Monday, September 21, 2009

ONE REASON TO BREAK OUT OF YOUR BOX

Cluck Cluck! I fell in love with this quilt that Mary Lou Weidman brought to her Hoochy Mama workshop today sponsored by the West Michigan Quilter’s Guild. Mary Lou is so clever and it is such an inspiring workshop (this was day one of the two-day workshop). She had us so engrossed in what we were doing that my fingers never once moved toward the package of cookies in my lunch box and I never even thought of chocolate. That’s really saying something because that certainly never happens when I’m quilting at home. Mary Lou said that if you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you’ve always got. You’ll never catch her doing the same old thing and these unique quilts prove that.


The above quilt is another by Mary Lou Weidman. At the top is says, "I feel like a witch if I can't find time to stitch." Isn’t it wonderful! Check out her Power Flowers in the border.
Do you have any UFOs? I have so many that I quit counting. Now I know why. Mary Lou said that one reason we have UFOs is that we lose the mystery. We go to the store, purchase fabrics that we love, get a new pattern, come home and make about six blocks. There may have 20 or 30 blocks to go, but we put the project aside and go to the quilt store, buy new fabrics, get a new pattern and start a new project. Why is that? She said we put aside projects because after making six or so blocks the mystery is gone. We start a new project because we like the mystery. If we are making traditional blocks the mystery is soon gone and the cycle starts all over again. With Mary Lou’s non-traditional way of making a block, there is always mystery. We never know what a block will look like. No two blocks are ever the same. There is mystery in every block. There is mystery in what the finished quilt will look like. I bet I’ll never put one of these "out of the box" quilts in my UFO pile.

The above picture is of the blocks that the class made today. Aren’t they wonderful! Can’t you just see them in a quilt? I can’t wait for tomorrow’s class. It’s the Flower Power class and I bet we’ll make some great flowers. I’ll try to post pictures tomorrow.
You can check out Mary Lou’s blog and see the many samples of her unique quilts. There is a link on my sidebar.
Until tomorrow,
Caroll


3 comments:

Lurline said...

Very different - one way to beat boredom and repetition, a lot of fun!
Hugs - Lurline♥

ladybelle said...

I think they're fantastic!! I can't wait to try to make some of those blocks.

Vicky F said...

Hi Caroll,
I'm still stitching wonky geese! I like the class today, too. I felt like once my block was up on the wall it looked better with all the others.
See you tomorrow!
Vicky F

lkjlkj

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