Don't be afraid!!!

So I have a little bit of a rant today.

Last night I went to my monthly scrap club meeting at Prickly Pear Quilts in Helena, MT, http://www.pricklypearquilts.com/.  I absolutely love this group!  Every lady is amazingly talented, gloriously different, and all around awesome.  I leave feeling refreshed and ready to start something new....LOVE them!

We had a discussion though regarding the actual quilting of the quilt.  Now, I truly feel we should not do something we hate in regards to quilting and there are individuals who hate the quilting part on our domestic machines, (or dislike it intensely if hate is too strong a word).  Then there are others that do not enjoy piecing, I know.... gasp! I think if that is the case you should do what you enjoy.  The piecers of the world unite and take your quilt tops to the longarmers of the world and it makes the world a better place.  Both are just as talented as someone who enjoys both parts of the process, (and yes there are lots of people who vary on the spectrum of what they do and don't like, crossing into both sides, me included) .

What I don't want any quilter to feel though is that they can't.  They can't quilt the actual quilt so they don't try, or they are scared to try because the results have not been good.  This makes me sad because at one time that was me....When I was younger I didn't paint because my brother was so good I couldn't compete.  I didn't quilt because my grandmother and aunt were so amazing.  I didn't garden or try rollerblading.  Probably because I have a personality that says, "be the best".   When I was 25, after divorce, I said to myself.....life is short, this is it, if your scared- do it anyway, if you know you will be bad, do it anyway and don't judge whether its worth doing based upon the result but how it made you feel!  Just give yourself up to the process.

I followed that motto and it led me to painting which I thoroughly enjoyed.  The gardening bug hit and I am still gardening.  Quilting came along and I danced a happy dance, though I was atrocious at the start.

Then I discovered FMQ and I fell in love, despite tension issues, ugly stitches, and breaking thread.  All of which sometimes continues to this day.......I have quilted every quilt I have made because of this love and given myself permission to not be perfect.  It does not look as good as a longarmers quilt but it's mine.  I take classes because I enjoy them, I am constantly striving to be better because it's a challenge...and now with my new frame I would like to tackle a different way to FMQ....

So end of rant .....  I pray that the fellow quilters of the world will be gentle with others of our kind, but most especially ourselves and not be scared to try free motion quilting because sometimes it is a catharsis to our soul.

Update Grand Illusion Quilt

I feel like it's been forever since I blogged!  Life can be just crazy and I feel like I am scrambling to find time in my sewing room.

I decided to focus on my Grand Illusion quilt while at Quilt Retreat weekend with my local Guild. While working on it I decided to make a separate quilt out of the green sashing.  I didn't like how the green sashing played with the main blocks.   Now I have two for the price of one!

I still can't decide what backing to use for my Grand Illusion quilt.  While I figure it out I put borders on the extra quilt, sandwiched it, and put it on my Juki to FMQ.

Initially, I mapped out my plan and this is what I came up with:

I decided the Mctavishing was too much though so I stuck with pebbles, swirls, and feathers for the body of the quilt.  Both the feathers and pebbles are fairly new to me so this is definitely a 'practice' quilt.

I think I will attempt the rope design on the inner border...Not sure yet though.  

Thanks for looking!

Grand Illusion Catch Up

1/1/2015 Part 6: The Reveal of the Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt was released by Bonnie K Hunter at http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/grand-illusion-mystery.html and I realized, I haven't even posted part 4 or 5!

Part 4 had two separate broken dishes units:

Part 5 was 4 patches, two separate types.  Unfortunately I ran out of yellow in the middle of this clue, so fabric was ordered and I awaited the next part.

Part 6 was the reveal, and even though I never finished part 5 I could not wait to start putting blocks together.  I absolutely love this mystery.  I have learned so much!  

Without sashing:

  With sashing:

I actually think I like it better without the sashing, it will be interesting to see how it looks in the end.  If you would like to see some other wonderful Grand Illusion quilts in the making hop over to Bonnie Hunter's Mystery Monday Link-Up! http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/01/mystery-monday-link-up-part-6.html