Binge Quilting (AKA how I deal with an attitude I'd rather not be having)

I'm betting that title caught your attention. 

I've heard of people who 'angry clean' their houses, or cook or bake to deal with their frustration.  Me?  I find that sewing soothes me like not much else can. And last night I "angry sewed" into the wee hours.  

Here's the thing...I know God wants our hearts and He wants us to walk in forgiveness.  If after praying  I'm having a difficult time letting something go I find that keeping my hands busy doing mindless tasks helps me push through to the point of working it out.  It's just the way I'm wired...fidgety-like!  If I'm left to sit quietly and process something I short circuit. I mean really I do.  As soon as I can push fabric through the sewing machine my heart and mind are free to pray and receive peace and process problems.  This is not the time to tackle those complex quilt patterns but it's a perfect time for easy scrappy quilts.

So ANYWAY!!.....yesterday I saw a quilt posted on one of my quilting Facebook groups.  For some reason, I globbed onto it.  

1.    It was scrappy 

2.    It was not huge

3.    I loved it!

Pretty right?  When I saw the pattern was a free download I downloaded it and saw that it would make a great dent in my bin of 5" charm squares.  It is called "Plaidish" and can be found on the  Kitchen Table Quilting website:  Free Pattern Here

I proceeded to sort into values (dark, medium, and light). (scrap quilters' secret weapon is value!)  I pulled out some 1 1/2" strips from my bins and subcut some of those.  Now I was ready to sew.   So I put on my Sabbath worship playlist on Youtube and just started sewing fabrics together. And the tension I was feeling slowly dissipated as I took in the beauty of the colour and texture.  And the truth of God's Word in song definitely lifted my spirits and turned my heart heavenward.

I shared my progress with a friend on the same Facebook group last night and we had a brief discussion about matchy matchy perfectionist tendencies vs scrappy abandon.  I encouraged my friend to be  not control the process. I know it's hard for us perfectionist types. I was liberated from matchy matchy in 2010 when I did my first Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt (Double Delight).  Here are some blog posts about my liberation process:  Double Delight mystery quilt.  I've been a scrappy quilt lover ever since. 

So let's show you some progress!

The first block

Three different variations.  Tested all three! Dark, medium and light blocks. I subsequently lightened the light blocks.

And slowly it grew and the piles of charms went down.

Production line

Getting it done.

I can see the secondary design starting to emerge.

So that's where I left off last night (or should I say early this morning).   All the blocks were done. Today, I sewed them into rows and decided that I would sneak it in for quilting before I start back to customer quilts tomorrow. 

Ta da! Pressed and ready for quilting.

Loaded and ready for quilting.  Now to choose pantograph.

I chose 'Feathered Hearts' for curves and movement.

Well, that was fun! And now I'm on a roll in the scrap bins.  It's such a nice diversion from the not so fun stuff of life.

I've got another idea brewing.  So stay tuned and see what happens on the design wall.

Until next time!

Mavis