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You'll Get Better

Sorry about all of the peace and quiet on my blog lately. I've been trying to get my new Feathers DVD out before show season starts and that's unfortunately a process which takes much longer than I ever expect it to take. Now that it's finally done I can (finally!) get back to real life and maybe even get some quilting done. Wouldn't that be miraculous? Can you imagine the headlines? 'Quilter Actually Finds Time To Quilt! News At 11!'

The shows start in just a few weeks and I am looking forward to seeing my quilty friends again. While the Internet is truly a wonderful thing, and brings people from all over the world together, I find that nothing really beats seeing your friends in person after a long time apart. The hugs are wonderful, the time spent looking at quilts with people who share your passion is fabulous, and the hijinks are glorious. I am looking forward to seeing everyone's latest projects, but even more to seeing everyone's faces. I just wish the show season came more than once a year so it wouldn't be so long between visits.

On one of the online groups I belong to, talk recently turned to how frustrated new quilters can become when comparing their work to the quilting done by seasoned quilters. Someone on the list said that they'd really like it if us old-timers would be brave enough to share pictures of our early work. Naturally, my first thought was "Heavens to Murgatroyd, are you NUTS?!?!" because the last thing I want anyone to see is what kind of work I did when I first got going! But then I started thinking about it, remembering how really disheartening it was to try as hard as I could to do a good job and to still end up with something that was just not what I wanted it to be. I knew where I wanted to go, but I didn't have a clue how to get there, so I just kept plugging away, trying to get better but more often than not ending my quilting day in tears because I had utterly failed to get where I wanted to go. People kept reassuring me that practice makes perfect and you have to walk before you can run and yadda yadda yadda, but to me it sure felt like that light at the end of the tunnel was a looooong way off and it felt like I would never, ever get there.

But my mentors were right. As the months passed, and then the years, I did get better. Little by little, I built my skill set. I took a million classes and tried a million things. Some things worked great, some things not so much. After all these years, I'm still not where I want to be, not by a long shot. I still do my fair share of ripping, and make my share of bonehead quilting moves. I still look at my finished quilts and say "Now why on earth did I quilt it this way and not that way?!?" I look at quilts made by people like Renae Haddadin, Janet Fogg, and Caryl Bryer Fallert and weep into my coffee cup because my quilts will never hold a candle to their quilts. But at least I'm better at it now than I was 10 years ago, so that's something.

If you are a beginner, know that you will get better. It may seem like it's taking forever for that to happen, but happen it will. Don't give up. Keep practicing. Take chances, Try things that are a little harder than the things you've tried before. Take pictures so that you will have proof that you are indeed getting better. And don't forget to have fun. That's why you bought your machine, isn't it?

Now, without further ado, here are some pics of my early quilting. See? We all started out as beginners. Just like you.

(These first pics are of my early attempts at feathers, so you will be able to compare apples to apples. These quilts were done in 1999)

I got better. Fortunately. This quilt was done this past winter for use in the new DVD.

And to complete my Daily Dose of Humility, here's the wholecloth that I totally cheesed up by not taking the time to do cutaway. Look at all the work I did for nuthin'! Talk about a complete waste of time... This quilt is still hanging in my closet, where I don't have to look at it and be reminded of what a doof I was. Quilt is circa 2003.

I've has several people ask me to describe what I mean when I say that I should have done cutaway on the above quilt, so I'll make it easy on myself and answer everyone at once. Here's the difference between Faux Traptuno (done on the quilt above) and 'Real' Traptunto (done on the quilt below):

This wholecloth was done using the faux trapunto technique, which is accomplished by using two layers of batting. The first layer, the layer closest to the backing, is usually a 100% cotton batting that will first and foremost provide stability to the quilt and help it to lay flat, but will also shrink up a little when washed. The top layer of batting, the layer closes to the quilt top, is a high loft batting such a nice fluffy wool or perhaps a higher loft poly such as Hobb's Polydown. The quilt is marked and quilted, with tight quitling done around the motifs to make them pop, and then the whole thing is washed. The cotton batting shrinks, the fluffy batting fluffs, the tight quilting lays flat, and the motifs poof up because they are filled in with the fluffy batting. Ta-da! Faux trapunto!

 

The only problem is that faux trapunto gives *some* loft and definition, but not a *lot* of loft and definition.

 

Cutaway trapunto, on the other hand, involves loading a high loft batting, usually a dense high loft poly, onto the machine as if it were backing fabric, then loading the marked top. Using a matching thread in the bobbin and a water soluble thread in the top, the motifs are all stitched, but no background quilting is done. The quilt is then taken off the machine and all excess batting is cut away, leaving batting only behind the motifs. The quilt is then reloaded with it's backing and (usually) cotton batting and the quilting process is finished, with the finished quilt having a solid layer of cotton batting and high loft poly batting only underneath the motifs that you want to 'pop.' Next, the quilt is washed to remove the marks and the water soluble thread and the end result is a quilt that has gorgeous loft and definition behind the motifs, giving a beautiful 3-D effect. It's very time consuming and putzy, but not difficult at all and the results are spectacular.

 

The wholecloth shown above *should* have had cutaway, but I was lazy and thought that faux would do the trick. It didn't. My motifs, which were created using elaborate antique ceiling stencils, were so delicate that they did not show up enough without cutaway and they ended up just sort of melting into the background and disappearing. I was WAY bummed. That quilt was a ton of work to finish, but unless you're standing right next to it, most of the detail is completely invisible. I was a doofus.

 

The lesson to be learned from this? Do it the right way, even when you're feeling lazy. Don't be a doofus.

The quilt below, owned by my friend Gwen Lundgren, who is an absolute doll, was done using 'real' trapunto. The differences between these two quilts are, I think, pretty obvious. If it's 'pop' you want, go for the gusto and do it the right way.

Comments

• 13. Lynda in the mtns of NC (29 August 2009 at 4:18 p.m.)

  Kimmy, I'm in Suzanne's Feather Bootcamp class, and I want to thank you for "guest lecturing." Your tips are great and as entertaining as your blog is (which I've been checking every few days to see if you've posted anything new...hint, hint--I miss you!) Anyway, thanks again for the feather tips!

• 12. Jami Bouvier (27 March 2009 at 10:01 a.m.)

  Hi Kim. Oh my you sure did get better. Your work is simply outstanding! How long have you been at it? Smiles Jami http://kneedeepinstuff.blogspot.com/

• 11. Robyn (21 March 2009 at 12:26 p.m.)

  Kimmy, I have been thinking about J-L's comments about the size of your motifs being responsible for the lack of loft in your faux trapunto. I was wondering if you might be willing to replicate a small sample of your motif with the same batting combinations with cut away trapunto with the same size motif, and then try a sample with the motif enlarged, to see if the cutaway would really make a difference or if it really was just too small a motif. I tend to think J-L is right and would love to see a follow up to know for sure. Love your blog and your quilting is wonderful!!

• 10. Debbie (20 March 2009 at 8:29 p.m.)

  Kim...I keep telling myself and others that we aspire to make our work just like yours...fine if we all have the same cookie cutter!! Also, we look at computer generated patterns and wonder why our end result is not the same...also, standing back from the quilt while it is on the frame helps to put it into perspective for me...thanks for your wonderful words of encouragement!!

• 9. Lynda in the mtns of NC (18 March 2009 at 9:20 a.m.)

  Thanks, Kim, for showing us some of your early quilting. As a brand new LA quilter, it's encouraging to see that even experts started with more modest efforts. Your early work is better than I can do yet, but I'll keep practicing.

• 8. Linnea (17 March 2009 at 5:42 p.m.)

  Hey Kim! My son has nicknamed me Deputy Doofus, or Deputy Doof for short! hahahaha

• 7. wendy1 (17 March 2009 at 4:32 p.m.)

  As a newbie, I thank you for sharing your first to recent experience it does give us inspiration and hope to strive and keep practicing. I also realise it must be a big thing for experienced artists( I don't like the word "old") to show their mistakes and beginnings. Thank you and much appreciated. From a new learner with renewed enthusiasm.

• 6. Shana in AK (16 March 2009 at 7:23 p.m.)

  Hi Honey! :) Thanks for sharing your beginning years! You are an inspiration to me always. I think your beginners are lovely and your wholecloth is gorgeous. Please take it out of that closet and let it see the light of day. It really is beautiful (and it's published in Karen McTavish's Whiteworks book). I can't wait to see you again this year at MQS. I plan on buying your Twirly DVD when I'm there. I enjoy reading your fun and silly blogs. See you soon...

• 5. Elaine T. (16 March 2009 at 9:21 a.m.)

  Well, this just only proves we are harder on ourselves than others are going to be! You are a great inspiration to me to keep on practicing. Girl, I hope someday I can do those twirly feathers like you do!! Elaine T.

• 4. Eileen C (16 March 2009 at 7:34 a.m.)

  Thank you for having the courage to do this! Although what you consider your worst doesn't look bad to me! This does gives us newbies hope!

• 3. Marla (16 March 2009 at 3:23 a.m.)

  Those early feathers aren't bad, but they don't have the same elegance as those lovely twirly-girly feathers. More noticeable to me is the empty space around them. I've noticed as I've improved over the years that keeping an even density is often more important than a perfectly executed motif.

• 2. Laurie G. (15 March 2009 at 9:33 p.m.)

  I'm glad I was able to re-introduce you to the word "doof"! I see you found a new use for it. You are a fabulous quilter and I think it is wonderful to see your beginning work. I got my Twirly-Girly Feathers in the mail yesterday. I can't wait to get into it!!!!! Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing some older stuff. Gives us common folks something to strive for :-)

• 1. Linnea (15 March 2009 at 7:42 p.m.)

  I dunno Kim, I think that wholecloth quilt rocks!! If you don't want to look at it; I'll be happy to take it off your hands! You an send to....lol I could only hope after 10 years mine will look as good as your first ones. And of course, I love the one you did for the Twirly DVD!!

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