whizzy whacker", I was faster & (usually) more accurate, but I still did not love it. Over the years, I've learned tips & techniques that make me better at it. Now, I get on cutting jags & just cut & cut & cut.

Even when I was young & limber, basting used to kill me. I'd clear a space on the floor & crawl & stretch & reach -- it makes my muscles ache just thinking about it! Now I have Shug set a tabletop on a couple of saw horses; clamps & spray baste are a great help, too. I still have to reach a bit & if I baste more than one top my back gets tired, but there is no more up & down to the floor. I do a better job & even look forward to making my quilt sandwiches.

It was not all that long ago that quilting was my bête noir. I nearly always machine quilt & I used to dread it. Again, I think better techniques have helped. Early on, I was taught to 'put my pedal to the metal' when doing free-motion. My shoulders hunched, I didn't breath & I ended up with jagged, uneven stitches. Slowing down & relaxing has done wonders -- I'm no pro mind you, but not that bad. I also experiment more with my walking foot quilting & like the results I'm getting.

Another part of quilt-making that I did not like was anything that involved handwork. Projects flying forwards would come to a screeching halt when I needed to get out needle, thread & thimble. With hand-sewing, it is not better skills that have made me more appreciative, but learning to slow down & to like slowing down. I don't think I would ever do much hand piecing & I'm not particularly good at hand-quilting, but sometimes I wish for some handwork to curl up with.

Easter Sunday was beautiful down here on the Gulf Coast. I was able to indulge in a bit of all aspects of quilting. I hope you & yours had a wonderful day as well.

FYI

If you are thinking about making a quilt & that quilt will be made up of 2-inch finished squares & you want that quilt to be fair-sized, not huge, just big enough to be a lap or nap size, please learn from my recent experience:

It will take you FOR! EVER!!!

(The color change you see is not a trick of your eye -- I ran out of my old Kona celery part way through & the new is a slightly different color. I'm hoping I can hide it a bit with the quilting. Fingers crossed!)

The Weakest Link

For me, it is my quilting.
I have utmost confidence--even a little vanity--about my ability to choose fabrics and colors and to assemble them together in a pleasing way (well, pleasing to me). But things bog down after I sandwich together top, batting and backing. I would have to say that my quilting is merely utilitarian and mostly pretty boring. With practice and a willingness to experiment (though just a bit!), I would say it has gotten a *little* better, but I have much room for improvement.
My opalescent quilt that I made in 2007 was the first time that I combined machine with hand quilting. As you see, my stitches are pretty big. This was also the first time that I used variegated thread and I really liked the results.



So that led to a second quilt with machine quilting in the ditch combined with hand quilting. As you see, a formula is developing!



Then I went a little nuts and decided to do a whole quilt by hand. This quilt has been 'under construction' for about 2 to 3 years now--though I am getting very close to being finished! (My history has always been that things come to a screeching crawl or stop when I get to the hand work.) Again with the variegated thread.



The little quilt I made for the HMQG Project Park challenge was quilted by machine. Nothing innovative here, just overall quilting following the pattern of the patchwork. But look, no ditch stitching!



I made a little sister to the opalescent quilt. I was going to follow The Recipe, but some of the hand-dyed fabrics are done with sheeting and hand stitching through them was like sewing through stainless steel, so I opted to do it all by machine. But again--in the ditch with element outlining. I am starting to even bore myself!




The galaxy quilt that I just finished is all outline quilting. The "edge-y" thing with this one--I did TWO outlines! WOW! And the trouble with doing outline quilting with the machine is that there is lots of twisting and turning of the quilt, lots of stuffing the whole quilt through the little arm of the machine, and aching shoulders when you are done.



Now my current project: the mustard, blue and grey circle skirt circle quilt. And what am I doing? Well, machine quilting in the ditch, of course! I think I want to add something more, but I am not sure what. Outline the box-y elements and black lines? Add some areas of 'grid' like the background of the main fabric? Or just let the fabrics speak for themselves? I am open for suggestions. Please.