Life is a journey, so bring your quilting. When you think you have mastered a technique, someone out there can improve on it, or supply a hint to expand what you're doing. Learning from one another is invaluable, so don't be put off by those who tsk, tsk any method out of hand. Sometimes I get it because I quilt on my lap without a hoop or a frame. “Tsk, tsk. You really should learn to use a frame.” I did. I have tried a quilt frame and various sized hoops, but prefer other methods.
A Q-snapTM floor frame was an early quilt-career purchase, made before I pieced a single quilt. You may remember I told you before that “I have always suffered from attaching myself to preconceived notions” (Little Tiny Pieces, April 2005). I figured quilting meant using a frame, and I envisioned little kids playing under it as I stitched away. The Barn told me he remembered playing under the frame whilst Grandma and the ladies from Grandpa's church would stitch in the parlor. Before I started quilting, I read enough to have had this image introduced me to from other sources, as well. My own children were too big to fit under there, so I mentally listed qualifying youngsters, noting who demonstrated the ability to play quietly for extended periods.
Years before, I stitched a panel of cheater cloth in an embroidery hoop, which wasn't tough for me because of my embroidery training as an infant. No lie, I do not remember when I started doing this stuff. The Peg was a signature mom for someone like me. My only recollection of the foray with cheater cloth was discovering that it can be boring to stitch something I didn't create.
Along came “First Try”, my first real quilt. She's a piece of crap, but making her served its purpose, and I love the awkward little thing. I still use her as my nap quilt, my fabric pride and joy. I hand-basted her, taking half a day, then I rigged her up onto the Q-SnapTM. I had arrived. I officially considered myself a quilter, and subbed in our Yorkies as the kids playing under the frame. They sat there, quiet and contentedly close me, as I stitched away.
Here's the part that is so bonkers it must be true, so Kari-with-her-preconceived-notions. I was taking tiny stitches, straight and even. But, wait! Legend dictates that it takes years of stitching to get small, even stitches. Everyone knows that! So, I took them out and made bigger stitches. Really. I did that. Morgan, The Dot, as we call her – she was never very big, so it seemed like appropriate shorthand for “daughter” -- had started calling me “dork” by the time she was nine. It dawns on me now why she was forced into that position. I am a dork. The next quilt I made I went ahead and used little stitches. I just got too tired of taking them out and replacing them with the bigger ones. Dork.
Though I felt Grandma Onerheim beside me at the frame, it isolated me from the rest of the world. I was stuck at home with the Yorkies, quilting alone and without chatter. I knew Darlene had a smaller Q-SnapTM frame at The Sewing Basket , so I graduated down to one that was about 11” by 14”. Perfecto-mundo! This was just what I was looking for to complete the quilt project I recently pieced in an actual quilt class. A pinwheel design, I was planning to give it The Touch that would make it specific to my in-laws, two of my best friends for over thirty years. The new, smaller Q-SnapTM frame was suited for the task.
My next dilemma became the time I spent moving the quilt in the hoop-type frame. Yowsa! That was a drag! I can cover a lot of territory when I sit down to quilt, and the time it took to move the quilt was a lot less fun than actually stitching it. What's a person to do? I wanted to avoid any tucking on the backing that broadcast me as a novice. Stitch, move, stitch, move.
Neil and Judith's quilt was obscenely big for a beginner. It took me over eleven hours just to hand baste it, a task I found frustrating because I knew those basting stitches were eventually coming out, anyway, but – ya gotta baste. It was the tuck quagmire. With their quilt, I removed the little Q-SnapTM frame altogether, and took my chances on the tucks. I think there are a few back there, but I reveled in the freedom of movement and design. I loved not having to deal with the hoop or the frame, and I decided I'd trade off a few tucks for the chance to be me with the needle and thread.
Free motion quilting on the machine was the next signpost on my journey. A friend and I drove the two hours to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for the class. It was held at West Side Sewing (http://www.westsidesewing.com/) and taught by Doris Day! Okay, it wasn't Doris Day, it was Dianne Day, but she is a really pretty blond lady, so we called her Doris. I found out I didn't like free motion quilting, and that I'd rather spend my time quilting by hand. As it turns out, free motion isn't much of a shortcut or a time saver. It is difficult and requires a great deal of skill to do it right. As you know by now, my relationship with machines is somewhat tenuous. Spread the word that we should all respect those who “cheat” and quilt with their machines. It is a trial of dexterity and strength, and not many can do it well. Another preconceived notion out the window.
But Doris hepped me to something new in the quilting world: Sullivan's Quilt Basting Spray! It comes in a pink and white hairspray-sized can, an answer to my prayers. I bonded my next quilt together using my new friend, Sullivan's (here's where you can find the directions:
http://www.sullivans.net/usa/Pages/usa/sprays/quilt/dir.htm), and then did a jubilant lint dance. I love you, Doris Day.
I'm eager to share the wealth, too. When I'm in public and stitching a quilt in my lap, invariably a quilter will emerge from the mists and want to know what I'm doing.
“How does the quilt stay together like that? What did you do?”
“I use Sullivan's Quilt Basting Sp-raaaaay!” It's a sing-song type response. The “spray” part is like a “ta-daaaaaaa”! Try it with me: “Sullivan's Quilt Basting Sp-raaaaay!” I am June Cleaver, extolling the princely shine I get on my appliances using Acme cleaning solution. I am Madge the Manicurist, proclaiming the wonders of Palmolive. I have been handed the key to NoTucksVille. I am Quilter. I use Sullivan's Quilt Basting Sp-raaaaay!”
The newest member of the Piecemakers quilt guild in southeastern Minnesota is moi. I showed them a quilt I had worked on, a monster of king-sized dimensions, and mentioned how hard it is to quilt one that big, since I do it on my lap without a hoop or a frame.
“How do you do it, then, if you don't use a hoop or a frame?”
“I use Sullivan's Quilt Basting Sp-raaaaay!” I gave them the whole commercial. I wish I'd worn my pearls.
You don't always learn what you set out to learn. The journey takes you down unexpected paths, and as you follow, your mind expands. As a matter of fact, have I told you that a Q-SnapTM floor frame makes a dandy quilt rack? It's a safe, non-wood way to display the quilts you didn't stitch on it. Sturdy in construction and high-tech in appearance, I routinely recommend the handy Q-SnapTM frame to all my friends...
Copyright © Kari E.O. Burns June 2005
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