Quilting Ventures

I may just be crazy, but I want to make a quilt/wall-hanging for our new living room. There's a couple of reasons why: first, we have never really had anything large enough to hang over the couch. So usually nothing or something ridiculous-looking goes there. Second, I can't afford to go buy a big painting or piece of art for the wall, so I might as well make something from scratch. I figure the cost of the backing and background fabric (white cotton) can be pared down with a JoAnn's coupon and so can the batting. I am hoping I can do this for under $20-25.

I was browsing through a craft book and saw a quilt called the "Color Wheel Quilt". It is SO beautiful to me and I love incorporating as many colors as you can into one piece. I love color and I love rainbows of color, so I think this is the perfect quilt for me to try. It is supposed to be "simple" but I am sure that is only to someone who has quilted before. We'll see how I do.

I think the design and colors are so inspiring, it would give a happy feel to any room.

Photo from Purlbee.com

I hope I have enough colors in my stash to cover all 52 colors. Knowing me, I have enough pink, blue, and purple, but the rest is iffy. We'll see.

This will be my next project once the few I have left to complete are done.

Sewing for Stress-Relief and Blathering On

Sometimes it is good for me to just grab some scraps and start sewing them into something and letting the project take itself where it wants to go. I tend to do this when I am stressed or anxious.

Last night it turned into a mug rug in these really loud, splashy fabrics. I love quilting and patchwork, but don't know what I'm doing past sewing the pieces together, so I thought I'd practice the art of quilting by adding some binding to the mug rug. I am not doing it the right way, probably, and it came out a little wonky. I tend to teach myself how to do things my way, and it is usually the wrong way, but I liked doing it, though, and that was what mattered. This one's for me, anyway, so I can stand it to be quite imperfect.

I really should look up how to properly bind bias tape. I am afraid it requires hand stitching though so I hate to have to do that. (Hear the laziness in my voice?) I am a child of the "bend the rules sewing" generation...

I also need to learn how to select fabrics properly. I tend to choose the loudest, brightest fabrics and put them all together and then wonder why it looks so...loud. And then I say to myself, "hmm...I like it, but I wonder if anyone else will?"

There is a science to fabric selection which I know includes picking one large scale print, one small, and one solid color (esp. with quilting). But solid fabrics are like poison to me. I don't want anything to do with them. I want pattern and design in my life! But I want to try doing things "by the book" and see what comes of it.

I dunno. I think the things we create say A LOT about our personalities, whether it be that we are old-fashioned, modern, artsy, kitschy, etc. It's what makes the world go around. God created us all with unique tastes and with our own set of DNA, and I think that's cool. There isn't really only one way to create something that is "perfectly correct". If 10 people set out to create the exact same thing from the same pattern and materials, that thing will come out a little bit different for each person who makes it. But He does set order and beauty before us and it inspires us to want to reflect that in what we make ourselves.

That's all.

Art Quilt Vs. Free Motion Quilting

My sister was wondering about the difference between these two things, so I looked into it a bit and wanted to post about it. One is a type of quilt and the other is a technique of quilting. But they are both very creative and flexible in terms of not having really any rules and it is up to the crafter to take it where they want to go. Sounds fun!

Studio Art Quilt Associates's definition:
SAQA defines an art quilt as a contemporary artwork exploring and expressing aesthetic concerns common to the whole range of visual arts: painting, printmaking, photography, graphic design, assemblage and sculpture, which retains, through materials or technique, a clear relationship to the folk art quilt from which it descends.

An Art Quilt

"Free motion quilting is all about practicing...playing really...with your sewing machine, thread and fabric. "

Free motion quilting

So there you go! You can make an art quilt that features free motion quilting and have it all in one! :)

More Hexagons

Isn't this a gorgeous set? I am really into hexagons right now, and am seeing them everywhere! I would love to try this project someday. I will have to add it to my list. :)