random stuff

I am sneaking in a post before my baby boy and I begin our day. 

Let me explain, my baby is a 21 yr-old university senior (Appalachian State-Go Apps!) 

and is home for the first time since Christmas. He has a part time job in retail, so I haven't got to spend quality time with him in a looooooong time. For you mothers-of-daughters out there, there really is no difference in the level of closeness: my son and I are very close. Likewise he and his dad (my hubby!) In fact, all 3 of us are rather tight, and this empty nest thing does take some getting used to! But, I digress. Baby Boy and I are spending today together, and since I am teaching tomorrow, he and Hubby are are playing tomorrow. And Sunday since we are in the midst of March Madness and they are going to Charlotte for the Eastern Regional games on Sunday, but I digress again!  

Back to quilt stuff.

Found a few neat posts in my Goggle Reader this week:

My LQS spied in this post.

Getting sick of a quilt? Been there. This post really hit me!

Discussion, Squawk, Baby posted about quilt monogamy. And while I practice this with the majority of my projects, I took a look at my history and realized I like to have quilts in different stages at the same time: one being quilted (the longest relationship), one being pieced (in the throes of the passion) and 1 or 2 being planned (oh, yeah, I am a fickle girl!). In retrospect, I have these going because I have so many quilts to make in my head, I need to get them out in the world before I forget them! Crazy! And there are more in my head even now thanks to all the wonder quilt/bloggers out there!

Finally, my friend Kim won 2 seconds and an honorable mention at the Mountain Quiltfest. So happy and proud for her!

Developing a quilt, part 3 "The Zen of Basting"

I know the title of this post has you riveted for more! So, even though these musings are not really in the order of quilt developing, each is part of my process, so, here goes.

This is one of the definitions of the word from Dictionary.com:

zen definition

jargon
 To figure out something by meditation or by a sudden flash of enlightenment.
As I have mentioned before, I find the process of making a quilt very relaxing. It takes over my mind in a set of repetitive actions and removes the thoughts and demons of anxiety from my consciousness. Very New-Agey huh? But it allows me to enter a calm, meditative state though these actions, and that makes me feel good. I enjoy parts of the process more than others, but all are important to the conception and completion of a quilt that I am happy with. One of the parts that I love less is basting, but it is the action that stabilizes the quilt sandwich and makes it possible to free-motion quilt with wild abandon! Yes, I pin baste first, but ever since I learned to baste with water-soluble thread, it has become a key step for my quilts. As crucial as it is to the quilting process, I find myself putting it off, watching one more episode of "Real Guidos of the North Couture" instead of basting. Well, it is awkward to start and you don't see the basting (it just melts away). But I make myself start and soon I find myself calmly feeding the quilt under my walking foot, forming a grid on my project. It is a step when the personality of the quilt starts to show, as if the action of the needle and basting thread awakens the quilt. Sounds silly, but at this point, it is a quilt, but you can't get it wet! And it makes free-motion much easier since I don't have to deal with the pins and since it stabilizes everything, I can start the quilting anywhere on it and move in any direction.

This baby is ready for the free-motion to begin!