She Talks About Her Work and Ideas

I took my first quilt class somewhere in the mid to late-80’s.  My husband had taken a position in the Province of Quebec and the nearest town with a quilt shop was North Bay Ontario, 40 miles away.  Several of my friends took the class with me, braving the possibility of snow and moose wandering the dark roads.  Nothing of the sort happened. 

The technique for building the quilt we learned at the first class was something rather new and exciting for the teacher.  It was Lap Quilting.  We persevered for several weeks.  I am still shocked each time I look at it.  I do a little frown and ask myself if was really me who made that.  It was probably just a different me.

When my husband retired we moved to a small island in Washington State, where there wasn’t room for me to sew.  The basement temporarily became my studio, cramped and cold.  Eventually, I found a semi-reasonable studio off-island and worked there for seven years improving techniques, taking classes, building a stash (much too large!) and eventually teaching small classes.

I can’t recall when I began teaching or even what I taught at first, or where.  Began terrified, became delighted.  The classes I teach are sometimes looked at as “unusual.”  But, I’ve not taught one class that I wasn’t able to see the light flash over the students’ heads.  Happens every time to my great joy!

I’ve already said that we’re all born with the gift of creativity or being a Maker, as I call it.  How many hours have I spent doing and redoing a technique until it becomes what I intended?  I have no idea, but consistency and determination is certainly an important part of actually making something come together.

Most important is to allow yourself to experience the joy of your art.  Take pleasure in the sensuous quality of beautiful fabrics.  And give yourself credit for the self-confidence you have earned when a demanding craft becomes comfortably familiar. 

Don’t fear to be different.  I recall one student who was making a special jacket for her sister in black and white.  When she arrived at the final class with the finished garment I gasped at the fact she had sewn a long, very white evening glove down the back of the jacket.  I suggested that she might want to have it fall over one shoulder or embellish part of an arm.  Her response was, “Oh, no, my sister has seen it already and she adores it and can’t wait to wear it.”

That is why I can say to my students after I’ve shown them a technique, “Use it as you will, don’t come and ask me what to do, because this is YOUR piece (or jacket or skirt, quilt, etc).  I don’t have to wear it or take it to a show and share or ever look at it again.  It’s yours, make it what you enjoy.