Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Door County Dreams



Every quilt I make has a story. This quilt took longer than it should have because I didn't baste the layers carefully enough. I started quilting on the outer edge and by the time I was within 6-8 inches of the center I had a HILL in the middle.
What to do? I know better than to take shortcuts, but I still do sometimes and I'm almost always sorry.
My husband and I drove to northern Wisconsin to pick up the postal desk you saw on my studio photos. He drove the truck. I took the quilt along and took out ALL the stitching. The total trip was about 9 hours and it was enough time to remove all the stitches. I then put it together carefully and the quilting worked perfectly.
Remember - it takes at least 3 times as long to do so something incorrectly.
1. The time it takes you to do it the first time.
2. The time it takes to rip it out.
3. The time it takes to redo it.
Think about that next time you're ready to take a shortcut.
This quilt uses hand dyed fabric from 4 different dyers. The green border was dyed by me but all the rest was purchased from other dyers.

This quilt uses the intersecting fields of color method. It is a complex variation inspired by the fabrics in my collection. I have also made a companion quilt that is the reverse of this - something you may see in the future.

Today I started assembling the pieces for the last quilt for my Colors Of My Life series. It is the grand finale and is 3 dimensional. It poses it's own set of challenges but I think it is going to work.

Another project today was getting things together so a charity could come and pick them up. One of the things I donated was this antique sewing basket. By taking a photo of it I feel like I still have it and yet I've cleared out the space it took.
I thought this would be an interesting puzzle for you tonight.
Click to Mix and Solve


I have been nominated for the Kreative blogger award. I would like to thank Cathy Ortelle who nominated me for this award. http://www.artjourneys.blogspot.com

4 comments:

Vicki W said...

OK, I can go to bed now. I'ce completed the puzzle! LOL!

LOVE the quilt! I think it takes 10 times as long to fix a mistake. I had to do a lot of unsewing on one of my projects recently.

Judy Alexander said...

You are sooooooo right about fixing mistakes. I sometimes find myself hurrying when I get towards the end of a project just because I want to be done and I am already thinking ahead to the next piece.

Libby said...

Wow, that is such an interesting quilt. I love it. Sorry it was a pain to finish, though. I'm notorious for not fixing mistakes, but sometimes you can't avoid it. I agree about not taking short cuts...why does it always SEEM like it would be a good idea??

Roberta Ranney said...

Hi Kay - The quilt is wonderfully graphic. I'm with you - if it doesn't work just take a deep breath and tear it all out. If you set your mouth just right it isn't even miserable!

I so enjoy your blog and appreciate the time and effort it takes to post as often as you do.