Mr random number generator has spoken
And the winner made me laugh out loud with joy at being able to make something for my long time blogging buddy Shay who was one of my first blogging friends and she probably is still the nuttiest out there.
Thanks all for entering.
My last post I promise because of the weekend at festival of quilts.
The oddest thing I found being in our display booth was hearing people discussing my quilt. It felt like I was eavesdropping on private conversations but because I made it I couldn't help myself.
However I had some brilliantly fun and engaging conversations over it as well and it brought up a lot for me about the process I use to make a quilt.
The short response is I don't have one. But that not completely true. However I don't plan in advance at all.
This quilt has been a long time in the making. Back in the 90's when I first got interested in quilting (even though I didn't try it for another decade) one of the first books I bought was Jinny Beyers Colour Confidence for Quilters.
This is where I first discovered tumbling blocks and thought they were fantastic. They appealed to the part of my brain that loved doing technical drawings at school with perspective. I never forgot that. When I did start quilting I realised that all those Y seams would be a nightmare.
Last year I had a tidy up of my stash and found a kona roll up that I had forgotten I had bought from Simply Solids years ago. It called to me and for no particular reason I thought I would use 3 strips to make some tumbling blocks which I did.
Somehow at this stage in my quilting career it wasn't as scary as I had thought it would be. I machine stitched them and didn't mark dots or any of the other things I had read about but I managed to judge the spot correctly to stop and start. I was so happy with them I did a few more.
I then went to my newly installed design wall and laid them out. I knew then I was going to keep going until I finished the whole roll. So I did.
Then I had to decide how to sew them together and I fumbled my way through that by doing them in sections. When I had them all done I thought about leaving the edges zigzag, trim the blocks or insert triangles. I'm not a fan of zigzag edges, couldn't stand the thought of cutting the blocks I had pieced so inserts were the only option.
I found a suitable solid in my stash and finally I had a top I loved.
It stayed like this for about 8 months and then finally I had time to quilt it. I purchased a frame last year and felt I had got used to it enough to start playing with this top.
I knew I wanted to go a bit mad on it and do lots of free form feathers. I had it loaded up for about a week during half term and I just had fun. I did all sorts of feathers and now and again tried something else.
No plans to it at all. It was like doodling over an enormous big sheet of paper. And when it was done and I unrolled it off the frame to see it all in one go I was delighted. The fun and joy I had in making it from that first tumbling block was there to see. I know there are flaws but I don't care. I see them and smile to myself and remember how relaxed I felt making it.
And that maybe is the biggest lesson for me. I made it purely and totally for myself just because I could. I didn't ever anticipate it would be shown, never mind at the festival of quilts. It had no purpose, it didn't have to be something that met a set of criteria or be technically proficient enough to be judged. I don't think I can work like that because it would stress me out entirely and my anxiety would be too much.
I work organically and see what happens. I know that is terrifying for some people, I know I met them this weekend. I'm not saying my way is better, but it is the way that works for me.
And in this case, it didn't turn out too badly did it?
I was planning a different post still on the theme of the festival of quilts but that can wait until tomorrow as I noticed just in time that this is my 300th post.
When I hit 200 it was around my 2nd blogiversary - well it's taken over 2.5 years more to get those next 100 posts done.
I did stop for a minute wondering why I had slowed my posting down so dramatically then I remembered - I went back to school and trained to be a counsellor in those years so my lifestyle changed completely.
But I feel like celebrating and I'm going to follow the same format I used last time. Just comment on this post naming a colour choice and I will make you a mini quilt. I can't say when I will get it done or what style it will be, it will depend on whatever takes my fancy at the time.
To give you some idea what to expect the Last time, Amanda asked for turquoise and red and I made her this. Sorry it's a crappy photo, somethings haven't changed over the years.
I will leave it open until a week today and find my old friend RNG on Wednesday evening 20th August.
I spent Saturday and Sunday at the Festival of Quilts at the NEC. The LMQG was very lucky to have been offered a gallery space so I spent most of my time there talking to the many many visitors we had.
Sadly it meant I didn't really see much of the rest of the show because I was so knackered I didn't have the energy or brainpower left at the end of the day on Saturday to look at much, but it also meant I didn't have time to spend much either so that was very good for my bank balance.
I got to talk to so many wonderful people and if any of you are stopping by here, thank you so much. I enjoyed talking to you all but it did become a complete blur.
The experience left me thinking about a few things in a lot more detail than I have ever done before and I will address a couple of them here.
What is modern quilt and is there any different really to traditional or contempory quilting?
The answer to that is I don't really know. I found it very hard to define it and I believe the display we had showed such a variety of quilts that they couldn't all be simply lumped into a set of rules and definitions. While there is an aesthetic element to it, I also believe there is a state of mind around it.
Yes, it's about solids and modern prints and negative space and functionality and putting a twist on traditional blocks or not having a block structure at all. However, I'm sure what was being done in the 70's was considered modern to the generation before and likewise going back in time. I remember some of the Victoria quilts at the V&A show had prints that would be snapped up today as designer fabrics they were so bright and funky.
So as a title I've never felt very comfortable with it and that came home to me this weekend why. In another 20 or 30 years what we do will be old hat and the next generation will be wondering why we call what we did "modern".
But I mentioned a state of mind as well - this I think ties into the next question that came up a lot. Why did we form our own guild and not join the established ones?
When I first started quilting I explored my local guilds. Apart from the fact they all had waiting lists, their meeting arrangements didn't suit me. Either they met on weekdays or weekday evenings. Not suitable for someone working full time, especially as I frequently work away from home and stay away all week.
I learned to quilt on the internet and then became part of a quilt community on the internet. Eventfully I want to meet people in the real world as well who shared my passion. Who didn't think it was weird if I stroked a cushion in a shop and who could gets as excited as I did over new prints and designs.
The established guilds near me didn't seem to be offering me the sense of community I was looking for. I went to a show near me which was lovely but I had an experience which put me off. They were asking people to hand piece some 9 patches at a table and I sat down to do one. A very nice lady who was there volunteering told me how I should do it. And I mean it when I say she was nice, but she also assumed that I needed telling and didn't ask me. I knew how to nest my seams, I had learnt it on the internet. It became clear to me that as nice as people were there, I didn't feel I fitted in even if their meeting schedule was suitable for a working woman.
I dont need to attend a guild to be taught things. Apart from some classes at the fat quarterly retreat and some workshops at FOQ I have never been to a class for any craft. I have alway taught myself but the rise of the internet has made it much easier to find new ideas and different techniques.
I have the mindset that there is no right or wrong way to do anything, just the way that works best for me. I love quilting and it is a total passion, but I do it for fun and it would not be fun if I felt there were rules I have to follow.
The LMQG has given me the opportunity to meet people who feel the same way as I do. We use social media to share ideas around the world and also get to stroke fabric together in real life. It's about being part of a community that I feel I fit into.
This has become a lot wordier than I intended so thank you if you are still reading. I wonder what modern quilting means to you and if you are part of a guild what you get from it?
