I think I might finally be ALMOST ready to call myself a quilter. Maybe.
I actually got some sewing done over the weekend! And yes, it was that crazy quilt that's been haunting my sewing basket since January! From the very first stitches back in January, mistakes were made. SO many mistakes. And they've continued right through to the sashing, driving me absolutely crazy along the way!
Which, come to think of it, makes the name Crazy Quilt rather appropriate! 😂
But I celebrated each mistake because I learned something important every time. Mostly what NOT to do! And perhaps the biggest lesson was to follow instructions and resist the temptation to freestyle the important stuff. Like maths calculations when it comes to sashing!
In my 40 years of sewing, I have never, EVER unpicked the same project as many times as I've unpicked this one. And it wasn't even the same step I kept getting wrong. There was pretty much unpicking required at EVERY stage!
Crazy quilting the pieces together in the first place? Used the wrong batting. Unpicked it partway through and started again. Free-motion quilting that first block? Unpicked it twice! Decided to try machine embroidery to stipple stitch the quilting? Yep, unpicked that too. And then there was the sashing. Oh, the sashing!
I had three solid attempts at joining those blocks before finally settling on a technique. And even then, I still managed to unpick that a few times too. At this point, I'm fairly certain I've spent more time unpicking this quilt than actually sewing it! 😂
But I've learned an enormous amount along the way. I feel like I've properly cut my teeth on this quilt, and for the first time, I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable calling myself a quilter.
Which is a little ridiculous, considering I've made about 15 quilt tops over the years, and completely finished another 10 or so quilts. Apparently 25 quilts still wasn't enough for me to feel comfortable calling myself a quilter. 😂
But there's a story behind that.
About 25 years ago, I signed up for an evening quilting course run by a state-based quilting organisation that shall remain nameless! I was already a confident garment sewist, but quilting was a whole new world to me.
I was handed a materials list, so I took myself off to Home Yardage, bought all the bits and excitedly fronted up for my first class. Someone glanced over my supplies, handed me a well-photocopied instruction sheet and left me to cut out the shapes. No explanation of what a Half Square Triangle should actually look like. No guidance on cutting or pressing. Just a rather grainy photocopy and a whole lot of assumed knowledge. I didn't even own a rotary cutter!
So I fumbled my way through the first class and took my project home. Still enthusiastic about making my first quilt, I dragged out my sewing machine and pieced all those imperfect little triangles together until they mostly resembled the picture on the photocopy. I was quite pleased with myself!
The following week, I bounced excitedly back into class, ready to show everyone what I'd accomplished. And that's when I discovered I'd committed a terrible crime.
I'd MACHINE SEWN my quilt pieces together! 😱
Apparently, that was simply NOT DONE. And that's how I learned about the very real existence of the Quilting Police, and how their judicial system has no jury. You go straight from committing the crime to doing the time! 🚨
I could confidently set in a sleeve and sew a dart, but quilting was still a dark art full of mystery to me. I was there to learn, not to be made to feel ashamed of what I didn't know. I never went back after that second class. I was so ashamed of what I'd done, and how I'd been made to feel, that I couldn't face returning.
That quilt went into a bag, into the back of a cupboard, and hasn't seen daylight since. And even after all this time, I very honestly have no desire to dig it out and relive that shame. I went back to sewing clothes, where I felt comfortable and confident, and didn't dare step back into the realm of quilting until about 5 years ago.
Looking back, it's rather sad that a group of people who were supposed to be encouraging newcomers managed to make me so afraid of getting things wrong or showing anyone what I'd made.
But something rather wonderful happens when you reach a certain age. You stop caring quite so much about what other people think. 😂 Except you, dear reader! ❤️
So while I'm feeling rather young at heart but old at cake (and knees!), this age has given me the most wonderful freedom to care very little about other people's opinions, and a thick enough skin to simply enjoy my sewing projects, imperfections and all. ❤️
These days, I'm happy to show my mistakes, laugh about the things that go wrong and share what I've learned along the way.
And this crazy quilt? It really has lived up to its name. It's tested my patience, my problem-solving skills and possibly my vocabulary. But I've learned more from making it than I ever would have learned from being afraid to try. And it's still far from perfect, but somehow it's absolutely perfect for throwing across my legs while watching TV in the evenings. ️And definitely no AI-generated sewing here. Just take a good look at those stitches if you need proof! 😂
So perhaps, after all these years, I'm finally ready to call myself a quilter. Even though I still flinch a little as I say it! ❤️
