‘when life gives you scraps and all that cr**…’ and other words of wisdom

I’ve been thinking a fair bit lately about the most valuable quilting knowledge that I’ve collected so far. It’s no surprise really that this has come from hanging with Red Buttons. These points mainly come from qualities that I most admire in the other Button’s makery. I’m sure there are some new Buttons too, who would also provide excellent points on this list- but you get the point, this is one first rate group. Here’s just a few….

from Tanya:

* Aim to make quilts with soul that are down to earth.

* Don’t over complicate things- often simplicity is the best (I think this is one of Kirstie’s points too).

from Sharon:

* When putting the quilt sandwich together, keep safety pins a fist width apart. Sharon reminded me of this as she helped pinning a quilt in the beginners class, where we met. I can always do with nice memories like that when this horrible and most hated stage arrives. It often leads on to thinking about the absolute precision in pretty much anything she turns her hand to make and keeps me motivated not to get sloppy at this stage too!

from Tracey:

* Dream! enjoy regular trips with your imagination, considering quiltery possibilities. Then sketch away.

* Um, everything I know about free motion quilting. Her  top pointers on this for me are:

– break designs down into component shapes

– keep all quilting between the space of your hands. Once you’ve filled this space, pause to re-gather thoughts, before shifting hands and continuing.

* Aim for ‘conceptually beautiful’ quilts. I love it when Tracey uses this phrase.

from Julie:

* Don’t even think about quilting unless you have some good food at hand (and a cuppa of course). In my books, you can’t go past anything Julie’s baked… she is one of the most amazing cooks and incredibly generous persons that I know. She is an incredibly intuitive cook and all round maker I think, reinforcing the importance of not being too fussy and just going with what feels right.

from Kirsty:

* Quilting is all about the fabric right? Preaching to the converted here, I know!  Really enjoy fabric, for fabric’s sake. Enjoy playing with colour, design etc whether new or recycled. Aim for the fabrics to ‘zing’ together.

* A little dash of yellow, no mater how small in a quilt gives it life

*Quilting often benefits from some straight lines somewhere to give it structure.

* Don’t lose sight of good design!!! (this is a point I feel rather passionately about these days)

from Michelle:

* Quilting, like most things, is best when it involves lots of laughter. It’s a little creepy putting this into practice alone, so I’ve joined another Monday quiltery group to work on this point.

* Hoarding fabric is not only OK, it is probably a sensible and wise thing to do- never know when you might need it. This point I suppose is perhaps more about as sense of comradery 🙂

from Elle:

* I haven’t happened to meet this red button yet, but from what I’ve heard, she a button with real balls and subscribes to the principle of ‘don’t just dream it, do it!!’ I get a little bit of a spur along just thinking about her ambitious/adventurous spirit

 

Lots of love

Flo