Letting Go of the Reins: A Quilter's Journey into Mystery

Quilting is my therapy, my creative outlet, and usually, my personal challenge. I've always been drawn to the art of designing my own quilts—from creating the pattern to choosing fabrics to sewing each intricate piece together. It's a process that brings both joy and a fair share of stress, but that's the thrill of the creative journey, right?

However, my quilting routine recently took an unexpected turn when I found myself grappling with a new dilemma: letting others take control. For someone who thrives on the challenge of crafting my own designs, it was both liberating and, admittedly, a tad terrifying.

Typically, I steer clear of patterns—not because I don't appreciate the myriad options available, but because I relish the challenge of navigating the creative chaos and finding my own path. Isn't following a pattern, selecting fabrics, and stitching the quilt challenging enough, you ask? Well, yes, it is. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, I couldn't resist the allure of the 2024 Murder Mystery Quilt.

Here's how it works: they provide a colour palette, and each month, a new block arrives along with a chapter of a murder mystery book. All I have to do is select fabrics that fit the palette, sew, and read. It sounded like a quilter's dream—someone else doing the hard work, leaving me with the joy of the craft.

So, is relinquishing control liberating or terrifying? The answer, it seems, lies in the delicate dance between the two.

Liberation Through Creativity: There's a unique joy in allowing someone else to guide the process. Choosing fabrics within a set palette is a delightful challenge on its own. It sparks a different kind of creativity, forcing me to think outside my usual colour schemes and fabric choices. It's a refreshing departure from my usual routine, liberating me from the self-imposed pressure of perfection.

The Element of Mystery: The murder mystery aspect adds an intriguing layer to the process. Each new block brings not only the excitement of stitching but also the anticipation of unraveling the mystery. It's like sewing my way through a gripping novel—one stitch at a time. The element of surprise keeps the creative energy flowing, making each step a revelation.

Terrifying Unknowns: Yet, there's an undeniable fear in not knowing the end result. When you purchase a pattern, you have a visual guide—a picture of the quilt, showcasing how the dark and light fabrics harmonize to create a cohesive design. With the mystery quilt, I'm left to wonder about the final product. Will the colours align with my taste? Will the finished quilt sing for me?

The Verdict: Embracing the Journey: For now, I've chosen to embrace the mystery. The uncertainty adds an element of excitement to the creative process. Will I like the finished product? Will the colour palette resonate with me? Will I successfully solve the mystery? These questions linger in the background, but the joy is in the journey itself.

Quilting has always been about more than just the finished product; it's a labour of love, a dance with creativity. Whether liberating or terrifying, relinquishing control has opened a new chapter in my quilting story—one filled with surprises, challenges, and the joy of going with the flow.

So here's to the unknown, to the liberating terror of creativity, and to enjoying the process, stitch by stitch. After all, isn't that what quilting is all about?

#QuiltingJourney #MysteryQuilt #CreativeChallenge #EmbraceTheUnknown #QuiltingCommunity #StitchingStories #2024MurderMysteryQuilt

5 quick exercises to get your patchwork mojo back. (Copy)

I’ve lost my patchwork mojo; how do I get it back?

It has happened to all of us at some point, I think.

So what do you do when you have lost interest in patchwork and still have a room full of fabrics? Well one thing is for sure you need to find your mojo and get sewing again.

Here are 4 exercises to re-ignite your creativity or just get you feeling a little differently.

1.      Look at colour. Walk outside, stop and close your eyes. Take a deep breathe, open your    eyes, what is the first colour you see? Now look at the colours around that first colour. Do the surrounding colours contrast or compliment that first colour? Does the colour combination work or not? Does the colour combination make you feel happy, sad, energised, warm or cool?  Grab some colouring pencils and with the help of this printable sheet document the colour combo. http://www.nestofquilts.com/cheatsheets/qtzbyqkr45rftxtevyo4anz8xosnbx

Each season has it’s colour pallet, do you have a preference?

 2.      Either pick up some interior design magazines from the shop, library or op shop and look at how interior designers use colour combinations. Take note of the colour that “pops” in the images and how much of it they use. Great colours to use for “pop” are black, hot pink, orange, purple, lime green and white. 

 3.      Now that we have looked at colour and have hopefully re-ignited some creative interest let’s look at patterns.  Again let’s go back to nature, in the garden. Does the garden path, the highs and lows of the planting, the clouds create patterns? Do the windows of the buildings create patterns? Now start filling in the boxes, on the sheet you printed out in exercise 1,  with patterns, random lines, just doddles, don’t over think it, do it quickly maybe 2 or 3 minutes. Is there one you like, if so colour it in using one of the colour combinations from the above exercises.

 4.      Go to your fabric stash and put together some of those colour combinations you played with in exercise 2 and 3. Throw in a “pop” colour and see how it changes things? Hopefully you are starting to feel a little energised and are wanting to go beyond the theory and into the practical.

 5.      I have left this exercise till last because it is almost too obvious, look at Pinterest. But I am going to put some restriction of your search because we all know Pinterest can be overwhelming and the last thing we want is for you to find it all too much and lose interest. So only search for one type of quilt design eg black and white quilts, four patch quilts etc, you get the idea. Maybe step out of your comfort zone and search for art quilts or miniatures.  Only spend half an hour on this exercise, has anything caught your attention?  

 I hope this has been helpful and you are now wanting to grab the rotary cutter and launch into a new patchwork project or even maybe revisit a UFO with new enthusiasm.

 I find I revisit these exercises whenever I find myself in a creative rut, they help free up my mind to other possibilities.

 Good luck and happy sewing

Margaret

Is it worth the money?

EQ8 review.

 I bought EQ8 because I like designing my own blocks/quilts and wanted to start doing it easier and on a more professional level.

I had tried an earlier version of EQ but it did not do everything I wanted.

I have a friend who has EQ8 but she mainly uses it to audition fabrics, that she scans into the program, to see exactly how her finished quilt will look. But as I said I wanted it so I could design blocks and quilts.

So I purchased EQ8 and have not regretted it one bit.

I have an idea for a block, I open EQ8 and within minutes the block, templates and quilt layout are a reality. I can draw, the block, with straight lines, curves, arcs, I can flip blocks and clone parts of a block ( great when designing applique).

If I have drawn my block as a eg 6x6” but decide I would like it to be 8x8’ or 6x12” I just change the dimensions, at the top of the grid and presto the block is resized.

Once I am happy with my block ie size and design I can then put it into a quilt template, choosing exactly how many blocks horizontally and vertically and therefore how big the quilt will be. There are several quilt top templates eg horizontal, on point, baby block, horizontal and vertical strips. I can print the quilt top ready to play with colouring in ( example figure 1) OR I can “colour” in the block using fabric from the fabric library then put it into the quilt to see how it looks. Figure 1

Once I have the block in the quilt I can rotate the blocks either individually or all at the same time. There is also a “symmetry” function that will rotate the blocks in the quilt giving you all possible layout. Figure 2 and 3 are examples of the same block, as used in figure 1, but in different layout. Figure 2

Figure 3

If I am happy with the block and quilt I can then print the templates for the block, with or without seam allowances OR I can print a foundation pattern, if applicable OR rotary cutting instructions, if  when you are using one fabric for the background throughout the quilt. No more buying too little fabric or way too much fabric.

There are tools within EQ8 that I do not use very often but the tools I do use I use all the time so I have definitely got more than my money’s worth out of EQ8. I can see myself using it for many years to come.

If you have any question re how I use EQ8 or if there is something you would like to do in EQ8 but are not sure if it is possible please do not hesitate to ask. If I don’t know the answer I will endeavour to find out for you. EQ8 are also very quick at responding to any questions.

I hope this has been helpful if you have been thinking “is it worth the money?”

Margaret

Mystery Tour fun

No I definitely mean tour.

When our children were young, we would take them on Mystery Tours. Sometimes it would be to the zoo or museum, a movie, a book shop for new books or sometimes just to the local ice-cream shop. Now they are all grown up I take my husband or friends on Mystery Tours.

So what makes a good Mystery Tour (MT).

1.Be sure the destinations, on the tour, are of interest to those involved eg the first MT I organised for my friends, who were kids in the 1960’s,  was called Step Back In Time. We went to an old fashion Tea House for coffee, looked at beautiful old buildings, travelled on old trams and had lunch in an elegant old pub.

If you are a member of a book club maybe organise a MT around book shops, libraries, or book binding businesses. Maybe if you have all read a book set in your city make the MT destinations places mentioned in the book.

If your group loves all things food and cooking visit a market, a kitchenware shop, a restaurant with a visible kitchen, maybe even a cooking demonstration.

Let your imagination run free.

2. Gear the number of stops, on the MT, to your groups interest level, fitness level and destination locations. Eg if you are a book club group and you are visiting bookshops on you MT don’t visit more that 2 or 3 as we all know you can spend a long time in a bookshop browsing shelf after shelf.  But if your group is interested in architecture and will only be looking at the exterior and maybe the foyer of the buildings you could probably have 5 or more destinations.

Is the distance between destinations close enough that you can walk from one to the other or will you need to drive?

How fit are the members of the group, can they get on and off public transport, can they walk the distances you have planned between destinations?

3. Make it fun. Give the participants clues as to where the next destination is eg a crossword puzzle they need to solve or a “find-a word”, or a picture puzzle or a cryptic poem.

4. Be flexible. On that first MT I took my friends on one of the group mentioned a lovely building she felt we should take a look at so we took a slight detour and it was definitely worth it.

5. Include coffee/drink/food stops so the group can rest their legs, chat about what they have seen/done and regroup for what is yet to come.

6. Do your research re all the destinations on the MT. This will give you lots of information to impart to the group and make the tour that little bit more interesting. Your enthusiasm for the MT topic will rub off on the group.

Remember it is all about fun, fun, fun.

If you organise a MT for your family or friends I would love to hear about it.

Enjoy

Margaret

Why is patchwork so popular?

Antique quilt

Why oh why is patchwork so popular.

Very good question. Is there a definitive answer? I don’t know but here are my thoughts.

It was popular years ago because it filled a domestic need, to keep you warm on cold winter’s nights in a home that possible was very drafty. Quilts were made from left over fabric from worn clothes, seed bags etc so cheap to make and all the requirements were on hand. Necessity made it popular.

Fast forward to today. Quilts still fulfil their primary purpose, keep us warm but they do so much more now. We now buy fabric specifically for a quilt, we have access to patterns, batting and sewing machines. So yes we can, if we choose, make them quicker and easier that our for-fathers but why do we still make quilts when we could go out and buy them.

We, like those patchworkers that have gone before us, want to express our creativity. A lot of what we do, on a daily basis, we repeat over and over again eg we wash dirty clothes, hang them on the line, fold them, then they are worn again and need washing again. On and on and on it goes. We make a quilt and it stays made. Our creativity, talent and love is there for all to see. There is a saying “ it’s cheaper than therapy” and yes it is and you have a quilt to comfort you, win, win.

Patchwork is mindful, calming, fulfilling in a time when we all seem to be busy, rushing around chasing our tails. Maybe it’s popularity stems from a need to slow ourselves down, enjoy the moment and be mindful and if anyone asks ”you are sewing” and that is being productive, not wasting time or being self-indulgent. Oh if only they knew how totally self-indulgent half an hours sewing really is, just me and my fabric, priceless.

So why is patchwork so popular? Because it is the perfect self-help, me time, share with like-minded friends craft, that results in a functional item of home decor. Do you think the husband will buy that explanation when I next come home with new fabric to add to my already extensive collection? Probably not but as long as I have the patchwork bug/passion I will continue to make quilts and give quilts because they are beautiful and functional, but most importantly beautiful.

 

Marg

5 quick exercises to get your patchwork mojo back.

I’ve lost my patchwork mojo; how do I get it back?

It has happened to all of us at some point, I think.

So what do you do when you have lost interest in patchwork and still have a room full of fabrics? Well one thing is for sure you need to find your mojo and get sewing again.

Here are 4 exercises to re-ignite your creativity or just get you feeling a little differently.

1.      Look at colour. Walk outside, stop and close your eyes. Take a deep breathe, open your    eyes, what is the first colour you see? Now look at the colours around that first colour. Do the surrounding colours contrast or compliment that first colour? Does the colour combination work or not? Does the colour combination make you feel happy, sad, energised, warm or cool?  Grab some colouring pencils and with the help of this printable sheet document the colour combo. http://www.nestofquilts.com/cheatsheets/qtzbyqkr45rftxtevyo4anz8xosnbx

Each season has it’s colour pallet, do you have a preference?

 2.      Either pick up some interior design magazines from the shop, library or op shop and look at how interior designers use colour combinations. Take note of the colour that “pops” in the images and how much of it they use. Great colours to use for “pop” are black, hot pink, orange, purple, lime green and white. 

 3.      Now that we have looked at colour and have hopefully re-ignited some creative interest let’s look at patterns.  Again let’s go back to nature, in the garden. Does the garden path, the highs and lows of the planting, the clouds create patterns? Do the windows of the buildings create patterns? Now start filling in the boxes, on the sheet you printed out in exercise 1,  with patterns, random lines, just doddles, don’t over think it, do it quickly maybe 2 or 3 minutes. Is there one you like, if so colour it in using one of the colour combinations from the above exercises.

 4.      Go to your fabric stash and put together some of those colour combinations you played with in exercise 2 and 3. Throw in a “pop” colour and see how it changes things? Hopefully you are starting to feel a little energised and are wanting to go beyond the theory and into the practical.

 5.      I have left this exercise till last because it is almost too obvious, look at Pinterest. But I am going to put some restriction of your search because we all know Pinterest can be overwhelming and the last thing we want is for you to find it all too much and lose interest. So only search for one type of quilt design eg black and white quilts, four patch quilts etc, you get the idea. Maybe step out of your comfort zone and search for art quilts or miniatures.  Only spend half an hour on this exercise, has anything caught your attention?  

 I hope this has been helpful and you are now wanting to grab the rotary cutter and launch into a new patchwork project or even maybe revisit a UFO with new enthusiasm.

 I find I revisit these exercises whenever I find myself in a creative rut, they help free up my mind to other possibilities.

 Good luck and happy sewing

Margaret