I Broke a Rule...because I like my things to be Something!

When I got into this love of quilting, I set rules for myself.  I could see that other quilters tended to fall into certain habits or have similar struggles and I wanted to save myself from that.  So I made rules.  Very simple rules. 

1)  I only work on one quilt at a time.  ( I can do other sewing and creative things, but only one quilt)

2)  I don't buy fabric for a new quilt until the last quilt I worked on is complete.  Completely complete.  (I haven't done any hand quilting or hand binding yet.  If I ever do, that will be an exception because I have tendonitis issues and I wouldn't want to stress my hands out just to hurry to get to the next quilt).

3) I don't buy fabric unless it's for the quilt I am working on.  (I just found a local quilt store and I suddenly understood why quilters just buy a yard of this, a fat quarter of that.  There are amazing fabrics and I want to use them.  But I'll just have to plan a quilt around them and put it in line!)

4) I don't make a quilt unless it has a purpose.  (Lately those purposes have been gifts for family and friends.  At some point I may run out of people to gift to and I might try selling them on etsy but for now, I want it to be more personal)

I love my rules.  It helps me not spend all of my time and money on quilting (which I probably would if I didn't have rules because I come up with new quilt ideas almost every other day.  It doesn't help that I'm in math classes with graph paper so if I get a little day dreamy I can sketch out my hearts content of Half Square Triangles).  It helps me focus on one thing and have the awesome feeling of accomplishing something and be excited to move onto the next instead of looking at the list of unfinished things to be done.  

So now to the rule breaking.  I have a really good reason (said everyone who has ever broken a rule).  The GillyWhig quilt is sitting in my craft room, backing pieced and batting preshrunk and everything ready to baste for quilting.  But I reeeeeaaally want to free motion quilt it.  I have this awesome idea of clouds and swirly lines representing wind (to blow the whirlygigs).  However!...I have never done free motion quilting.  I need to practice on something.  And for some reason I'm having a hard time just taking extra fabric and batting and practicing.  I still want my practice to be Something, not just a throw away.  Is that crazy?  It sounds like it when I say it, but in my heart, I feel like it's not.  Because I'm a maker and I want my practice to still make something.  (This is me, I kept the first cable swatch I knit - using a pencil because I didn't have a cable hook or stitch holder - and I used it for the handle of a purse I made from an old ski hat around a year later.  So I think it's just part of who I am.)

I started another quilt.  And here come some more excuses.  

A-it's not a full quilt, it's only a wall hanging, probably around 2 feet square

B-it's something I'm going to love for more than one reason (and I don't like making things I don't love)

C-the piecing is a trial run for an idea I had for another larger quilt  (see?  I like my practice stuff to still be Something!)

D-all the fabric I've used for it has been scraps so far (impressive since I buy just a few inches more of what I need, typically (I'm on a budget!) and I only have scraps from 2 quilts)

These are my stacks of 1" cut squares.  Yep, they're going to be 1/2" finished.  Mini is so adorable.  I love them!  I sort of want to be surrounded by towers of 1" squares of fabric.  How can I add this into the decor???

Of course, now that I've started this quilt, I don't want to mess it up with a first attempt at free motion.  So I'm back to my old problem.  My sister said just practice on some big square that can be turned into potholders.  So something along those lines.  Maybe a cute bag or something instead, though.  Potholders never held much interest in my mind.  And I only make what I love, so a bag would work, yeah?  What are your ideas?

See you soon!

(with a look at how I'm making my illegal wall hanging!)

Some Inspiration

Life is crazy sometimes.  My husband and I just moved back to Idaho after a 2 month stint in Salt Lake and Seattle.  Of course, we don't have an apartment yet because our previous landlord decided to sell the place, so we're momentarily homeless. 

We are super lucky to have amazing friends who let us crash with them.  I have an idea on how to thank them for this, but I'll keep it secret for now.

We should have a home by the end of the week.  Which would be lovely since my body is telling me I'm stressed.  I keep getting new illnesses that I've never had before and I think it's related to moving, not having a home, starting classes for the semester, starting orchestra again and having my husband working nights.  

On a happy note, these are all images from the Museum of Glass in Tacoma which is soooooo cool!  The best part was the hot shop, a giant cone where they do live glass blowing.  They have guest artists come in and you sit in the stadium seats along one wall and watch them work.  Someone with a microphone explains the process and they have some videos to watch to introduce the artists and their processes.  It was amazing.  (They also have live feed from their hot shop that you can watch on their website!  In case you're not near Tacoma).

I've been seeing quilt designs in everything I look at lately.  It's an exciting but dangerous new vision to have.  For now, though, I have made the promise to only work on 1 (one) quilt at a time.  I read about a lot of quilters that have 20 odd quilts on their list of Works in Progress and I don't know how they do it!  I also don't make quilts any time I have inspiration for it.  I've decided it has to have a purpose, it has to have someone to go to and for a reason before I make it.  It's helping me limit myself and not letting quilting over run my life completely.  (Which part of me would love, but it would probably kill my love of quilting after a few weeks.  Or days.)  I need balance in my life and this is how I hope to maintain it. 

I also don't buy fabric to build up my stash.  I only buy what I need for the one quilt I'm working on.  My Whirlygig quilt was exciting because it didn't take much of the patterned fabric but I had to buy the minimum required 1/8 yd so I have a good amount of leftovers (in comparison to the handful of scraps I usually have).  But typically I try to get the exact amount I need plus a tiny bit of wiggle room.  Like a few inches max.  So I don't really have enough scraps/stash to make any scrappy/stashy quilts yet.  Eventually I will, but for now, I get to shop for every quilt!

This last picture is from the Museum of Flight.  Theres a place there where you can listen to the actual tower workers talking.  Behind the screen is the air strip where the planes land.  And this picture is showing all the planes that were in the air (I think either leaving from or heading to North America) at that time.  Each dot is an airplane!  I don't think I ever thought of how many planes were in the air at a time, but if you had asked me, I would not have guessed this many.  There you go.  Fun mind-blowing information.

See you soon!

(with some more crafting?...meaning hopefully with less unwellness...)