"Anything Worth Doing... Borders"

Becky's Judy Niemeyer Double Wedding Ring

Dorothy's 30/s Stars

  When I was a kid, I heard this phrase,  "Anything worth doing, is worth doing well!"  That idea was so ingrained in me that I have a lot of trouble with perfectionism.  Not all bad, but there is one area where I tend to fall short of meeting that standard...Borders!
  My attention span tends to be pretty short.  When I start a new project, I almost always dream of great things when it comes to planning my borders.  I think about chasing geese, applique, fancy block designs...oh, yes, I have beautiful plans.  Guess what happens?  By the time I get to the end of making my quilt, I want to be DONE!  All my grandiose schemes usually are for naught, and I end up either slapping on the traditional "stop" border plus one or two wider borders, depending on how big I want my quilt, or (GASP) lately, I have been throwing my binding on and calling it a day.  My quilts are definitely lackluster in the border department.
  I have been inspired of late by some of my customer quilts.  My cousin Becky brought me the beautiful double wedding ring, and I had so much fun quilting it for her!  Imagine that quilt without the applique border...it would have been pretty, but that border sent it right over the top in to "drop dead" gorgeousness!  It took her a long time to applique the border, but it was so worth it!  Don't you agree?  Another customer brought me this fun little string quilt made out of 30's prints.  I love the setting, but, again, the border is what truly "makes" the quilt.  If Dot had just done the Sandi method and slapped on a couple of borders, her quilt wouldn't be the stunner that it is.
  Here's a thought...maybe for my next quilt, I should make the borders first!  I will let you know how it goes!

The Great Quilting Race

Judy Niemeyer's Golden Harvest

Judy Niemeyer's One 

S,O.B.--Slap on borders.  This quilt is a piece of yardage that I loved and didn't want to cut up with a stop border and an outer border added.  Easy and pretty!

     When did quilting become such a "race to the finish"?  Quilting has a long and colorful history.  For most of that history, it was an art form that was rather slow and laborious.  Cutting pieces with scissors and templates, hand piecing, hand quilting...these are not quick methods!  Technology has afforded us the ability to create a quilt in a fraction of the time it took our fore-mothers (and perhaps forefathers).    That isn't a bad thing, right? 

  I have been thinking quite a bit lately about the trend toward what I like to call, "Wham, Bam, Thank you Ma'am Quilting."  Why are we in such a hurry?  What is the goal of my quilting?  Am I just in a hurry to get something done so that I can stack it in the closet along with dozens of other, easy quilts?  Where is the satisfaction in creating something special?  I would argue that in our race to the finish line, we have lost some of the joy in the process of creating.

  Now, I am not talking about the baby quilts, shower gifts, quick Christmas gifts for family, etc.  I get that most of those need to be inexpensive, simple, and quick to produce.  There is a time and place for those types of quilts.  I am talking about our projects in general.  Are they all simple and quick patterns?  Is our main focus to get them done quickly so that we can start a new project?  Once the top is finished, how are they going to be quilted.  Are you hand-quilting, machine quilting with a simple all over design, asking someone else to quilt your quilt "as cheaply as possible", or paying a longarmer like me to really make your quilt special with custom quilting?  

  So, that brings me to this question:  Where is your joy in quilting?  Is your joy in getting done quickly, or in the process?   Is your joy in piling up more and more easy quilts that, frankly, a novice quilter could produce?  Is your joy in choosing the fabrics, making your points match up, building a difficult pattern, block by block?

  More and more, I am realizing that the quilts I truly admire, the ones that I see at shows and think, "Wow, I could maybe do that if I had a couple of years to spend on it."---those are the quilts that I want to start making.  I don't want more and more easy quilts.  I want some quilts that really say, "Wow!"  I like to believe that my quilting elevates simple quilts to something above "mediocre" but the bottom line is that they are still simple patterns.  I need to challenge myself to try new things, work on projects that I know are going to take awhile to complete, take classes with teachers who can elevate my skill level, and enjoy the process of creating something truly special.  To that end, I took a Judy Niemeyer paper piecing class this spring.  It is a technique that I understood at a very fundamental level, but had never really done.  My quilt is not finished.  That's okay.  Someday, when it is...it is going to be a "Wow"!

Just Saying "No"--the Fine Art of Achieving Balance

 

My latest finished quilt--Radiating Star

A customer quilt that I finished last week.

A customer quilt for a teenager's fair project

  So, here's the thing...life gets hectic.  Even when you quit your full time teaching job to pursue, shall we say a "less stressful" workload by starting your own longarm quilting business, before you know it your calendar is jammed full.  At least mine is.  How did it happen?  I am asking myself the same thing.  All I know is this:  looking ahead at my calendar for the next two months, I don't have a Saturday free until October 2, and even that is iffy.  Then, not another one until November 2.  This is a problem, and a blessing.  How can it be both?

   Well, when I started my business almost 6 years ago, I was substitute teaching part-time, and working as an administrative assistant part-time to make enough money to supplement the quilting thing.  I was quilting 5 or 6 customer quilts per month. Gradually, I stopped subbing.  I cut back from 4 days a week at my administrative assistant job to 3, then 2, and finally 1.  Eventually, I took the leap and went full-time on my longarm.  I've never been without enough work to keep the bills paid and food on the table.  My workload has remained in a steady upward trajectory for the past 5 years.  It is truly a blessing to work at home in my pj's doing something that I really enjoy.  It is a blessing to be able to take time to help my mom at the quilt shop, to keep my grand-babies for a few days now and then, and to have time to teach, speak, and do trunk shows.  These are all good things.  However, when the schedule begins to run me, rather than me running the schedule, I have to wonder, "Where can I cut back?"  Immediate answer...nowhere!  Long term, though, I really need to learn to say "no" a bit more often.  My problem is that I just love teaching a class, even if I only have a couple of students.  I love travelling to Kearney several times a month to help my mom at her shop.  I love getting to events like Quilt Nebraska to fellowship with others of like interests.  Hmmmm...well, maybe saying "no" more often will have to be on my "to do" list for next year :)

Quilt Nebraska 2015

  Each year in July the Nebraska State Quilt Guild holds their annual Quilt Nebraska convention.  The location moves around the state, but the dates are always the last full weekend in July.  Convention starts on Thursday with Quilt History Day and opening receptions, and then continues through Friday and Saturday with lots of classes, lectures, and banquets with speakers each night.  The winning raffle ticket for the raffle quilt from the year before is drawn, and the new raffle quilt is revealed.  A small quilt show featuring quilts from the participating teachers and the year's challenge quilts, along with a vending mall, is available not only to participants in the convention, but also to the public.  All in all, it is loads of fun and there is always something going on.
  Part of the fun of convention is seeing and hanging out with friends and acquaintances from around the state who share a genuine love of the art of quilting.  The variety of styles, tastes, skill levels, and preferences is mind-boggling!  Those that plan the convention always do a good job of providing a wide variety of classes in an attempt to appeal to the many interests of those that attend.
  This year in Norfolk, I had the privilege of teaching a class at Quilt Nebraska 2015!  I had to send in a proposal for a class and then waited to be accepted or rejected as one of the regional teachers.  The conventions always bring in several national teachers from around the country and then fill in the rest of the schedule with regional teachers.  I was accepted and taught a "make and take" type class with my original design for "My Nebraska" wall quilt.  As those of you that follow my blog know, I had designed the center for the AMB solids blog tour sponsored by Clothworks last spring.  After the blog tour was over, I wanted to extend the size of my original 6 x 9 inch design and added a row of chasing flying geese to represent the many migrating birds that cross our state every year.
  I had 13 eager ladies sign up for my class, and they each made a great start on their wall quilt.  In a three hour class, they were able to completely finish the center of the quilt, and hopefully went home with enough knowledge to finish their little project at home.  I had a blast doing it!  I do quite a bit of teaching, but teaching at Quilt Nebraska felt like a real honor.  I may just apply to do it again in the future!
  Next year, the convention is being held in Lincoln at the Cornhusker Hotel.  I, for one, will be there with bells on!

It's Row by Row Time!

  As a former high school teacher, my year was governed by:  1st semester, Christmas vacation, 2nd semester, and summer break.  In fact, if you count all the years that I was a student myself, my life was governed by those terms for 35 years!  Often, I still find myself thinking of the year in that way.

  Nowadays, though, I am more likely to think in terms of "graduation quilts," "wedding quilts,"  "Christmas gift quilts,"  NIFS Spring Shop Hop, and now the annual Row by Row Experience.

These times of year determine my professional schedule and, I am tentative to admit, my vacation plans!  I have already been scheming to figure out how I can get my husband, who is extremely busy with construction season, to take me on a trip before September 8 so that I can collect some rows from out of state.

  As I ponder my plans, a light shines on me, and hubby says:  "I need to go to Kansas City for training on August 4.  Do you want to come along and we can make a weekend of it to celebrate our anniversary on August 2?"  DO I???  Now, the question is:  how many quilt shops in the Kansas City area are participating in the Row by Row, and how many can I legitimately get to in a three day period:)  The best way to figure that out is to explore the website, check for cute rows on Facebook, use my trusty atlas and GoogleMaps, and formulate  my plan.

  Last year, we went to Paducah, KY via Hamilton, Hannibal, and St. Louis, MO so that I could pick up rows.  With only 35 states participating last year, we covered a lost of territory that was "row free."  This year...all 50 states are playing!!!  If you are traveling ANYWHERE this summer, you can find rows kits, license plates, and free patterns.  The pictures on this page are of the row that I designed for the Quilters Cottage in Kearney, NE.  I made the row so that it can be made either vertically or horizontally.  On Facebook, all you have to do it type in the name of the state followed by rowbyrowexperience and you can see pictures of many of the available rows and where to find them in that state.  Genius!!!

  If you haven't yet begun, there's still plenty of time!  So, get out there and experience the fun of collecting rows for your own personal travel memento!