Giving Up and Giving In

The blocks for my current improvisational quilt is done. Sewing the blocks was easy, but it has been the attempt in putting the blocks together that has caused great distress in my life.

For the past three days I have been working on different configurations for this quilt. I had what I thought was a logical layout for the quilt, but it just didn't feel right once laid out that way.

I tried other possible patterns and configurations. Some resulted in me having leftover blocks, while others resulted in big gaps in the quilt that would require me to make even more blocks.

The frustration finally got to me. I picked up all the blocks into a pile and sat them in a corner of the house like some child being punished.

Every time I tried to come up with a solution, the blocks would not a agree. Finally, I gave up. I stopped trying to make the blocks bend to my will. I gave in to letting the blocks do what they wanted to do.

I took the pile of blocks and started laying them together without and thought or plan. All I focused on was putting the next piece down. Before I knew it, I had put the last piece down. The blocks fit perfectly in a beautiful random order that surprised me.

Now I am sewing my blocks together, thinking how I didn't realize the amount of control I tried to have over this quilt until I learned to let it go. It was in the simple acts of giving up and giving in that opened up a new creative possibility that I did not see before.

I once heard someone in reference to Navajo weaving say, 'let the fibers speak and they will tell you what they want to be.' I think the same thing can apply to quilting as well. Allowing the fabric to speak and direct us in our creative process.

Newbie Tuesdays: The Flower Quilt

Hello Everyone! Today is Newbie Tuesday and you know what that means? It's time to feature the work of a new (or fairly new) quilter.

Today we are taking a look at one of my own quilt tops that I recently finished.

This is Elektra's Flower Quilt. You have seen me discuss this quilt before. Well, now the quilt top is completely finished. This quilt was stitched together by hand. The quilt is made up of 96 squares in a 'plus sign' pattern.

I finished to quilt this past weekend and am excited to now be going into the final stages of making this quilt top into a fully functioning quilt. 

The War Quilt Now Looking Very Civil

I've been busy working on the Civil War inspired quilt. The top is now done. I decided not to use the boarder pieces. I think I like this piece without the added boarder.

Quilt laid out on a twin bed

As you can see, my corners do not line up, which is one of the things I actually love about this quilt. I'm not good with perfection. I rather like things a little 'off the mark',

Love some of the seams being 'off the mark'

 I am now thinking about the backing and binding for the quilt. For the backing, I want to go with a vintage-looking deep red or deep blue fabric. For the binding, I am thinking of just a solid black binding.

Now on to the backing and binding

Do you have any war-inspired quilts? If so, please share in the comments section.

Past Brain Fart of Inspiration

So, as I was sorting through the pile of scraps that I had, I happened upon a couple of quilt tops. I have no memory of making these, but I know I must have made them because they have all the tell-tell signs of my sewing skills.

Apparently at some point I had a brain fart of inspiration, because these are some pretty sweet looking quilt tops. I'm looking at them in awe, wondering when did I have the confidence, (and time), to make such quilts. Hopefully, whoever that muse was that helped to inspire these quilts will soon return back into my life. Will definitely be quilting these babies this coming new year.