Let the Quilting Begin . . . please . . . now . . . soon . . .

Inside my comfort zone: doing things I already know how to do

Outside of my comfort zone: attempting to use a skill that I do not yet have

Anyone ever see “How to Make an American Quilt”? I read this book and saw this movie when I was young (15 years ago to be precise), and ever since have been obsessed with the idea of making my own quilt(s). The closest I can remember to ever actually following through on that inspiration was years after the muse struck me, the summer after my freshman year of college, when I spent a week with my soon-to-be-roommate, Emily.

I spent a week of the summer hanging out at her house. This week involved some beach time, a trip to Disneyland, SO many movies, but most memorably, the décor preparation for “The Sitting Room.” The Sitting Room was to be our most awesome dorm abode, to provide ample, shnazy, comfy places for people to sit and enjoy our hospitality. We dreamed that week of movie nights, game nights, and general merriment that comes from packing more college students in a 10X10 space than fire codes should allow. As it turned out – that year far surpassed our wildest dreams and even went on to involve some non-seated activities, most notably including the inception of the breeding of the popularity of a line dance to a remix of Cotton-Eyed-Joe. [Where DID you come from?] Anyways . . . as we visioneered our residence, we could not fathom that anyone would be enjoying our hospitality if we asked them to simply sit on our uncomfortable dorm carpeting, which thinly covered a very firm concrete flooring. So in addition to shopping for a great, cheap, blue IKEA love seat, we set out on a mission to quilt a plethora of entertaining pillows. Yes – I did say entertaining pillows. We decorated our pillows with all manner of inside jokes and FRIENDS one-liners, so that the pillows could serve as cushioning, game pieces, or just a good laugh. I don’t think we ever would have won any awards for craftsmanship or stitching – but those pillows served us well – and the B3 Sitting Room will go down in history [at least Emily’s and mine rendition of history] as some of the greatest 100 square feet on this planet.

remnants of "Sitting Room" pillows

I recently revisited this quilting dream of mine, and my super-supportive husband responded to my musings by buying me my very first ever sewing machine as a birthday gift. [Marriage Counseling Sidebar: I think one of my more important elements of making a marriage thrive is supporting one another’s dreams in any way you can. I learned this from my mother, who has helped my father start three of his own businesses, and I have been blessed enough to marry a man who lives this out in our own marriage all the time.] So, with my creative energy all ablaze, and with my first sewing pattern in hand, I saw down to my little sewing machine to start my very first project. I turned on my Netflix-watch-instantly and hit play on “How to Make an American Quilt,” to begin my journey, serenaded by the movie that planted the dream in my heart. Frankly, I was thoroughly unimpressed. I do not recommend this movie anymore. I think my sophistication in movie watching has evolved a bit since I was a kid. Not to mention, they barely show quilts, or how to make them, at all. I was quite disappointed. It did not work in the movie’s favor that all the while, I was struggling to figure out how to work this machine that is so simple, and yet besting me all the same. But, as you know by my last post, I did struggle through and complete my little project, and am not so broken by the challenge as to damper my enthusiasm to start into another one. It is time for me to start really learning how to quilt!

I’m pregnant with my first little one and am hoping I to make her a little quilt so she will know how much I love her already and am thinking of her and how special she is to me and our whole family. When my mother was pregnant with me, she needle pointed this beautiful Christmas stocking, which we use to this day. I’m not sure my quilt will be quite so grand, but I’m at least attempting a similar gesture.

[Parenting sidebar: I anticipate that the majority of my parenting efforts will be analogous to this attempt – I will remember how amazing my mother was at X, attempt to live up to her, and only manage to execute a mere shadow of her mothering-greatness. I am prepared for this inevitable disappointment, but also grateful to have had a mother who ALWAYS sets the bar so high, that way my daughter will hopefully still have a pretty good mom]

Thing is, I still don’t know how to quilt. I’ve dreamed up a little pattern, but am now taking several steps back to try to learn actually how to make a pattern, and then another step back to learn how to cut the fabric, and then another step back to figure out how to measure and buy the fabric [apparently they will look at me funny if I go in and ask for a 33 inch by 10 inch piece of fabric], and then another step back to learn how to read a pattern and plan out how to execute it step-by-step, etc. Many thanks to my mother-in-law, Nora, who gave me an hour-long consultation on the quilting process yesterday afternoon, it scares me to think what I would have created if I had just tried to do this on my own. So, despite all my enthusiasm and the image I had in my head of sitting down with my machine the moment I got it and starting in on my baby’s quilt, I’m finding I need to invest much more time and patience into figuring out how to do this right. Nonetheless, each step of the way is calling for creative energies that have been very fun to expend. Stay tuned, as progress might actually start moving forward someday soon . . .

Call for input: I need to practice quilting by using some quilting block patterns, anyone have some handy or have good advice for a novice quilter?

Food for thought: What childhood goals or dreams have you neglected or pursued?