Saturday, October 19, 2013

My Quilt Legacy


I'm sitting here at Algonac State Park, wrapped in a flannel quilt made in 1998 while I lived in Portland, Me.

I told my boyfriend that it was OK for me to take it as it was an early "practice" quilt. It's made from flannels (when they first came out), typical 90's fabrics (I was poor), and used 3D techniques (my first attempt).

I looked around and realized most of the quilts around me were "practice" quilts - early paper piecing, snails trails, fussy cutting.

Where are my good ones? Well, I made them and gave them away. They went to good homes. So I started thinking of my legacy. Decades down the road, as my good quilts were handed down to those future generations and all that's left in my trunks are the "practice" ones. What will the historian say?

"Well, she was willing to experiment, but she wasn't very polished." Interesting? I wonder how many long-gone quilters we've judged based on the few examples that remain? How do we know we are judging by their best work? Those quilts stored in their trunks may be their early work, work with inexpensive fabric and shaky stitches... the only examples of their work that remains because they were rarely brought out to light.

Deep thoughts at the campfire.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Halloween Nights


The family had a great time at Greenfield Village, Trick-or-Treating! I think Lorna and crew had the best costumes!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Fons and Porter's Sew Easy

Have you been to this site yet?  Fons and Porter’s Sew Easy?  I learned how to quilt using the Fons and Porter Quilter’s Complete Guide – LOVE! LOVE! LOVE THIS BOOK! I even used it as a teaching tool when I taught others.


It’s out of print now and the techniques are a little dated.  However, over the last few years, I’ve been a religious visitor to the Sew Easy Lessons on their website.  These are typically onesheets, formatted to fit nicely in a binder, originally published in their magazines.  They demonstrate quick, accurate flying geese, easy hourglasses, etc and recently they’ve added video! 

These techniques have really saved me time and sharpened my accuracy.  I’m not affiliated – this is not a paid plug – but wanted to make sure all of you knew about it!