Ann Champion's Blog

I’ve just finished a string quilt. It measures 82″x 96″.

It has a story..and it’s not a happy one.

Last Fall my son said he could use a new quilt..his was getting worn.  He uses his quilts hard..not leaving it on the bed, but taking it wherever he goes.  He also has two large dogs that sleep on the bed.  A quilt with fine hand quilting seemed a bit silly? So much time invested in something that would “used up”.

I had just finished the hexagon Leap Frog quilt. The color scheme had been pulled from a piece of fabric my son had gotten me for Christmas.  I thought a String quilt made from those same fabrics would be nice, ..and I could machine quilt it, just as I did the hexagon quilt?  I was sure he’d like the colors/fabrics since they were pulled from a fabric he chose?  I used fabrics without any flowers, so it would have a masculine feel.

I saved up my junk mail so I could use the paper as a foundation for piecing my blocks.

It’s free..and I sure do get a lot!  I might as well put it to good use?

I folded the paper so I could get a square and trimmed off the extra.

I was ready to sew!  When foundation piecing through paper set your stitch length a little shorter to perforate the paper more for easy removal..and so the stitches don’t pull.

I cut my stripe fabric into strips that were 2″ wide.  Then I folded them in half lengthwise so I could snug them into the fold I made on the paper.

I pinned the strip in place so it wouldn’t shift and was ready to sew the strips of fabric that I had cut at 1.5″ wide.

The strips could have been cut a variety of widths, but I decided to keep them all the same.

I lined up my first strip, face down along the edge of the striped fabric and sewed a 1/4″ seam, right through the paper.

Then I opened out the fabric and ran my fingernail along the seam to crease it and keep it laying flat.  A wallpaper seam roller works great for this too.

I kept adding strips to both sides of the striped fabric until I had the paper covered.

Then I flipped the block over so I could see the paper and trimmed the edges.

Nice and neat..easy peasy.  I removed all of the paper while watching TV one evening.

Then I took all of my blocks and laid them out on the bed to arrange them so I didn’t have the same fabrics up against each other.

It was at this point that my husband came into the room and said it was the ugliest quilt he had ever seen.  Well..that sure took the wind out of my sails..and I didn’t want to give a gift that was hideous..so I tossed the blocks in a box and set them aside.

A friend asked about the string quilt I had mentioned as I was working on it later, and I told her the story.  She said it couldn’t be that bad..how about showing a pic of it? So..I posted a pic of a couple of rows sewn together on my Flickr page.

I got comments that it was pretty..and a couple of people marked it as a favorite.  By this time Christmas was over..but I started to think maybe I should go ahead and finish the quilt? It might not be that bad?

With my son’s Birthday approaching..and some little “hints” of things he might like as gifts..I decided to get that quilt put together and quilted for him.  In the past I’ve given the boys money for their Birthdays so they can get whatever they wanted.  That custom sort of evolved because it was their preference, but with the “hints” I thought it was his way of telling me he’d rather have gifts?

It was now July and less than 3 weeks until his Birthday. I got the top together and borders added. I got the top basted and was ready to machine quilt it. I was stopped in my tracks when I found the quilting foot to my machine wouldn’t go on.  That foot  hadn’t been returned to me when I had the machine serviced last Summer.  I notified them right away and they sent me the foot, which I put away so it wouldn’t get lost. To my horror..I found they had sent me a foot for a different model!

OK..now I have 2 weeks until his Birthday and there’s no way I can get a replacement foot in time. I fiddled with other feet..and found the machine still had the problems I thought had been fixed. This quilt is NOT going to be machine quilted.

I decided to try big stitch quilting.  I’m not a fan of tied quilts, and didn’t think it would hold up to heavy use?  Big stitch quilting seemed to be the best option? I wanted to try it anyway.

I had a ball of aqua crochet thread here that I thought would work great? Surely 175 yards would be enough?

I looked through my supply of needles and found a Tapestry needle with a big enough eye to get the thread through.

I started my stitching and quickly realized the needle had a blunted point.

It made the stitching very difficult. I zipped out to the store and got a pack of Chenille needles. A size 22.  They are nice and sharp and made the stitching much easier.  I found the needle a bit difficult to pull through the layers, so I cut the tip of a finger off a latex glove and wore that as I stitched.  It made a world of difference!

I decided to stitch along each side of the stripe first and I’d go back and do more quilting in each block later.

Our temps here were HOT. It was in the 90’s and we don’t have central air.  Normally I don’t quilt in the Summer and do applique projects instead, but I had a deadline…so I sat the fan right in front of me and stitched like a mad woman.

I ran out of the blue once I got all of the stripes quilted so I had no choice…I switched to white crochet thread.

My son was here several times while Iwas working and never made a comment.  That’s not unusual. The guys rarely say anything about my quilts.

On the Friday before his Birthday he brought his dogs over for me to watch for the weekend. He was going out of town to a friend’s lake for the annual boat races.  He asked me if I was going to give him money for his Birthday..and I was surprised..but said “No…I got the feeling you might like gifts better?  I bought you something..and I’ve been making this quilt for you.  Why?..Would you have preferred the money?”  He said..”Well..I really could use it…and I was hoping I could get it early. ” I was a little stunned, but..I gave him the gift I had bought and $50 and he went on his way.

I felt gutted.  I’d been working my tail off in extreme heat for 3 weeks…and he’d rather have “beer money”?  Maybe he thought the quilt was ugly too?  I thought my gift from the heart and from my hand would be appreciated..and maybe even loved? Maybe he thought I’d give it to him anyway..so why not get the money too?

It made me wonder..do I place a lot more importance on the act of making and giving a quilt than the recipient does? It’s not the first time I’ve given a quilt as a gift and it wasn’t appreciated.

On Monday I went in for three biopsies. Possible skin cancer.  I was told I’d get the results in about a week.  I was already feeling hurt..the rejection of the quilt felt like a rejection of me too.  Now my body and face were wounded too…and the thought of facing a nasty surgery on my face has been heavy on my mind.

I’ve been wondering…why do I spend so much time, energy, and money on quilting? Is it just time and resources wasted? My family doesn’t seem to care for the type of quilts I make. Is continuing to make them madness?

After a LOT of thought…no.  I don’t think so?  While it may not make sense to some…having a needle and thread in my hand is calming.  Touching and seeing the fabrics, their colors, their designs..feeds my soul.  The texture of the quilting..the dimension it adds to the piece, The rhythmic up and down of the needle as it sews, the vast number of blocks, settings, color combos, and techniques keep my brain active. There’s always  a new challenge for me if I feel like I want one. I can also do tried and true favorites.  They’re like like familiar friends. I like learning the history of fabrics and patterns..and a lot of women’s history is written through needle and thread.  AND I like to think about the person I’m making the quilt for.  Actually, quilting allows a lot of time for quiet contemplation.  I’ve worked through a lot of things that were heavy on my mind while quilting.

I spend a lot of time alone, due to my husband’s traveling for his job.  Quilting gives me a reason to get up in the morning.  It allows me to have some control over some things, while I can’t have control of a lot of the things that happen around me.  I quilt because I NEED to.

Sorry this post was so long….sometimes you just have to let things out..get them off your chest?