The path, preparing to cut and quilt

I’m getting ready to start my doll quilt. It starts with a plan, right?  When I design my patterns, I sketch drawings of what my mind sees. And I pin them up above my sewing table and around  my desk. I add numbers, measurements, and seam allowances,  I look at them and think about them. New ideas and new thoughts are added when they come to me.  After I have thought a lot those scribbles on a piece paper, I begin to cut and sew. Sometimes it’s really sad, sometimes it doesn’t work at all. Sometimes it just needs a tweak here or there. Sometimes I make it sit on timeout, until I figure out what to do with it. Anything can happen, and there are so many different paths to take when I create something of my own. This is a process for me.

Don’t get me wrong, I use patterns all the time…I collect those, too. But I don’t have very many quilt patterns. And the ones I have are not for doll sizes. I noticed most quilt patterns involve a lot of corner matching, triangle sewing, and what not. <sigh>

Okay,  I can do this. Been around the sewing block more than a few times. It is sewing, right?

Found some inspiration online–pinterest, anyone? Found some super quilter blogs, and flickr images. There are some amazing quilters out there. Though I felt ready to start, I still felt overwhelmed. So I bought this: a pre-cut pack of fabrics that all match! Yay! So one less thing to worry about. I think I may not have ever gotten to the sewing part otherwise. Maybe.

I started my sketching and diagramming… I saw this really cool design on pinterest, Wild Waves, and thought, “yeah, I can do that.”  I just need to adjust it to suit my doll sized needs.

I actually cut some fabric–mind you, it’s not fabric I particularly care about. Then, sewed some together, trying out several tutes on  “half squared triangles.”

Made more and kept sewing. I just had to know how these would go together and how my corners would look. They say you can do a lot of designs with these half square triangles.

Playing around with designs, to see all that I could see.

I don’t like how my corners don’t match up perfectly. If I add more squares, it’s only going to get worse.  I left the room. Not as triumphant as I wanted to be. And I was feeling okay with the possibility of my corners not being perfect, but still I needed time to sulk. and ponder. Clearly, quilt tops are not for the perfectionist. I’ve been told so many times to just let it go.

When I show my daughter, pointing out that my corners are not all matching up perfectly, she says, “Welcome to my world.”

I think part of my problem is that I like complex, interesting designs. I am having a hard time with the simple and plain.

I am most certainly not done with quilting. I will begin again…tomorrow.