This is a first – I went from wrinkly dyed fabric to completed quilt top in just 2 days!
I used the easiest construction method – No Sewing Until You Quilt It – to put this top together. It’s simple, it’s quick and it doesn’t require a masters degree in complication or tedium to connect the pieces together.
What I love the most is the reveal in the end when you pull all the freezer paper away and reveal the fabrics beneath. It’s like a big surprise at the end – TA DA! I love it!
In the video I mention again theThe Paradox of Choiceand I highly recommend this book. I’ve just gotten to the section on regret. Man, I wish I’d read this 3 years ago! I have a bad habit of making decisions, second guessing, then falling into a deep, deep pit of regret over what I choose. It’s AWFUL!
After reading this section I’m actively limiting my choices and not second guessing. Once a decision is made, it’s OVER. Let it go already. There will always be another quilt to make another choice with!
How about you? Do you like the idea of limiting choices and not second guessing, or is this the fun part of quilting for you?
Leah Day has been teaching online since 2009. She's the creator of the Free Motion Quilting Project, a blog filled with thousands of quilting tutorial videos. Leah has written several books including 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs, Explore Walking Foot Quilting with Leah Day, and Mally the Maker and the Queen in the Quilt.
It's beautiful Leah! I love the sun/sky, I wasn't expecting it be one piece of fabric either, it was a wonderful surprise when you revealed it. I have trouble picking a pattern for the fabric, but I'm not usually too bad once I get going. Mind you, I have yet to follow a pattern exactly!
Hi Leah! I live in Saudi Arabia and cannot find French Fuse here and ordering online is too expensive especially since I am still learning this new quilting technique. I have the book for it but not the material. Is there any substitute that you recommend? At least just until I can learn the technique . Thanks.
Also, I always love your color choices. You have a good eye.
I used to have trouble making decisions, but like you, I've moved on to a better place in life. Nobody is going to perish if I do not choose the exact quilting design that would have worked better. No one will be beheaded if the yellow I chose to go with the green wasn't JUST as I had envisioned….I spend the most time choosing fabrics for projects as I've never considered myself colorfancy but the way I see it, if someone else does not like my choices, they are free to return their gift. And if they criticize? Well, frankly, I do not give a rats ass anymore. I'm more than a bad color choice, I'm better than a poorly chosen quilting design, I'm certainly going to rise above any poor choices I make, without regret, unless of course the choice actually injured someone (mental or physical)… But then, you cannot change what has been done, so,while I think it is okay to (in the latter case) think on the outcome of my decision, I cannot and will not ruin the rest of my life over it. All I can do is hope to learn from it and become a better person.
I love this mentality! It makes me laugh to think a bad color choice could mentally damage someone. LOL! This is all just thread and fabric and it's only through experience that we can make better choices. Hemming and hawing about it gets absolutely nowhere!
I have requested the book from my library. You really are illustrating the paradox here: you are freeing yourself by limiting your choices! I love it! I love the quilt, too; she's beautiful, and so is the quilt, and they do illustrate "dreams."
I've been hearing "finished is better than perfect" for a long time, but haven't really integrated it into my thinking, I guess because I feel that I'm not aiming for perfect, just "best." But I'm looking at a finished quilt right over there that I made lots of mistakes on, but doggone it, it's finished! Now I can move on! (That may be the best thing about limiting choices.)
That's what I call "Creative Limitations", a sort of mental designer's tool. By creating a limitation = rule = problem = question, we can focus on what we can do right now with what we have, without getting sidetracked. It's also the way I deal with Happy Accidents.
As you found out yourself (what you described in your previous post) this is a step-by-step or choice-by-choice approach. It prevents overwhelm and keeps us from procrastinating, too – we don't need to know everything at once 🙂
One thing where I went wrong, though, for a long time, was that I forgot that the limitations aren't real, but it was I who created them, and so it's I who can lift them – meaning: When inspiration strikes, go for it! 🙂
This is absolutely beautiful! I love it!
Love it!!!
It's beautiful Leah! I love the sun/sky, I wasn't expecting it be one piece of fabric either, it was a wonderful surprise when you revealed it.
I have trouble picking a pattern for the fabric, but I'm not usually too bad once I get going. Mind you, I have yet to follow a pattern exactly!
Hi Leah! I live in Saudi Arabia and cannot find French Fuse here and ordering online is too expensive especially since I am still learning this new quilting technique. I have the book for it but not the material. Is there any substitute that you recommend? At least just until I can learn the technique . Thanks.
Also, I always love your color choices. You have a good eye.
Look for a lightweight tricot fusible interfacing. If you ask in a store, it would be interfacing used to stabilize knit fabric. I hope that helps!
Thank you Leah!
It's wonderful! Can't wait to see your quilting on it!
I used to have trouble making decisions, but like you, I've moved on to a better place in life. Nobody is going to perish if I do not choose the exact quilting design that would have worked better. No one will be beheaded if the yellow I chose to go with the green wasn't JUST as I had envisioned….I spend the most time choosing fabrics for projects as I've never considered myself colorfancy but the way I see it, if someone else does not like my choices, they are free to return their gift. And if they criticize? Well, frankly, I do not give a rats ass anymore. I'm more than a bad color choice, I'm better than a poorly chosen quilting design, I'm certainly going to rise above any poor choices I make, without regret, unless of course the choice actually injured someone (mental or physical)… But then, you cannot change what has been done, so,while I think it is okay to (in the latter case) think on the outcome of my decision, I cannot and will not ruin the rest of my life over it. All I can do is hope to learn from it and become a better person.
Where can I learn this technique, Leah? Do you have a book or tutorial? Thanks for your help. Your quilt is absolutely gorgeous!!
Awesome! Would be interested in the dyeing process for the sun piece of fabris.
Yes, the technique is taught by my friend Ann Holmes and we carry her book and DVD in our quilt shop: http://www.leahday.com/shop/product/no-sewing-until-you-quilt-it-applique-dvd/
I love this mentality! It makes me laugh to think a bad color choice could mentally damage someone. LOL! This is all just thread and fabric and it's only through experience that we can make better choices. Hemming and hawing about it gets absolutely nowhere!
Love the quilt and your very happy smile! Congratulations – and I've ordered the book!
I have requested the book from my library. You really are illustrating the paradox here: you are freeing yourself by limiting your choices! I love it! I love the quilt, too; she's beautiful, and so is the quilt, and they do illustrate "dreams."
I've been hearing "finished is better than perfect" for a long time, but haven't really integrated it into my thinking, I guess because I feel that I'm not aiming for perfect, just "best." But I'm looking at a finished quilt right over there that I made lots of mistakes on, but doggone it, it's finished! Now I can move on! (That may be the best thing about limiting choices.)
Hi,
That's what I call "Creative Limitations", a sort of mental designer's tool. By creating a limitation = rule = problem = question, we can focus on what we can do right now with what we have, without getting sidetracked. It's also the way I deal with Happy Accidents.
As you found out yourself (what you described in your previous post) this is a step-by-step or choice-by-choice approach. It prevents overwhelm and keeps us from procrastinating, too – we don't need to know everything at once 🙂
One thing where I went wrong, though, for a long time, was that I forgot that the limitations aren't real, but it was I who created them, and so it's I who can lift them – meaning: When inspiration strikes, go for it! 🙂
Maria