16.1.11

blue & yellow







This was one of the things I had on my holiday to do list, finish this quilt. I started it forever ago (see the post where I had the idea here) and predictably enough as these things go, I got distracted by other things and it sat half done for ages. Months. It was always going to be the way, so it didn't bother me. But for some reason, kind of illogically considering the hot weather, I decided to just damn well get it done over the holidays. Its just one of those things where you have a brilliant idea, you start, then it seems like a terrible idea but you're half way through so you carry on... hating every minute. Then as soon as its done and it looks great, you're like what a brilliant idea, I'm going to do it again! I want a pink one!

I am not a very technical sewing person. I have a nice machine, which makes it easier, and I have been doing it since I was a kid. But I am bad at following instructions or learning new things. And I am impatient. So I'm more of a "sew what you feel like" person. If you were a technical person you would see how warped and lumpy this quilt is, the lack of straight lines etc, but not only have I craftily hidden them from the photo, I don't really care about them. If I cared about being technical, I would never sew anything.

This is my second quilt (pics of the first one here). The main tip I would give to fellow slack crafters like me who want to take a stab at quilting is - use fabrics that are all the same weight, so they don't pull each other around and stretch as you go. I think that's what craft fabric is about, its all the same. If you try to use a vintage curtain and a dress you liked but that has a hole in it and some velvet that was on sale, it will end up all distorted and mis-shapen. That's by no means the end of the world. Its just annoying as you are trying to sew and things are gathering up into strange shapes. And start small - the first quilt I did ended up queen bed size (not really on purpose, it just grew) and it was such an effort to haul it through the machine, and it took up a rediculous amount of space on the floor when I was pinning it together.

The other thing I learned from this is how hard it is to artfully arrange a quilt to have its photo taken. Geez. Hats off to the crew in the craft mags who do that.

5 comments:

mumsie said...

looks great, the green edge looks very professional

Helena said...

ta. its meant to be blue but its hard to see in the pics. I tried to make it narrower than before. It did work out well actually, you'll have to see it for real.

rosie said...

you finished! it looks fabulous, i love the colours! x

Helena said...

yes, finally finished! thanks!

Kerrie said...

love it! looks clearly blue on the edge to me - love blue and yellow together,very fresh, especially love spotted border to!