August 2, 2012

Quilting: An Ending


The last fabrics ready to go.

Himself:   Had a really balanced day.

Herself:   Wonderful J didn’t come in to help with the books, but I got a lot of books out and some priced to go out today.   Class today with a tiny piece about the costumes of Comic Con, and tomorrow work really early photographing the hundreds of tiny, plastic bears and other sale items.

Reading:  Still skimming, now a different book.

Balance:   Dinner: a dry baked squash, mushy broccoli with orange sauce, corn bread from a mix, and a no garlic avo and tomatoe salad.  Himself was scandalized by that.

Olympics:  http://www.nbcolympics.com/get-local/tvlistings.html

I confess that getting rid of the last of my fabrics is a very saddening thing.  I love quilts and quilting, but I am not very good at it.  Not at all.  My inability to do math, my inability to measure reliably gets me in trouble every time.  I’m frightened every time I start a quilt.  Sometimes I get so upset that I freeze in place and do nothing for a year or so on a project.  Then I am sad that there it sits with nothing happening.

Every time I start a quilt, I wish I were doing anything else.  I always have the knowledge that I will fail while working on this newest quilt.  Always I am reminded of Dr. Harriette, and that quilting was her great retirement enthusiasm that she shared with everyone….all her teacher friends and all her grad students quilted for a while.  After finishing the big blue quilt last year, I’ve been thinking about ending my quilting.

We have a sewing teacher that donates to the Cancer Society Discover shop.  I asked her on her last visit if she needed fabric for any of her low income students.  She leaped on the suggestion, and yesterday she arrived to take the last of the AIDS Quilt fabric and my fabrics away. 

If I ever have a need to quilt again, I will buy more fabric.  What I really want is a little black dress. 


Aarons second quilt.  My second quilt too.  Then I did one for Beth.


The house quilt showing examples of famous American buildings, as well as our house and camper. 


Mohave’s quilt.  I was so excited to find I had a picture of this.  Yes, these are my first ruffles too.  Yes, I am laughing at myself.


A wildly shaped and colored quilt for Sally.  It matched her room when she lived in San Francisco.


Zoe’s quilt now semi restored and back with her.


The bedroom quilt.  Many of these fabrics have faded already.


The red quilt.  It’s for the living room when it is red.  I’m fading.  I no longer name my quilts.


The blue quilt.  The back is someone else’s finished quilt from the thrift store.  The front used up much of my blue stash especially the William Morris fabrics.

I’m glad to have had this run with these fabrics.  By participating with the AIDS quilt, I found something I could do with Harriette’s quilting enthusiasms.  Now by giving these last fabrics away, I feel I’ve come full circle and now can move on to something new using fabrics.  Perhaps that little black dress?

6 comments:

  1. My daughter's MIL is a quilter and taught my oldest granddaughter how to quilt. This added to her artistic talents. I taught her to crochet. She's now a fiber artist although she prefers working with clay and metal. I love you artists, you are so talented. I know math and can measure things, but that doesn't always help. What I need is inspiration. Dianne

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  2. I quilted very little a long time ago. Just to learn the technique, but doubt it is my cup of tea for a big project. I will stick to cooking, photography, writing. They all require much less space. I was surprised to learn that it had been such a challenge for you!

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  3. I'm impressed! I cannot even sew on a button!

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  4. Your quilts are lovely! It's always a bit sad to see the end of an era. I've moved through several art forms in my life. Clearing away the former enthusiasm makes room for the new. Little black dress sounds good.

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  5. I used to sew my clothes when I was a college student. Then I tried sewing puppets as a mother. Now I don't sew at all, preferring to take my mending to the seamstress at the dry cleaner's. Sewing takes a lot of patience, doesn't it.

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  6. Mage, I had to go back and read your post again to make sure I read your statement correctly that you're not good at quilting. You've got to be kidding me. These are fabulous. You are really talented!!! Wow! I'm impressed. You need to keep making these incredibly artistic creations AND your little black dress.

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