slump ended/why I quilt

I will be the first to admit that I have been in a quilting/piecing slump. Part of the reason was just winding up the loose ends before we put the quilts out on the pews last weekend. Another part was my grandmother's passing and making that 5 day trip out to MO and then trying to get caught up at home from my absence. The other part is frankly, I just didn't feel like it. Who feels like having that hot thing on their lap when it is 80 degrees in the house and the fans are not cutting it? I know better than to sew when I don't have the desire.

I did manage to get the binding finished up on this one Thursday. Yesterday I added aome quilted lines around those large half square triangles and in the large red and plaid flying geese around that center star to get the large pieces to lay down a little better. My frequent readers will recognize the picture from a July post.

I threw it in the washer to remove the markings I had made and DJ was looking at it laid out on a chair in the kitchen as we ate supper. "That sure is a pretty quilt", says he. High praise indeed! (Thank you, Betsy for making the top and then giving permission to scale it back a notch)

The machine was and is still set up for quilting so my eyes lit next on my 30's Pioneer Sampler, pinned and waiting for me to decide whether I am handquilting any of it or machine quilting all of it. I don't know if my sore thumbs are up to the hand quilting part. I started locking in the outer border and some of the vertical lines and the next thing I know I am quilting a few of the blocks. Guess I made my decision though there are a couple blocks that would be easier to hand quilt more in the middle. Man, that thing is heavy with all the pins and just plain BIG!! I'm hoping that it will be easier to handle as I proceed because right now it feels like I have been wrestling a bear. I really want this on my bed sometime and this will make that happen quicker. Y'all have been after me to quilt or piece something for myself so I guess this was it.

Patti asked the question on her blog "why do you quilt?" Well, since I was in a bit of a slump that was a little harder to answer but I think I can come up with a few answers anyway.

Part of it is for the reason you see in the picture at left. Occasionally we get pictures of children with quilts we have donated. This happens to be a little fellow in Paraguay wrapped in a quilt I made and sent with my niece/godchild who had gone on a mission trip with a group from a church in the Bradley/Kankakee/Bourbonnais, IL area about 5 years back.

I feel that quilting is my mission and a way to use my God given talents. My own nieces and nephews don't necessarily need me to make them quilts--my mother has already taken care of that (or will do so if they are still waiting). They, fortunately, will never want for anything in their young lives. I have no children of my own--I've made DJ's grandson two quilts and probably another when he graduates from college so where should I best use my talents? You got it--for someone else that needs them.

I quilt because I do not care to make garments. This way I can still play with fabric but not have to wear it or expect it to fit properly. I have always done something creative with my hands and tried a lot of them. My husband swears that when I die they will have to beat my hands to death with a stick because they will still be fidgeting. He may be right, LOL. I cannot just sit and watch TV without having something else to do--redwork, knitting, even ugh, binding.

I quilt because I love trying new techniques and new patterns. I quilt because I am reasonably good at it and I can't really do things like draw or paint as much as I would like to. It is an art form I can embrace and be a part of.

I quilt because my mom and grandmothers did to some extent. It is something my mom and I can share since we both make quilts for WTIL. It is something that has always been around either on my bed or in borrowed quilt frames and my helping to tie them or at quilt shows I have attended. I own a quilt my great-grandmom made and will share that with you one day. It keeps me connected with all our quilting foremothers and their part in women's history and preserving our craft, seeing that it gets passed on to the next generation.

I quilt because I blog and blog because I quilt. I have friends that do as well and make new ones everyday through this medium. That's about it off the top of my head which is how I usually write anyway--and then re-read to see if it makes any sense, LOL. Hope you all are having a good weekend so far-------