I have lugged around several old dark family heirloom quilts for most of my adult life with no understanding of their value as an art form. During my early adult life a distant relative taught me how to hand quilt and I produced a runner and several pillow covers. They were pretty messy but I proudly displayed them in my home and office for several years before they got tucked away. I thought that was the end of my journey into the world of quilting but fast forward 40 years and I am back at it.
It started several years ago when my sister, Renae, started making prayer quilts with a church group. At the same time, I started my sewing journey so had a new appreciation for all things sewn. While taking my sewing classes at a local quilt store in Flagstaff I quickly learned about the quilt culture. As my afternoon lessons continued, I met lots of quilters as they came in for fabric and to get advice from my sewing teacher. They often brought in their quilt tops to coordinate backgrounds and borders so I was often in a position to observe and offer my two cents on color choices. As a stained glass artist I was also drawn to the colors and patterns. One of the things I learned how to do last year was use a darning foot on my machine to outline my fabric applique art. Little did I know at the time that this was a gateway to free motion quilting. As you can imagine, all of this was pointing in the same direction.
So this spring I finished my winter projects and had a month to spare before heading to the lake. I had recently weekend binged on free Craftsy classes which included some free motion quilting classes which intrigued me after last year’s entry into free motion sewing. I love to doodle and thought this can’t be so tough. The next morning in my studio I was rifling through fabric trying to decide on my next project when I came upon a stack of various patterned purple scrap fabric my sister and sewing teacher had given me. Purple is my favorite color so I laid out all the lovely patterns on my work table and…puff…the lightbulb came on…and I knew I had to make a quilt!
The first thing I did was get feedback from both my sister and my sewing teacher who assured me I could do it. So I started researching simple patterns on Pinterest and found one I thought would work. I ended up making two lap quilts; one I gave my best buddy for her birthday and one I kept for myself. I used a four square pattern so the cutting and piecing was fairly simple, but I found accuracy to be important if you want your edges to meet properly. The real fun commenced when I attempted the free motion quilting on my machine. I did the obligatory practice using what I thought was a simple outline and flower pattern but the process was still very difficult and took forever. Once complete I had to laugh at what looked like a hot mess to me. My friend thought it was beautiful declaring it the best gift she had ever received. Score! The second one I quilted using meander stitching which, although forgiving, was still difficult and also took forever. I used all the pretty patterned purple fabric in it and I am in love with the finished product. I couldn’t leave it behind in Arizona so hauled it to the lake so I could use it all summer and fall. Plus, it will give me the opportunity to show it off to my area craft friends. All in all, it was a good experience but hard and time consuming. In studying various quilt patterns, they all seem like complex jigsaw puzzles so I am not sure further quilting in in my future.
I recently noticed there was an upcoming Quilt Fair in Fargo so I invited a new crafty friend to join me and off we went to view quilts. Over 200 quilts were displayed and I was in awe at the creativity, skill and patience of these quilters. They were incredibly beautiful and these people are true artists. It was all quite humbling and tempting for a newbie like me to throw up my hands and leave quilting to the professionals. But now, with all this new inspiration, I think there may be another quilt in my future. Next week, I am going to take a look at the local quilt display at the Milbank Mall. Oh, and I picked up a flyer on a book entitled South Dakota Quilts and Quiltmakers which profiles 99 quilts and their makers. I wonder if I have officially become part of the quilt culture? 2018