I've had a bit of a spurt as regards my quilting this year - not entirely voluntarily as most of it has been the result of having a bug and therefore not being able to do more active stuff. Looking for the silver lining, however, it has meant I've got a couple of things done which have been on the 'to do' list it seems like forever. So it's not all bad!
This is a case in point... keen eyed readers will spot my 'In the Night Garden' design. It came together quite quickly - there are advantages to only using simple techniques when you design! - and I'm really looking forward to quilting it now. Currently it is sitting in a box somewhere in France, though, as I have to post it to the redoubtable ladies at Midsomer Quilting who layer and baste my quilts for me. Now, before anybody starts thinking what a lazy besom I am for getting somebody else to do this for me, I'd make the following points:
1. I AM a lazy quilter - that's why I only use simple techniques when I'm designing. Life's too short and there are too many quilts in my head to spend aeons swearing my way through a time-consuming process. Well, that's my excuse anyway.
2. I have NEVER layered and basted a quilt myself which didn't have a crease at the end of it. As I can get a bit OCD about stuff like that, I find it soul-destroying. The ladies at Midsomer Quilting get perfect results every time, and don't charge very much, comparatively speaking, for doing it. So why not?
3. I did my knees in FOR MONTHS the last time I layered and basted. Suffering for my art is not something I find appealing (see comments about lazy quilting above...
4. My attitude is, I've spent all that time piecing the top, I'll spend just as much time quilting the thing, and then it will - hopefully - last decades. I owe it to the quilt to do the best I can to make it perfect! Also, do I really want to be irritated by my wrinkly backs for that length of time?
So there you go... totally unrepentant ;-)
In the same parcel is another top for the same treatment (picture below) - this is a sort-of commission insofar as it's for a friend who recently had her first grandchild. She paid for the materials, and specified the theme and colours she wanted, and I just got going with the software and sewing machine. I am quite pleased with the result, and I know there's one little baby out there who will love crawling round on this cheerful quilt!
This is a case in point... keen eyed readers will spot my 'In the Night Garden' design. It came together quite quickly - there are advantages to only using simple techniques when you design! - and I'm really looking forward to quilting it now. Currently it is sitting in a box somewhere in France, though, as I have to post it to the redoubtable ladies at Midsomer Quilting who layer and baste my quilts for me. Now, before anybody starts thinking what a lazy besom I am for getting somebody else to do this for me, I'd make the following points:
1. I AM a lazy quilter - that's why I only use simple techniques when I'm designing. Life's too short and there are too many quilts in my head to spend aeons swearing my way through a time-consuming process. Well, that's my excuse anyway.
2. I have NEVER layered and basted a quilt myself which didn't have a crease at the end of it. As I can get a bit OCD about stuff like that, I find it soul-destroying. The ladies at Midsomer Quilting get perfect results every time, and don't charge very much, comparatively speaking, for doing it. So why not?
3. I did my knees in FOR MONTHS the last time I layered and basted. Suffering for my art is not something I find appealing (see comments about lazy quilting above...
4. My attitude is, I've spent all that time piecing the top, I'll spend just as much time quilting the thing, and then it will - hopefully - last decades. I owe it to the quilt to do the best I can to make it perfect! Also, do I really want to be irritated by my wrinkly backs for that length of time?
So there you go... totally unrepentant ;-)
In the same parcel is another top for the same treatment (picture below) - this is a sort-of commission insofar as it's for a friend who recently had her first grandchild. She paid for the materials, and specified the theme and colours she wanted, and I just got going with the software and sewing machine. I am quite pleased with the result, and I know there's one little baby out there who will love crawling round on this cheerful quilt!
Right... the bug's getting better, but I'm in the zone now and cracking on with making my Ice Crystal quilt top. There's another story behind this, but would you expect anything less from me?? For reasons I won't bore you with, but which have to do with various sizes of Troll distracting me (enough said), I double-ordered the fabric for this design
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Ooops....especially as the larger Troll isn't exactly sympathetic about the cost of quilt fabric at the best of times! So... to try to make lemonade from lemons, I'm going to make the two tops at the same time; keep one and try to sell the other. We shall see how this goes... this will be the first time I will have actually sold a top in a hard commercial way, so I'm a bit unsure about the whole thing, truth be told. I'm telling myself that at the very least it will be a learning experience!
My Janome is calling me....tell me all about your 'New Quilting Year' if you have five minutes - it's nice to see what everybody else is up to!
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Ooops....especially as the larger Troll isn't exactly sympathetic about the cost of quilt fabric at the best of times! So... to try to make lemonade from lemons, I'm going to make the two tops at the same time; keep one and try to sell the other. We shall see how this goes... this will be the first time I will have actually sold a top in a hard commercial way, so I'm a bit unsure about the whole thing, truth be told. I'm telling myself that at the very least it will be a learning experience!
My Janome is calling me....tell me all about your 'New Quilting Year' if you have five minutes - it's nice to see what everybody else is up to!
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