Quilt Prep & A Backing!

Surprise!  More photos of my string star top as I get it ready for quilting.

Names have been swirling through my head - and I seem to be on a flower focus lately.

First with the Morning Glories finish - and this one, which is currently a toss up between Straw Flowers or Star Asters

No matter what it ends up being, I had a blast making this one.

It never ceases to amaze me that we can make a quilt with hundreds of different fabrics, and find a connection to each of those fabrics - remembering when it was that they came into our lives as yardage, fat-quarters, or donated scraps from friends.  They become a part of who we are.

There are so many fun ones in here!

Before I can quilt it, however - there are some edges that need to be trimmed straight.

The sides are already straight - it's just the top and bottom that need this trimming.

For this job I grabbed ANY ruler with a good visible 1/4'' marking that was big enough to go from point to point at the edge of the quilt.  It doesn't have to be a 24'' ruler - I'm working dot-to=dot, so this 60 degree one fit my hand just right and was big enough to do the job - 

The bold 1/4'' marking at the edge of the ruler made it easy for me to see where I wanted the finished line to fall so I was trimming 1/4'' away.

That looks so much better!

I had already stay-stitched the two straight sides, now it was time for me to do the same to the top and bottom that I had just trimmed.

Stay stitching keeps all of those seams from popping open during the quilting process, and also minimizes any bias-y stretch.

All of this didn't take long at all - so I jumped right in to piecing a backing:

Pieced backings may not be for everyone, but I love when I find a vintage quilt that has a pieced backing.  I feel like I could connect with that maker and know a bit more about them because they took the time to piece their back - whether they had to, or simply wanted to - 

It makes the quilt "One of a kind!" 

While we can duplicate a quilt top (especially one that uses one fabric line from one designer/manufacturer and everyone who does gets the same thing) I don't think anyone can exactly duplicate a pieced backing.

It's a signature of sorts!

I may get this loaded on the machine today and start in the quilting. I may want to take time to look up and choose a new quilting design to quilt it with that feels better suited.  Something that makes it fun.

We shall see.

Backing done by mid afternoon I stepped out for a road hike up Bear Branch road.

In just a week the yellow roadside flowers have exploded into bloom.  It is so pretty out here!

Way to Mooooooove, girl!

Temps were in the mid 60s - it couldn't have been more perfect.

I walked out 1.5 miles, turned around and came back for a total of 3 miles.

I was only observed by this handful of cattle -

A couple of squirrels -

And the resident turkeys at one barnyard who gobbled when they heard me singing out loud. And yes, I sing out loud.  There is no one out there to hear me (Except the cattle, the squirrels, birds, and turkeys)

Singing out loud makes me happy!  It feels good.

What was on my playlist?  "Good morning, Starshine - the earth says hello!  You twinkle above us, we twinkle below...."

(Got you singing it now, too - don't I?!"

It's impossible not to be happy while singing "Glibby-glop-glooby, Nibby-nabba-nooby-la-leelee-la-low....."

And listening to the creek burble along as I walk and sing.

I did all of this to clear my head.

WHY!?

Because of people like this: (RANT WARNING)

I have an idea who this is and it is par for the course.  And no, this didn't get posted - it went directly to spam and then was flushed and deleted.

Do people really think I am making MY quilts to please THEM? Silly people!

And would I send an anonymous comment to someone telling them their quilts were too boring for me?

Nope.

I feel sorry for people so lost in their own miserable worlds that they let this word-salad kind of response come out of their tiny closed-off brains with their limited viewpoints onto their keyboard, where without thinking they actually hit SEND!

What a complete waste of time - theirs and mine.

Because it won't stop me from making the quilts that I want to make.  

I "ONLY" make the quilts I want to make. And I like them LOUD and BUSY with crazy backgrounds and no negative space because anything other than that doesn't speak to me.

I do not quilt to please other people. I will not design a quilt to please anyone else's vision of what my world SHOULD look like to their limited, predictable thinking.

This is the main reason why I am not publishing books anymore. I quilt for me, not for the industry that wants me to keep up with trends as a money maker for them. On their schedule.

It's why I've said no to designing fabric lines which would limit me to only ever sewing with only my own fabrics with one color palette in one style where all of my quilts would look the same because all of the fabric lines would match each other as if there are no other color families or color ideas in the world.  

I can't be "locked in" to limited my colors, fabric selection and styles. That's a prison to me.

It would totally limit me to someone else's perception of what I should be making.  What I need to design and make to please other people - and not myself.

So yes, I walked 3 miles, and sang out loud to the music coming from my headset.

And I felt better.  Because I am living the life I want to live.

If you don't like my quilts - you think they are Soooooo busy - enough that you come here to comment and tell me so (As if that changes anything) and you think I should make quilts with just ONE background fabric (BORING) please stop commenting.

Go find someone else to follow - because I am not doing this for you.

I quilt true to my own vision of what I see the quilt as being.

I quilt what makes me happy.

And that's all I need to know.

And while I worked - this is what I saw beyond the windows of the QPO studio - 

Tula resting herself on the edge of the shade, just watching over the world.

She too is doing what makes her happy - 

And today I'm happy to be welcoming The Quilt District to Quiltville Inn!  It's going to be a great week with them here.

Quiltville Quote of the Day -

Even givers need to learn when to say NO and mean it.

⁣

And we also need to know when to say YES and give it everything we’ve got!

Thanks for listening to my rant today, everyone.  Some things can not be kept inside.

I'm headed to the QPO to load that quilt in the machine -

Have a wonderful Wednesday whatever you get up to!