I contend that the recent resurgence in the popularity of quilting is due to modern cutting methods. Their accuracy produce more successes, and if one is successful, one is more apt to repeat the process. A by-product of this is the contemporary penchant for buying new fabric for each project, and throwing away large chunks of unused fabric. In the old days, quilters created exclusively from what you might find in the trash bin after a guild workshop. I've mentioned Mrs. Clausen's quilts before. She is my beacon for using what we already have to its best effect. Of course, her goddess-like natural abilities at quilting didn't hurt, either. She was accurate well before any of us knew the name Olfa. The gifted ones like her kept the art and design end of quilting from dying out altogether.
These days, we tend to think of making quilts using 44-45” strips, which we cut and sew together in a variety of ways, then cut into new pieces and sew together again. A Double Irish Chain is a snap using this method. It's a new way of thinking, and for many it's the only way of thinking. Examining a quilt's design now includes how to get the thing pieced quickly by using our practical new methods. This results in a whole new segment of the industry – Quilt In A Day projects by Eleanor Burns (no relation – I'm not that perky and nice); quick quilt and fat quarter instruction books that can be found everywhere; comparisons of the best acrylic rulers and rotary blade sharpeners which dominate many quilting discourses; sewing machines that can now embroider handmade-looking redwork blocks; and classes on techniques that take the math out of quilting and instruct us on how to fake an appliqué.
It's all good, but some of us just can't get the hang of it. For me, it's probably the fallout from having The Peg as a mother. Perhaps she calculated that I'd be kept busier longer if she had me cross-stitching on pieces of small-checked gingham than she could if she taught me how to use the pattern stitch dial on her tan Singer 400. Mothers of five have their own notions of practicality.*
Into this new market came the Square in a Square Ruler®. If you don't know about it, it's kind of a puny thing, as acrylic rulers go. Looks, as they say, can be deceiving. I bought mine in a zipper-type bag with the instruction/pattern book along with it. I don't know if Jodi Barrows, the genius who thought this whole thing up, still sells them that way, but you can find out all about the dang thing at http://www.squareinasquare.com/ Compared to my 24" x 8" behoomath , I didn't think I'd be using this one on a whole length of folded fabric right off the bolt. Kathy, the woman who taught the Class of April 1997 at Country Calico (St. Olaf, Iowa – one of my very favorite quilt shops**), was skilled in teaching the technique. She told us she now sees the world in Square in a Square®, and her enthusiasm certainly caught my interest. After we made a block, which has since become a pillow in the guest room, I was ready to try my hand at this at home, unsupervised.
Tad got the full-sized effect of my Square in a Square® talents. I made a Revolving Star right out of one of Jodi Barrows' books, using solid navy blue and a couple of Civil War reproduction fabrics. There are (sit down) ninety-two pieces in each of those Revolving Star blocks, and all I did was cut some strips, sew 'em back together like the book said, then cut 'em up another way and sew 'em back together. Amazing. Unlike Kathy the Teacher, I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I just have really good reading comprehension skills. The thing covers Tad's extra-long twin bed, and every time I look at it, I try to recall how I made it happen. I'll have to try it all again someday. I have the ruler, and the deftness of using it comes from the pages of Jodi's book.
But the priceless nouveau piece of my quilting techniques library is what I call the “Trust Me Card”. It's real name is the Fons and Porter's Perfect Binding Card, and is true to its promise. The first thing you'll see on the front of this heavily laminated, school-bus yellow card is “Liz's Lumpless Finish” technique. Under the first tip, she states, “Allowing ¼“ extra space is critical. The binding tends to stretch as it is stitched to the quilt. Trust me, if folded ends meet at this point, the binding will be too long for the space after the ends are joined.” I added the italics for emphasis, hence my nickname. I just thought it was so down-home of her to plead for my faith in her experience. Yeah, right. Hello? Who has a quilting show on Iowa Public Television, and who is sitting in her dining room behind her Viking, with the cutting mat set up on the kitchen island? I think I can trust Liz. (Find out for yourself at www.fonsandporter.com.)
I guess I like to prove to my myself that I can do things like Square in a Square®, but my own personal satisfaction comes from the Clausen Method. To me, sewing machines were meant to go forwards (and backwards, if you want to get fancy), and I like slowing down to fussy-cut things by hand. That makes the design something I can talk about. I know how to get my creative juices flowing, but I see the wisdom in experimenting with new stuff.
Otherwise, how would I know to yell, “Halt, THEIF!” when someone absent-mindedly walks my Trust Me Card out of sight?
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*To her credit, The Peg could see in me what I needed brought to the surface. My native interest ,combined with my desire to be as good at textile construction as my sister Jeanie, assured her I was hooked. By the way, Jeanie is still at it. She can drag her eye across a set of raw materials and have a dimensional creation in no time. My hero.
**Country Calico Fabrics is located at 19035 Depot Road, St. Olaf, Iowa, 52072. Ph. 563-783-2445. Owner Mary Ann Keppler has a collection of fabrics that is like going through your own personal stash. She is gifted in the way she buys fabric – not in whole collections from a particular line, but in a way things work together if you use your own imagination. She encourages us to explore our inner design selves.
Copyright © 5/7/2005 Kari E.O. Burns
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