Quilts by Julie Ramsey
Archive for January, 2010
Achievement
Jan 26th
After feeling so discouraged yesterday, it’s nice to have made some progress on a project that ended up looking much nicer than I expected.
It turns out that the Easter egg fabric isn’t nearly as busy and overwhelming as it first seems when you break it down into much smaller pieces. I was very pleased with the bursts of color that came out of the egg designs, and how different each of the stars appeared.
I initially planned to do this as a 12-block lap quilt, but since I’m aiming to sell a few quilts on Etsy, I thought it might be smarter to do up a few baby-size quilts. Not only do they piece faster, but I could sell them for a bit less than a larger one, and thereby have a greater chance of actually making a sale. So it looks like there will be at least two baby quilts from this fabric, and plenty of fabric left over to do something else with.
Competence
Jan 25th
For my birthday, my mother-in-law (also a quilter) got me a subscription to a quilting magazine. I love flipping through the pages and seeing all the amazing work that others have done; it helps me to figure out what I like and don’t like in a quilt, which makes it easier to design projects that I like to work on. Unfortunately, that same process can get quite discouraging.
As fun as it is to look at award-winning quilts, I’ll admit that the browsing process gets very intimidating very quickly. By comparison, my designs are cheezy and my workmanship sub-par. Surely these are the kinds of quilts people want to see and receive, not any of the things that I’ve made during my tenure as a quilter.
Sure, I can reassure myself that there’s a massive skill gap between these featured artists and myself. I’ve only been quilting for about five years, and only semi-seriously for about three. By comparison, the people who are entering their work in national shows have likely been doing this for decades! And yet, it’s hard to remember that when I get so discouraged about the quilts that I’ve made in that relatively short timespan.
Certainly, I can compare the projects I’ve completed in the past few months to my very first quilt, and I can definitely see the improvement. Maybe one day, I’ll be able to create work as complex as that seen in big national magazines.
Then again, maybe I won’t, and all my time spent sewing will be “wasted” as I keep turning out projects that are silly and amateurish. And I guess that’s something I need to keep dealing with while I keep reading and keep learning.
Easter pinwheels
Jan 23rd
I’m starting to work with the Easter egg fabric I acquired in Washington, using it for a “stack and whack” kaleidoscope quilt. I wasn’t sure how the blocks would look, since the fabric is fairly busy, but after cutting out the pieces for one set of blocks, I’m pleased with the early results.
After cutting the fabric for one quilt, I may actually have enough fabric to make a second quilt, which would be nice if I’m trying to produce quilts to sell on Etsy now. Maybe I can do one lap-sized and one crib-sized, since I’m not sure I have quite enough yardage to make borders on two lap quilts.
New home, new projects
Jan 20th
Welcome to QuilterGeek.com, the new home of my quilting blog! Don’t be surprised if the page layout changes very suddenly, as I’m still playing with themes and changing the blog appearance until I get it “just right.”
I’m finishing up a weeklong vacation at my parents’ house in Washington state, and it’s been very relaxing. Best of all, my mom took me fabric shopping! Turns out that our local Jo-Ann is moving, and they’re in the final stages of clearing out their merchandise– everything for 75% off! While there wasn’t a ton of selection in the quilting cottons, I found two interesting prints that should make great “Stack-and-Whack” kaleidoscope quilts that were originally $10/ and $12/yard! (Good thing it was so cheap, since you generally need 5 or 6 yards of a given fabric to make the blocks and have enough left over for borders!)
The first is a zodiac-theme print in pink, orange, yellow, and turquoise. I think it’ll make a very neat quilt for a girl’s bed, so I imagine I’ll make it twin-sized.
The second is a rather crowded print of flower-filled Easter eggs on a light purple background. This one might make a nice baby quilt, I think, so I could probably get two projects’ worth of blocks out of it. The print is busy enough that the kaleidoscope patterns should be very interesting!
(Apologies for the picture quality, these were quick snapshots from my cell phone!)
This means I’m in the middle of one project, and I have enough fabric to start roughly four more projects in the near future. Guess I’d better get myself in gear and finish up the one I’m working on before I tackle another new quilt!
Another new project
Jan 12th
I really need to learn to work on one project at a time! As much as I love the aforementioned jelly roll colors, I’m not sure I want to make that quilt just yet. Instead, I think I’ll be trying my hand at a Night & Day quilt with white and dark turquoise fabrics.
To-do
Jan 10th
Now that I’m almost finished with the Tennessee Waltz quilt, it’s time to get a new project or two started up.
The first is a pattern using charm squares I bought from Connecting Threads using their “Impressions of Kyoto” line. I haven’t gotten it put into Electric Quilt yet, but I’ll be taking “in progress” pictures soon.
The second project is a bit more ambiguous, as I don’t have a pattern yet. I spent an hour and a half wandering around the fabric store without any sort of inspiration, until I discovered a few “jelly rolls”* sitting around in a hidden corner of the store. The set is made up of assorted blue and green batik fabrics, so I figure I’ll do something scrappy with them, probably along these lines:
I haven’t seen a whole lot of good jelly roll patterns on the Internet, so I imagine I’ll write up a step-by-step tutorial for this one as I work my way along the pattern.
As I mentioned in my last post, I’m newly unemployed, so I’ve got a lot of spare time for sewing (when I’m not busy updating my resumé and searching for leads). I haven’t had a lot of time for quilting as of late since I’ve been busy with life in World of Warcraft, but now I’ll have plenty of time to catch up on the projects I’ve been hoping to start for a while.
A quilt for Dad
Jan 10th
I’ve been working on a “Tennesee Waltz” quilt for my Dad, and I’d been feeling rather unmotivated to work on it after assembling all the blocks. Luckily, this one stayed out of the UFO pile this week: I lost my job and decided to use my spare time to visit my parents in Washington state. What an opportunity to spare myself the dangers of shipping a quilt across the country! I got my butt in gear and the quilt is nearly finished; all that’s left is putting on the binding, which I think I will do today.
Edit: all finished, and I think it turned out well!
