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Friday, October 4, 2013

Well it has been a very long time since I posted anything. I guess I am just a stocker on other blogs and not real good at my own. I have been sewing. I made several knit dress for work over the summer. I also made a few tops. Nothing worth showing pictures of to anyone. I am still working on fitting my body. I purchased a few classes on fitting on Craftsy, one with Barbara Deckett and I loved her way of showing fitting. She is plus size and understands the need to adjust patterns differently for different body types I purchased two more classes - Sewing the Perfect Fit by Lynda Maynard and The couture Dress by Susan Khalje. I can't comment on these classes as I haven't even viewed them in full yet or tried out the method. That is on my list to do soon. I have been sewing for a while now. I have made purses, clothing and crafts, but never a quilt. I started cutting out and piecing a log cabin years ago. I decided I needed to get back out and finish. It is my first every attempt to cut, piece and quilt. I must say it isn't perfect. I have lots of errors thru out the quilt, and many different size of square because I guess I need to be more precise with my cutting, sewing the 1/4" seam allowance and pressing. However, I figured, I worked hard at cutting, spent tons of time sewing my squares and also spent too much money on my fabric to let it just sit. So I finished the quilt and decided I would take it to someone to have it quilted by a long arm quilter. I found a newly opened quilt store in may area called "The Quilt Tree, LLC" and spoke with the owner about quilting. It cost me a little more than I wanted to spend on a quilt that wasn't perfect, but I went ahead with it anyway. Last night I picked it up. I must say from far away it is very pretty, but when you look closely you see all my mistakes. The quilter was quick to point out my mistakes and tell me she had a hard time quilting because of my seam allowances and my pressing. I felt so bad, and actually felt a little stupid from what she said about my quilt. My first reaction was put the quilt away and not show anyone, and never step foot in the shop again. Maybe I am not a quilter. But then after thinking about it for a while, I decided, yes it wasn't perfect, yes I have lots to learn and maybe it was a waste of money, but I can only get better. So I am going to focus on my cutting, sewing of 1/4" seam and my pressing and hopefully my next quilt will be better. I did attend a beginners quilting class at this new little quilt shop, and I did learn some, but not much more than I read in books. I tried not to let the teacher/owner make me feel stupid about all the more that I know about quilting, but that was hard. She really focused on a certain few in the class that she new and me and some of the others was just there filling up a chair. I really want to find a group of sewers to join and feel comfortable attending and feel welcome. Maybe there is no such thing. Maybe it is just me, and how I perceive how I am being treated. But I can't say I had a great time during my class. I just wonder if any other beginner quilter has encountered people that make them feel inadequate and not able to sew. I am just curious.