Thursday, September 24, 2015

The Long Road


I had a plan for this quilt...and maybe that was the problem.

I got two rows into the plan and started spending more time squinting at the design wall than sewing. That's not a good sign. (I snapped one picture with my cell phone, you can find it on the @pieladyquilts Instagram feed.)

I have a particular album that I like to listen to while I am sewing. It is a compilation album from Alecia Moore (P!nk) and Dallas Green called "You + Me." Since I'm too cheap to pay for the premium Spotify service, I get to listen to a lot of other music (and commercials) in addition to that album. Spotify likes to intersperse songs from "You + Me" with interviews from Alecia and Dallas. In one of these interviews, Alecia said, "It feels so good when it's good you know when it's not." I heard that one morning, wholeheartedly agreed, and started ripping the half-done quilt top down to components.

I thought Quilt 2.0 needed more black and a different setting, so I cast the plan aside, cut into some black and started piecing. I thought a radiating setting might be fun, so I tried it. I decided to not use a ruler, so I didn't. After awhile I ran out of shot cotton in Moor (the background), so I used shot cotton in Aegean on the side and the top. There was a whole lot of "what if?" in this quilt and it felt so, so good to be carried off by the process.

In the end, I was gratified to see that I had literally made a path that spiraled out from the center. A circuitous, wandering, meandering sort of path that passed a lot of different landscapes, but a path all the same. It was doubly gratifying since I had a plan in my personal life blow up while I was making this quilt. I had a lot on my mind and so much to consider. I worked my way through both problems simultaneously and got the same answer...hold on to faith and take the long road. It all works out in the end.

I took that lesson (and a friend) out with me when it came time to photograph this quilt. Linda and I decided to try an industrial setting and set off together with a plan. Ha ha ha! I will never learn, will I? We didn't love any of the places we had in mind and ended up at a dead end near a construction site. Linda talked me into driving onto the site and talked a few confused construction workers into listening to us. Finally a hard hat poked up over the top and shouted down, "I slept under a homemade quilt my whole childhood. I've got a soft place in my heart for quilters!" He rode the motorized lift down and visited with us for a minute. His mother is an award-winning quilter (I think he said her name was Jane Moore, but the equipment was noisy and I'm not sure if I heard him correctly). His neighbor growing up was Freddy Moran. Really? Of all the construction sites in Iowa, I pick the one that has a guy that will talk all things Freddy Moran with me. How awesome is that?! We clamped the quilt on the lift with him and Linda got the pictures. I haven't stopped smiling (or chuckling) all day. I am happy that I don't have all of life's mysteries figured out. I am delighted that I can still be surprised and I am always thankful to run into fascinating people. Your son is a kind man, Jane. I am glad there are so many of us together on the long road who speak quilt.

Photo by Linda Lee.


Photo by Linda Lee.


The back.

I used natural shaping methods to "square" this quilt. It measures approximately 52" x 66." I used Aurifil #2605 (Medium Gray), Aurifil #4093 (Jade), Aurifil #2692 (Black) and Yenmet metallic thread in #7003 (Pearlessence White). I quilted this in organic, radiating lines. All prints are from Lizzy House's "Natural History" line.

I just finished reading a book called Collaborative Quilting by Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran. Coincidence? Probably not. Also a very fun book to read.

Lastly, I'd like to share the mini quilt I made for the Kaffe Fassett Mini Quilt Swap. My partner requested geometry and color. I gave her shot cotton and improv. I'll know on Monday if we're both happy.

Linking up to Finish it Friday with Crazy Mom Quilts.

37 comments:

  1. The photo with the construction worker! The best ever quilt photo shoot !!!

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    1. Thank you! That man was a one in a million find, that's for sure!

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  2. I hope the life situation works out just as beautifully and cosmically as Quilt 2.0 and the photoshoot. Amazing work, and as always, your writing makes it so much more.

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    1. Thank you, Yvonne! I'm sure, in time, I will look back and see that circuitous life path working out exactly as it needed to. For now I am trying to relax and enjoy the journey.

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  3. Oh it's a fabulous quilt and I love the story behind the pictures. Fingers crossed that the personal issue sorts itself out just as beautifully!!

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    1. Thank you, Carie! Beauty comes from struggle, right? That's what I tell myself, anyway.

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  4. Stunning quilts & great locations. Six degrees of separation, I think that is called!

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    1. Quilting makes for a small (and infinitely more interesting) world! Thanks, Jenny!

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  5. great quilt and photo locations!

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    1. Thanks Barb! My friends help me with the photography all the time. I've got a big network on the lookout for great spots. It doesn't hurt that there are so many nice people and beautiful places in Iowa, either!

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  6. Sometimes a different direction takes us down the best roads. Beautiful Quilt!

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    1. No truer words there! It's good to embrace the detour. Thank you!

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  7. MUCH MUCH Like.
    And your Kaffe Fassett Mini Quilt -- Oh my. Wonderful.
    That margin blue/ cornflower blue -- OH My.

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    1. Thank you, Marsha. That slate blue is one of my all time favorite colors to work with. Everything looks great with jeans, right?

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  8. I love your finished quilt and adore your story! It's had me smiling all day!

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    1. Me too, Debbie. I feel like the gloom and doom agenda gets shoved at us all the time. Maybe that makes the positive interactions we have with the world even sweeter. This will always be such a happy memory for me!

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  9. seeing the quilt on the side of the barn next to the corn--could have named the quilt corn maze--doesn't your quilt remind you of walking through a maze? Lots of obstacles to overcome to get out at the other end.

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    1. I definitely see your point, Rosemarie. I would happily volunteer to get stuck in a Lizzy House maze world anytime!

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  10. Amazing quilt, and what a great story to the photo shoot! Maybe there's a hidden message in there telling you that things will work out. And I need a friend like yours to help me on quilt photo shoots who has the confidence to head right into a construction site to get a photo!

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    1. Thank you! My optimistic nature definitely took hold for this quilt because I really do believe that things will work out. Linda has enough chutzpah to share. It's a great quality to have in a friend.

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  11. Awesome post, awesome quilts, awesome photos...u r great!

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    1. Thank you so much! I enjoy every step of the process and I am glad you liked hearing about it. :-)

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  12. What a FUN post and a wonderful quilt! Love it.

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    1. Thanks, Beth. I collect stories like I collect books. I know that I'll pull this one out and enjoy reliving it for many, many years.

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  13. The universe was smiling at you for sure! I like the quilt too.

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    1. I think so too, Nicole! I am glad that my nervousness about asking didn't prevent me from having an awesome experience.

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    1. Thanks Cheryl! Both were new things for me and I'm glad it worked out!

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  15. There is nothing more heartwarming than this. Congrats on the perseverance through uncertainty. You were certainly rewarded in the end.

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    1. Thank you, Stephanie. "Perseverance through uncertainty" is such a great phrase. Definitely a metaphor for life.

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  16. Very fun quilt story. Always nice when interactions with others are unexpected but kind and awesome.

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    1. Thank you! I enjoy fun stories as much as I love fun quilts. And, there's nothing better than running across a genuinely kind person.

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  17. Great story. I always like your quilts a lot and this one is no exception. Isn't it fun when we think we are going one way but the quilt has other plans and we end up somewhere different?

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    1. I know, right? I feel dumb that I questioned myself for as long as I did...it just ended up being more to rip out. Thanks, Kaja!

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  18. What a great story! And what a small world. You find the one construction guy who has a relationship to quilts... I love both of the quilts and you need to keep on posting - I get very inspired by your work!
    :) Shelley

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    1. Thanks Shelley! I am just about done with the next one. If I only could talk myself into the long hours of quilting as easily as the long hours of piecing, I'd already be there! For now I am rewarding empty bobbins with chocolate/Spanish dramas on Netflix! 😀

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