The Quilting Diva’s Blog

No one said Quilts have to go on the bed...

There are times when a quilter wants to move away from the standard “make it for the bed” routine of pattern selection, fabric selection, cutting-piecing-quilting-binding, and have a little fun.

However, when you’ve spent years, relying upon other’s patterns and books for inspiration (yes, I do choose ‘other’ fabrics) and recreating someone else’s ideas, you eventually come to a point when you are scouring the newstands and bookstores for new inspiration, and you hit the wall. If you’re a longtime quilter, and you open a new book, what do you find? Same old Same old. I’ve been there and done that. How many ways can you manipulate a nine patch already? ACK! Is there nothing new in the world????

No, I’m not talking about publishing or creating a new pattern to market to thousands of quilters all over the world. Someone else can do that…I’m just looking for some instant gratification!! You don’t need to reinvent the ice cream if all you want is a decent bite of chocolate NOW!

So I’ve discovered several books and magazines over the years that satisfy my fabric sweet tooth. The need for inspiration as a launchpad for my self expression. No it’s not cheating…really! Have you seen Sew Somerset? What a great magazine! You can find these at your Barnes and Noble or save yourself the time and gas to subscribe at http://www.stampington.com!

OMG!!! It’s like the proverbial box of high end chocolates. The HIGHEST end! Visiting their site and viewing all the different specialty publications, all geared toward the frustrated artsy-fartsy girls. (come on you know you’re one of them!) Art Doll, Where Women Create, Somerset Workshop, Somerset Studio, the list is almost endless, the temptation to subscribe to all of them is intoxicating! You’re dazzled by adding rhinestones to your quilts and bags, inspired to paintstick your way over a wine bag or denim jacket, you visit all the embellishment booths at Quilt Market Or your local Sewing and Quilt Expo (visit http://www.sewingexpo.com for dates and locations near you!)

We’ve gone over the edge, past the fabric and onto the stuff that defines us as “ECO-Artists”. We find a trim or ribbon on a package and add it to our stash. Textile paints, markers, couching threads and yarns…beads, foils, (I bet you even know what glitter glue is) and whatever else is new. Jeeze Louise, I read the back of the magazine where the advertisements are to see what’s new in supplies before I look at the pictures and read the articles…

If you are a little like me, or if you’ve tumbled over the edge, cliff-diving like Bella, just to see your crafting Savior calling “Be-Safe credit card, but have you seen this new fabric treatment?” then you have my respect and my envy. I want to be the women in the pages of Sew Somerset who’ve gone where no crafter has gone before, kicking the door to her craft/sewing room open and screaming ” Oh, my God!!! Look what I did with Snaps and Hooks!” One day, I’d like to be respected and revered for my funky binding application, and have people buy my soft-art in Posh Galleries up and down the west/east coast.

I call mine Self Expression Quilts. They are ususally small, the size of a page in a coffee table book. I love laying out the pieces and fiddling with them until my Muse screams “STOP!” I’ve done a few with family photos, and gifted them…people always get a kick out of the absurdity that I’ve given them…”um, it’s a quilt, right? but..I’m supposed to put it on the wall?” Eventually (once they see that I’ve included a hanger, and I’ve signed the piece” they are a little more respectful, in front of me, anyway. What they say about me after I’ve left, is this: “She’s brilliant! Did you see how she used the picture of Uncle Bob, and the Crown Royal bags?”

If you are an art quilt Wannabe…give me a call. Let’s start a club or at least a group of like-minded women who encourage each other to explore strange new worlds. To share those odd-copper clad buttons, shaped like coffee beans. Those bits of tea-dyed lace and organza from Susan’s old wedding dress, and those cut walnut shells that we found in Bev’s driveway. One man’s trash is another woman’s art supplies!