Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Write, Review & Revise


It's hard to believe that the first quarter of the year has already passed! Even though I am not a disciplined "write, review, and revise" those New Year's resolutions that we all make, I have been thinking about my original goals that I set out to achieve. My let's-start-the-year-out-right goals were sparked when I had my "Eureka moment"... keep my projects small so I can try out a variety of quilting techniques. Well, before we go any further, let's just start by throwing that one out the window!


Gee... how do I transition from that into my latest WIP's (I'm sharing a little bit of the process now on Instagram)... well, this is essentially the review and revise part of my original goals. I know I am not the only one who struggles with the eternal dilemma of size... and as they say, size really does matter. My thinking behind making smaller projects was to try different quilting techniques, but the flip side of that is that such projects are not always practical. What do I do with a big stack of wall hangings?!?... and I think I am working on my one millionth pillow now! (that's what this one will be - ha!) With my Facing East blocks, I've far surpassed the baby quilt/wall hanging size a long time ago, and am now just two blocks shy of a lap quilt! Then I start all over again and think, what the heck am I going to do with a lap quilt? Well, you can understand the vicious cycle, right?


... but I am proud to say that I have been experimenting with my current projects. I recently visited a blog where the blogger shared her "flop moments" instead of a beauty touched up version of perfection... and I found it to be very honest and totally refreshing! So, with that being said, my latest experimenting has been with curved quilting, but let's just say that it didn't exactly go as I had envisioned... wanna have a peek at my big pull-just-as-many-hairs-out-as-you-do-stitches goof-up?


After much seam ripping... and I mean much seam ripping, I was finally able to get some nice circles. I'm not completely satisfied with my inner circles, and I can't say that I'm ready to do spiral quilting anytime soon... perhaps not even the wisest choice since I needed the spiral quilting to line up with the circle shape, but I guess it's all a learning process... which I think was exactly the core of my original goal in the first place. So, looking at it that way, perhaps I'm right on track!


Another question was what to do with the cut off triangles from the flying geese blocks... I really hate throwing these little guys away, so stitched the other side like you would HST's and I  ended up making this pinwheel strip that will actually be perfect for the back of the pillow.


What are you experimenting on this week?

Fabrics: Alison Glass, Sun & Handdrafted prints
Free Pattern: Heidi Pridemore

Linking up this week to WIP Wednesday.

8 comments :

  1. Oh, I am sure there has to be a market for lovely lap quilts. All I can say is that you must have the patience of a saint. How do you find the time for all the quilting? I am guessing at least one of the boys is in school by now?

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  2. Well, Kelleyn, there might be a market for lap quilts, but unfortunately no one would want to pay the price for the time it actually takes to make such a quilt, which is why I want to make things that are practical. It's not easy to find the time to quilt, but I also have three kids less than you ; ) My husband works a lot during the week, so I have a good amount of time in the evenings when the kids are in bed. (isn't that when most mom's get to do their hobbies?) When the hubster is here, he'll sometimes play with the kids so I can sneak 5 minutes here and there... oh, yeah, and I ALWAYS have a laundry basket sitting around waiting to be folded.

    The big guy goes to schoool next year and is in kindergarden now... hard to believe!

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  3. I think this is lovely!!! I love the spiral--is that with your walking foot, or FMQ? You nailed it, even if it took more seam ripping than anyone wants to acknowledge :) I have enough family members who want quilts to fill my time these days, but once that tide slows (will it ever?) I plan to fill my house with quilts--lap quilts work! They are great couch snugglers, although my super tall husband has requested a king sized couch "lap" quilt. Soooo.... there's that!

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  4. Kitty, I did the spiral with my walking foot... I don't think I could get it that straight with FMQ! (well not yet, anyway) The very center circle still bothers me, but I said enough seam ripping is enough! My 6'5" (1,95 m) husband is the one urging me to make my quilts just a tad longer - go figure. We'll just have to see who wins this coin toss.

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  5. This is SUCH a beautiful project - I love it! I couldn't reply to your comment on my Technicolor Galaxy post because you're a no-reply blogger profile, but to answer your question, I'm not sure exactly what brand/supplier Alyssa at Pile o'Fabric used to print out her templates. Maybe a quick google search on "wash away stabilizer for paper piecing" would suggest a few brands?

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  6. oh, I love how the new quilting turned out. It really looks a lot better and was totally worth the seam ripping!

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  7. I love the spiral quilting on this! Gorgeous fabric choices as well.

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  8. I just started following you on Instagram :) Your pillow is so cool and I think the spiral quilting looks very good! I'm tall, so there is usually a point where I have to decide if I'm going to make a baby quilt or one long enough to cover me. It usually depends on how ambitious I'm feeling at the moment haha!

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