by Sandra | September 27th, 2009
So the quilt is officially done and then it happens……..the let down period. You know that feeling where you feel kind of lost and don’t know quite what to do with yourself and your hands after working on a project for so long? When I have invested a little over a year working every day on a quilt, I feel like a chicken running around without its head. What do I do with myself? My hands are shaking from withdrawal already!
I think there is something to that statement I hear a lot called “birthing a quilt”. There is definitely a nesting instinct that kicks in and a burst of cleaning for the arrival of the next one. I have to have everything cleared and put away where it belongs and the room swept of threads and tiny bits of fabric trimmings before I can start in on the next quilt. It is not because I am a neat freak (an oxymoron with quilters), but I wouldn’t be able to find anything and have to halt the creative mojo in an instant!
The Cleaning Frenzy Completed
I have spent the last couple of days putting everything back in order after the year long(+) tornado of creative flurry. This also helps me get my wits about me so I can relax, think about how I want to begin again and a basic idea how to build the new design. I call it “working out the puzzle pieces” of construction.
I do love a clean sewing room, I just hate how much work it takes to get it that way again. I won’t be remembered by how clean of a house I kept during my lifetime.
all content ©2009 Sandra Leichner all rights reserved
“Applique exploration and transforamtion ” for your title ?
Your room looks great ! I have to do the same thing clean and organize before Istart something , but I never did take a year to do just one project . You are amazing to be that focused !!!
I thought you were going to jump on the tequila wagon ?
Ohhh, I love seeing this latest peek at your (finished) quilt!! Back to a name for the book; I like the first part,”The Beauty Is In the Details”, and I can see why you hesitate to use the word “embellishment”. Perhaps you could use the phrase “fine embellishment techniques for applique” to differentiate your style of embellishment.
It’s fun to get a peek at your workspace–looks inviting (so neat!)
BOOP! I love that title suggestion. I think you captured well in four words what it is I do.
I jumped on the Tequila wagon way back and have used every excuse I can to further that research.
spew alert !!
Excuse the typo in my previous post my computer is dyslexic !!!!
but you get the idea ! ; )
Sandra, going back to the leaves (one thousand of them!!!) on your unfinished “doorway” quilt, if there are 1000 leaves in a 45″ x 45″ area, I can’t imagine that the fabric would look dated— too many small leaves for the fabric itself to be very prominent, don’t you think?
you are right, there is little background showing with so many leaves, so trying to figure out how to machine quilt it properly is a real head scratcher.
I think I felt as though I appliqued myself into a corner and now am trapped. LOL
Oh my Frances that is really good too.
I now love my workspace. I did a complete re-design of the sewing room (totally stripped down the room) a little over a year ago from the carpeting to cabinet hardware and I love it. So do my kids.
I still haven’t finshed the mouldings on the cabinets yet though as I got buried in book stuff and deadlines. I designed myself a sewing/computer table. I can switch between complete computer use and then sewing use in 1 minute. The sewing machine moves out of the way and the computer comes forward and vice versa.
This allowed me to have a separate design/work/applique table too.
I was in Costco Saturday and saw a mini fridge–hmmmmm.
One more suggetion ! then I have to shut off my brain on this one, cuz I’m sleeping titles , LOL !
Appliquilting
exploration and transformation
bringing it all together
Your room looks fantastic , you are sooo multi -talented
Sandra – how big is this quilt? All folded up, it looks like it could be pretty big – and if it took YOU a year to do this, I feel there is no hope for those of us who are… plebeians in the applique arena to your Godess-ness. Heavy sigh…
I have put together a project to begin learning how to applique – am doing one of Pacific Rim’s 2-fabric applique wallhangings. I’ve looked thru SO many books (LOVE the Piece O’ Cake stuff), etc, and am leaning towards the back-basting type of applique, mostly because of it’s potential time-saving technique. Have you ever tried that method? What kind of needle do you use?
Can you tell that I am living vicariously thru you?!
So when do we get to see the finished quilt! We are going crazy with anticipation and curiosity!
How do you organize/store your smaller pieces of fabric (scraps, fat 1/4s, ect …)–or do you not keep small pieces?
No I don’t keep the small pieces. I used to and they formed a monster over time eating up space everywhere that I didn’t have. I also found I never went back to use them either. I only keep a few small bits in a small bag for future repairs for the next generation if needed.
I rarely buy fat quarters. Mainly half yards except for background possibilities. I don’t buy backing material until the quilt is near completion unless I find one earlier that speaks, “you won’t find anything better down the road”.
I overbuy two years in advance for a quilt I am mulling and designing as the next project on deck. When the quilt finally is created, there are many fabrics that just didn’t work. I sort through those fabrics specifically bought for the quilt and using a critical eye, I judge which ones I won’t use again ever and put them in the charity pile. The ones I know I will use again, I re-shelve.
That makes the charities happy because they get current fabrics to work with and it makes me happy because my fabric is contained in ONE room and not many. Plus I get the tax write-off.
Boop–
My good friend calls me a Renaissance woman–LOL
I beg to differ and attribute it to my stubborn, “I can do it better” and for less type A personality.
Michele,
The quilt ended up being 70.5″ square. Not that big and according to most competitions is not a bed quilt, but a “large wall” quilt. NOT! it is a bed quilt. Don’t get me started……;-)
Don’t get hung up on “time” and just start doing. I plod along after all of my daily obligations with family etc., is taken care of and suddenly it is done!
I think you are going to benefit from doing a Pacific Rim pattern because there is no layering and you will be able to focus on perfecting your stitch. Rote learning. I can not stress enough how much the stitch does all of the work in applique. If you get your stitch down properly, that is 90% of the battle.
After you finish that, then move on to a Piece o Cake pattern if you like, they aren’t beginner, but beginner-intermediate. The pieces are always large with very little layering so it is a gentle next step to ease into gentle outward and inward curves and wide inverted “V”‘s. They will challenge your skill at this point in your learning curve, but not totally frustrate you. You need to balance that or you will give up.
I do not recommend back basting. It is time consuming and inflexible, and will also stunt your applique growth. Trust me, when you get to more complex applique (beyond Baltimore album), you will need to fudge (small shifting) and you will have to go back and pick out all of that back basting and re-do it. I had to unlearn a lot of what I was told and taught at the beginning to be able to advance my skills to where they are now.
I can hear back basters screaming at me and the phone lines lighting up.
Monique,
Either when it is first published in the book or in a show next year. I will copy my response to Frances earlier so you can understand why. It also explains why I could only show bits and not the “meat”. I don’t mean to tease, really! You have no idea how much it pains me to hold back.
First off, I have NEVER, to this point, had a copyright problem from a hobby/amateur quilter. Oh and for the record? if anyone takes a picture of my quilt in a show and posts it in their online album? Thank you! I like to see them!
Unfortunately, I see this a lot and trust me, I have the experience and battle wounds to prove it. This is also why I have the unique wording about copyright on my patterns aimed more at professionals.