Sunday, April 5, 2009

Abandon or Restraint?




Are you the type who crafts with abandon or with restraint? Do you follow a pattern to the letter, planning out all of your materials before you begin and return the unused portions when you've finished? Or do you just begin and see what happens? Surprise, I'm the latter. I'm starting to think that one's first quilt should not be the place for complete abandon. I like scrappy quilts, modern quilts, kaffe fassett quilts, denyse schmidt quilts and I figured I would wing it.

I just cut a bunch of strips and sewed them together, and then I cut the strips into blocks. I have enough for two rows at this point (I referenced Denyse Schmidt's Hop Skip Jump quilt for block size and piecing ideas). With another half hour, I could have a third row. I think I'll do four rows for a crib-sized quilt (lucky Jack). Well, here's where I am so far. I have to force myself to stay on course. I already brought the blocks in to try them as a runner. And truthfully, I'm leaning toward placemats.


3 comments:

Amy said...

I'm definitely in the restraint category! After years of being a scientist and doing experiments, I REALLY like having that protocol or list of instructions. When I cook I like recipes and not winging it. When I play the piano I like reading music and not playing by ear. It's just how I am! Which is why I love reading blogs from people who fall in the abandon category!

molly said...

Glorious quilt strips! I love how you keep paring down the scope. Ha ha.

I start out being very controlled. It's a bit of a struggle as I can envision what I want for the outcome before I start, and if the results are anything less, then it can be a personal disappointment. (OCD, the silent killer.)

When I do let go and do something spontaneous, I find that I get more satisfaction. Need to work in that direction.

Amy said...

I'm more of the abandon type too. Not that I can't ever just follow a pattern but I'm too impulsive to do it all the time.

Great work Jill - keep it up!