Liberated Quiltmaking...part 2!

Someone asked over at Tonya's about how the older book was different from the newer Gwen book... Collaborative Quilting with Freddy Moran. Tonya explained it very well at her blog...go read.

What I wanted to add was that I used the LQ book in a different way. I read it front to back and I while I love the kooky off center blocks and twisted stars I never saw myself as someone who would make a perfectly good 9 patch, then lay a ruler over it and purposely re-cut it off kilter.

It seemed like a big waste of fabric to me and time. HOWEVER, this book taught me that IF I sew the blocks together and the seams don't quite meet... IT'S OKAY!! Matter of fact, it looks pretty darn good that way, especially when added to other blocks that are less that "quilt police perfect". For example the picture on the left...does it look like I cared where my seams fell?

So the points on the star don't come to the exact place...who cares!
So one is off and gets chopped off...who cares!
Your seams don't intersect perfectly...who cares!

They actually look nice when they don't. Now one block in a perfect quilt might not go over well, but WHOLE quilts are fun, exciting, and loads of fun to do! It's nice to know you can use scraps and still get great blocks even if you don't have the perfect placement and size of the pieces. Garb a hunk of fabric and sew! Totally wing it. I had no idea how to make a moon, I just started cutting and sewing until I had it where I liked it. Star are more deliberate, but so much fun to make!

I still don't go out of my way to get it to look off kilter and kooky. I just let it flow and if something happens, then who cares. Making whole quilts like this is super fun and extremely freeing. It allows to to relax and really enjoy the process of making the quilt.

Halloweenie Eye Exam

From that experience I got this wonderful quilt above...one of my favorites and one I love to hang each year!