Earlier this week I was having coffee with my friend Margaret who is a retired architect, a writer and a software designer. She’s a very creative person and I think that’s why we enjoy each other’s company so much. We can discuss ways to be more creative and ways to get more done. We both love to write and we both have our passions to write about – I have quilting and writing about quilting and she has software designing. She’s already released one app for the iPhone called ILand 3D. I’m really not into that sort of gaming thing but I think she has done an awesome job and she has a vivid and prolific imagination.

Anyway, the point of all this rambling is that we were discussing all the things we wanted to do and all the things we wanted to learn and how we were going to make our ideas into something tangible and successful. As we were vocalizing our to-do lists she said “I feel like a puppy on a polished floor!” and I knew instantly what she meant. For a puppy, everything is new and exciting. There are distractions to explore at every turn and puppies have the energy to try and tackle each and every one of them. But put that puppy on a polished floor and he has no traction to make him go in the direction he chooses. While trying to gain his footing, he forgets about what he was focusing on before and spots something else to go after! The cycle continues like this until the puppy slows down long enough to gain his footing and make his way to where he wants to go.

Quilters are artists, whether we think of ourselves as such or not. I often feel like a puppy on a polished floor and I need to focus on ways to ground myself long enough to actually see my ideas materialize into the “thing” they were intended to become. The puppy analogy was truly an eye opener for me and I am trying to organize myself and incorporate my creative artist side with my actual person-living-on-this-earth side. Lovely Margaret came to my rescue like an angel from above a few days later when she gave me a copy of The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. This book was first brought to my attention by my editor at Martingale but I never took the time to check it out. I wish I had! I haven’t even finished the first chapter, only the introduction, and it has already helped me to focus and really work on my writing. The book is for artists of all makes and models, painters, writers, actors, dancers, quilters, etc.

The first thing we are introduced to in The Artist’s Way are “morning pages” which Cameron says “are nonnegotiable”. Each morning, before you do anything else, take time to freehand write 3 pages of anything that comes to mind. I thought this would be difficult for me because my thoughts come out faster than my hand can write them and then I cannot read my own writing. Guess what, I was wrong on both counts! (Imagine that!) Since I committed to The Artist’s Way “program” I was determined to make it work. The first day my handwriting was OK but by the third day, I had slowed down and made sure my writing was legible. This helped me slow down my thoughts, concentrate on one thing and put it down on paper! This is the carpet on my polished floor!

Instead of diving head first into my all-or-nothing way of doing things, I am taking baby steps, making small goals for each day and slowly over time, making them routine. I was raised to be cautious of people, cautions when spending money and cautions about taking risks. My Dad always told me to “Look before you leap.” This is good advice for personal and financial safety but in The Artist’s Way, Cameron gives us a new mantra for our artist side, “Leap and the net will appear.”

creativity, schedulig time to quilt | Read 1 Comment(s)

A new quilter in Texas (who wishes that I don't use her name) wanted to know how I stabilize a quilt top for quilting on the longarm. Here is what I tell my students.

Stabilizing the quilt and the method or process you use is entirely  personal preference. I think it’s important to stabilize the quilt and here is how I do it and why.

1. I always float the top, meaning I don’t pin the top the top roller. Instead, I pin just the backing and roll it taut between the layers. I lay the batting on top of that and the top on top of the batting. Some battings, like thick polyester might require basting to the backing but generally cotton batting stays put as you quilt.
2. To place the top squarely in the frame, I use channel lock to stitch a straight horizontal line. I use this guide line stitching to line up the top of the quilt top.
3. Next I use a regular stitch length to stabilize stitch across the quilt top close to the top edge. I’m usually too lazy to change the stitch length to basting because this stitch (as well as the side and bottom stabilizing stitches) will be enclosed in the binding and doesn’t need to be ripped out.
4. Next I stitch a vertical guide line stitch and a stabilizing stitch on each side. Order doesn’t matter, generally I stitch the right side first because that’s where the machine is and no reason to waste time moving to the left side. Use channel lock if you have it, to stitch a line to use as a guide then line up the side of the quilt and stitch the top close to the edge. For the sides, you will just stitch down as far as you can without advancing the quilt.
5. There are several brands of centering tape for the longarm and I suggest using that as a check to be sure the top stays centered, especially if you don’t have channel lock. Now you quilt as much as you can in this area available to quilt. I call this area the “working surface” of the quilt.
6. I prefer to stitch my pantograph designs off all edges of the quilt. This is the reason I run the stabilizing stitch very close to the edge of the quilt top. If a design goes off the top and back on, it won’t fold over the top and stitch in a crease. Stitching off the quilt is a personal preference. I don’t like seeing the locking stitches on the quilt.
7. After completing all the quilting on the working surface, advance the quilt and stabilize the left and right sides in the same way as before by first stitching the guide line then the stitching on the quilt top. When you reach the bottom you really don’t have to stitch the guide line but if you think it’s needed then go ahead but you’ll need to stitch the stabilizing stitch close to the edge of the top.
8. The process I use is always: guide line stitch – stabilizing stitch – quilt, each time the top is advanced.  For custom quilting, it doesn’t matter if you start at the right, left or center. I generally stitch whatever is near where I am or whatever I can complete in the shortest amount of time.

There really aren’t any rules and with practice, you’ll find what works best for you and produces the results you want. When I teach, I tell my students how I do things and the reason I do it so they can do what makes sense to them.

Longarm Machines, New Longarm Quilter, Stabilizing the Quilt | Read 1 Comment(s)