Scrappy Sunday - Alternatives

When Amanda and I started on Sunday Morning Quilts we had grand plans of showing two versions of each quilt. Well, aren't those plans grand?! It isn't in the book, but we've since decided to sew our way through the book. In addition to all the great versions other people are making, we wanted to make our own version of each other's quilts. This is the first instalment of us sewing our way through the book.

Skittles

62'' by 88''

On this one I went to the opposite spectrum from Amanda again. I emptied out my string jar, dividing the colours into warms and cools. (And I still had strings left over!). My Monster has already claimed this one because it is striped. 

Scrap Like Dat

72'' by 72''

This is an alternate colour treatment for Scrapper's Delight. Amanda did an amazing job with random, colourful scraps. I didn't want to recreate that look, so I went to one of my favourite quilts from the book. I took the fabric choices from Sunday Morning for this version. And a controlled use of pale grey in each block.

Both of these quilts were long-armed by Janet Madeyski, from Pieces and Threads quilting.

Don't forget about our  Sunday Morning Quilts Flickr group. Share your projects there too.

Quilter-Artist Spectrum

Do you consider yourself a quilter or an artist or both? Or maybe somewhere in between?

The above image was taken from the Fabricate exhibit, held recently at the DaDe Gallery here in Calgary.  It is a quilt by Luke Haynes.

If you aren't familiar with Luke Haynes he a self described architect turned quilter. I adore his work. I don't think I'll ever make a portrait quilt myself, but his works are stunning. STUNNING. I jumped at the chance to see some of his work locally.

While I was pouring over the quilt and its details it got me to thinking about how I see myself as a quilter. Am I just a quilter? Is that a bad thing, to use the word just? Do I even come close to considering myself an artist? And frankly, what's the difference?

What is the difference?

I haven't a clue how to make any distinctions.

... showing quilts versus using quilts?
... heavy versus soft?
... designing for the wall versus the bed?
... making something pretty versus making a statement?
... exploring colour versus exploring themes?

In my opinion, I don't think there is a perfect or right answer. Maybe there is a spectrum and we all fall at different places on it at different times?

I do design my own work, I love to explore colour and inspiration, and sometimes I want my quilts to be seen and not necessarily always cuddled. For the most part though I do want my quilts to be used and used well, but it is a goal to hang in a gallery too. I sometimes design for up close and texture not the view from far away. I love to write and write about quilts. So, unlike my left leaning social and political views I think I maybe am somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.

What about you? Do you think there is a difference? How would you define it? How do you identify yourself?

Many Thanks

In the life of a quilter one gets very used to the reactions of people when you give them a quilt. They are either blase about it and you wonder why you bothered OR they are blown away by your kindness, let alone the awesomeness of the quilt itself. But very rarely does the quilter get to be on the other side of that relationship.

I've been there once before, when my SIL gave The Monster's baby quilt. It's pretty cool (the feeling and the quilt).

At Quilt Market, however, I got that feeling twice. And even though I'm friends with quilters I hardly expected it. To be fair, the quilts weren't for me. They are Nikolai's quilts.

The first one came from Rashida. Amanda and I ran into her on the show floor. We were on our way to the Generation Q booth, to say hi to the folks there. Rashida joined us for the chat. There we were in the booth, chatting away and admiring the ever rotating display of quilts when I was handed a quilt. Made with linen, some solids, and Cloud 9's Monsterz line, it's the sweetest baby quilt. I was admiring it when Rashida told me it was for Nicky. I'll admit it, I lost it and was gushing like a total geek. So, so sweet.

(BTW, more details on the quilt in the premiere print issue of Generation Q.)

We kept trying to get a picture of Rashida with Nicky. It turns out someone was always crying...

Then, on our last night together Amanda and I retreated to the hotel room. We sat chatting as I nursed the baby and we signed bookplates. After the energy and crowds of Market it was nice to finally have some time to reflect and be together. It was, after all, only the second time we'd been together. And she presented Nikolai with an awesome quilt. She knows me so well that the design was perfect, beyond it being a slab quilt. In writing the book we always pushed each other and always responded. Maybe she didn't mean the symbolism, but she put purple in it and it is all solids. That accounts for one push from me and one from her.

And now, my beautiful crazy boy has some gorgeous love to cuddle with that come from dear friends. He's got no choice, that kid, he's the son of a quilter, surrounded by quilters, and buried in quilts.

Binding, Binding, Binding

Lest you think I'm not getting anything quilty done, here is a pile of bindings. Two of these are out of the book and one is a precious baby quilt. One hand finished - in progress. One machine binding - in progress. One machine bound and ready for it's debut.

I'll admit, I can do machine binding, but I'm not a fan of it. I find them stiff and it somehow feels wrong to me to have that seam on the front. I just prefer the look of a hand finished binding, for my quilts. You can't however, knock the speed of doing it by machine and sometimes you just need to get things done. And there is a lot of satisfaction in getting a quilt from squared up to completely bound in only a few hours. There is a lot of enjoyment in sitting and stitching in rhythm too.

I guess I'm not one to judge.