Charity Begins at Home

  This post is either sort of late, or incredibly early:)  As I was looking through photos on my computer this morning, I saw these, and they reminded me that it is never too early to get a start on charity work for the coming year.  The top picture shows dolls with their bags and clothes that my quilt guild in Central City provided for this year's Christmas of Sharing.  One lady in our guild loves to make doll clothes.  She works year round on outfits, and this year she donated about 50 outfits!  Other ladies donate money to buy the dolls, make bags, and make dolly quilts to go with them.
  The bottom photo shows some of the things that I made in the fall, including a couple of doll quilts for that project, (along with some Christmas gifts for family).  I don't do nearly as much charity work as I would like to because life gets in the way, but I am confident that every small bit counts.
  So, the title  of this blog refers to the fact that while the world at large is a mess, and there are countless opportunities for charity work, we need only look in our own back yards to find people who are hurting and need our help.  Especially during the holidays, we have ample chances to donate to organizations like Toys for Tots, Christmas of Sharing, Project Linus, Quilts of Valor, and countless others.  The question that I have to ask myself is:   "When do I actually start thinking about how I can help?"  Sadly, the answer tends to be in November when I don't have the time to really give it my full attention.
  I have been so inspired by members of my quilting community who take the time, and have the forethought, to really make beautiful donations for these organizations.  Now, there are those that tend to think "more is better" and throw all kinds of things together haphazardly because after all "they are JUST for charity" but, I am talking about those that desire to give of their time, talent, and creativity something truly special.  I love to see beautiful quilts and doll blankets made for unknown recipients who will have the joy of opening something that shows how much the maker cared for them.  This is the time of year to make plans and begin working on those kinds of truly special gifts for those less fortunate than ourselves.  We may not be able to make 20 or 30 to give away this year, but if we each made only 1 or 2 that were constructed well from nice fabrics and were beautiful to both the eye and the soul, wouldn't that be something special?

Quilt Backings-a Bit of Helpful Info

     I am actually a bit embarrassed about how long it has been since I posted in my blog!  Life just got busy, and time got away from me.  I hope to do better in the new year!
     Today, I want to talk a little bit about quilt backings.  Do you ever give a lot of thought to what goes on the back of your quilt?  I remember back in the early 90's when I began my quilting journey, we always backed our quilts with inexpensive muslin.  All of my early quilts have muslin backings.  In the mid-90's, I made a quilt that I backed with pieced yardage that matched the front of my quilt, and, boy, did I think I had done something extra special for that quilt!
  Nowadays, quilters almost always back their quilts with patterned fabrics.  We have available to us a fairly good selection of 108" or 118" wide backings, which save us from having to piece the backs for our quilts.  Sadly, those wide backings tend to be neutral, and usually have very little print, or small prints.  A pieced back, using fabrics from the front of the quilt tends to be more interesting, and also, hides the starts and stops of machine quilting.  As a longarm quilter, I love busy backs!  The photos above are from a quilt that was backed by a batik 108" wideback fabric.  Batik wide backings do tend to be more fun colors and prints, but are more expensive.  Because the thread count of batiks tend to be higher, the stitches of the quilting can tend to want to sit on top rather than sinking into the fabric causing more tension-related issues.  For that reason, some longarm quilters don't care for them.
  My biggest problem, as a longarm quilter, with pieced backs is trying to deal with backs that are not completely square.  When I load a backing into the steel frame for my longarm, it absolutely MUST be flat and square.  Any ruffles, waves, or puckers in the backing WILL NOT "quilt out" and will, in fact, cause pleats and puckers in the backing to be quilted right in to the back of the quilt.  Once the back is loaded, covered with a batting, and a quilt top, the quilter has no way of seeing or knowing what is going on with the backing, unless they climb under the machine to look.  Once it is loaded, there is no changing the outcome.  Because I know this is the case, I always do everything in my power to make sure the backing is flat and square before I load it.  Sometimes, that means re-trimming and squaring the back.  In that process, a few inches may be lost.  For that reason, longarm quilters always ask that you make your backing 5-6" larger all the way around the quilt.  We need that extra for possible squaring up, and to make sure that we have enough extra to load into the frame, and to clamp our clamps on the sides to keep even tension on the backing, so as to avoid puckers and pleats in the backing as the quilt is advanced and quilted.  For the best possible outcome, the piecer needs to make sure that as much care is taken in piecing a nice flat, and square, backing as was used in piecing a beautiful flat, and square, quilt top.  In many cases, it does tend to be safer to purchase and have the quilter use a wideback that is all in one piece and eliminates the possibility of puckers in the back of the quilt.
  Hopefully, this information has been helpful in explaining the importance of presenting your longarm quilter with the perfect backing for your quilts!  Happy New Year to you all!

"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 :)