My Brain on Quilts

Another custom done…

The other day when my customer and her friend dropped off a fabulous Judy Niemeyer designed quilt, Paradise in Bloom, for me to quilt, I was asked would I leave it out to study it so I could decide what to do?

I’m not always comfortable answering this question.  I don’t leave them out to look at them for even a minute.  I have found I do my best with my back to the wall.  I think what actually happens doing it this way is I don’t overthink something of such magnitude.   I learned from my friend, Shirley Stutz, that to eat an elephant you do it one bite at a time.  I know I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again.  These huge projects would intimidate the heck out of me if I let myself agonize over it for days before it is ever in front of me to get done.  The one bite at a time is the trick.  Each area is not intimidating when I don’t think about the whole thing and what is left to do. 

Swirls are my favorite fill

I paid more attention to my inner self as I quilted this one, since I had been asked if I thought about what goes on the quilt for a period of time beforehand.  I know how I operate and I’ve told customers that I let the quilt speak to me, I thought I would listen to me in my head as I went through this one. I really do think some quilts speak.  The words are really in my head.  I’m not putting the thought in my brain consciously, but I hear the words.

The little flying geese were my starting point

One of the words that kept being in my head was the background fill of McTavishing for the flower petals.  I resisted that word for days.  To the second I started those petals I resisted McTavishing.  I have not felt comfortable doing it before.  I have to think really hard and make arcs that are equidistant and look like they are random.  It has been hard before. But the word would not go away so I just started doing it! It looked fabulous.  It was the perfect background for that petal.  I’m glad I listened.

McTavished petals

The place where I did stones was a no brainer.  I wanted the little triangles to pop.  I saved the little triangles till the very end and found my choice again to listen was perfect for what I wanted to happen.

The long purple spikes did not speak until the last day

The parts I save until the end are usually the parts that aren’t speaking loudly. The Judy quilts are challenging with so many points and spikes to deal with.

The straight pin marks the inevitable spot I missed

Another quilt is in the bag waiting for its owner to come claim it.  I’m glad I am done. Tomorrow starts another custom that is not so difficult to think about. No spikes!