Tuesday 1 January 2013

Creativity: The Unfinished Story of a Quilt

Ok, so first of all, I have been swamped with performances and essays. Don't shoot me for not being around please! I'm very glad to have some time off (what dissertation?!) and will being trying to do lots of blogging for you all.

When you think about it, everyone starts off in life being creative don't they? Not that I'm an expert, but I'd be willing to bet 20p on the fact that most children love playing around with paint on their hands to make some pretty amazing art work.

My creativity has been constantly changing throughout my life, and I'm loving it.

I adored arty things when I was little. Finger painting, and colouring books were my idea of heaven. Especially when I would colour in a page of a colouring book and hand it to my grandad to mark out of ten.

I have always loved drama and the performing though. It was easier when I was little and had many many less inhibitions, but it is still something I love. (You would hope so, seeing as I'm doing a degree in it). My family were made to sit through many hours of plays I had made up.

So after a brief love affair with drawing, Hama beads, singing, thinking about playing the guitar and never getting there, paint (the computer programme), paint by numbers, story writing, knitting, and lots and lots of other things, I had never really found my niche. So I carried on with my drama and theatre and for a while it was all I had creatively.

Then someone taught me how to knit properly. And I got a bit carried away with all the pretty coloured yarns and I quickly learnt how to do lots of clever things like increasing and decreasing, intarsia and cabling. I felt like I couldn't be stopped and I loved it. I even got caught knitting in bed a few times. That never really ended up well.

From there, I saw someone with a rather spiffing crochet granny square scarf and my news years resolution that year was to make one of those just the same. I never got round to making the scarf, but that year I did make a whole crocheted blanket. Yes, it may be badly made and falling apart now, but whatever, it's a blanket and a big achievement.

Since then, things have been going crazy. I admire most crafts, as long as they have a bit of modern style injected into them. This year I have learnt to cross stitch and even done some lino printing.

My New Years resolution this year is to finish my quilt and use it in my new house which is much more likely to be a tiny flat which I don't own yet and don't even nearly have the means to acquire but... I never achieved anything by not wanting and wishing it first.

Oh yeah... I started making a quilt. It will take a LONG time. I am English paper piecing a hexagon flower patchwork quilt. It is going to take about 2000 hexagons to make it double bed sized. But I already know its going to be worth the time and effort.

And because I am wishing so hard to be with my lovely OH in our own home. I guess you could say this quilt is just a tiny bit of that dream coming true early.

Wow this wasn't supposed to be a lengthy, wordy post. Just an update as to what I have been up to other than stupid degree work. But I am writing this on New Year's Day and you can't help getting a bit soppy can you?













3 comments:

  1. How do you make these? What is inside each, fusible webbing? Is there a tutorial on these and joining them? I'm new to sewing and would love to try making some.

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    1. Inside is paper templates cut to the correct size. I am planning on writing another post tomorrow to show how I have made them and post some links to the tutorials I had a look at/ followed. If you want to look now, try searching for English paper piecing or hexagon patchwork quilt :)

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  2. Thank you, I found a nice You Tube tutorial.

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