Getting Back Into Show Quilting

So why not design a quilt specifically for show?

That’s what I’ve been thinking about. The problem is back when I did this, I always made catastrophic mistakes that basically ruined the quilt, ruined my chances, and left me feeling very frustrated.

In fact, this just happened again this weekend! I finally finished the quilting on Dream Goddess and got her ready for her first intense soak. This is NOT what you want to see in the bathtub with your finished quilt:

That isn’t a photo filter. That’s bleeding dye! Dream Goddess was constructed from hand dyed fabric that I could have sworn had been rinsed and washed within an inch of it’s life.

Obviously not.

The good news is the dye seems to just me leaking out, not migrating (staining the surrounding fabric). Thankfully there isn’t a lot of light places in this quilt, but I really wouldn’t want the bright yellow sunshine turning brown with purple dye.

So this kind of thing just happens to me. It’s part of the reason why I explained in that quilt show podcast that quilting for ribbons is time consuming, frustrating, and there’s no guarantee you’ll get what you want.

But then I started to wonder… what if the issue is just practice?

I believe firmly in practice. The more we do, the better we get.

I’ve made and shown only a handful of quilts. Of course I made mistakes! What if the trick is just making more. Clearly I still have a lot to learn and this is an opportunity to explore and share pretty designs and styles with the world.

So I’m adding that to my Sketchy Saturday goals. I’m also going to design a new series of show quilts. I want these quilts to have meaning and symbolism, just like my goddess quilts, but not to be so personal that I find it impossible to share them.

With practice, and probably a lot more mistakes made, I think I’ll get the hang of this show quilting thing.

And who knows, one day I might do a podcast and say it’s easy! LOL!

Let’s go quilt,

Leah Day