Trying something new in a small way

I love the graffiti quilting by Karlee Porter.  I have saved lots of her designs on Pinterest.  So I thought about how to just ease into doing some fairly quickly.  So I took an afternoon rest from doing client quilts to sit at my new Bernina and try.

First because the creation of a pattern seemed too daunting for a trial run although I do freehand quilting on large quilt and small quilts, I unearthed a plastic quilting template.  Just the right size.  I then used an old piece of sheeting and some leftover batting to create the sandwich but not before I used the template to trace a pattern on the top piece of fabric.  The design was actually quite simple but it gave me spaces to fill in. 

It was fun.  I got out some threads from my stash for embroidery and started to outline and fill the spaces. 

It worked.  It is a start with training wheels.  Now I feel I can sketch a pattern; not too complex but with space to be creative and try again adding more detail and some thread sketching which I have done before.  

Most important thing is to try.   Then came binding so I tried something different that did not require me to hand finish the back of the binding.  This was to be a quick exercise. 

I put on a flange pieces, put an additional back on and made it like a pillow you turn inside out.  Did that then stitched it closed carefully, flipped the little flange to the front and did a blanket stitch.  It worked but I would make the flange piece a bit bigger next time and trim a more off the corners.  Again, important to try.  

Quilting put aside

In one of my last posts I praised our access to the internet for quilting ideas and techniques and just plain fun.  Well, that is true but that assumes that your door to the information works.  I have just spent the last week getting my poor computer back after being sick.  The sick was caused by the way the operating system had been set up when my system was upgraded.  I have spent a great deal of time on the phone and with the exception of one call, it was wasted time. And a word of warning, if someone says they are a qualified Tech, ask to see their certificate.😊  For anyone who has gone through this they will understand.

But the silver lining is that with my own knowledge I got it fixed.  Thank goodness.  I have missed my fix of Pinterest.  Looking at gorgeous quilts and great creative ideas is like a bright spot for the mind.  There are so many professional quilters who make their living from quilting but Pinterest showcases quilts by so many others.  They are colourful, innovative and the quilting is amazing.  We as quilters ( I have read this so often) are intimidated by thinking we are not good enough.  We are not perfect but quilting is a path in growth.  We challenge our hands, our minds and our creativity spirit and perfection is over rated.  What is important is that we strive to get better as part of a journey.

I have been cleaning up some things including all the quilts stacked on a bed and it has given me a good look at how far I have come.  And strangely some of the earliest ones that I did do seem to have the little wiggles and worries missing.  It is fun to go back and look to see how far the journey has been and that even the earliest efforts are worthwhile.  I will have to do some picture taking again as I lost a lot of data including pictures.  Good thing is that many are on posts already.

I do not have any pictures of tearing my hair out and I have not done any quilting throughout this ordeal but I have some things on the go which I will post when finished.  Now to sit down with a couple of magazines about quilting and just let my mind stop solving puzzles and absorb some creative knowledge.  That might help with a project with 1 inch pieces of fabric sewn together and folded into waves.  It will be posted regardless of whether it is perfect or not.