Bloghop thing
Ruth asked me to take part in the Around the World blog hop. I don’t normally like these things but seeing as I like her, here are my answers…
1. What am I working on?
I’ve done absolutely nothing on my Finish Along list, so I guess I’m not working on any of THAT, but I had a play with a jelly roll on Sunday morning after being ill in the night and having clever ideas as a result (anyone else get this?). So this will probably be my next project when I have some sewing time. Maybe tonight?
2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?
It probably doesn’t, but I don’t like rules. Rules are for schools. I don’t like that something seemingly has to be classed as either traditional or modern by quilt police on either side. I don’t like that brown and batiks are the bad guys of the moment but feedsack repro prints (which I love by the way) and Liberty fabrics are somehow fresh and “on trend” despite their roots being just as historically placed. I can get behind ‘contemporary’ as it just means I made it now, which is true. Anyway blah blah you’ve heard all this before….
I have noticed a bit of a theme starting to emerge and that is I like to make things that relate to me culturally. That sounds like I’m being artsy and arrogant, but what I mean is I like making stuff that is to do with entertainment of my time. I’ve made a quilt block in the shape of a floppy disk, I made the famously redundant Billy Bass, an iPhone inspired cushion and I’ve featured Stephen Fry and David Bowie on quilts. I’d quite like to make a CD-ROM quilt and also if I’m going to make another celebrity quilt I’m pretty certain it will be Annie Lennox next. No hard hitting “proper art” relating to real news issues will come from me I can assure you on that, though I think Jacquie Gering does it wonderfully.
There are many many exceptions though to these rules, as explained in….
3. Why do I write/create what I do?
I also like making animal quilts, mostly because they usually turn out right so I’m comfortable making them. I need to make a bear one for OH soon actually, I have promised. What happened was, I made the moose and it got promoted from the designated wall to the living room and now the designated wall is still quilt naked….
I make stuff that is designed as patterns so needs to be more commercial in design, fabric choices, etc. Yeah I’m a sell out 😉 My quilting habit is funded by the sale of my patterns to magazines, and more recently, within my Craftsy shop. So I have to take this into account and that’s why a lot of my quilts don’t actually fit in with what I said over the previous two paragraphs.
4. How does my writing/creating process work?
I take photos as I work on my new designs and make barely legible notes of measurements, sometimes on the table (or the wall) itself if I’ve got no paper to hand. Then if I pitch the end result to a magazine, all I need to do is use the pictures and notes as a memory guide It amazingly always works.
Whilst I’m talking about my thoughts on design and stuff, it falls in neatly with a meme doing the rounds that I saw on Molli Sparkles’ blog yesterday…
- I am scared of Y seams and mess them up every time I am brave enough to try them again.
- I seriously do not have the time for hand quilting, hand applique, hand anything. The machine is king in this house. Actually I don’t think that’s really a secret. I only break this rule to avoid machine Y seams!
- I don’t get the hype around Anna Maria Horner’s designs- I liked some of True Colors and the daisy-type print in Pretty Potent but the rest, no thanks. I own the ones I like. I do admire her FU attitude to traditional colour combinations though, Alison Glass is also amazing at this.
- I think brown and neon colours are a pretty awesome combination.
- I don’t ever bury my thread ends. I just snip them off and nothing has fallen apart yet.
- I think some notions, fabric ranges, magazines, etc are overrated, and my cynical side says this is due to a very well created marketing campaign, but I’m not completely sold (Clover wonder clips, Cotton + Steel and Aurifil amongst others, I’m looking at you, you marketing geniuses).
- Sometimes I use polyester batting. Bowie quilt is a case in point.
- I just can’t make a quilt entirely from solids, and I’m not even sorry. Solids (and shot cottons) are a bit boring for me, I need my fabrics to be exciting too. Closest I got was Wallander and that was pretty boring.
- I have never used a twin needle.
- If I pucker up my quilt backs when quilting I just whack a label over it, sometimes the labels are VERY big.
August 19, 2014 1:59 pm|
great post Kerry! I confess to be one of those people who don’t like browns much – I hate it as a sashing colour. It’s meh to me unless put with hot pink or aqua! I do have a few bits in my stash for making applique animals or autumn leaves so I’m not a total loss! Never tried using it with neons – maybe hot pink counts?
August 19, 2014 2:39 pm|
interesting. I might just do my quilty secrets list too
August 19, 2014 4:37 pm|
People just can’t go around giving out their secrets, then they wouldn’t be secrets anymore, you crazy!!! I’m also not a fan of AMH (but don’t tell anyone), don’t ask about browns/batiks, you know me, I agree about the clever marketing, my machine hates Aurifil, and lets be honest, it’s thread and most of the time it’s joining 2 fabrics together and isn’t even visible. Clover clips are ok, but nothing a peg couldn’t manage, but i rather like C+S basics, not much bothered by most of the prints but liking the navy ones, I adore solids- think they might be my faves overall, and i found poly batting to poufy, made quilting hard work and much more puckers cos it seemed harder to baste. And the reason I like a little hand sewing, i’m a lazy cow who likes sitting on the sofa watching telly, and that way I feel a bit productive. :o)
August 19, 2014 4:38 pm|
I love your post! I have been wondering why batiks ignored so much in the modern quilting world, I love to incorporate them into my quilts! Also, I agree with your AMH point, I am just not a big fan!
August 19, 2014 4:57 pm|
Great post. Reading these lists has made me relise that I’m not the only one who doesn’t like some of the fabric lines around, and it’s Ok not to like them. There is a lot of heavy marketing around and I agree that some products are over rated although I don think I should say too much about the magazines as I see you design for some of them!
I do like aurifill though. I used to use a few batiks and purples until I was brainwashed by blog land into thinking they were from the devil but I’ve decided to just go with what I like.
August 19, 2014 5:35 pm|
I am so with you on 3&6, which we may have discussed once or twice… I’ve got to say though – Clover Wonderclips are brilliant for sewing bags, you know when you have loads of layers and so when you pin it all kind of wrinkles up… I don’t feel the need to pin or wonderclip binding though, I just pull it forward and sew…
I was debating doing a quiltly little secrets post, but it will, predictably, turn into a massive rant against sew/so, photo’s, your/you’re etc… and noone wants to hear me rant about all that again.
August 20, 2014 12:27 pm|
Quilty secret #6 would appear on my list too. I think there is a lot or mind (or rather marketting) over matter in the quilting world. I love your plan with labels – who says labels have to go in a corner anyway?
August 20, 2014 6:46 pm|
Haha great post and you do make me smile with the quilty secrets. Will be reading everyone else’s now 🙂
August 20, 2014 8:49 pm|
Yeah, I’ve totally had great design ideas when ill – Madrona Corners came out of a couple of feverish nights over Christmas a couple of years ago, glad to know I’m not the only one to hallucinate patterns 😉
Sorry, still can’t get past the brown thing. I think it just makes me feel utterly depressed, like it’s sucked in all the colours and you’ll never get out of the vortex again.
The machine is king here too, too impatient, and too inclined to RSI when hand sewing to be arsed.
I don’t do wonderclips on quilt bindings, but I do on bags where I’d be skewered if I use pins.
I’m not a huge AMH fan either – the voile quilt has a few hideous prints, but it was the only bundle of voile I could get, and it feels fab, and, you know, I’m asleep when I use it so I can’t see it anyway 😉
August 20, 2014 10:15 pm|
Fun Post, love originality, I don’t get the hype on the Cotton and Steel fabrics, I like the basics and that’s about it.
August 23, 2014 12:09 am|
Marking one dot at the corners would likely cure your Y seam anxiety. I am glad you work with brown, I love all the colours and all the neutrals, including brown.
August 24, 2014 10:12 pm|
Definitely identify with some of those quilty secrets!
August 25, 2014 9:46 pm|
#10!!! You are oh so clever!
August 26, 2014 12:58 am|
So with you on the color shots thing. I look at them and say to myself, Really?
August 28, 2014 12:33 am|
Y seams scare me too and I have been quilting for 20 years!
September 1, 2014 7:18 am|
Love your quilts secrets. I’m glad I’m not the only one who sometimes wonder “what? Why?”. Not brave enough to reveal to the world though.
September 1, 2014 11:42 am|
I march to the beat of my own drum – sometimes that drum likes the popular stuff and sometimes that drum thinks it’s a load of tripe (I just can’t get behind Liberty – James May wears their shirts for goodness sakes!). You gotta be who you are – life’s too short to be anything else. But I’m a recluse so that’s easy for me to type 😉 🙂 Keep up the good fight! Muwhahahahaha