• 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

    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

    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

    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.