Each quilter travels their own journey. I feel that many the quilts we select to make are a reflection of particular events or experiences going on in our life.
These are individual paths, and one of the beauties of quilting is to see the unique reflections of each person in their quilt.
I love to see the same pattern made in a wide variety of fabrics. It tells me so much about the quilter. Have you noticed how much our tastes in fabric change over the years? Mine certainly have!
For my particular situation, we recently moved to be near our two oldest daughters and our most precious, heart stealing grandchildren.
With the slow real estate market, we have rented out our home in Southern Utah, put all of our belongings in storage and have moved into an apartment in Arizona.
Mr. Cactus told me to bring along only the bare essentials until the house sells.
For me, that translated into my sewing machine, and quilt fabrics.
O.H. M.Y.
I thought I had a pretty good concept of how much quilt related items I had gathered over the last 13 years, plus I'd sorted out and donated quite a bit before the move.
Then reality hit when we began lugging bins of fabric to our apartment.
(you know, that ESSENTIAL stuff you just can't part with?)
Thus: my goal has been to use
What I Have!
One of the reasons I joined the Farmer's Wife Quilt-Along is because I knew it would be a good stash buster.
I did not have a pre-planned color scheme before I started.
The fabrics selected for the blocks were random pulls from my baskets that have been sorted into colors.
When I reached the point to select a sashing, I looked into my basket of solids, and auditioned several colors. I ended up selecting the gray Kona because it framed the blocks well, and I had a large piece.
I wish I could tell you there was more of science or technique to my quilt, but in truth, it is a reflection of what is going on in my life right now.
We are living a little bit in
LIMBO LAND
waiting for the real estate market to bounce back.
(hmmm... Limbo Land just might be a good title for my next stash buster quilt)
I must mention how patient and supportive Mr. Cactus has been of my quilting addiction.
He agreed to let me cordon off the entire dining room of our apartment for my fabrics, quilt books, cutting table, and boxes of quilt related stuff.
He has been kind about hauling quilt bins up stairs and having my sewing machine set up in the living room.
But, do we want to move ALL of it again when we purchase our next home?
(nope)
I love the sashing. It works so well...my question for you is, did you have that sashing in mind as you selected your scrappy block fabrics? What process did you use for fabric selection? I can't wait to see your choice for the setting triangles. Thanks for sharing your journey.
January 12, 2012 8:21 AM