Judy asked a bunch of great questions and I thought I would answer them here as well.
1. Why do you quilt?
I quilt because I enjoy the process. I love making something out of fabric and a pattern. I also love
the fact that you are making something that will both be used and “kept”.
2. How long have you been quilting?
I officially started in the summer of 2002. I
bought a sewing machine and made a couple of half square triangles to make a tree before I set it aside to make a rag quilt. The sewing machine didn’t come out for a bit as I
was working 4 days a week in another city for a time. Eventually I ended up
taking a class in winter of 2003/2004 and got back into it. The quilt from that class is still
unfinished in my basement.
3. What made you start quilting?
I wrote about this before here. It started with an impromptu trip into a
quilt shop while waiting for our table at a restaurant in the same complex. I
also needed a hobby – desperately, one that could be done during any time of
the day and was also quiet when I was doing it during what was night time for
most people. I was working shift work and didn’t have a television or a car. Sewing and
quilting was perfect fit, plus it was an excuse to spend time in quilt shops. My grandmother
was a sewer as well, she stopped quilting when it became cheaper to buy blankets
in the 50’s so there is also that connection.
4. What sewing machine do you use mostly
for piecing?
I started with a Pfaff Hobby 1030, now my sisters machine. About five
years ago my family pitched in together for a Christmas gift and I was gift a
Pfaff Expression 2046. I love it, it’s a great, sturdy machine that can stand up to the
beating it gets when I take it all over the province with me.
5. What machine do you use mostly for
quilting?
One of my goals is to learn how to free motion
quilt with the 2046. I mostly do straight line/in the ditch type quilting with
it. I have hand quilted two baby quilts
and taken one to a long armer. I have at
least two, possibly three more quilts that will go to her. I think she is
booking for March right now so I really need to call her and get the tops finished
and delivered to her.
6. If you could have any sewing machine you
want — money isn’t an issue — just get anything you want . . what would you
get?
I would get a Pfaff embroidery machine and
possibly the Bernina Quilters Edition because I love some of the features of
that machine and a long arm like a Gamill or an APQS.
7. When you buy a sewing machine, how long
do you expect you’ll keep it?
My first machine – the Pfaff Hobby, I knew I might only be keeping for a few
years if I really got into sewing and quilting and would out grow it. I bought that particular model because I wanted a "good" machine but didn’t want to spend a lot of
money on a sewing machine because I wasn’t sure if I would stick with it or if
it would be added to the plethora of crap in my basement from the other hobbies
I have tried and abandoned over the years. I fully expect to keep my 2046 until
it doesn’t sew another stitch and any machine I buy from here on would be the
same. I feel very strongly about buying a quality built item that will last for years, if not my lifetime and not a cheaply made item that will have to be replaced in a few years.
8. On a scale of 1 - 10, how much do you
love your stash?
I would say a 6. There are definitely some parts of my stash I love, mostly
the flannel. But there is quite a bit – at least more then half of it that I wouldn't miss if it suddenly disappeared. I
don’t like some of the fabric (quality amd/or colour) and really don’t like the sizes. I have way more fat quarters then I know what
to do with. I wish I had more yardage.
In order to use up some of the stash I am going to have to embrace fat
quarter friendly quilts. Of course fittingly, I don’t like most fat quarter friendly
quilts.
9. Why do you have the stash?
Mostly it came about because of time. I travel a lot for work and use to
make an effort to check out new quilt shops to kill time at night, I usually
left with some fabric that I hadn’t seen before
- most often fat quarters and patterns because they were easy to
pack. Lack of time is also a big cause for stash. I constantly buy
fabric and patterns to sew up and then realize I have no time to do it. Between
working, traveling for work, renovating the house, taking car of the housework
(the absolute minimum I assure you) and all of the other things in my life that
take up time I never get to that project, then it goes into the stash and I start
the process all over again. Tracking my stash additional and removals has
really shown me how the stash has grown over the past eight years.
10. When we talk about “stashbusting”, what
are your thoughts?
I want to use enough stash that I don’t feel guilty every time I go
downstairs to the basement and see where the fabric is stored. I also want to
use up what’s there just to free up some space. I want to stop buying fabric
just because as its clear that I will always find something else that will be
just as good if not better.