Sunday Ramblings

My kitchen with my lovely new doll quilt from Doll Quilt Swap Flickr Group on the wall. Also 2 little dollies came with the package and a book for Aaron which I just remembered I need to give to him after Musictime. I loved this little doll quilty so much I had to promptly place it on the wall prominently in the kitchen! Pink!! Orange!! Oh how I love those colours. Add a little yellow and I'm over the moon!!

It seems that over at flickr people are coming out of the woodwork and favouriting or leaving lots of nice comments on my photos pertaining to crafty tallents. It went so far as to one lovely sewist who emailed me and asked me a couple of questions that I thought others would be interested in knowing the answers too as well so here goes:

~Where do you get your inspirations from?

Much of my inspiration comes from flickr and browsing (what I like to call researching) for hours sometimes. I'm looking for a design that challenges me. One that I could interpret in my own way. I have a lot of favourite quilters that I look up to and admire very much and will stare at their photostreams for an hour or two just waiting for that jolt energy that screams to me Eureka!

~Do you draft your ideas on paper first?

I draft on graph paper, I draft on regular scrap paper, and I draft in "paint" the computer program. I'm constantly drafting and drawing patterns. If I didn't I'd lose the idea!

I'm not a cookie cutter quilter. In the sense that, more often than not, I don't take a pattern from a book or magazine and copy it to the tee. First of all written directions are beyond me. I'm a visual person. I learn by diagrams and pictures. I can figure out how something was made just by looking at it a while. Tell me measurements and I'll be lost forever.

Once I have an idea I then calculate the size quilt I will make. One of my biggest issues (or analities depending on how you look at it) is I have to draft and redraft to make the most use of the intended fabric that will be used. I don't buy yards upon yards of some fabrics so if a design too big I'll redraft it smaller to make the best use of the fabric I have on hand. I do not like running out!

I bet you're wondering how does a quilt come about?

Well first there has to be a reason for me to make a quilt. Showcasing pretty fabrics. Challenging myself to a new design. Lately the reason is giving a little something special to people in my life.

I think I design a quilt then I go fabric shopping. I'm now realizing that I have available to me good quality fabrics at a fraction of the cost of big quilt shops that I'm able to buy larger amounts of fabrics. But there's a rule: I have to like it before I buy yards of it. Once the fabric is purchased I take it home and wash it. Iron it. Fold it up. Draft the quilt design and get cutting. Usually it all comes together nicely.

I've rambled enough and since this is a Sunday here is a few fabrics I bought this week:

from left to right: we have a binding fabric, then the two middle fabrics are for a quilt I'm planning and then on the right that's one of those "just because" fabrics. A stash filler. I'm in a grey mood. Grey as in fabrics, not as in spirit. My spirit is soaring lately with all this creatitivy flowing from me!