Pattern and creativity
Are the two poles of action.
Deng Ming~Dao
Many many years ago I took a quilting class. Truly it was many years ago when I was pregnant with Ashley who is now 24. (eek) I have been sewing since I took classes at 10 years old, so this wasn’t a scary venture for me….just another facet of sewing.
The class was a hand quilting class, which meant the entire quilt was pieced and quilted by hand.
One of the things my teacher was a stickler for was nice tight points.
If you click on the star you will see that my points for the most part are neatly touching each other at their pointed ends.
Of course back then all of the pieces were hand traced and then hand cut with scissors…..a bit tedious for sure.
The class was an 8 week class and at the end of these 8 weeks, this is what I ended up with….my very first quilt.
One of the things I was most proud of was my hand quilting. I really worked hard at getting those stitches both tiny and consistent.
Not bad for a first attempt if I say so myself.
Over the years I have put together a few small pieces, but nothing that really amounted to much. The knitting, spinning bug had bit me with a vengeance so the sewing ideas went to the bottom of the list…..and there they stayed until recently.
Back to the future………
Remember those Jelly Rolls that I showed you a while back…. well I attempted to put together a Jelly Girl quilt which is done entirely by machine. Fast and easy peasy, so I thought.
Well, maybe not so…….
If you look closely at these 2 pictures you will see that the points at each join are incredibly sloppy. At first I thought I could just live with them and use this as a machine sewing practice project…….but somehow I just can’t do that….which is strange if you know me, as I am not usually a perfectionist. I will be taking these blocks out and redoing them….sigh.
If you re read the verse that I quoted from Deng Ming Dao, usually people who write patterns are perfectionists and those who create usually fly by the seats of their pants. You know that left brain, right brain thing. That’s not to say that pattern writers are not creative…..they are incredibly creative, but in a different way than say a painter would be. I am usually that painter kind of a person, but when it comes to sewing, maybe that other side of my brain takes over…..hmmm.
The Woolen Rabbit 
That quilt is stunning!
I am so the pattern writer!
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That quilt! Amazing. You’ll get back into the hang of it. Sewing machines and me… well. I’ll take color genetics any day.
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I think it’s trickier to get good points when machine quilting. It takes practice but I know you can do it!
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Beautiful quilting! It’s a fascinating hobby but one that has never held any enchantment for me. It seems you need to be persnickety and I’m strong in that trait.
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I would love to learn to sew — I enjoyed reading this post. I think I’d be ripping too!
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Doesn’t look bad to me. Some of the points look about 1/4 inch away from your seam allowance on my monitor. Lovely fabric. 🙂
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Kim- My, you have been busy.
Pat and I have been quilting for about 17 years, and I am very much a perfectionist, but not a great sew-er. With practice on your machine, you’ll get it.
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Hi Kim,
Ilove the colors in the pieces i see.
Im sure it will be lovely.
It is fine now,but i know how that is
When you keep looking at something and you want to redo it.
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Kim-I had the same results. When I did everything by hand it was so easy to make points match perfectly. When I tried machine piecing the results were not as precise. Love your colors!
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When it comes to sewing (and I would truly love to make a quilt), I have neither a left brain, nor a right brain! I know you’ll get it pulled together!
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Sounds like we have had a few similar paths. My quilting class was hand quilting and a long time ago too. And now I am trying to make sense of machine quilting…not so easy!! Maybe one day we will get it?!?!
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i think at the basis of any artisanal endeavor there is the goal of making something better every time you do it.
i think it’s great when learning to do something new, to keep moving forward through mistakes; momentum and finishing are necessary to gain confidence; that is the achievement in the beginning.
but once your eyes are opened to a very finely-turned piece of craftsmanship , and you are astute enough to appreciate it, you can’t go back and see it done sloppily with the same satisfaction.
it’s a curse and a good thing!
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I love quilting! I’m feeling like I should get back to it. I can’t wait to see your jelly roll quilt. The sampler is great!
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If you cut perfectly and have perfect 1/4″ seams, it all comes out just right – or you can fudge it as you go along and “make it fit”!!
Beautiful fabric in that jelly roll!
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