Who Am I?

It's January and I am still in the self and creative evaluation process! January is really a reflective month for me.  Exploring my love of quilts in this post.

Exhibit at Tillamook Creamery in Tillamook, Oregon

I love to look at quilt magazines and books; sewing TV "How to Do it" shows; as well as go to quilt exhibits. I love quilts where ever I find them--on my bed, in flea markets, or as backdrops for commercial fabric vendors.  I recently bought a new sewing machine that is more conducive to quilting, with drop feed dogs and a darning foot attachment!  Much better than my old basic machine!  Love it!  But . . . I am getting sidetracked!

An early tablerunner project that I quilted

I have found that when I quilt, I am better at getting smaller projects finished than I am at finishing a large bed-sized quilt.  (Previously I sent bed and lap quilts out to another studio, Janice Jenney Studio. She's done a nice job for me on the quilting, after my patchwork was done.) This may be just that I am not as accomplished at quilting as I would like to be, and afraid that the satisfaction of a "Job well done!" will not be there at the end, if I do it!  So I have dug a little deeper into my psyche to find out about a few peculiarities about myself.

1.  I am not a "purest" quilter!  I really don't care if the corners match up with precision!   I've seen on TV:  "Always press to the dark side of the fabric!" and "Trim the little corners, so it will lie flat!" and "Always have the presser foot in the down position."  These are all good instructions, but I find that I enjoy doing it my way! I like to finish my projects satisfying my own desires to be creative.  I march to the beat of my own clock!  I don't quilt to be judged by others nor by their standards!   Call me a rebel! (And I will never win any honors by traditional quilt judges, but that's OK with me.)

2.  I love the exploring process.  Learning to complete the process, start to finish!  Learning to do free motion quilting on my own machine!  Coming up with my own designs!  Exploring color combinations!  This quilt was done because I loved the block's center pieces of pansy fabric.--I designed around those pieces and their colors.  You can see the finished quilt here, when it was actually shared in a quilt show!

Exploring fabric colors to match 

3.  I don't like using someone else's patterns!  I love the creating process!  Thinking it through, planning and finishing!

4. I love using materials that I have on hand--I personally, do not like leftovers!  I like to "Use it up!" as the old adage goes. I like using materials that are not considered the "proper" materials! I guess that stems from the artist in me! This quilt was made for a friend, who had already cut out dozens of squares of fabric that was a bit  too loosely woven and stiff for a "normal" quilter, but I didn't want to waste her work!  It came out fine as the black and white border of this bed quilt (and the girls liked it!)

Well, That's enough self-evaluation, you get the point!  Be creative and don't worry about what others think. Decide who you are and go from there to find your greatest achievements!

 Enjoy the journey and keep on learning! 

Are you enjoying the journey?