Quilting

I used to say I didn't quilt. "I just piece fabric together," I would tell people. They rarely believed me, though technically it was pretty true. The piecing part of making a quilt--the selecting the fabric, cutting it, and sewing it together--interested me the most. I didn't really know how to quilt, and I certainly didn't have a walking foot or a darning/free-motion foot. Truth be told, I still lack those feet (they didn't come with the sewing machine inherited from my grandmother, so I don't have them. One day, I tell myself, I 'll purchase them. And I really would like to be able to stipple quilt, but I'm getting ahead of myself).

But after a while the lure of actual quilting beckoned. The internet provided the incentives and the models. Blogs portrayed gorgeous quilts, first as pieced fronts, then as fully quilted quilts. I got more interested in exploring this new terrain. I realized I didn't need to do stitch-in-the-ditch, and I could even move beyond simple straight lines and diagonals. It was liberating to realize that I could free-motion quilt. No, it's not stippling, but it is free-motion. Like usual, I ignored the rules, didn't draw lines or mark the quilts before plunging in with (sewing machine) needle and thread. I found myself somewhat intoxicated by actual, real-live texture created by quilting. It sucked me in. And so I quilted, in an unplanned fan-like design. Until the thread ran out. Finishing the most quilted quilt I've ever done will have to wait.

And a big welcome to all the folks stopping by through the link from Blogger Festival. Thank you for your sweet compliments!