Monday, March 16, 2015

When a quilt speaks...





There is a feeling of unsettledness that I blame totally on my parents having gone back to San Diego.
Since Ross works at the school, when they have off - he has off. So how did we want to spend the first day of Spring Break? Well - napping of course! But would my little homesick heart allow it? Obviously not! So after kissing both of my boys and wishing them a long long sleep - I set up my sewing stuff on the kitchen table and was excited to baste and quilt this scrappy log cabin quilt top that has been waiting oh so patiently in my sewing basket. 

Baste it? Check. Change the foot to a walking foot on my machine? Check check. Begin quilting it with a quarter inch away from the quilt blocks - check. Er... not like the machine quilting and sitting hours ripping it out? Unfortunately - check. 

Yes - you heard me. I got through four lines of quilting and just was hating the look and the feel of it. So - sigh. I sit here - seam ripping the heck out of it. This quilt is angry with me. It's trying to hold onto the stitches out of pure spite. 

I knew in my head and heart that I wanted to hand quilt it. My sewing want to to do list was just yelling so loudly with other projects that I took the road most traveled by and started quilting straight lines with my trusty walking foot. So now I'm paying for it. Sigh. 

But it's alright. This quilt - this quilt is the first quilt that I am making for the house - specifically for Ross and I. This is the first quilt other than Liam's that will stay in the house for us to use. A quilt made with scraps from projects gifted to loved ones. A quilt that will carry love and memory. At the end of it - I want to love the finished product as much as I love the pieces of it. So if spending some quality time with the seam ripper for a whole evening is required - I will gladly pay the price. 

Do quilts have personalities that make demands? Today I am learning that they do. 

2 comments:

  1. A creative work has a life of its own. It will tell you where it wants to go, who it needs to be. Sometimes it whispers, sometimes it shouts. Our job is to listen. Good luck with the ripper! :) it will be so worth it!

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    1. Beautiful comment Genevieve! They do have a life of their own. I have finished ripping out all of the machine stitches and thankfully the quilt has survived! It has been wonderful to quilt this one by hand in pearl cottons. There is something very meditative about this process. It has been a good time to stop and think and pray for all those that I love that I am reminded by the fabrics used in this scrappy project.

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