To walk in their shoes

Is it even possible? 

It is not easy to walk in someone's shoes. Neither is to think like someone else but in 2005 in my workshop, 'Inspired by the quilts of Gee's bend' my students and I did just that. I challenged them to make something by re-purposing old clothes that no one wanted. While some students had hard time investing their time is something ugly and old, I decided I will stick to the original plan. I made a trip to our local Goodwill store and bought few clothes.

My rules:

• tear the clothes - not cut

• sew without a specific seam allowance

• when needed use scissors instead of rotary cutter 

• incorporate materials varying in thickness and fabric content

• stick to a limited number of clothes to mimic the 'make do' ways of quilting to achieve simple, bold and graphic quilts.  

The idea was to experience what women of Gee's bend would while making a quilt. I tried all of the above elements along with my students.. I made the top by using old, overly worn-out corduroy which felt like a card-board and men's shirts made with blend, rayon and cottons. I tossed in strips of my husband's shirts and my dress to emotionally connect with the piece.

We chose to make the housetop blocks to avoid trimming and wasting as little as possible. To waste pieces of fabrics was not an option. I had also set the limit on how much of each garment we could use and use every last piece to make the most out of what we had.

I ended up with this top. I thought I had achieved my goal really well. I made a quilt top that looked similar to the one in the book. I felt pretty proud of myself for attempting to understand them or to be in the similar mindset of the quilters of Gee's bend.

I thought I understood it completely but not quite. I spent last couple of weeks hand quilting this old top. It was part of my slide show presentation in Ithaca but I wanted to carry it with me as a finished quilt to my next presentation.

The process of hand quilting turned out to be phase two of getting in the mindset of the quilters of Alabama.

My thought process went something like this -

What if winter was approaching and I had nothing to keep us warm?
 I would finish that quilt in a hurry!

Would I worry about the perfection in my stitching?
No time to think about that in low light and late in the night after all day's work.

Would I spend time undoing so they all look perfect?
It was going on a bed not in a show or on a wall in a gallery.

Would I have time to find a quilting pattern suitable to the quilt?
I see plenty patterns all around me to follow.

Would I run to the nearest store that was miles away to find the thread I just ran out while I was in the middle of quilting it?
No.. No!

I would just stitch away at the end of the day, every chance I get, with any thread I had in my box.. I would just finish the quilt.

My theory on all this is  - Learn many things by just doing it.

Here is what I experienced.

Having various materials on the same quilt, my stitches varied all through out. It was so hard to hand quilt that beaten up, old cardboard like corduroy material. I could get somewhat perfect stitching on the finer fabrics like my husband's shirt and my dress but some corduroy with spandex was difficult to needle through.

I do understand those quilters now. The feel of the quilt varies from block to block and it is the warmest and heaviest quilt in the stack of wall quilts. 

In spite of tearing the trips on the grain, they stretched every which way according to their fiber contents.I left the edges as they were and used binding on bias to finish the quilt.

The last thing remained was to see what it would look like if it were to hang on the clothesline in one of the southern states. So I went out this morning and took few pictures.

It's rugged and cozy quilt. If I were to machine quilt this one, it would have broken a few needles.

I was pretty happy that the quilt was ready in time for my presentation at Calico Cutters Guild last Wednesday. It was the guild's first event at the new location in West Chester, PA and what a great experience for me as well. Thank you, Calico Cutters Guild members who made it out there to listen to my talk and see the quilts.

Thank you for reading this post! 
Sujata

She loved it!

She said so....

As she looked straight in to the camera!

and right into my eyes....

 Mom too!

 

She whispered in k' ear..

Meera loved her quilt.. 

And yes,

She loved the back more than the front..

 

Have a joyful weekend!

 

Wild thing...

You make my heart sing!

Yes, This wild and crazy thing makes me smile..  I have never finished a quilt in a week's time. 

You see, I was working on a deadline.. Don't like to do that a whole lot. 

You can't hurry love and you can certainly not hurry creativity.. unless it wants to hurry itself!

 

Amy is having her forth annual Blogger's quilt festival and this happen to be one of my very latest favorite quilts to share! 

Which is the other quilt you ask?

This one of course! 

Another one of my latest creations! 

The basket blocks were inspired by the quilts from Collaborative Quilting II by Gwen Marston.

I just decided to use crazy patches for the background. 

Since it is a gift for a baby girl, It had to be as cheerful and happy as possible! 

Then I wondered... Why should the fun stop at the quilt top?

So, I pieced the back..  

Now, I was really having fun and did not want it to end.

 I thought a black and whilte stripe would be a perfect binding for this quilt..

But my heart said.. 

NO...

It had to be another scrappy finish to a fun experience!

  I can't decide which is front and which is back.

I guess, I don't have to!

  

Baskets are fun.. 

They can be wild and crazy  and filled with joy!

These ones are loaded with love 

for our niece's first born!

Additons and Subtractions of Quilting

I worked all day yesterday (not quite) to put together all the blocks, strings and scraps and very pleased with this little quilt top that evolved!
 

Putting all those blocks with the wonky edges together was rather challenging.
Once I had few blocks ready, I decided to start piecing them to avoid careful selection process.
I laid two blocks side by side to see if they match in size.

This block came closest to the length of the large block. At this point my choice was to cut the other block to match the seams or add a little to fit them together.

I chose to trim away a little.  

and stitched them together.

 

Next came new pair of blocks

 I realized that bock on the left needed a little strip added to the bottom to fit.

So I stitched a strip. Do you see my little red strip (basic instinct)? When I put them next to each other they were the same size but I needed to fill the triangle hole on the top. I added another strip and trimmed to fit the edge.

That filled the hole just right! I went on sewing as they fit together.

This one up here needed a little help growing so I back stitched, and added a strip and stitched again.

 

As the quilt kept growing I laid it on the floor along with few more blocks and strips.

I was contemplating on what would fit next or where should I add more. My daughter walked in the room and saw my puzzled face and asked, "Mom, how is this different than using a design wall?"
To that I said, " Good question Coco, (that's what I really call her) but this is different. With the design wall, I stop and stare and walk away, I go back and keep moving the blocks and squint my eyes until my head hurts. Then I use the reducing glass and take the digital pictures... I can go on and on  and on...
And I did!!! She interrupted me and said, "Mom, I get it!"

That's when I got it too. That is the difference. The thought did cross my mind too and I gave myself permission to use the floor to place the blocks next to each other and do my addition and subtraction. As I would finger press the seams open and gently flatten the blocks so they lay relatively flat, I was wondering if I was still trying to create the quilt with minimum bubbles and bumps. I would question myself if that was intentional or just a habit of touching and feeling the fabrics.

I was unsuccessful in achieving that flat quilt! Thank goodness! Because, I love how this looks when the evening sun shines on all the bubbles and bumps and brings it to life!

By the way, do you remember that little red strip and my basic instinct theory? Ha!
I can't even see it anymore... Can you?
So there goes the basic instinct theory too.. Out the door. Especially with these kind of quilts. 
I really learned that in a bigger picture small things really don't matter. In life and in quilting alike!
I added and subtracted both, the scraps and my thoughts while making this quilt and the result is just right!

I have had time to think about why I make quilts. I am not going to bore you with that today. You have been  gracious friends and read my ramblings and even responded with your kind comments. 
I thank you for that!

Continuing 'My Way'

Yesterday I sat for few hours piecing my scraps.( Not working on the scrap quilt. just piecing the scraps) You know, It was interesting that when I was focused on not following the rules or the final result, there were so may things I discovered that I would not have otherwise paid any attention to.

Here is how the process went! 

I would pick up two pieces to stitch together. Sometimes their size wont match so I would toss one back and pick another one that would fit. I want to maximize the use of my scraps so I don't want to trim away anything unless I have to. 

At this point I was not thinking of the colors.. Just the size of the scraps.

I chain pieced a few scraps. By the time the tenth piece came around, I had forgotten the colors and size of the first pieces I stitched. When I nail pressed that piece open, I said to myself, "Oh would you look at that?"

I noticed the crooked edge, the combination of colors and odd sizes of pieces and started adding them as they fit to each other in to blocks.

At the end of the day I ended up with blocks that looked like this.

 

By keeping them out of my sight as I finished them, the new ones were not influenced by the colors or the size of the previously made blocks. So I was not thinking of balance, harmony and how am I going to put them together! Just sewing the pieces together and went on for a while.

After finishing few blocks I started making the strips and smaller blocks.

 

Click on the picture to look at a close up. They are pretty wonky.

 

 
And, I learned that the wonky strips could be the design element or a piece that squared up the block!

 

The block on the left ended up being really crooked. When I put those two side by side on the floor, I knew that one block had to grow just a bit. ( I am still following the fact that I don't want to trim away anything.) That's how the gray triangle piece came in the picture! 

In this quilt it was no accident but it was also not a preconceived idea to add a few triangles or diagonal strips to the quilt. It is just a filler to put the blocks together.

Here is another example of the same surprize! 

 

It makes me wonder about the crooked and wonky strips in many of the quilts of Gee's Bend.

The lessons learned so far with this process are,

• I don't need to deliberately cut curved pieces with rotary cutter. Use Scissors instead. The difference is huge!

• If I just sew those pieces together without being too careful, they become organic and fluid.

  

• Depending on the scrap pile, some blocks are heavy and saturated with one color and others with a different color. It could also mean that I ran out of one pile of scraps and had to add whole another pile with different colors and textures.

• This process was not as mindless as I thought! The only difference was that all the thoughts occurred with the outcome of all bits and pieces coming together. My mind was racing with pleasant discoveries as I went on. 

•  I want to learn new ways of doing things. Even if that means going back to the old ways!

With no final outcome in mind, I have discovered a lot by doing things differently. As I like to put it, following rules of quilting, 'My Way'.

Just for Fun

 

'Inspirations from the quilts of 'Gee's bend'

 

I pretended that I had an old sheet ( solid green),  some scraps of a dress ( floral print) ,  a wool coat and pants and kitchen towels and a few other odds and ends. I limited myself to using only what was in that pile. I also added some corduroy that was left over from my previous housetop quilt.

There were unique challenges involved in making this quilt. By limiting the pile of fabrics,  using every scrap to the last bit was a must. Adding new fabric from the stash was not an option.

The patches and strips were randomly cut. With no measurements in mind, I started by using the bigger patches and strips first so that I would not waste any fabric by cutting them too small.. The number of the blocks grew along with my desire for making it into a bed size quilt. When it came to stitching the blocks into the rows, I added all of the leftover small scraps and strings to the smaller blocks to even them out and continued further.  

Often times, the final outcome of my quilts has been completely different than the vision I started out with. And most of the times I have been happy in the end. I wonder if limits and restrictions make me work harder?

Or

In the quest for perfection or preconceived ideas, we miss out on fun and surprises that are involved in the process of making a quilt!

This quilt was an experiment just for fun and that it was!