Hidden Threads

I’ve spent part of the weekend in the closet pulling out quilt tops to finish. As the weather gets blessedly cooler, the idea of keeping a quilt on my lap long enough to bind it doesn’t seem so nasty.

One thing I’ve noticed is flaws in my previous work - you know, the quilts with wobbly seams and those on-point quilts that look a bit on the wavy, distorted side. I guess that all quilters can look back on their previous work and find flaws. One quilt was so nasty that I unsewed the border on the spot and started looking for an alternate fabric and matching thread.

What about you? Do you have controls for this type of perfectionist behavior? Actually, I’d like myself better if I just loved the quilts for their appearance and my enjoyment in making them, whatever my level of skill at the time. But some nasty little voice in my head keeps saying, “Fix it now!” Truthfully, I’d rather be making a new, better quilt and let the old ones hide in the back of the closet, but that seems like such a waste.

I’ve been considering keeping a quilting journal.  You know, one of those little books with handwritten notes, drawings and clippings.   When I envision a good journal, it has lots of drawings and mixed media, and the prospect of creating all of that is a little intimidating, I suppose.

I think I’d be very interested in reviewing a journal of the beginning of my quilting journey.  I think a few sketched appliqué images, some ideas about color choices, swatches of fabrics or lists of quilts I wanted to make would be very interesting reading to me now - not an embarrassment or waste of time.

Fall seems a great time to start something like that.  At the end of summer, I’m always enthusiastic about getting back to my quilt projects.  I think this year I’m going to give a quilt journal a try.  How about you?

Ideas for Quilting Journal Entries:

List of quilts I want to make - with color suggestions and maybe a few fabric snippets.

Inspiring quilts - photos printed from the Internet, taken at shows or exchanged with friends .

Quilting inspiration in the form of quotes from quilters and artists.

Lists of charitable works with ideas about how I can contribute more.

Goals for the year - both for making quilts and learning new skills.

An equipment and tool wish lists for holidays.  My husband always needs hints.

A quilt inventory with a breakout of quilts in progress, what needs to be done and a tentative completion date.  Maybe even some advanced fabric choices for backings and binding.

A fabric stash review with notes on what I’m short of and what I tend to overdue. Love those batiks.

Maybe a ledger sheet on how much I’m spending . . . if it’s not too depressing.

After a much needed summer holiday, it’s back in the saddle, or sewing chair as the case may be.  It’s fall, or close to it, and I’m itching to get into those great amber, russet and brown fabrics.  Fons & Porter’s Love of Quilting magazine always does an entertaining fall issue, and this year is no exception.  Check it out.

On the finishing front, I’ve made a pact with myself to quilt and bind my fall quilts from last year and hang them.  Quilt tops are my favorite part of the quilting process, so the finishing off . . .quilt sandwich, free motion quilting, and binding are always when-you-have-time projects for me.  I like to do everything myself and sometimes my ambition exceeds my available time, so piles of tops sit until I find a way to shame myself into finishing them.  This is my year to decorate the walls with quilts, so wish me luck.