My thoughts....

(I'm blogging this morning to distract myself from the children. I love those little buggers but the hubs has been working TONS lately and I'm tired. Also, the hubs complained about me not getting to his laundry so he did it himself (FINALLY!) except that he washed and DRIED everything with an ink pen. I just spent the better half of my morning cleaning the inside of my dryer. I have a headache now and the kids, well the kids aren't helping.)

I wanted to post my thoughts on what some people/quilters refer to as 'Dumbing Down' quilting.
Quilting /sewing is a creative process. It comes from deep in our souls. It's personal. It's art. You may not do it like your neighbor or like the other girls in the guild but that's ok. Jackson Pollock, and Pablo Picasso are both famous artists but their works are completely different. People don't say Picasso isn't a real artist because he can't paint a human face symmetrically- that's what makes him famous.

Recently a friend showed me a quilt that she had done. The fabrics were ones that I would never have in my stash. The pattern was completely "not ME" But the quilt was....BEAUTIFUL. I looked at it and could appreciate the time and effort that went into making it. I could tell in the way she talked and how she showed it to me that she was very proud of that quilt. I could see the beauty in the quilt even though it wasn't 'my style'. It IS a beautiful quilt.

I've walked the floor at Quilt Market and looked at the special exhibits. There are some AMAZING quilts out there. But most of them are ones that I would never attempt. Most artists have a particular style. Some are abstract others are realistic. It doesn't matter.

I design patterns with one purpose- to fulfill MY needs as a quilter. I started selling them because others were interested in my designs. But I never claim to be an AMAZING designer. My patterns are on the easy side. They are for the 'instant gratification' quilters (like me). But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the paper piecers, the hand stitchers, the traditional quilters. It just means that I prefer a different genre of quilting. Sometimes I might use a technique or a block that has been in the quilting circle for generations. My intent is not to imply that I made up that design. I'm just sharing it with others. If I could give reference to the original designer behind that block, I would. But can anyone tell me who the very first person to make a 9-patch, or a shoo-fly, or an Ohio star block was?

Quilting has been around for-EVER! Mother's taught their daughters and they taught their daughters. They taught their friends. In the quilting world we're all just one huge family and we're sharing basically the same designs over and over with our friends. Nothing is wrong with that. And as one person learns a new technique they might tweak it a little to their liking and that makes it all the more PERSONAL.

I don't tie quilts because it's not my preference. I don't buy lesser fabric because it's not my preference. But I understand those that do because it's their preference. If someone asks my opinion I will share it- but I'm not going to look down on you if you do something different.

This is getting lengthy. I think I better wrap up.

To all those quilters that think people are 'dumbing down' quilting I want you to ask yourself why you quilt? Your answer should be because it brings you peace, joy, and happiness. Now remember that that's what it brings to all the other quilters out there too! Regardless of what style quilting they do. If we all made the same kind of quilts in the same fabrics using the same patterns, quilting would be BORING and no one would do it.

So I say- QUILT LIKE NO ONE IS WATCHING!

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the topic- leave a comment.

(p.s.- just got some GREAT news. I'll share next week!)

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

Have you been following?

I have! I am a BIG fan of one of the prints and it made it to the final 10. Oooooh, you should see the coordinates. LOVE them! I don't think I can tell you my favorite so that all of you would vote for it- even though I want to. But if you think real hard I bet you can figure it out. :o)

Click on the image above to vote and show these budding designers some love!

Staying afloat

My head is above water at this moment- but I feel like I could go down at any time.

Too much to do. Not enough time. You know how it is.

I'll try to be back soon with a real post.

SORRY!

Running in circles

Lately that's what I'm doing. I have so much to get done for market and half of it hinges on the fact that fabric actually gets here in time. It's entirely too much for an OCD control freak like myself.

So I decided to spend my time doing something else. Running in circles. :o)

This is a not-so-great shot of the latest quilting I've been working on. Concentric circles. Not an easy task.

Originally I called a friend with a computerized longarm to see if she had time to do it. After discussing for a while we decided that I would actually have more range for the large circles on my machine than a longarm has. Of course, her circles would've been less "wonky" than mine. But I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Here's a pic of the quilt pre-quilted. It will take the place of the other quilt on the Cheery O's cover. I made it using Michael Miller's Citron and Grey color story plus a few other M&M prints that went along.

I am really LOVING this quilt! I've made it 3 times now in completely different color stories and I LOVE it every time.

And now, since I just can't help myself- the ever exciting slevage shot:

*SQUEEL!* (not like a pig. Ok, maybe like a pig. A very EXCITED pig!) :o)

The final cut!

So here it is- the official strike-off picture. A couple minor changes need to be made, mostly with color tones. I am holding me breath, crossing my fingers (and toes) and saying my prayers that I have some fabric by market. Something. Anything.

I mentioned that I would talk about my visit with Kathy in another post. Well, this is that post.

What an amazing time I had at the M&M studio in California. Everyone was so wonderful. As soon as I walked in I saw my fabrics on the table and got all giddy all over again. You see, after looking at the same computer images for months I was feeling sort of "over" them. But once I saw them in their threaded goodness I was in love once again.

The process of selecting prints for the final cut went super smooth. It was awesome that Kathy and I have the same vision for this line. Learning about the whole process was something I can't even imagine doing over the phone.

After business, it was time for fun. We met at a lovely local restaurant for dinner. Kathy and her husband, the gals from the studio (sorry, I don't remember names!) and myself and my hubs. It was delightful although I was still super nervous (!?). We had a great time. And I quite possibly had the most fabulous dessert EVER! Yes, EVER!!!

And that's about it.

Oh, what's that? You want to see pictures?

Well, it was just like me in my bundle of nerves to not even take ONE picture. Yes, I'm kicking myself now. But don't worry I'll make up for it with a plethora of pics from market in a few weeks.

btw- my second line is already in the works! :o)