Update and new quilt designs

Given that it has been over a year since I last posted. I thought I should share a little about my quilting over the passage of time in this period.

I have been anything but prolific in making quilts. I finished one quilt and two more tops. I have several others in development and design but I haven't finished making any quilts recently. Though I have designed several with witch I am really happy. So I thought I would share a couple of the designs I really like.

Crescent Circles

This is my take on the traditional orange peel quilt. I think it will have be applique. I am kind of excited getting around to it, as it will be my first applique quilt. I really like the bright vibrancy of the quilt, and think I would prefer it as very simple two-tone quilt.

Floating Bridges

I like this one. I don't really remember what inspired me. I think it would be fun to quilt with a bunch of names, kind of like graffiti artists marking up bridges.

Rectangle Shift/Sliding Doors

This is one of my favorite designs. I can't wait to make it. I think it would be great to make as a large queen size quilt. For whatever reason, the vertical aspect really appeals to me.

Well once I relocate, I will have to make a point of spending more time sewing. After my machine broke down, I finally replaced it but had fallen out of the habit of sewing and it has given me a hard time finding the time to pick it back up.

Cool Present Wrapping

I like to fancy wrap presents and I was thinking about a cool wrapping for quilters. I like to wrap the present in a quilting fabric, and wrap it with some binding - I personally really like to use the packets of satin binding as the ribbon. I tape it with scotch tape after cutting the edges with pinking sheers, and think of it as a nice way to tie the present together. This is a great way to share some of your favorite fabrics with your friends.

This is an especially nice way to wrap presents when giving something made with fabric, like a quilt or to a quilter. When I gave my brother his last quilt, I put it into a box and wrapped the box with the pillowcase I made to match.

Latin Quilts

I was thinking today about quilting histories and the ties they provide to your family and culture. Further, I was looking at quilting books online, and dreaming. I have quite an impressive Amazon wish list. When it struck me, that the quilt subculture of Latin America, and specifically that of Latinos in the the US is not addressed. I think it would be extremely interesting to examine quilting motifs, color palates, patterns and themes within these quilts. More so, it would be fascinating to chart the interplay between the differing Hispanic/Latin cultures when illuminating these quilt cultures. I would love to really examine what is being said about each culture and history.

I guess it just really struck me as I was thinking about my family and quilting. Like, I shared I learned how to quilt from my mother in girl scouts, but there was not reinforcement of this quilting. Resulting in me being a periodic quilter until college. I was comparing, in my thoughts, my quilting experience with that of a close friend of mine, H. H is a serious quilter who grew up quilting with her mother, and grandmother. They are extremely involved in guild and local quilting groups through their church. I was just thinking about how that history has to translate to quilting choices in color, pattern, theme or quilting motifs.

It got me thinking about what was available for me to reflect my family and history in my quilting. As I know that my mother's family quilted as she shared stories about her Grandmother quilting and has one of her quilts. I also have some of my Grandma's quilting books and design sheets from when she quilted on my dad's. My dad comes from prairie farm stock, so you know they quilted. While, my mom's family quilted, my mother was sent away to school in the city when she was quite young (her family lived in the interior - extremely rural) so she never quite gained that sense of quilt culture and history through osmosis while making quilts.

I guess it really is that I am craving that sense of connection with my background and history that is resulting in these questions. I would like to see some of the history of Latin American quilting and where it stands today. I think it would be extremely interesting to see what is happening in the more urban environments that Latinos are living in today, how they affect the quilting to see if we can see the influences of urban architecture, life, and especially graffiti would be fascinating. I really would love to see what some graffiti artists could do when quilting.

Oh well, these are just my thoughts and well I think it would be cool to see.

My quilting start

I first learned how to quilt at 8 from my mom. She taught me and the other three girls who were in my local girl scout troop. Mom taught us how to pick fabrics, cut and arrange them to make a small quilt just under a yard square. It was a simple rail fence quilt, but I learned. I remember deciding to make mine a theme quilt. The entire thing was made from strawberry fabrics.

I have tried at other times in my life to pick up quilting again, but it was not until college when I met H. (she is from a very traditional family and grew up quilting) that I started up quilting again. I had always been interested in quilting, but it really was not until I allowed myself to use the sewing machine to work on quilts that I started getting anything done.

Quilts have always been a part of our family, but my mother is a die hard quilt snob, who believes that everything needs to be done by hand, 100% cotton and that perfectionist style just does not work for how I quilt.

I remember when I was really little, watching my mother finishing up my sister's Christmas quilt. I still am slightly grumpy that I never got a quilt made for me. My mother likes to say that she has always known what she wants to make for me, but she doesn't know how to make it. She wanted to make me a rainbow grandmother's fan quilt, but she didn't know how to make curves. Honestly, I resent this a little bit because it would not have been hard to take a class or make an effort to make it for me. Though, I do understand, it still stinks.

I have been making quilts as gifts for awhile now, and am focusing on making some for myself now. I have several tops that I need to finish up but will do so eventually. In response to my never getting a quilt from mom I made myself a Christmas strippie. I still don't know how I want to finish it which is why it is still just a top. I struggle on this one. Sometimes, I think that I would like to do the back like graffiti in embroidery with clear thread on the top. However, I just don't know. I want it to be a comfortable quilt so maybe not. Perhaps instead I will make a graffiti quilt and work on that idea later.

I have quite a few quilt tops that I pieced from old t-shirts. I cut out the logos and fronts that I wanted to save for a t-shirt quilt and cut the rest up into blocks. I arranged these blocks into designs and sewed them into larger blocks of nine. I started quilting one of these t-shirt block quilts in grad school. I found a nice fleece and used it for backing without batting. Originally, I wanted to use a really thick batting and either tie or sew the quilt to make it a comforter. However, I was talked out of it by my mom and sister and have instead arrived at a summer weight quilt that has been quilted in the ditch. I really need to finish the quilting.

I stopped quilting it, due to my nickel allergy. I lost the platinum needles I took to school with me and picked up a normal needle but had to stop quilting when my allergy got too bad. I really hoped to have it done, but wound up having to spend time on my knitting (another craft I learned in girl scouts only to pick up again in college) instead.

I think the biggest factor in my quilting interest is that I figured out how to design quilts on the computer. I spend a lot of time designing quilts and layouts on the computer and then later on making my favorite designs.

I use a mac and Appleworks to design all of my quilts. I used Appleworks because it had a graph background, making it easy to draft blocks. Plus, I really appreciate the ability to manipulate the size while maintaining the look of the block. Though I have learned the hard way that I need to back up everything. I lost something like 30 original designs for quilts when my hard drive crashed. I was devastated, the designs hurt, but loosing my photographs was terrible. I lost some of the only photos I had of college friends and loosing my cell phone at the same time really stank. I not only lost photos, but my records, and the ability to get in touch with them. Seriously, if you keep anything digital, back it up!

I have only ever quilted on my own, and I think it would be really cool to get involved in a guild or quilting group. However, I am currently trying to relocate and don't really want to commit to something local, when hopefully I will get a job and move soon.