Confessions and Excuses

I have a confession to make. After all, I don’t want to start this blog on false pretenses. So, here goes! I am not an award winning quilter. Really. The only ribbons I have from quilt shows are participation ribbons. My machine quilting leaves much to be desired, and back when I still had time to hand quilt, my stitches were not so tiny or even.  I love almost every aspect of quilting, and have been doing it for 30 years. But I still consider myself an intermediate quilter.

 

I don’t make quilts to try to win ribbons. I make quilts for people. When I first started quilting, most of my quilts were for little people—babies and toddlers. I still make those quilts, but not so much as my children have not started giving me grandbabies yet! Now, I mostly make  “crisis” quilts or celebration quilts. You know the kind I mean: someone is diagnosed with cancer, or is having emergency surgery. Or there is a wedding or baby coming up. Those kind of quilts. And, I make quilts as therapy. My own. ‘Cuz we all know that life gets crazy sometimes. And if I didn’t have a sewing machine to sit at and sew on, I’d go crazy! And I have one quilt that I made to help me grieve. It was just supposed to be a lap quilt. But the more I grieved, the more I sewed. It eventually grew to be a large queen-sized quilt. Probably the largest quilt I’ve ever made.

 

 

So, why, you ask, do I enter quilts in shows if I know they aren’t good enough to win a ribbon? Well, just because the workmanship to win a ribbon is lacking doesn’t mean I do shoddy work; and if I like the quilt a lot, or think the design is somewhat clever, or just think others might like to see what I’ve done, I will enter it in our local quilt guild’s show. I am usually proud of my work. And I also want to show other, less confident, quilters that if my quilt, imperfect though it may be, can be entered, they should enter theirs, too!

 

Okay. So, I make quilts for people. Shouldn’t I do my best, especially if I’m giving them away? Well, yes. And I didn’t say I don’t do my best, but I’m not about perfection. I got over that the first time I saw my kids using one of their quilts to pull each other through the house! I’d handquilted it. I could hear the stitches popping from across the room! Did I yell at them? Honestly, I don’t remember! But I pretty much quit handquilting kids quilts after that! I want the quilts I make for people to be used. I want babies to spit up on them, toddlers to drag them around everywhere, little ones to wrap their dolls up in them and use them to make tents in the living room—you get the picture. I don’t want them folded up in a closet or cedar chest as an heirloom. And if the recipient thinks too much work went into the quilt, that’s exactly what she/he will do.

 

I’m hoping you will join me on this journey to share quilting and life stories, imperfect as they may be. I’m betting we will laugh our way through much of it!

 

So, who’s with me? Who will give up being perfect in order to enjoy the process? ( And who will be patient with me as I try to figure out this whole blogging business?)

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6 Comments on “Confessions and Excuses

  1. Hi LaDawn! Welcome to blogland, so glad that you are joining us here – it’s really a great place to be! Love everything I’ve seen so far, and looking forward to more. And, I’m so with you quilting is all about the love and enjoying the journey. I haven’t made an heirloom quilt yet ;), and there’s nothing sweeter than seeing one of your loved ones snuggled up in a handmade quilt ;)!

  2. Loved reading this! I could hear you saying it and I love your philosophy that your quilts are made to be loved. You do absolutely beautiful work and are kind enough to share your talent with so many! I’m excited to read more. 🙂

    1. You and me, Abby! We’ll be imperfect together! And we still need to get that binding finished on your quilt. And I STILL don’t have my pegboard up!

  3. LaDawn, love your blog! I really like the idea of just enjoying the journey with you. I’m not perfect, for sure, and my quilts aren’t, either. But I do enjoy planning them and making them. I am new at FMQ and want to get much better. I’ve never hand quilted anything. I’ve never entered any of my quilts in shows, but maybe with your blog, I’ll get the courage to enter something. Good Luck in your journey into Blog land.

    1. Sharon, So glad you are joining me! I think the key to entering shows is to find one that is “beginner friendly.” By that I mean it has a category for amateur quilters, and maybe even a “my first quilt” category (which means your first quilt to enter a show, not necessarily the first quilt you’ve ever made.) Thanks again for stopping by!

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