What Are You Working On is a community diary series for all things crafty, in a variety of mediums and techniques.
You may volunteer to guest host by signing up at this yahoo group, which jlms qkw checks from time to time. Also by joining this group, you will receive one email a week when the diary is posted.
Today I will emphasize quilting, one of my favorite crafts. I like quilting not only for the finished product, but for the creative juices brought forth during the process.
As you can see from this picture of my first quilt, it was pretty much a disaster. I began quilting because a friend of mine was giving quilting classes at our local high school, and I thought it would be fun to give it a try. Well, first of all to any would-be quilters out there, NEVER use checkered patterns in quilts. It's just too difficult to make the fabric work. Second, pay very close attention to that 1/4 inch seam. The two designs that included points totally lost their points. When I finished the block I wondered what happened. Clearly I had not paid proper attention to detail. Although I do not display this quilt, I would never get rid of it because I like to return to my beginnings at times of frustration just to remind myself of how far I've come.
This is a quilt I did about 5 years ago for my grandson's birth. His dad is a big fan of astronomy and so I thought I'd make a quilt with lots of astronomy stuff. The fabric includes planets, stars, moons and is generally fantastical. The biggest triumph, though, is the points. There are actually points where points belong. They didn't disappear into the seams.
I guess my point is, if your pattern involves having points, pay attention or your points will disappear as mine disappeared. (pun intended)
Choosing fabric can be so much fun. If you know for whom the quilt is intended you can choose a design and fabric that is just perfect for that person. For the birth of a granddaughter, whose parents were born and raised in Southern California and who now live in Texas, I used ocean scene fabric (star fish, shells, dolphins, etc.) and the design was the Texas star.
Please share what you are working on now, or share what you've worked on in the past, especially if the project didn't turn out quite as intended.