And so it begins.

I began the free motion on my sister's wedding quilt last evening. It is going OK, but I cut out a bunch of the border motif from the Golden Threads paper, to pin down and quilt around and didn't realize how much they would blend in with the color of the border fabric. Transparent Yellow on Sand, after dark. I had traced the top one and cut out a stack at a time so many of them didn't have any drawn lines. They were really hard to follow, so for the rest I will have to trace them individually. Even if the paper blends in, the lines will show up. I think I will also need to make more than I originally thought. They look really good on the wool batting, the motifs stand out very nicely. I still may hand quilt the center motif if I have the time. It will be easier on me physically than trying to get to the center of this large piece on my standard home machine.

Her bridal shower is tomorrow. I know that she knows I am making a quilt for them, but she will get her first glimpses of the colors and fabrics. I hope she likes it, it is way too late to change it now. I will also go very well in the newly painted guest room if she doesn't want to let her dogs Who sleep on the bed, jump on it. I hope she knows that I won't be insulted if it goes in the guest room.

Old Fashioned Bed Turning

Last night at guild, we did a Bed Turning. It was really fun, and quilts that wouldn't get entered to our show got to be viewed and the story shared. To me, it seemed to go right back to the roots of this craft. Mostly women ( the custodian at the school was the only man in the room - but he was amazed at the work ) getting together to show off the work of their hands, and share their heirlooms. There was a quilt made from the husband's ties after he passed away, another that was found in a barn keeping hay off equipment that turned out to be a treasure, several accomplished quilters shared their very first quilt and how they came to make it, every single quilt shared had a great story. We viewed over fifty quilts, and could have taken a whole night on any one of them to hear about conception, fabric decisions, construction, finishing and history.

The enjoyment of these quilts was enhanced by hearing the story of it, which is why it is so important to label your quilts with at least the date, better to include your name and town and if you are ambitious a bit about its origin. Some day, some total stranger may have it, and be thankful for and value it more for knowing it's story.

Another way to help preserve the story is to begin and keep a quilt journal - A central place to record each project as it is being made. You can include pattern sources, fabric swatches, technical notes on batting and thread choices, even the actual templates if used. Each step of the wedding quilt I am making for my sister is in the Quilt Journal Altered Book that began as a sample for Art Camp this summer. I have posted about this project before, Altering books is fun, and keeping it as a quilt journal is fantastic. Some day I will share the whole process with my sister so she can see how much work goes into a quilt. She is an athlete, who insists that I got all the sewing ability in the family. For now I need to concentrate on getting the quilt itself done. Last night's bed turning at guild has me all primed and ready to go sew.

Sketchbooks

Last night I went to the opening reception for the seniors graduating from the IB art program. I was impressed. Although most of the work was thoughtful and well executed, the thing I keep thinking about this morning was the sketchbooks on display. They were left out on tables near the work. each table had 3 or 4 books, one each belonging to the artists whose work was displayed close by. Guests were encouraged to flip through them.
You could tell that these books were an integral part of the creative process, perhaps even the more important part. There were elements collaged in, drawings, journalling, altered pages , and they were jam packed. Some had art history and color theory notes, some had lists of museums to visit, they were works of art in and of themselves. I spoke to one girl about it and she said that her book was her whole life.
I miss that practice. The intensely personal interaction with ideas and media breeds better art. I think that is why I am having so much fun and am getting a bit obsessed with the altered book I am working on for Art Camp this summer at my shoppe. Obviously it is themed around quilts, specifically, Art quilts that inspire me. The pages of a well worn book are naturally warm and comfortable, it is thick and takes paint really well, stitches as well as any paper I have worked on, and there is no fear of messing it up, or trouble with facing the blank page. The book can serve as a record book of completed projects, a repository for ideas for future projects, and a central place to keep frequently needed reference materials. Yes, There is an appendix in the back that holds lots of charts.

The thing that seems to hold me back a bit is that this is for a workshop, and so I need to be able to demo every technique I play with. For me, that changes the flow of the working, I am conscious of how to explain the process as I am working, sometimes I even speak out loud to hear how it sounds. That awareness of how others will see it as I am working changes the level of involvement with the process. Time is also a constraint at the moment. I MUST finish the quilt for my sister, and I have several sewing jobs for customers to do, so I need to squeeze in the book at the end of my day. Here's to getting through the stuff we have to do so we can get to the fun part.

Now for the Quilting

This morning, I finally got the wedding quilt for my sister basted. I laid out the back and batt yesterday, and by the time that had gotten done with that my back had begun to hurt so badly I had to stop. I am wearing a support belt today so I could get it done. Now to try and get the quilting going. Her shower is a week from this Sunday, no way it will be done for then. Have another idea anyway for that event. I also got the invitation to a good friends wedding the weekend before my sisters. That one is a second marriage for both of them, and her kids are the bridesmaids. They are not getting a bed quilt, but might get a photo transfer of the invitation quilted into a wall hanging. It all depends on how busy I get and how much the back trouble interferes. I could get them a waffle iron if I run out of time.

For my sisters quilt, I took the starfish and the seahorse that graced the invitation and used my computer to enlarge them so I can use them as quilting motifs. I will quilt in the ditch by machine and then do some fancy things by hand ( as long as I still have the time ) As usual, I have grand ideas of what I'd like to achieve with this project, but I warn all of you to not hold your breath. I may have to show it to her unfinished and promise to have it done when they get back from the honeymoon. I think I will also have to ask to borrow it back for the guild show. Especially if all the plans work out, it may be ribbon worthy.