What kind of quilter are you? What’s your favorite part? The plan, the process, or the product?
The planner first analyzes the pattern start to finish, cuts all the pieces at once, then arranges the project in assembly line fashion. There is no hurry and it could be put down and taken up over months or even years. She employs baggies and sticky notes and boxes and bins that keep the pieces regimented in perfect order.
The process quilter gets inspired by something she sees that happens to work with something that’s already in her stash. She jumps right in, cutting up those stash pieces to see how they look. After being pleasantly surprised, she proceeds to the next step, and the next, letting the quilt direct her decisions as it grows. She intentionally has no end in sight to her project. She enjoys lingering in the middle. When she does finally finish; she’s a bit melancholy that the serendipitous surprises have come to an end.
Finally, there is the completer. She begins with the end in mind. She goes to the store with pattern and maybe a coupon firm in hand, and combat shops for the project. She may have a deadline imposed on her, or a group challenge she’s joined. As she pushes pieces under the needle, her mind is pushing ahead to the next step, then the next. The vision of the finished project is the carrot dangling in her head. The thrill comes when she is done-de-done-done. Ta Da!
Of course we aren’t exclusively one type over the others, but I sure can identify with the second one. My favorite part of the process is the part I’m doing just then. Maybe the middle child is most comfortable in the middle of things. Hmmm, this is true of me in all aspects of life. Something to think about. But there are pitfalls that come with this method.
One: the overall vision evolves beyond the initial inspiration. Example: my inspiration for the Bible Sampler Quilt came from Jane Stickles. When pulling from my stash, I purposely chose muted, warm colors with a white neutral. But now as I photograph my blocks and share them with you, I’m finding them to be a bit too muted. It dawned on me that old quilts FADE. Jane’s quilt might very well have been bright and cheerful. I’m intentionally creating a new quilt to look OLD. That’s not good. But at this a point in the process there are no do-overs. I’ll just overcorrect with more color moving forward. Fingers crossed, it’ll balance out and brighten up. Ooh, that’s something to look forward to!
Two: You run out of fabric. What to do? You make do and change the vision. For example, I have three different colored sashings on my Farmers Wife Sampler, and two different cornerstone fabrics. I’m over it, and I know I still won’t plan ahead with yardage in my future projects. The prospect of taking desperate measures to execute a Plan B is too exciting.
I guess there are only two pitfalls, and I can live with them. But if I were to have a do over I would’ve chosen vibrant purples, the color of royalty, for this block. I was going for gold, but the Queen of Sheba deserves much more drama than what I’ve given her.
Queen’s Treasure
I’ve read through both books of Samuel and the first part of Kings. Those are some gnarly periods in history, particularly in the accounts involving women. I repeat from my last post, people are weird. But this account of the Queen of Sheba’s visit to King Solomon is a pleasant one. She had heard through the grapevine that he was exceptionally wise. So she saddles up her camels and brings him the usual: gold, spices, jewels, and so on. She then proceeds to test his reputation. At this point in history Solomon is listening to God, and therefore is blessed with wisdom, virtue and integrity. He’s very popular with his people. She is satisfied and an alliance is formed. But stay tuned, because as I’ve said, people are weird.
Cuts With Scissors 