Saturday, December 12, 2009

Pink



This seems to have been The Little Quilt That Didn't Want to Happen!!
You may notice that the photo has a (badly) photoshopped edge simulating a facing? Yes, well, late last night I heard my father's voice saying "Measure twice, cut once". "Yeah, yeah," I replied, "I do know how to use a rotary cutter and ruler, you know". And cut off the seam allowance. My due-to-be-faced quilt will now sport a jaunty binding when I regain my composure. In the meantime it is having to settle for a clean-up in photoshop.


I decided at the beginning of this round that I would learn from my lessons of last round.
Point 1 : no last minute rush jobs. Time to stop kidding myself that I work best under pressure. No, I don't. I just settle for less.
Point 2: no trying to be clever, fraught with meaning and significance. Just have fun.


How did I go with the Pink quilt? Point 1. FAIL FAIL FAIL. Point 2. MASSIVE SUCCESS!!!
It means NOTHING! There is NO significance!! I'm so proud.


Seriously, I did make a personal commitment that this time I would continue with my original Twelve by Twelve plan to just have fun. I intend to relish this experience a whole lot more than I perhaps did last time and to use it as a bit of relaxation time. Life has managed to become even busier this year and a regular reason to quieten things down is a very good thing.

I should probably talk about the quilt? I have a strong love of contrast in all forms but especially in colour and I immediately knew that my quilt would feature the use of pink and her complement, green. As you can see, I'm not ready to leave circles behind, either. I started with circles of pink that I appliqued to the green background fabrics, then I cut them up and sewed them together in a piecemeal fashion. The hand embroidery was especially enjoyable (partly because it made me sit on the sofa for a while!!) and I thought of Jude Hill and her wonderful spontaneous stitching as I wandered my needle hither and yon.

The placement of the circles was a bug bear from very early on in the piece because my chosen construction technique limited their positioning and I still don't like where they ended up. I tried to redress things a bit with the darker pieces of teal, but they definitely don't work for me. If I had my act together and this was a Study instead of my final piece (which it truthfully should be) I would reposition those circles. But, in the Spirit of Fun and Relaxation and Letting Go, I smattered some buttons and knots and said to myself, "Live with it, kid. Do better next time."

This quilt has genuinely taught me a lot. I feel a series coming on... or at the very least, more small abstract quilts. I'm happy to keep making quilts that, even if they don't quite work, teach me something and make my heart beat faster.

12 comments:

Gerrie said...

Hi Sweetie! I feel your angst! I am going to do some remedial work on mine that I finished at 6 pm last night. Love the circle. Love the spontaneity. Love this hand stitching. Considering your new life, you have done wonders!!

Nikki said...

We have so much in common this round!

Nikki said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Terry Grant said...

Oh, so fun! Your work always has this sense of fun and lightness, without getting silly. I do love the green/pink combination. It is so flowery. Even though there are no flowers here I feel we are in a garden. Love the buttons too. They have gotten to be a signature for you.

jude said...

hey, fun stitching, and of course thank you and i love those circles! a lighthearted cloth.

JB said...

Well, Twelves, you have truly made a unique contribution to my way of thinking about pink. What an enormous variety of techniques and feelings. I can hardly wait to see them one next to the other on your blog.

Diane Perin said...

Oh, Kirsty, this is so charming -- such fun and bubbly energy -- like fizzy lemonade. It makes me happy to look at it. Your stitching and the balance of elements is wonderful.

I laughed when I read your goals and
your success ratio -- but really, it's far better that you were last minute with fun than early with NO fun!

Kristin L said...

I don't think that there was ever a mandate in teh group to go deep and conceptual unless one wants to, so definitely do what makes you happy! Considering yur new shop and the craziness it has undoubtedly added to your life, I think setting aside bi-monthly fun time is a great idea. And your little quilt definitely is fun to look at. It's very, very pretty, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Françoise said...

Nice combination of colours. I really like the green you have chosen to complement the pink.
I'm with you with trying to have fun and relax with these 12x12 things.

mathea said...

I actually said "wow" out loud when your quilt appeared on my screen - I love it. The pink circles seem to be coming in from the left to invade that cool green and teal world, planting their button seeds and you get a sense that pink will soon take over completely, pink flowers popping up everywhere. A happy quilt.

Karen said...

Great blog about this fun quilt Kirsten, I laughed all the way through it. I cut the seam allowance of one of mine last round and had to remake it! Your quilt turned out spectacular, great colors and it is fun, just as you wanted.

Leah said...

oooo wow i LOVE this!! great colors and shapes!!