Slow Quilt
I did not come to quilting via the traditional block. I came to it with a bunch of squares, next to my machine, all sewn together randomly with as little up and down to the iron as possible. I still like to make a quilt that way. But in the last year, I've come to appreciate the quilt block. Not just the look of them. I've always loved how they looked. Now I am learning to like the making also.
I cannot say enough how much I am enjoying this new line by Maureen Cracknell. Wild and Free is a sweet mix of basics, low volume and stand out prints. I pulled together a bundle of about 15 prints because this Luminous Field welcomes so many other colours to the mix. But eventually I settled on this limited palette, including only Sarah Jane's Glow Friends as an extra, and leaving the Folk Plaid for the backing.
When I was a teenager, we lived on 100 acres, about 4 hours north of Sydney. Before we lived there, it was a weekender, a horse riding retreat owned by a couple who divorced and sold the property in the settlement. When we moved, in the middle of winter, there was no electricity, no house, just a bunch of sheds, two caravans, 16 horses, an old Land Rover, and the most amazing view of the mountains. Every night, we heated our dinner over the campfire, then heated our water for washing up and showers. Then we sat around the fire to keep warm before bed. I felt like I had the most wonderful family in the whole world! These prints remind me of those peaceful and adventurous days (though I'm sure they were challenging for my mum!) before electricity and TV re-entered our life.
I'm cutting this quilt, mostly with my Accuquilt, in small sections. I haven't done the maths to tell me if I'll have enough fabric to make a queen size quilt. I don't really have the head for that kind of thing, so I'm making it block by block, laying it out on my design wall as I go, so I can match up the Sun Tracks, and the Woven Path fabrics. They are such perfect prints to play with in this way! And the repeat is big enough that each on-point square looks slightly different.
I've had the funny experience over the last few weeks of grieving finishing a quilt too early. Whenever I've gone into my studio and thought about what I've felt like making, I've settled on my Flying Geese quilt. And then I remember that I finished it just after Christmas so I could give it to my brother and sister-in-law! So I'm taking this one in slowly. I haven't settled on a quick chain peicing method yet. I'm still doing one block at a time. Then I put it on the board. Then I stare at it for a while. Then I grab a cup of tea. And then in the in-between times, I'm working on a faster quilt, one that doesn't need a bird's eye view, and that I'm not so emotionally attached to. Because I don't want to rush this. I want it to stay with me as part of my memories moving back to the country. I want it to evoke those feelings of quiet and adventure, of taking chances and fresh starts.
