It's been a while since my last post and update and I'm sure many
of you assumed the reason for my silence was a lack of project completion. And,
I'm sorry to admit, you were right. Since starting my job as a judicial clerk
at the Multnomah County Circuit Court (I just had to slip that in somewhere -
it's 21 years of schooling in the making), I have not worked on any projects be
they sewing, knitting, or anything in between. However, I am happy to now
report that I am back in the game. Back to quilting and knitting and a few
other crafty hobbies as well.
After six months
of no progress on any of my projects Mom, our beloved President, got a bit
miffed at me. On a parental visit to Portland, Oregon a few months ago, we
drove around to the various arts/crafts/sewing stores we like to visit where I
was shot down on everything I suggested we buy. The refrain "not until you
start sewing/knitting again and use up what you have" was heard again and
again. I couldn't really complain about any of this. I did have four rubbermaids
of quilting supplies and even more knitting supplies at home that had gone
untouched for quite a while. So, soon my requests subsided and I followed
meekly (yes, I can be meek, Miss Sally) in Mom's wake. After a particularly
successful trip to Joanne's (a 20% total purchase discount on sale items), we
went home to Casa Lauren where Mom proceeded to watch a DVD on painting faces
(not face painting, but rather painting pictures of faces) she had just bought.
Soon, she invited me over to watch it with her and I felt the push of
inspiration. I wanted to try this! Keep in mind, my artistic skills in terms of
drawing and painting are rudimentary at best and often involve stick figures.
But I didn’t care – I was ready to paint. And so, I found the one craft Mom
would agree to purchase supplies for – a set of basic golden paints, some
brushes, a bit of watercolor paper, and a palette. I was ready to go.
For the next few weeks I painted faces every weekend, following
the directions of the DVD (which I had claimed as my own) and I felt a rush of
excitement at my success. Soon I branched out beyond just faces and drew
inspiration from other art. I never knew how much fun painting could be. Any
previous drawing or painting I had done was always geared toward realism,
trying to draw a face or vase that actually looked like the object. The world
really opens up when you let go and just create for fun. (Something Mom has
told me for years.) So, here is Piece of
Advice #1: Be inspired by something new – just because you’ve never done it
before, doesn’t mean you can’t try it now.
While I was happy that I was back in the game of crafting and
being productive on my weekends, I still felt the nagging weight of those
rubbermaids of quilting and knitting supplies. My new art was exciting, but I
had other projects to do as well. My next piece of inspiration came in the form
of the Portland Quilt Show. Our dear President has written up the show and
Sally’s visit quite well and no further elaboration is needed by me except to
mention how much the show inspired me to get back to sewing. Once you’re out of
the sewing mode for any length of time it can be quite tricky getting yourself
back into it. It’s so much easier to continue along the path you are already
on. The Portland Quilt Show, however, steered me back. I challenge anyone to go
to this show and not come away amazed, inspired, and more than a little
intimidated. This show presents the best of the best, not just in the NW area,
but around the globe (literally, one of their exhibits each year is monthly
blocks created by quilters from around the globe – Australia, New Zealand,
England, South Africa, US, Mexico, Canada, etc.). After seeing the incredible
works and taking numerous photos, I went home ready to sit down at my machine
and begin quilting. After getting the house back to myself the next weekend I
pulled out those rubbermaids of quilting supplies and took a look at my
projects. I had a total of five projects, two of which were underway to varying
degrees. While it would have been easy to just grab a new project and start
from scratch, perhaps something even inspired by the quilt show, I knew I first
needed to finish the old. And so, I pulled out the two unfinished projects. (Which
brings us to Piece of Advice #2: Go out
and see what others are doing – sometimes the greatest inspiration to get back
to your art/craft comes from the spirit of competition or the drive to be
better.)
The first project I finished was a Grinch Who Stole Christmas
Quilt I bought in
January and began sometime soon thereafter on a trip home.
The quilt shows the story of the Grinch Who Stole Christmas in nine panels
which are framed by solid fabrics. Then as sashings between each frame are
various Grinch print fabrics. Originally the pattern called for rows of 3 ½ inch
squares as sashings, however, this was ultimately unfeasible. The nine panels
actually came as a single piece which I fussy cut to the correct dimensions –
the correct dimensions being whatever dimensions worked such at that every
block in the row was the same height and each block in the column the same
width. By the time this was accomplished, a row of 3 ½ inch blocks no longer worked
as sashings. The realization of this fact is where I had previously stopped
working on this project. In the interim time I had been thinking about how to
solve the problem and finally, after a consultation with Mom, decided I would
switch to making strata instead of uniform sized blocks. This worked amazingly
well and made a much more interesting looking quilt. In one
weekend I managed
to complete my Grinch quilt, which is now bagged and ready to be quilted.
Project 1 complete.
My second project was a batik quilt I began well over a year ago.
In fact, I bought the pattern for this quilt at the Portland Quilt Show two
years ago, immediately purchased fabric during a 35% off sale at Fabric Depot,
began making squares, and then stalled. The centers of each block were
completed and I had one square finished, but the project was only half
complete. Upon examining the completed block I remembered why I had put the
quilt away. My block was a full ¼ inch too small. Now, usually, I am very
precise in my sewing, but I began this quilt with the A foot on my machine
rather than the ¼ inch foot, which as anyone who sews on a Janome knows, will
give you a very fat ¼ inch seam allowance. Oops. Now, I didn’t not want to take
apart all that I had already done, particularly as the first half of each block
was made by strip sewing and I had already cut all the strips into their
proper, very small size; so what to do? I decided that there was no way I would
spend an entire weekend ripping out all that I had already sewn. Instead, I
would simply continue on my path and rather than try for precision, I would go
with consistency. Whenever I teach a friend to sew, I always stress that in
some projects you need absolute precision, but in many you just need
consistency (particularly as a beginner). So long as you are consistent in your
sewing, the variation in size of your blocks from the pattern won’t be a big deal. This pattern lent itself quite well to
that nugget of wisdom and so I continued to sew with fat ¼ inch seam allowances
and within another weekend my quilt was finished! Piece
of Advice #3: Pull out some old unfinished projects – even if you
stopped them because of a problem, the passing of time and your willingness to
break free of the pattern will allow you to finish them in no time. And
finishing an old, languishing project gives you a huge sense of accomplishment.
And that brings us to the last big of inspiration that has
recently come my way – the cold weather. Over the years I’ve noticed that my
knitting has a cyclical nature. During the summer I rarely knit. It’s just way
too hot to sit around with a large, heat trapping project spread out across
your lap. However, it is just the thing to help keep you warm in winter. During
the Portland Quilt Show weekend the cold finally hit Portland. During the last
day of Sally’s visit, the rains arrived with a vengeance and the temperature
dropped fast. Now we are fully enmeshed in the cold fall weather – my heater is
on and my kitten is snuggling close each evening. It’s the perfect knitting
time. Now, when I watch TV at home I always pull out my knitting project to do
at least a few rows. Which brings us to my last piece of advice – Piece of Advice #4: Some arts and crafts
lend themselves to colder weather – take advantage and pull out your knitting
or crocheting. Now is the time.
 |
| Chloe claims the quilt for her own |
I am now ready to begin some new projects. I plan to finally
complete a wall hanging kit I bought a couple years ago, continue my knitting,
and paint some more faces. And perhaps, if I start lagging, I’ll just take a
bit of my own advice. Happy sewing/knitting/painting, everyone!
Labels: Lauren, Lauren's Posts
