Learning the lessons the wrong way

But having fun anyway.

My great grandmother quilted and so did my mom. And I have always wanted to but just didn't feel ready for the commitment for classes, instruction, and the mess.
When I read the Gee's Bend book, I decided that when I did get around to trying a quilt, I would just wing it and play.

First attempt: a baby blanket

Tried quilt piecing with random scraps and cut those to hell and learned that curves are not for beginners. Decided that all that work would not be for naught so cut and pieced it into binding strips. If ever you gave me a piece of fabric, it is probably here in my very scrappy mixture.

Forget the pieced quilt. A fabric blanket might be better for first attempt. Tried to quilt in triangle type patterns but the fabric was too unwieldy in weight and size so quickly decided that random lines in various thread colors would work. Bored after only color, I stopped quilting.

Last night, I ironed and pinned the super long strip of binding.

Next step: sewing it on the faux quilt.

Am I gonna look for instructions for attaching binding to a quilt? Nope.

Crafty inspiration

Three books have inspired me to get back in the craft room studio.


Quilts of Gee's Bend: Masterpieces from a Lost Place by William Arnett, Alvia Wardlaw, Jane Livingston, John Beardsley is a beautiful account of quilting by African American women. Stunning photographs and engrossing stories. But the inspiration, for me, was JUST MAKE IT. Great grandmother quilted. Mom quilted. And somewhere inside me, there is a quilt. But life is busy and I figured I would look forward to that when time passed a little slower. But this book has motivated me to get out the fabric and teach myself to make quilt! No patterns, no T-squares, no pinning. Learn to quilt and have fun while doing it.

Next I picked up a book titled Subversive Cross Stitch by Julie Jackson. This woman is after my own heart. She revealed her dislike of cutesy kittens and bears offered in the pre-packaged cross stitch kits. Her subversive urge caused her to add sarcastic comments to the otherwise milquetoast stitching. (And I thought I was clever to stitch "If you've nothing nice to say, come sit by me" in fancy script.) No, Julie Jackson is way too cool for school, what with her "Go Fuck Yourself" patterns. But again, inspiration struck and I quickly stitched a fingertip towel for my friend Bonnie with her oft repeated command, Bite Me.

And then I found Sublime Stitching: Hundreds of Hip Embroidery Patterns and How-To by Jenny Hart and Alexandra Grablewskifor. I have cross stitched for at least twenty years and while I enjoy the activity, I don't want any of that crap in my house. It is fine for baby gifts but not for the wall. So, after perusing the local library, I checked out Kids Embroidery by Kristin Nicholas. I have all of the needles and floss but what to stitch on? The scrub pants were right there and a handy future reference. With my well-stocked craft stash, I pulled out water soluble pens and stencils to mark my fabric. The stitching began. Hey, this is easy! Meanwhile, I am kind of pissed that I have been jacking around with cross stitch all these years while I could have been doing embroidery.

A look around the house turned up my stack of cotton tea towels. Stitched all of those. Then made a purse. And embroidered on that. Purchased six packs of nice cotton tea towels from the KMart Martha Stewart collection. And I am looking at all of my unadorned pillowcases . . . Everything will be stitched before my hands become arthritic!

Yay, my creativity has been juiced!