Then and Now

Sometimes the past and present collide, even in quilting. Look at this juxtaposition of quilts hanging on the railing in my quilt room right now. So very interesting! The first is a quilt top made out of scraps and odd bits of fabric I wanted to use up at the time--years and years (and years) ago. The second is a quilt made out of scraps straight out of the scrap bin, sewn together about two years ago.

An old quilt and a new one

The first quilt is still being machine quilted in a very simple and ordinary way so that I can get it moved on down the road and out of the guilt box drawers. The second one was hand quilted {by moi of course} with some gorgeous, addictive Perle Cotton. I spent a lot more time with that lovely than was ever spent with the first one. For one thing, I've learned to not rush things. Details are important.

Machine quilting

But the thing that stopped me in my tracks was the oh-so-obvious learning curve from then until now. Wowsers! You've come a long way baby! {Remember the old Virginia Slims commercials that were so popular? Bad product, good saying.*wink}

Still more quilting to do....

I'm not crazy about spending the time to finish up this older quilt at this particular point in my quilting life. There are other quilts that feel more exciting. But still, it will be passed on to someone who will no doubt appreciate having a comfort quilt. That matters.

Scrap Attack #2 finished!!

This quilt though, (Scrap Attack #2)--it's for me. I love the fact that it's made from my scrap bin. It has all the rest of my orphan border pieces from another quilt too--made into those sweet little trees. Its got character, charm and imperfection, something I adore in the right setting. This quilt might actually have that kind of setting. The first one? Not so much. I also love the graphic look to this quilt. It feels right and good, like I dipped my toes into another genre and actually lived to tell about it. Dare I hope this can be done once again in my quilt room? Only different?

Loving this quilt....

This quilt is also tangible proof that I'm still learning and growing. Oh yes I am. And the fact that I stitched this quilt now, instead of directly after I completed the top, means that the stitching is vastly improved from what could have/would have been. I wasn't even thinking about Perle Cotton when this quilt top was finished up--not even on my horizon! It makes me appreciate the overlap of skills that this quilt benefited from, because of delaying the quilting side of things. Why it isn't happening with the machine quilting side of things though, I can't possibly fathom.*wink

Ah..., the Perle Cotton stitching.....

Maybe because I instinctively think in the language of hand stitching these days? lol  More like the lack of practice, practice, practice. Oh well. I'm still not sure what my 'style' or 'signature' thing is yet in quilting terms, but it's coming along. And how thrilling is that?