It's A Jungle Out There

So many blogs. So many designers. So many perspectives. Navigating through social media and the digital age of quilting seems overwhelming sometimes but I love it. I love that inspiration is right there at the touch of a button. I never know when I click on a link to a quilty blog what I might find...what treasures will be waiting for me?

A few years ago I stumbled on to a blog called The Patchery Menagerie written by Lynne Tyler.  I was amazed at how she approached her work and more, I was happy that she shared the process. I was in awe of her ability to create without a pattern. This was my first introduction to the world of free piecing. Without knowing it this lady became my mentor and teacher, I ate up every post and studied every picture. Eventually my brain caught fire and exploded with my very own improv projects; first the Izz-A-Boo quilt and then The Purple Cow...letters began showing up in a lot of my work.

I was hooked. Done. Like. Dinner.

JUNGLE from Lynne Tyler of The Patchery Menagerie 

When I started talking about Project: Kona Nerds, Unite! I hoped to gather all sorts of blocks from all sorts of people and I couldn't have been happier when Lynne agreed to build me a block. Having a piece of Lynne in this quilt, even though she is by no means a Kona Nerd, is very special. Without her this project might never have happened. She lit my fire when my traditional tendencies were smouldering out...she gave me permission to play and I'm so glad she played along!

It's Not Thursday

I know it's not Thursday.
But I'm "throwing back" anyway.

Nothing new to chat about really...
Still waiting for my robot to arrive, the frame is clearly walking here from Utah. Had a hairy week in the shoppe so didn't get in much stitching but... I did get my taxes done and filed with a little prodding from The Enabler. Hung out with my guild mates yesterday for the April Sew In where I may or may not have jumped ahead of the Quilt-A-Long with the Gravity project...nothing to see here, nope.

So a throw back...yes ma'am.

Jen over at A Quarter Inch From The Edge inspired me the other day to share some of my older pre-blog projects. Given that I have only blogged now for 4 months that leaves a lot of great projects to write about and makes chosing one a bit difficult. My all time favourite is my Purple Cow so I guess I should start there.

Brainstorm.
A sketch seemed as good a place to start as any.

I have loved cows all my life. I got my first cow in the late 70's when I was 3 or 4 years old and although it sported wheels and a Fisher-Price stamp I loved and cared for it like it was the real deal. The Purple Cow quilt was inspired by my mother who used to recite the poem to me when I was a little girl, because her grandfather used to read it to her.

This is where I learned the hard way that two mediums = mush.
The yellow should have been stronger, the message in the sky is
lost and often missed by the viewer. Contrast matters. A Lot.

The poem is a real oldie. Written in 1895 by Gelette Burgess, it goes like this:

I never saw a purple cow,

I never hope to see one. 

But I can tell you anyhow, 

I'd rather see than be one.

Off to a good start!

This was a free pieced adventure; no pattern, no plan, no rules. After a month of collecting bits and pieces of various small purple prints I started my building with her head, first the eyes and then her face. I used some scraps of satin and some blingy taffeta around her eyes...cause she's a fancy girl...and every bovine beauty should have velvet kissy lips too! Ears came next. Then a body, a neck, some udders that ended up in the garbage.

Her tail (that was a small feat of engineering!) and legs we're up next. I scratched my head a long time trying to figure out how to get this gal up and standing; so long in fact that she spent an entire summer laying legless in her pasture. But determination trumped avoidance and 4 legs eventually materialized. I had briefly imagined this gal standing in purple pumps or boots but totally chickened out after attempting a free pieced purple stiletto that quickly joined those udders in the trash can. 

When it came time to piece in all the background chunks to fit the wonky, free pieced body parts things got pretty interesting. Given that this was only my second ever attempt at free piecing and I was learning as I went it took a lot of time. Figuring it out as I went along meant some of the seam lines were tricky and some ended up better than others, but as long as the flimsy stayed flat and the piecing, how ever wonky, had integrity enough to withstand use and washing of a "real quilt" I was happy. I wanted this quilt to be able to be used and loved...this was never to be an art quilt or a pretty hanging. 

To make her into a bed size blanket I stacked up some fat quarters and sliced up some crazy flowers. A strip down either side and a mitered border finished it up around 85" inches square.

Hanging upside down after her first turn on the frame.

I quilted it in free motion on the Wee Wiggler; a challenge in itself. I wanted the borders quilted directional so I had to turn the quilt 3 times on the frame to achieve this. The quilting on the cow itself was SEW much fun. I did all her little bits differently...I felt like I was tattooing her!

I love purple. Purple is the colour of grooviness!
And if I do say so myself this is one groovy cow!

(Oh, and in case you wondered...I still have that Fisher-Price cow. In fact, I gave it to my son when he was about that same age...and, like his momma, he loved her too! More, he received his first plush purple cow when he was born as a gift from my sister, Judy, who found it in Vancouver.)

Thursday Morning Musing...

Last night we were having dinner at my Mums and my Kaleido flimsy came up in conversation. I of course expressed my frustration with the error filled pattern when my son shared his thoughts.  He said, "I don't get why anyone would make a quilt off a magazine pattern anyway. Why do they even make magazines full of patterns when you can just make up your own?"

I think my jaw dropped, it's possible I even choked a little on my nanaimo bar. My first reaction was shock. What a negative comment! I love looking thru patterns and seeing who's making what, seeing the colours as the trends change, feeling inspiration strike when all the elements come together and light that fire in my head.

But then I thought about the literal statement he made. My boy, The Virgo, literal to a fault...it's a black and white world for these Virgo people. He has watched me slice up piece after piece of fabric and stitch random bits back together in glee. He's not seen me angered by a pattern or complain about 'this not fitting' or 'that not working' for a very long time.  His 13 year old brains most recent version of my quilting history is an Improv view. I love free piecing! I'm a dive in head first kinda girl...in all aspects of my life. I just jump in. In quilting, he has watched me bring to life several designs that have both amused and awed me...without instructions. He sees that, his perception has become his brains reality; his mother just makes stuff.

Back to our dinner conversation:
I explained to Ben that patterns are important. While I am flattered that he thinks every other brain out there functions like mine does that there are lot's of people who sew their entire lives and never make a single quilt without a pattern. Some never cook without a recipe. Some carpenters never build without a plan. And this is OK! We are not all jumpers, sometimes plans are required.

I can build a Purple Cow with no insructions but I simply cannot build a single piece of IKEA furniture without a whole friggin' manual. And that too, is OK.