Around the World Bloghop - My turn!

Hey everyone, I am sure you have seen the Around The World Bloghop going on around blogland. I was tagged last week by the wonderful Liz of LizzyClips Design. So now I get to answer these 4 simple questions!


What am I working on?

I am sort of in a lull today. Over the weekend I finished Ben's quilt, which was the big one I had been working on. And I quilted the panda quilt, too ("finish" posts are not up yet for either one.) The HST waves quilt (above) is a finished top that needs to be basted and quilted before the baby it's meant for arrives.

And of course I am always working on a scrap project. Currently I am working on a quilt that uses crumb size pieces, 2.5"x1.5", that will be set on point to make long zig zags. So far I have (677) 2.5" units of the 800 someodd I will need. It reminds me of the gum wrapper chains people used to make :)

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Obviously I'm a modern quilter, but I like to think that I am informed by traditional designs and techniques.  Sometimes that means I modify a traditional design into a modern quilt, like in the Drunken Circles quilt or the off center Lonestar.  Other times I actually make designs that are pretty traditional, with just a little modern twist, like the Crumb Jar Nines.

I also have a strong preference for using scraps, which I think is somewhat uncommon in the "modern" quilt world.  I find scraps more inspiring than whole cuts of fabric; I'd rather make a quilt from scraps any day.  I save everything down to about 1" square, and I have found ways to use them, too! My Sherwood Forest quilt used any crumbs that were at least 1.5" on one side.

Why do I quilt and blog?
Over the years I have found a lot of different ways to spend my time and satisfy my creative drive. I write, do community theater, play computer games (yes, that can be creative!) But I have to say quilting is the best thing I have come across.  It appeals to me because I can see a project though from idea to completion, which I could also get somewhere else, but quilting is unique because at the end of the day I have a tangible object to show for my work.

Quilts are perfect for gifting to other people because every one can use a blanket. It's not just pretty to look at, it 's useful. Not like something you're going to put up on a shelf and have to dust around constantly.  Usually people are really really excited about getting a homemade quilt; most people have never had one.  I gave a friend his a couple days ago and this 32 year old man did the cutest little happy dance you've ever seen.

(Not the 32-year-old I was talking about, more like 82, but he was pretty excited too!)

I blog simply because I want to remember the quilts I have made. Every quilt has a story and I want to keep those stories written down.  I average upwards of 20 quilts a year, so if I didn't have a record of them I would never remember! You can see my old quilts in the "Finished Quilts" tab above.

How does my creative process work?

Often my design process starts with a picture I've seen. I have a large file of "inspiration" photos on my computer. Then I usually move to graph paper, do some quick math, and get into the actual cutting an assembling. I don't like to spend too much time planning things out before I start and frequently make changes as I go.

Scrap storage

I also sometimes start my design process with a particular fabric(s) I want to use. Whenever one of my sections of scraps is overflowing it's time to make a quilt using triangles or strings or blue tones, whatever it may be. That is my favorite place to start from.  I like trying to solve the problem of turning scrap fabrics into something useful and beautiful.

So there you go, Kat the Quilting in a nutshell!  For the bloghop to continue I'm supposed to tag a few people to post next.

I am tagging the very creative Mihaela at "A Beautiful Day".  She makes the most wonderful quilt patterns based on traditional Romanian needle point. I used one of her patterns to make my Country Home quilt.

I am also tagging Barb from Cat Patches, who blogs about quilting, cats, travel, gardening, and canning - all of my favorite topics!