Again, this may be of no interest to anyone, but that just ain't my problem.
Way back when I first started sewing (it was only last year), I simply had no idea what I was doing. I was actually amazed when I saw that I could quickly, neatly and securely make two pieces of fabric stick together with a sewing machine. Seams were just cool.
That being the case, I naturally began to look for things to make seams with/on. One of the first things that I saw that I could sew on was old pants: denim and khaki (twill) became my new victims.
I began watching lots of YouTube videos about sewing and quilting and I also began buying sewing toys which I later found out are called "notions."
So, with my rotary cutter and mat, I began to destroy all the jeans I could get my hands on. ("upon which I could get my hands," for all you English sticklers).
After I destroyed them, I began putting them back together as I pleased.
Keep in mind that I knew very little at this point. I was just playing, just getting the hang of a seam and a sewing machine, seeing how it felt, etc. I had no teacher, no mentor, no one of experience to even talk to about any of this. All I had was some time, some thread, some reclaimed fabric, and the internet.
I mean, really, I was just sewing scraps together to see what would happen. Now that I've gotten involved in the quilt world a bit, it's funny to see what a big deal everyone is making about "modern quilting" and "not following the rules." What rules? The whole thing is just silly.
Make what you want. Anything else is just retarded.
Having said that, I will say this, though: I have learned to enjoy being very exact with my sewing. That brings me great pleasure, so I sew like I mean it. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't mean that sloppiness is the natural result of not caring about rules.
It seems to me that this new "freedom" that the quilt world is experiencing is giving rise to an attitude by some that "freedom" means "sloppy." In my admittedly short time in the quilt world, I have seen some very poor work under the guise of "freedom." It's one thing to make an improvised quilt on purpose; it's quite another to screw something up and then proclaim it improvised.
But, perhaps, I'm a bit new to this world to have an opinion. On the other hand, I can't help but have an opinion. It's my nature.
But, again, I digress. As you can see by these panels, I was just experimenting with the different aspects of the fabric. I was learning how to make shapes and how to deal with odd problems like the varying thicknesses of the pockets. I was just playing.
I saw tumbling blocks online, so I thought that I'd try to make one. This is how I learned to make a Y-seam.
At some point I wondered about curves and circles, so I watched a few videos and then began to play.
The circle you see below is inset, not applique. I made up a way to inset a circle. I don't know if my way is the easiest or the best, but it was what I came up with as I was trying to solve what, to me, was a vexing problem.
At some point, I realized that I had all of these panels but I really didn't have anything to do with them. I began to wonder about how I might put all of them together to make a blanket. I figured that I could make a simple denim back and put some batting in between and, presto, I'd have something cool.
So, naturally, I put backs and batting on each piece and quilted them together in a simple way. I was thinking that putting together all of these quilted pieces would be easy. It turns out that someone had already thought of this... they call it "quilt as you go" or something like that.
I found this lady with an English accent on YouTube who showed a method to put panels together, so I tried her method. It works, but doing it on denim seemed to be harder than she made it look. Maybe she's better at sewing than I am? Geez, I hope she is. If she's not better than I was at that point, she was in a world of hurt!
Right about this time I was also learning the magic of Elmer's Glue. It's just wonderful. In fact, the inset circle above was accomplished with the help of Magic Elmer. Elmer was a genius.
Naturally, I used her technique with the addition of the glue basting to build all seams of this quilt.
Also, right about this time, I learned that my Aunt, who lives in Montana, is a master quilter. I knew that she sewed, but I didn't know that she was so deeply involved in the quilt world. I was trying to explain why I wanted to use glue, but I couldn't make her understand what I was doing. In another first for me, I made a YouTube video myself just for her benefit.
If you're interested in glue-basted quilt-as-you-go seams, follow this link to me explaining how I made the seams:
If you're interested in where all of this Denim work led... check out my next post: William's Quilt
I eventually got it all put together and bound (binded?) into a blanket. For the record, my fiance' doesn't care much for it. She says it's too heavy. As usual, she's probably right, but, for a picnic blanket, even she has to admit it's ideal. And, she does.
But not without pointing out that it's still too heavy for her to sleep under.
Always with the last word, she is.
Here's my last word: Enter your email address at the top or bottom of the of the page so you'll be notified about each new post. I'm gonna try to win this war of the last word by using lots of words. Besides, I'm the only one with a keyboard that can access this site.
Cheating is the key.
TheCurmudgeon
I learned to sew from reading patterns and still have the cast iron sewing machine my dad bought me in the early 60s. I too have always done what I liked rather than what was cool. I really liked the denim quilt -your fiancée is right, it is too hot to sleep under but it will make a great picnic blanket for years to come. Keep sewing. Meow.
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