Status report and musings

Some of you may remember that I have been working on my first quilt. I
finished the taffeta piecework and satin border a couple of weeks ago, and
decided to put it aside until I improve my skills. So I put the quilt top
away. Last night I took it out and draped it over my bed. I'm surprised by
how lovely it is! It won't win any prizes for the quality of the work (or
for anything else :-), but it is really pretty!

Now I'm even more afraid to work on it again! I'm tempted to just back the
piecework, hem the border, and call it a bedspread.

For now, I'll just put it off while I work on other projects. I'm piecing
various blocks from scrap fabric, and expect it to turn into a nice sampler.
I'm certainly learning a lot while I do that. I've thought out the designs
for broadcloth Tree Everlasting for my SO and a sashed calico Churn Dash for
a friend, as well as a very simple patchwork of rectangles of linen and
coarse cotton for myself. I will try to learn how to handquilt for the Tree
Everlasting and see how well I can machine quilt on the simple linen.

I've had a wonderful life and have few fantasies of adventures to come, but
if there's one thing I want to do before I die it's to make a stack of
quilts! It is the most gratifying work, the reading and study are
fascinating, and designing is mentally challenging. I'm using arithmetic
and geometry skills I haven't dusted off in many years.

Just wanted to share!

Edna Pearl

So delightful to read your post. Just wonderful. And oh my goodness yes,
you'll be dusting off some skills. I remember needing to piece a perfect
5-pointed star and asking our Pat on Her Hill how to go about it.
Pat began with: well, of course, you divide 360° by 5 so each point
will be 72°.
Mercy. I had to do a lot of dusting to find the tools and memory to do
that. Polly

"Edna Pearl" wrote Some of you may remember that I have been working on my
first quilt. I
finished the taffeta piecework and satin border a couple of weeks ago, and
decided to put it aside until I improve my skills. So I put the quilt top
away. Last night I took it out and draped it over my bed. I'm surprised
by how lovely it is! It won't win any prizes for the quality of the work
(or for anything else :-), but it is really pretty!

Now I'm even more afraid to work on it again! I'm tempted to just back
the piecework, hem the border, and call it a bedspread.

For now, I'll just put it off while I work on other projects. I'm piecing
various blocks from scrap fabric, and expect it to turn into a nice
sampler. I'm certainly learning a lot while I do that. I've thought out
the designs for broadcloth Tree Everlasting for my SO and a sashed calico
Churn Dash for a friend, as well as a very simple patchwork of rectangles
of linen and coarse cotton for myself. I will try to learn how to
handquilt for the Tree Everlasting and see how well I can machine quilt on
the simple linen.

I've had a wonderful life and have few fantasies of adventures to come,
but if there's one thing I want to do before I die it's to make a stack of
quilts! It is the most gratifying work, the reading and study are
fascinating, and designing is mentally challenging. I'm using arithmetic
and geometry skills I haven't dusted off in many years.

Just wanted to share!

Edna Pearl

Pictures! Pictures! We always love to see pictures!
You have such wonderful enthusiasm!
Michelle G.
"Edna Pearl" wrote in message
...
Some of you may remember that I have been working on my first quilt. I
finished the taffeta piecework and satin border a couple of weeks ago, and
decided to put it aside until I improve my skills. So I put the quilt top
away. Last night I took it out and draped it over my bed. I'm surprised
by how lovely it is! It won't win any prizes for the quality of the work
(or for anything else :-), but it is really pretty!

Now I'm even more afraid to work on it again! I'm tempted to just back
the piecework, hem the border, and call it a bedspread.

For now, I'll just put it off while I work on other projects. I'm piecing
various blocks from scrap fabric, and expect it to turn into a nice
sampler. I'm certainly learning a lot while I do that. I've thought out
the designs for broadcloth Tree Everlasting for my SO and a sashed calico
Churn Dash for a friend, as well as a very simple patchwork of rectangles
of linen and coarse cotton for myself. I will try to learn how to
handquilt for the Tree Everlasting and see how well I can machine quilt on
the simple linen.

I've had a wonderful life and have few fantasies of adventures to come,
but if there's one thing I want to do before I die it's to make a stack of
quilts! It is the most gratifying work, the reading and study are
fascinating, and designing is mentally challenging. I'm using arithmetic
and geometry skills I haven't dusted off in many years.

Just wanted to share!

Edna Pearl

*I will try to learn how to
handquilt for the Tree Everlasting and see how well I can machine quilt on
the simple linen.

The best piece of advice I was ever given about hand quilting is:

Do not frogstitch.

You are allowed to audition the stitches on your needle, but no more
than that. The important thing is to get rhythm and consistency.
Size will decrease until you hit a happy meld between skill and
aethetics.

Amish quilters aim for 8 stitches to the inch. Amy Emms OBE only got
60-70% of her stitches all the way through, and only Ariadne was
perfect, and look what happened to her!

Enjoy. It is therapy you would pay a fortune to get elsewhere. Hand
quilting is addictive and mobile. A winner in my book!

Nel
(Gadget Queen)

I loved your post too! As a new quilter myself, it's fun to hear how
you are approaching this new skill. I've got a few finished quilts
under my belt now but still am coping with the idea of "Math."
"What, you mean I have to do math stuff, like I had in high school 100
years ago????" Shudder, gasp.......

I too, would love to leave a stack of quilts after I depart. Your
posts are so much fun to read. I wish you continued success with all
your pojects. Donna

Michelle, I don't even own a camera, much less a digital one! I really am
going to have to do something about getting some photos of my work on line,
though -- assuming I eventually have work to show!

Edna Pearl


"Michelle G." wrote in message
...
Pictures! Pictures! We always love to see pictures!
You have such wonderful enthusiasm!
Michelle G.
"Edna Pearl" wrote in message
...
Some of you may remember that I have been working on my first quilt. I
finished the taffeta piecework and satin border a couple of weeks ago,
and decided to put it aside until I improve my skills. So I put the
quilt top away. Last night I took it out and draped it over my bed. I'm
surprised by how lovely it is! It won't win any prizes for the quality
of the work (or for anything else :-), but it is really pretty!

Now I'm even more afraid to work on it again! I'm tempted to just back
the piecework, hem the border, and call it a bedspread.

For now, I'll just put it off while I work on other projects. I'm
piecing various blocks from scrap fabric, and expect it to turn into a
nice sampler. I'm certainly learning a lot while I do that. I've thought
out the designs for broadcloth Tree Everlasting for my SO and a sashed
calico Churn Dash for a friend, as well as a very simple patchwork of
rectangles of linen and coarse cotton for myself. I will try to learn
how to handquilt for the Tree Everlasting and see how well I can machine
quilt on the simple linen.

I've had a wonderful life and have few fantasies of adventures to come,
but if there's one thing I want to do before I die it's to make a stack
of quilts! It is the most gratifying work, the reading and study are
fascinating, and designing is mentally challenging. I'm using arithmetic
and geometry skills I haven't dusted off in many years.

Just wanted to share!

Edna Pearl

"Sartorresartus" wrote in message
...
The best piece of advice I was ever given about hand quilting is:
Do not frogstitch.

Thank you so much for what is obviously good-sense advice-- the kind you
don't find in the books. And I had fun researching what a frogstitch was
and what happened to Ariadne :-)

Edna Pearl

Thank you, Donna! I had a discouraging day today with my sampler. There is
one block ("Swamp Patch") that I just keep making dumb mistakes on and
resorting to "frogstitching" before I just toss out the bad patches.

Good luck with the math; I feel lucky just to measure something right on
some days. I'd like to say I learn something every time I mess up, but I
think there's simply a curse on this particular block and I decided to skip
it until the curse lifts. I guess that's a "lesson learned" like any other.
The book "Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance" calls such problems
"gumption traps." The older I get, the better I recognize a gumption trap
when I see one, and the best thing to do is just walk away.

Edna Pearl


"dealer83" wrote in message
...
I loved your post too! As a new quilter myself, it's fun to hear how
you are approaching this new skill. I've got a few finished quilts
under my belt now but still am coping with the idea of "Math."
"What, you mean I have to do math stuff, like I had in high school 100
years ago????" Shudder, gasp.......

I too, would love to leave a stack of quilts after I depart. Your
posts are so much fun to read. I wish you continued success with all
your pojects. Donna

That was fun to read! Any chance of a photo?
Even if you don't want to quilt your taffeta treasure, do consider
layering with a batting and tying it. The batting helps protect all
the seams and gives them someplace to settle, making the top surface a
little more even. (You can still call it a bedspread ;-)
I've been quilting for at least 30 years, and it still fascinates me.
And 30 years is nothing compared to some!
Roberta in D

On Mon, 7 Sep 2009 14:15:00 -0500, "Edna Pearl"
wrote:

Some of you may remember that I have been working on my first quilt. I
finished the taffeta piecework and satin border a couple of weeks ago, and
decided to put it aside until I improve my skills. So I put the quilt top
away. Last night I took it out and draped it over my bed. I'm surprised by
how lovely it is! It won't win any prizes for the quality of the work (or
for anything else :-), but it is really pretty!

Now I'm even more afraid to work on it again! I'm tempted to just back the
piecework, hem the border, and call it a bedspread.

For now, I'll just put it off while I work on other projects. I'm piecing
various blocks from scrap fabric, and expect it to turn into a nice sampler.
I'm certainly learning a lot while I do that. I've thought out the designs
for broadcloth Tree Everlasting for my SO and a sashed calico Churn Dash for
a friend, as well as a very simple patchwork of rectangles of linen and
coarse cotton for myself. I will try to learn how to handquilt for the Tree
Everlasting and see how well I can machine quilt on the simple linen.

I've had a wonderful life and have few fantasies of adventures to come, but
if there's one thing I want to do before I die it's to make a stack of
quilts! It is the most gratifying work, the reading and study are
fascinating, and designing is mentally challenging. I'm using arithmetic
and geometry skills I haven't dusted off in many years.

Just wanted to share!

Edna Pearl

Are you making the one on Jinny Beyer's site, the 10" block? Otherwise
known as Ohio Star, one of the many varieties of 9-patch? If so, why
would anybody draft a 10" 9-patch and call it a good block for
beginners -that's absolutely a gumption trap if I ever saw one.
Roberta in D

On Mon, 7 Sep 2009 20:31:22 -0500, "Edna Pearl"
wrote:

Thank you, Donna! I had a discouraging day today with my sampler. There is
one block ("Swamp Patch") that I just keep making dumb mistakes on and
resorting to "frogstitching" before I just toss out the bad patches.

Good luck with the math; I feel lucky just to measure something right on
some days. I'd like to say I learn something every time I mess up, but I
think there's simply a curse on this particular block and I decided to skip
it until the curse lifts. I guess that's a "lesson learned" like any other.
The book "Zen and the Art of Motorcyle Maintenance" calls such problems
"gumption traps." The older I get, the better I recognize a gumption trap
when I see one, and the best thing to do is just walk away.

Edna Pearl


"dealer83" wrote in message
...
I loved your post too! As a new quilter myself, it's fun to hear how
you are approaching this new skill. I've got a few finished quilts
under my belt now but still am coping with the idea of "Math."
"What, you mean I have to do math stuff, like I had in high school 100
years ago????" Shudder, gasp.......

I too, would love to leave a stack of quilts after I depart. Your
posts are so much fun to read. I wish you continued success with all
your pojects. Donna