–

now is the time for us to do something new

  • Step 2

    Step 2

    January 9, 2005

    The research

    All the time that the new quilt idea is cooking in my brain, whenever I see a book, an article, a picture, a fabric that relates, I file it away for reference.  Sometimes I collect whole notebooks full of pertinent creative thoughts.

  • Step 3

    Step 3

    January 12, 2005

    The bits and pieces

    • I poke through my collection of the miscellany over and over
    • I sort
    • I sift
    • I measure it
    • Slowly, slowly I let it stew

    How long does that take?  Until that picture begins to gel and until I get the courage to begin.

  • Step 4

    Step 4

    January 16, 2005

    The Design

    • I lay out my collection of fabric and pictures and sort out my head.
    • I get out a big sheet of table cloth paper, full size and I begin to sketch.
    • I draw.
    • I smooth and sharpen my lines.
    • I begin to clip out patchwork pieces and make applique shapes.

    Some seem right.  Some go straight into the trash.  Experiment, experiment.  Hate it, love it, hate it, love it.

  • Step 5

    Step 5

    January 19, 2005

    The Work

    • I begin to assemble.
    • I tweak and add.
    • I lay it out on the floor and squint at it.
    • I move my pieces around.
    • I patch and worry my way through crisis and recovery.

  • Step 6

    January 23, 2005

    When to call it done?

    At this point, the quilt is usually radically different from what I had sketched.  Same elements, same fabrics, but the design shifts and moves.  I have learned not to be distressed that it is different.  Usually it is better than I  first planned.  The quilt tells me when it is right, when it’s done.

  • Healing

    Today my Post Card quilts came back from the show in Washington State. They were pristinely folded and wrapped in tissue. As I took out each one and laid it flat and smooth on the bed downstairs, I was surprised to see how good they were. I can remember every loose stitch, fray, and thready mismatched point. But now, suddenly, I am proud of them. Time and distance are great healers.

  • Step 7

    January 26, 2005

    Reconciliation.

    Once I have quilted and bound off my quilt, we (the quilt and I) often aren’t close friends for a while. Maybe it’s because we have been so close, so intense. I know every flaw, every change, every ache and stress. Like raising a child, it takes me a while to reconcile the new reality to the original vision. And then, another month, another year, I look at that quilt and I am surprised to discover that it has a spark of my heart in it.

  • So How Long Does It Really Take?

    So How Long Does It Really Take?

    February 2005

    I first had the idea for my South Dakota postcard quilt in 1989. I played with the idea for 15 years. It took me that long to figure out how to put my trademark rectangular door into a tepee. I finally began cutting out my fabric in December of 2004. Now, eight weeks and a lot of angst later, the top is almost ready for the quilting frame. It’s not done yet. So much happens in the quilting. But, soon….. soon…..

  • South Dakota Becomes a Post Card

    South Dakota Becomes a Post Card

    March 6, 2005: It’s Done! Hallelujah! Now you can figure out how long it really takes to make a quilt.

    My set of 24 Post Cards is finally complete.

  • Traveling in the Pacific Northwest

    At the LaConner Quilt Museum, my quilt show "Wish You Were Here" is done. As a goodbye to the Pacific Northwest, I will be speaking to the Northwest Quilting Connection in Sedro-Woolley, Washington on January 8th.