I've been working on a quilt for a while now that has given me tunnel vision. It has completely engrossed me. And when I finally finished the top, laid it out and saw it complete, I was disappointed: it's not what I expected and I don't know what to do to next.
So I did what I always do when I'm stuck: I look at what other people are doing, visit the local quilting shops, page through magazines & recently released books, hop through websites and blogs and FB pages... try to immerse myself in all the quilting I can find and jump-start the creative process.
And while I was hopping along through pages late this week, I got to Pat Sloan's FB page where I discovered her and Jane Davidson's project, The Splendid Sampler. It started last week & already had released 4 blocks. Lots of quilters had already posted pictures of their blocks which I really enjoyed viewing.
If I hadn't been looking for inspiration, I might have moved on, but I jumped to the website and looked around. I read all about Pat & Jane, and some of the technique tutorials, I read the FAQs and looked through the blocks and bonuses. They have loads of designers contributing blocks and it will continue for about a year. It's an impressive project!
So I did what I always do when I'm stuck: I look at what other people are doing, visit the local quilting shops, page through magazines & recently released books, hop through websites and blogs and FB pages... try to immerse myself in all the quilting I can find and jump-start the creative process.
And while I was hopping along through pages late this week, I got to Pat Sloan's FB page where I discovered her and Jane Davidson's project, The Splendid Sampler. It started last week & already had released 4 blocks. Lots of quilters had already posted pictures of their blocks which I really enjoyed viewing.
If I hadn't been looking for inspiration, I might have moved on, but I jumped to the website and looked around. I read all about Pat & Jane, and some of the technique tutorials, I read the FAQs and looked through the blocks and bonuses. They have loads of designers contributing blocks and it will continue for about a year. It's an impressive project!
It had nothing to do with what I was looking for, so I started following the links to all the designers. But it stuck with me... I have yards and yards of fabrics that I'll never use in the quilts I design, but I can't part with them... when I calculated the Splendid Sampler project would take approximately 11 yards of various fabrics, I realized I had more than enough to make it.
So it was off to the basement to sort through fabrics. I ended up with 4+ boxes of fabrics that I estimated at 26 yards. Half of it was upholstery fabrics, so I decided I'd make one project out of only those. That would be my skill-building project.
The rest of the fabrics is all old stuff. It came from other quilters, several sets of cotton curtains from my Great Uncle's farm (old-style curtains, the ones that hung in the bottom cabinets of the pantry and kitchen), fabrics my grandmother never used, fabrics from my Mom's sewing projects, and a couple duvet covers from the 40's or 50's that were never used. Those will be my second Splendid Sampler project.
And just like that, in the course of one day, I took on 2 long-term projects!
So it was off to the basement to sort through fabrics. I ended up with 4+ boxes of fabrics that I estimated at 26 yards. Half of it was upholstery fabrics, so I decided I'd make one project out of only those. That would be my skill-building project.
The rest of the fabrics is all old stuff. It came from other quilters, several sets of cotton curtains from my Great Uncle's farm (old-style curtains, the ones that hung in the bottom cabinets of the pantry and kitchen), fabrics my grandmother never used, fabrics from my Mom's sewing projects, and a couple duvet covers from the 40's or 50's that were never used. Those will be my second Splendid Sampler project.
And just like that, in the course of one day, I took on 2 long-term projects!