Something different

Well to me it was quite different when I was introduced to it.  Paper piecing.  Not just paper piecing but paper piecing the Carol Doak way. Carol Doak 

We have an extraordinary paper piecer in our local guild.  She undertook to teach us in early winter 2011.  I think I sprouted feet and toes on my hands and my brain seemed to be mush.  But I did make something which is now on a chair in Australia.  I truly thought this would be a one time effort.  But as my friend the paper piecer kept on doing fabulous things it kind of wore into my head that this was pretty exciting stuff.  First there was a miniature quilt.  Some of my toes returned to the right places.  And then it was paper pieced crazy quilt which is actually close to the finish line of UFO's.  It was a free Carol Doak pattern.  Have a look at the freebies.  They are a good way to start.

This very good friend (boy good friends manage to get around you) was always doing something for Carol's Yahoo Group. Those somethings are stunning.  So a mystery one came up.  I thought I would try.  After all quilting is about challenges and I think all ten toes left the paper piecing arena and my fingers and brain had figured out the method; pretty fast considering it only took 3 projects. So I joined the Yahoo group for a scrap quilt which comes in various size blocks  (the sampler is an in thing these days).  Well I am hooked and as each set of squares is released at the beginning of the month I cannot wait to make each one.

Ok you wonder why I am blattering on about paper piecing.  Well, each month Carol picks a square to display on the home page of the Yahoo groups and this month it is mine.   I am excited and grateful and it shows that even a beginner can score a bull's eye.  Here is the main and 8 single blocks which will be in the final quilt.  It goes to prove that you can enjoy a challenge, learn something new in quilting all the time and that good friends make great teachers.  Be a quilter and learn, share and just plain have fun.  Now quilting this quilt will be another challenge.  I cannot wait.  9 more days to go.  Hortense* get ready you have lots of work to do.

* If you are a new reader Hortense is my long arm quilting machine.  Sometimes it is good to talk to big machines like that.  :)   After all it can grumble by having poor tension.

Perfect - NOT

Well  I blathered about solving my problems with doing designs vertically i.e. twisted ropes and such like.  It worked for a while until I tried to do one close to the rail at the front.  I have a wobble.  GRRR!!!!! Frustrated but chalk it up to another learning lesson. If you think you need to roll the quilt; do it.  Working close to the rails with tools does not work.   Next project is to put some sacrifice quilt sandwiches on the frame and PRACTICE.  Also going to have a boo at the hardware store for some shapes in the right thickness for templates.  That way I can feel them which I cannot do with on line templates.

But getting my quilt fix this morning I came across quilts by Shirley Kelly.  In particular her Flowers of the Crown highlighted today on The Quilt Show.   THE QUILT SHOW  This is a member site so if the link does not work try this one. A SHIRLEY KELLY QUILT  It is a fabulous quilt but what is so revealing is the interview with Shirley on The Quilt Show.  It is honest about how difficult the quilt was and how many people had input.  So just starting out with machine quilting this tells me that I should not beat myself up for not being perfect and to practice, practice and learn from every source possible.

When I think of my first quilt, a child's quilt from McCalls, that I called Bumps and  Squiggles I know I have come a bit of the way down the road.  The quilt hangs in  my frame room and I do not notice the bumps and squiggles now.  I just love its happy colours and the way it makes me feel.

A couple of years ago I started learning to play the piano and those lines and notes seemed impossible to conquer.  I can now sit and play songs I thought were impossible and can entertain myself and the dogs who just collapse in rest when I play.  (They used to bark when I started.)  The only drawback to the collapsing is when it is on the foot pedals.

So with these good thoughts I will content myself with what I have gotten good at and learn the rest.