Inchworm, Inchworm, measuring the marigolds.... the song I remember singing in grade one when math was new and exciting.  And then ...poof I was older and dreaded calculating....

Later, in high school - I never was a whiz in math class - but I went every day to class and did my best.  Trigonometry was a breeze until I overthought it.

​Then I figured - “who cares - I’ll never use this in real life”.  Well I was wrong.  I used it in policing learning about radar and lidar laser where we clocked speeders.  I memorized it - but still don’t understand it!

Fast forward to my adulthood and quilting life and I am again bombarded by numbers....quilters really do use math.  Every. Single. Day.

Between 1975 and 1985  the Canadian government adopted the metric system.  Unfortunately they never thought about the fact that our closest neighbours were not about to follow us into the great world of the metric system. Quilters everywhere in Canada began the struggle trying to understand how much fabric to buy when calculating a new pattern or backing and batting for a project on the go. Everything was written in yards and inches.  Yet we now purchase in meters. 

I never realized what an issue this was until I worked as an employee at a quilt store - where many of the other employees often asked me to help them figure out fabric needs for a quilt or backing.  Customers would stand with pattern in hand - still unsure how much fabric or batting to purchase. The employee would ask,  "What does you pattern say?"  Not surprisingly it was written in imperioal measurement.

In Canada many patterns are in still inches and use yardage and yet we purchase fabric in meters.  We then cut triangles, rectangles and squares in inches and shrug our shoulders in confusion when we need to convert the two - to figure out how much we really need.

I have recently been designing and writing patterns and endeavouring to make them easier to follow for all ages and skills.  Much of the pattern writing revolves around giving exact measurements, trimming to exact sizes and adding pictures to match the words that describe how to cut and assemble.  In addition, I like to give the quilter 3 different sizes to each pattern so that they can make the pattern in a size that suits them.  Doing this involves a lot of simple math.

So let me pass along the simple math that steers me though all these calculations when writing out fabric requirements.  All you need with you is your phone or a calculator. Oh, and maybe a little chocolate. (It always makes me think better)  The magic number you will need is .025

As a longarmer and self confessed quilting addict - I often hear from customers or would be customers that they would prefer to quilt their own quilts.  When they don't quilt them on their own - they say it feels like they didn't create it!

Let me set you straight.  Without your quilt tops there would be no finished quilt!  I have never received two of the same quilts - and I calculate that I have quilted at least 1,000 quilts.  So of course the quilt has your touch, your influence and reflects your creativity.

In many cases when doing Edge to Edge (E2E) quilting, customers will request a certain pattern that they choose for me to use - and this adds their own creative touch to their quilts. (You can see some here or choose one from this site.)

Some quilts however, NEED a custom touch.  Often a quilt has a lot of white space or is paper pieced or has a lot of applique - and these quilts really should be custom quilted.  (This is one of my favourite things to do!)  Many quilters will send a quilt top and ask for a custom job - but not know what they want. 

Here is where you CAN get creative.

Here is a quilt I created - just to practice my custom skills - and to my surprise with a little planning - I created a masterpiece.  (if you click on the picture you can see an expanded version)

AND YOU can design your own quiting pattern too - and then send it along with your quilt and request something similar.  Let me explain how.

Often whe we create a quilt, we work from a pattern and it is either digital that we can print or we can scan it. If you have designed your own quilt - you will likely already have a sketch.

Then do the following:

• Print a second picture of the finished top in black and white in draft mode - so it is lighter in colour. 
• Get out your coloured pencils ( or a regular pencil ) and start drawing on top of the picture.  Think about how you can highlight the blocks. 
• If there is white space - think about feathers - and scribble some in. 
• Borders can have scallops or you can just get linear!

​For the quilt I posted above - I will show you my process.

1st step - print out the pattern and begin sketching over the pattern.

2nd step: Isolate areas and scan them so they are larger and begin sketching on these.  This was a blank space - so I simply drew a blank square and started doodling

Then I begin making measurements so that I have some idea of how to fit my drawing on the quilt.  Graph paper helps with this

Then send it to the quilt frame (or your favourite quilter)  and - execute! 

I know - it looks complicated - so let's start a little smaller! 

​Print off a block and play around with ideas about how you might like to see it quilted to highlight the block.  Bear in mind that your drawing will look heavier than any quilting line will look - so do not let that discourage you from doodling on your quilt block.

So go ahead - add some more personalization to your quilt by drawing out how you would like to see it quilted!  Get creative - you will be surprised with how much fun it is!
​

I recently learned from a fellow quilter about the concept of Wabi-Sabi.  It is a Japanese concept - centuries in the making that is often described as the appreciation of beauty that is "imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete". (hmmm remind you of something?) 

Like many expressions and definitions over time - the meaning of wabi-sabi has evolved and has many explanations.  Looking up the definitions from many sources led me down a rabbit hole from which I thought I might never return.  For me there was no clear understanding of the concept except that it meant “perfectly imperfect” - which leads me to tell you a story that you may have written yourself.

Last week a seasoned quilter brought me her quilt top to add backing and batting to - and then to quilt.  She was extremely unhappy with the quilt - and told me to “do whatever” with the quilt.  “I just want it out of my house”.

It’s not the first time I have heard this.  So many of my quilting friends are often unhappy with the quilts that they create.  I don’t often see the errors that they point out right away - simply because I know that the quilt is still a work in progress and the look will change once it is quilted.
I often invite the creator to step back about 3 feet from the quilt top - close their eyes - imagine that they are receiving a gift -  and after a moment I ask them to open their eyes again.  Now, I ask - “what do you see?”

It’s usually an enlightening moment when they can see their unique handmade item in a new light - if only for a second or two.  
As any quilter knows - there is much joy in creating a near perfect corner. And when the colours look perfect together - or a quilt turns out perfectly squared - the satisfaction and sense of achievement rival the feeling of the taste of your first coffee or tea of the day - or the incredible yumm of a much needed chocolate.

But I am going to challenge you on this.  A perfect corner really means nothing in the scope of life.  The beauty in life is loving and accepting the imperfections - in everything.

In our fast paced world now often directed by artificial intelligence and machine made items - imperfection can be beauty.  There is nothing more beautiful than something that is handmade.  Any imperfection could never be recreated in the same way. The expression, “I couldn’t do that again even if I tried” leads to artistic expression and is unique in its own right.  Seeking perfection in what we do can be debilitating and leads to unfinished projects and procrastination.  When we become critical and unhappy with a project it is time to close our eyes and look for the beauty in the creation.  Wabi Sabi.

In the end - my seasoned quilter friend picked up her quilt after I had custom quilted it.  I used wool batting - as it has more loft - and that helped with the look of the imperfect corner and not so straight seams. When she saw it - she nearly bubbled over with excitement (is that even possible?) and exclaimed - “It’s beautiful!”

The funniest part of this story is that she could not see what I saw.  Imperfections in the quilting I had done jumped off the fabric and slapped me in the face.  All I could see was my imperfect quilting.  Looking at her quilt though, she saw the wabi sabi.

No machine could have created what we created together.  And both of our work - as imperfect as it was - created a thing of beauty that is invaluable in a world full of artificial intelligence and mass produced items.
​
So go on….and pull out that unfinished item you have stashed away and add a few finishing touches to it.  Our creations - much like us - are a work in progress.  Appreciate its and your beauty.  Perfectly imperfect.  Wabi sabi.

For someone who likes social order, I never thought I would be a fan of graffiti.  Graffiti is often defined as unauthorized scribbling, doodling or marking of a public space.  It was commonly attributed to gangs using it to mark their territory or make statements against authority. 

​Graffiti over the years has evolved in may cities to become more Urban Art than territorial markings - and wall murals are a perfect example of that evolution.  City cores that were often drab and dirty used urban art in murals on buildings to bring more colour and interest to beautify and add visual interest to spaces that had little vegetation or beauty.  

Never did I think I would create any kind of graffiti art - I just cannot draw well.  Well, sixty-four years has taught me never to say never.  And then came quilting.

When I started to quilt I learned about a facebook group named "QITDA" - Quilt to death anonymous. I marvelled at the quilting many of the experienced quilters did that was absolutely random and gorgeous! They used it to fill in backgrounds on every kind of quilt.  Some of it was whimsical and others of it was pure magical beauty with swirls and flowers and birds and feathers and even scenery of sorts.  I wanted to do that!

I started by simply drawing swirls and circles and feathers over and over.  I filled several notebooks with doodling before I tried it on a sample piece on my longarm.  Creating random connected flowers and feathers and bubbles and spirals was addictive!  I was in love! I could go on and on but the verdict would still be the same - graffiti on a quilt can be transformational.

The best part is how relaxing creating quilting graffiti can be!  It is a great way to make an appliques quilt pop as you can see below.  It is also a fabulous way to add whimsy to an already fun quilt.  I am not yet an expert - and I do not expect to take my graffiti to an urban space anytime soon (if ever) - but what a journey this will be!  

​Thank you to all my quilting customers who trusted me with their creations to doodle on!