The words of wisdom.

The nearly completed central panel

WHAT! you say to yourself because you are really amazed and impressed that it was just yesterday that I posted the last blog and here I am today posting a new one of the fully completed central panel!  I must have worked all night to get it to this stage, you think to yourself!  Well, I must say that I did put in some hefty hours and you sewers know how it is; once you are way into a project, you only stop for desperate (really desperate, I mean walking disjointedly to the loo) toilet breaks and when it seems like your stomach has been disconnected from your mouth!

It is really satisfying to have completed the central image.  Sewing around the letters was a bit fiddley but I managed to achieve it all (then realize that I was missing a v) and have now assembled it all together.  I just have to decide how to attach it as I want a bit of movement in them; I don't want them to look too static.  Deciding on fabrics to use around the central image was hard as I had a lot to choose from (remember my fabric shopping spree!) but I managed.  Now I am going to concentrate on making the various patchwork blocks as all the hard work has been done.  Actually, maybe it hasn't, as I've got to decide which colours and prints to use - curse my fabric shopping tendency!  Do people like me call themselves Fabroholics!!  Do I need to go to Fabroholics Anonymous!!

Trapunto and Italian cording, and hand-stitching, here I come!

The best place to start a quilt is from the centre, I believe, so that is where I will start as the quilt has a central image. The central motif is what the quilt is all about and that has to be bold.  The Celtic knots which encase the image also has to be eye-catching but not fighting with the main image, so I have done then in colours which compliment each other and, as they are using similiar techniques (one trapunto and the other Italian cording) they will not clash.  The central image caused me no problem, but the Celtic knots!!!
First, I machined around the intricate knots, then halfway through (tell a lie, quarter way through) I discovered that it wasn't as easy to manipulate as I thought, there was a lot of stopping and starting and it didn't lay flat, so I gave up and rediscovered the joys of hand stitching.

Design ideas

Central Adinkra symbol and Celtic knots in various stages

Now with hand stitching one has to have the right size and comfortable needle, waxed thread and oh, a thimble is a must! The more you stitch, the more uniformed the stitches become.  It is one of the most calming activities which you can do - so if you have a demanding and stressful job/ life, take up hand-stitching.  Once all the hand-stitching is done then comes the threading of the wool for the Italian cording.  I bought a soft super chunky wool mix, but next time I think I would get something not so soft because all the pulling through of the wool through the narrow channels does add stress and makes it come apart.  Once I had finished all those 4 pieces, I was quite pleased with the results.  It gave me a sense of achievement to have finished the hardest part; I equate the sewing of strips to make my Roman Stripes and Courthouse Steps as easy.  I have also discoved another patchwork block which I quite like, but I am thinking 'how am I going to intergrate it with the others and will the quilt finish bigger than the given size?' 
I like projects which give me a challenge: the more complicated the project, the better I thrive.  The only thing which I don't want to do with this quilt is overwork it, so I have to occasionally step back and review what I have done.  Next step - the letters!

Love never loses its way home.

Do you like the title? It's also the Ghanaian translation of the title of my quilt. I have been having a lovely time shuffling pieces of papers around, drawing shapes, choosing colour schemes and designing my masterpiece but on the whole I have decided that ideas may not turn out as you want them to, so it's best to do a little bit at a time and see how patterns work together. My design is more or less decided on so now comes the hard bit - fabric shopping! I know that I have to visit some shops and look at colourways; this will probaly take longer than making the quilt!

Fabric shopping is the hardest part to making a quilt because you have to firstly decide on a colour scheme (choosing colours which work in harmony yet stands out and give your quilt that je ne sais quoi) then go out and buy and try not to get too distracted - that is very, very, very hard.

Day 1 Fabrics Galore - GOOD. I managed to choose the scheme, only got distracted by a vibrant green which I somehow convinced myself (the je ne sais quoi!) that it would work with the others when woven into the colour scheme; but overall did well.

Day 2 Wentworth Street - BAD. Got totally overwhelmed with so many colours, prints and patterns that I blew my budget (who was I fooling that I had one!) and had to visit the cash point for more money! Consequently ended up with much more material than I needed. I will have to sell some as fat quarters on Etsy! Wentworth Street is off Petticoat Lane and has 70% African fabric shops, so you can understand my dilemma.

Well at least I've bought the bulk of the fabric for the quilt, so now the making starts.

Another dilemma I've just realized is the delivery of the quilt to the Greenwich office: because of the Olympics the quilt has to be delivered at least one week earlier than said date to avoid the congestion of the opening ceremony! That leaves me how many weeks to complete? Seven!

The process has finally begun!

Yes, that time has come! After receiving comments from another person in the same position  as me (but much further on than me) and the application form, I took the time to go to the library, research some ideas and decide on the main symbol which I am going to use for my centre piece.  It really took a lot of motivation on my part to make an effort to set time aside to accomplish these things. I think what really gave me that final push was everyone asking "Have you started your quilt yet, you know time is getting on!". Yes, I am aware Of both, thank you all.

I can also say that the greatest motivator was completing the category form (rather the closing date): it wanted to know the size of the finished quilt, your inspirations, the techniques which will be used, how the quilt is going to travel and lastly, the name of your creation! All that really exhausted my skills, especially when I filled it in on the day before the closing! What other motivation could I possibly need!

I guess that you are all gasping to know what I have finally decided to do? Well, During my research, I saw the idea of putting words in relief on the quilt, which led me somehow to Celtic quilting (if you can see the connection, good for you!), which then got me interested in Celtic love knots. I think I love language in symbols and Adinkra and Celtic symbols carry spiritual and religious significance. So, my ideas are mainly around the idea of Adinkra symbol associated with love, Celtic love knots, words in relief and as part of a patchwork block, Kente cloth, courthouse step and woven patchwork! What a combination!  I bet you can't wait to see the finished result!  Should I say have your sunglasses at the ready?

Soon, I will start the actual sewing of the blocks. At the moment I am playing around with different combinations of pattern. I know that I want an earthy colour scheme: browns, golds, greens and one colour which is  striking and uplifting. The fabrics which I want to use are cotton and satin. I know that once I start sewing there will be no stopping me - I will be playing 'Ain't no stopping us now, we're on the move.' and I'll be in my groove!

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!