Stop procrastinating and start doing!

The time has come when one must take the bull by the horns and take the next step of one's chosen path. The biggest incentive is the prize money of £1,000 - it should be encouraging me to take leaps! Failing that, there's the second prize of £500 and the third prize of £250.

The thing with creating a new design is the inspiration and the nurturing which goes alongside with it; it's no use relaxing in your bed (with your eyes open because if you close them it would be classed as sleeping!) thinking about what you are going to create. You need to actively get out there and do it. You need to look at new ideas, exhibitions, books and visit libraries and places of interest. Once you see a few new ideas, you will be inspired and constantly have a 100watt lightbulb going off in your head at the strangest times and in the strangest of places.

I recently saw an inspiring piece of textile in an exhibition. It was simple, yet effective. It made one stop, look and spend time considering its representation; that is what I want for my finished quilt. The artist had used one picture and repeated it in different media - no image was the same and it produced an overall challenging image. This really made me think about the techniques which I wanted to experiment with on my quilt: log cabin, Roman stripes, drunkard's path... I know you are probably wondering what I'm talking about but I am going to educate you in my journey about some patchwork and quilting terminology. What I have just referred to are a few names of popular patchwork blocks.

Stimuli is good for the brain. Always start with a foundation idea and build on it. When I sent the form off, I already had a vision of how I wanted the finished product to look: colourful, interesting and thought-provoking (albeit that my vision was a bit murky!). What I didn't visualize were the finer details: how the design was going to evolve and repeat, colour scheme, fabric choice and technique. All I knew was by the 25th May my catergory had to be defined, and by the 27th July the product finished. This week, I am going to my local library to immerse myself with books and periodicals in the subject and not leave the building until I have chosen at least 4 blocks, be it flying geese and grandmother's flower garden! By the end of next week, my fuzzy, psychedelic dream will have structure in the form of a plan on paper. Only when I have completed this step will I be able to move towards the pinnacle of my venture.

Creating a quilt for the Festival of Quilts

Now, how did I find myself in this situation, you might ask yourself?  Well, I blame my students. Whilst visiting that awesome exhibition last year, the Festival of Quilts, I was encouraged to enter the competition for 2012.  Let me explain my background: I am a lecturer of Fashion but I can basically teach anything that can be made using the sewing machine or by hand (except upholstery, boy, I hated the state of my hands after those classes! More suited to a man!) because my interests, knowledge and curiosity extends far and wide.

I was encouraged and selected to teach the Patchwork and Quilting class (everyone did a Houdini disappearing act at the time, then miraculously appeared to congratulate me!) because I had completed a City & Guilds course which covered this aspect. I had never in my life made a quilt but there I was at the beginning of the term , advising students about the steps required to achieving this marvellous feat and in the Festival of Quilts 11 months later saying 'Oh yes, what a good idea. I will enter the competition!'.

Block making is an easy process for me, so with that I had no problems but I must say, watching alternative ways of putting pieces together on YouTube was enlightening and inspirational - a must for anyone. Teaching that part of patchwork was a doddle but the part which I dreaded most was the actual joining sequences (using posts and borders), sandwiching, quilting and finishing!  I decided to bite the bullet and make a quilt for my cousin's baby as that would furnish me with the knowledge of sandwiching the layers, quilting and finishing and, to make it before I came to the stage of teaching it! That was successful and I really enjoyed the experience and satisfaction of making an appreciated finished product, and was ready and raving to do another. And that enthusiasm was what my students honed in on!

So here I am, having posted my entry form and paid my £10, on the brink of a great creation (encouraged by the prize money) and not quite sure where to start!