Arizona Quilting

I've been working on making a quilt, picking up some helpful tips from my mother-in-law who runs a quilting business in Arizona. The photo above is of my squares laid out as I think they will eventually look.

I started this whole venture pretty much tabula rasa. I had no clear vision of color or design. I eventually chose materials and colors on the spot in the fabric store, which was fun and a bit scary. This was not a trial run; the dollars made the stakes high enough to require significant commitment.

The first twelve or so blocks went together without my having any real picture of the final look. I got stuck as I had to make a choice: put them right up next to each other (not an easy task for a novice) or separate them with strips in between and risk having them look like floating blobs? Opinions flew among us, we tried different looks, and I eventually found myself at that "cranky point" where I know I just have to do something else--sleep on it and wait for my vision to appear.

Which it did. Naturally.

This morning it has all come together, and I'm ready to continue. I have no doubt that there will be more problems, decisions, seams to rip out and re-do, and cranky points to be gotten through. In the end, it will be done for better or worse, Mom's quilting machine will have done its magical transformation on the sometimes crooked, sometimes lumpy, sometimes wrinkled physique and character of my production, and my quilt shall dwell [in all its glory] in the house of its owners...for a good long time.

Yeah, I know I'm pushing the allegory.