Category Archives: quilting

Finding Fun Along the Way

Just a few changes

When I first starting dating Train Guy, we didn’t go on the normal dates. Instead of restaurants, nightclubs, movies or the typical dating dreck, we took a less conventional route. We went to quilt shops, hobby shops, quilt shows and model railroading shows. Now that I think if it, I’m not really sure how this pattern evolved. I’m pretty sure it was something like, Him: “What do you want to do this weekend?” Me: “Well there’s a quilt show I wanted to go to…”, thinking he’d take a hard pass and I’d have to find some other time to go by myself. To my surprise, his response was an enthusiastic, “OK!”

After that, the next weekend we looked for something model train related for him. It turns out, I found model railroading to be very cool. It reminded me of the modeling that I did when I was growing up. I had a dollhouse which I adored and made everything you can think of for the stylish 1:12 scale family. I’m not kidding when I say I actually used the line “Want to come in and see my dollhouse?” at one point in our early dating days. We had to get down on the floor, as I had recently moved and didn’t have it set up on a table. I pulled out all the little wooden furniture I’d made over the years, recounting how old I was when I made each piece and proudly showing off the insane level of detail. Case in point, I once made a sewing machine that flipped up out of a little cabinet and even had spools of real thread with little holes in them so they could actually set on the machine. The little machine also had an actual needle and a little stitch length lever made from a glass head pin. As I learned more about model railroading culture, I found out that that kind of crazy attention to detail made one what is known in the model railroading vernacular as a “rivet counter”. Upon that realization, Train Guy was more smitten with me than if I’d showed up to our date in a leather mini skirt.

For Train Guy’s part, I’m not sure that he really cared much about quilting per se, but he really enjoyed all the tools and widgets we quilter’s use. He was particularly excited about rulers and cutting implements, specifically how one could cut up fabric faster. Back at home, he designed a system of clamps and rulers derived from his wood working tools by which he could cut an entire yard of fabric into perfect 2.5” strips in less than a minute. Now that’s the kind of man you want to keep around.

Those dating days are far behind us now, but today whenever we go on any kind of vacation or even mini-road trip, we start out by mapping all the quilt and train shops as well as any shows or events. The fun of finding new places and the joys of seeing something new never ends!

The REAL Reason I Buy So Much Fabric

Maybe someday

For we quilters there are a lot of excuses for buying fabric that you don’t really need. The explanations are many, such as: “I’m bored with what I’m working on”, “I need it for a gift”, “I don’t have just what I need at home in my stash” or “looking at new fabrics inspire new ideas!”. For me, there is really just one explanation that covers it all: digital printing.
I first started seeing digitally printed fabrics in the early 2000’s, although the technology existed twenty some-odd years earlier. The first digitally printed fabrics I saw were very nerdy looking geometric stuff that appeared to be more like diagrams in a lab report from back in my old my MIT days than fabric designs. Fortunately, the florals soon arrived, and they were sumptuous. I was especially fond of anything from Hoffman California. I even went through a period that lasted at least two years of only buying Hoffman’s.
As the technology improved, the costs went down and now digital printing on fabric is everywhere. With traditional printing, each color required a new screen and with each screen the production costs went up. There was a practical limit to how many colors one could have in any one bolt of fabric. Now with digital printing, there is virtually no limit to the number of colors per design. Additionally, the lines can be very thin and crisp, making for a very vivid, even photo-realistic design.
The final benefit of digital printing is the one I like best: Digital printing opens up the market to a whole new generation of independent fabric design artists. Gone are the days of having to work for one of the major fabric producers and only being able to produce designs that the marketing team thought would sell a zillion bolts. Now, independent designers can print as few as 20 yards economically, making for a much larger variety of choices for the fabric consumer. Designers can afford to take chances on niche designs… and do they ever! As a result, there are so many interesting fabrics available today that I simply cannot help myself! I love the diversity of the design and color choices but most importantly, I’m so thrilled to be able to support independent designers.

Stash vs. No Stash: The Great Debate

Quilting and Collecting are actually different hobbies

If you are a quilter, you are definitely going to have a lot of fabric, whether you accumulated it intentionally or not is a source of great debate. Some quilters end up with a lot of fabric because they simply make a lot of quilts and extra fabric is a by-product of that process. Some quilters have a lot of fabric because they essentially “collect” it, either because it’s pretty, they have an idea for a project they might use it in, as a building block of their fabric library… the list of reasons goes on and on. But is having a giant stash of fabric actually a good idea? Consider the following:

  • How much space will it consume – A big stash is going to take up space. Do you have the room to spare? If your family is sitting on bags of fabric instead of chairs or you have to store things in piles on the floor because the closets are full, a huge stash might not be right for you.
  • How will you store it – There are endless blog posts written on “how to store fabric”. The choices range from the obvious – big plastic tubs, to the more creative – folding it up into mini-bolts on comic-book cards. The former has the problem of being environmentally unfriendly (all that plastic!) and after a time the plastic does impart a funky smell into the fabric. The latter is terribly clever and looks oh-so-cute all neatly displayed on a shelf, but the card stock does absorb moisture and can lead to mildewing and bug problems. Finding the right method for long term storage can be very challenging as there is no one perfect solution.
  • So many folds – No matter how you store the fabric, it’s going to have fold marks – lots of them. After years of storage, getting out those fold lines when it’s time to actually use the fabric can seem near impossible. Sometimes I feel like going out and buying new fabric rather than dealing with the endless pressing. I’ve even had to cut “around” the folds, which is a waste of fabric.
  • Out of fashion – Fabric, just like clothing, goes out of style. Maybe you don’t have 30 or 40 years to wait for it to come back in style, or maybe it just no longer speaks to your sensibilities, so why continue to hold on to it?
  • The guilt – Buying fabric is FUN. Having a huge pile of it at home really takes the fun out of buying new fabric because of the crushing guilt. Why am I buying more when I already have so much at home?
  • Unfortunate repeats – I have at times re-bought the same fabric that I already own because I either forgot that I already owned it, or I knew I had it but could not for the life of me find it.
  • Bound for the trash – After years and years of carefully curating the perfect stash, you have to be realistic about where it’s all going to end up: in the trash. When you are no longer on this mortal coil, it is highly unlikely that any of your remaining family members will take the time to lovingly move your stash on to some new home. It’s probably going to end up in a dumpster faster than the real estate sign is going up on your lawn. That seems like a tragic end for the fabric that you spent so many years lovingly collecting.

The Best Parts of a Quilting Retreat

what happens on the retreat stays at the retrat

Going on a quilt retreat is always a fun and rewarding experience. In addition to the treat of getting to go to some new city or town, you are surely going to drop in on a new quilt shop or two, but going on a retreat is not just the excitement of visiting new places. There are many other rewards:

  • Inspiration – Seeing what other people are working on is a great way to get inspired for new projects. Imagine the same quilt in a different colorway or a new size!
  • Motivation – Being amidst some very productive people is the best way to finally find the get-up-and-go to finish up some nagging UFOs
  • Education – If there is a technique you are struggling with, there is guaranteed to be someone there who can help you out and is more than happy to do so. I’m talking about you, mitered corners!
  • Communication – The chance to talk endlessly about all things quilt related all day and all night is a delight for me, and a welcome respite for my poor hubby who mercifully got to stay behind.

If you have a chance to go on a retreat, you most certainly should. You will definitely learn some new quilting techniques, come home with a bunch of new ideas and no doubt make some quilty friends in the process.

A Case for Buying Fabric as Souvenirs

I’ll wear two pairs of jeans at once to make room for the fabric
I recently took a trip to Acadia National Park… in the middle of the winter. The park was closed so that you couldn’t climb any of the mountains, but the shore was still accessible, and it was a lovely trip. All of the little shops were closed. The only businesses that were open were two hotels, one local pizza and beer type restaurant… and the local fabric store. Of course, I had to make a visit. I bought some beautiful fabric with blueberries on it, after all it was Maine, and some starry night type fabric to remind me of those crisp winter nights. I plan to make some dumpling style bags from those fabrics (bought the pattern from another shop in Maine on the way up to Acadia), and I can’t wait to get started.
I make a deliberate effort to buy fabric everywhere I go, as a sort of textile reminder of my travels. Buying fabric as a souvenir rather than a T-shirt or a key chain is a great idea for a me as a quilter because it’s not just a mass-produced trinket that will quickly become lost, broken or forgotten, it’s something I am going to use. Moreover, the projects I create from these acquisitions are made even more special because they evoke memories of the trip with their every use.
I have extended my fabric souvenir shopping by recruiting friends who travel to buy me some fabric if they have the opportunity. I’ve received some beautiful bark cloth from Hawaii which became a tropical tote with paradise vibes and some sunny pillows for my screened porch. Quilting cotton from Korea became a shirt dress. Some silk from China became a scarf for only the specialist of occasions.
The next time you head out of town on a trip, be sure to stop by the local fabric shop. You may end up finding some memories there, too!

How to Find Your Lost Scissors

Lost scissors, again?

As a quilter, I have many scissors of course but one pair stands out as my most cherished. Unlike the ratty “Red Handled Scissors” I detailed in my last post, these scissors are exquisite. They are a pair of impeccably sharp Gingher Dressmaker’s shears with fancy teal and yellow floral painted handles. When I have those scissors in my hand, I can do anything but when they are lost, I’m a mess. All productivity screeches to a halt. Logically, I realize the most sensible thing to do in the case of their inexplicable absence is to make a modest effort to find them, and if I can’t, just grab the next available scissors knowing that the good ones will turn up. If only it were that easy. When my good scissors are missing, I just can’t do anything until they are found. It’s like they are some kind of magic charm that ensures my project will turn out beautiful. The last time I lost them, I tore the house apart looking for them. I even checked the most unlikely places, like the refrigerator, logically because I’d once left the TV remote in the fridge while going for a snack.
My husband has a long-standing explanation for a situation like this. He quips the lost item is temporarily in another dimension, and I simply have to wait for Other Jen to stop using it. Have you ever opened a drawer, looked for something, not found it, closed the drawer only to open it again 30 seconds later and find it? Well, that is the Other You using the object in another dimension. You simply must wait for Other You to finished using it. Other Jen did eventually finish using the good scissors and was kind enough to put them back in a not totally obvious place but one that would delight me when I did find them: under a stack of fabric, right on the cutting table. Being happily reunited with my scissors (again) always reminds me of a Peanuts cartoon from years ago where Snoopy muses something along the lines of “Tidy people will never know the joy of finding something thought irretrievably lost”.

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