This article first appeared in our guild newsletter January 2000

Quilting at a Snail’s Pace

The first week of January always seems to bring a lull in my schedule. Christmas is over, the wall hangings and decorations taken down. This year’s Y2K concerns fizzled out to nothingness. The kids are home for another week but have lots to do. Income tax time doesn’t start for a month or so, I have no classes booked until February and the newsletter is not due for weeks. The family has been phoned or visited during the holidays and friends are all back to work.

Finding myself with time to play for a change, I debated finishing up a few ongoing projects- my guild challenge hanging, my Little Lady that is pieced but not embellished, a few panels to frame, a snowman quilt for my living room- nothing excites me. I ruffled through my stash and saw the new fat quarters that I had recently added. A jumble of scraps from my aunt’s Christmas gift projects are still in a Ziploc bag. Another bag of scraps from my friend Valerie, a small pile of samples from the quilt shop- all waited to be sorted.

I pulled out my large scrap basket- filled to the top with odds and ends from the CQA challenge, the millennium quilt at It’s Sew Easy, my QOR challenge, the recent block lotteries, classes taught and taken over the past year, all bringing back memories of the people, the projects and the enjoyment of quilting the various pieces. Large and small fabric swatches from our fall swap, a bag of watercolour squares from Denise, remnants of my Christmas projects made for family- I have small pieces of everything I did in the past in my basket.

Last fall I had started a paper-pieced Snail Trail quilt to use up some scraps. The pattern was printed on the back of a Mountain Mist quilt batt label that I had kept with a future project in mind. The blocks are only 6” square and each block is made up of nineteen pieces. A hundred blocks (1900 pieces!) will yield only a 60” x 60” quilt. I had twenty blocks done up to date using scraps from my basket but I was motivated to make up a few more squares while I had all of these little pieces to sort anyway. After piecing a few blocks, I decided to put in only one or two of each print that I had in my basket as I had a good variety. As I worked, I realized that if I added in a piece of everything that I had in my cupboard, it would become a record not only of my current stash, but also of all of the fabrics that had passed through my door in the last century/millennium. It could be a memorial to the 20^th century and future quilt historians would have a small sample of the extensive fabric collections available to quilters at this point in time.

I pulled out my small scraps- I would start there- it won’t be a charm quilt as I don’t have quite that many different fabrics in my stash (though I know a few guild members who could swing it!) but it will be a record of all of my fabrics on hand as of the new year. The smallest cuts in the Snail Trail block are ½” across. Yes- I keep little bits, especially if it is the last bit of a fabric that I really liked. Around and around I pieced, going from tiny scraps to larger chunks, with no concern over colour, alternating only between lights and darks, hoping the overall effect will work itself out. But what about all of the medium values? After trying a few blocks, I realized that I could “force” the mediums to appear dark by placing them next to very light prints. Conversely, by placing the mediums next to very darks, they become lights. After completing 35 blocks, I spread them on the floor to see the effect. The mediums had to be carefully floated through the quilt but they certainly added movement and interest!

With my scraps getting smaller but my basket still full (a physics phenomena!) I pulled out my actual stash, starting with my country prints. Right away I can see that my stash is low on lights and will keep this in mind on my next fabric excursion. Working my way down the pile, I recall where they were purchased, who gave them to me, where I had traveled, what project the piece had been used in- a trip down memory lane! After fifty blocks and three days of playing with different fabrics and textures, I am amazed that I have yet to go through my landscapes, watercolors and Christmas prints, not to mention my little stand up cupboard! It could likely have been a charm quilt after all!

I am now at the halfway point and totally engrossed in my project. I’m thinking ahead to the border design, which must be quite wide to bring it up to a full size quilt- perhaps appliqué or fancy quilting, or more scrap piecing? I will try out the different options on my new Electric Quilt 4 program to audition colours and fabrics, blocks and border settings- but more about that new toy later.

Though I know that my life will become hectic again soon, I will continue to plug away at my personal millennium project. Will it be finished in time for Quilts on the Rocks? Somehow I doubt it- but as a personal goal it will not become a UFO of the next century. Will it be pleasing to the eye with such a variety of fabrics ranging from kiddie prints to designer collections? Time will tell but so far it looks pretty good. Whatever the outcome, I will know exactly what I have stashed in my cupboard and I now have many other projects swirling in my imagination- surely enough to keep my interest for awhile. My stash is not much reduced by this exercise but it’s a start. But then didn’t I try to reduce my stash at this same time last year?

Writer’s note- the quilt was finally completed in September 2004! The border was made using Judy Martin’s Snail in a Star block and the appliqué was added to the dark border. It was then hand quilted.