Monday, August 25, 2008

Putting Ideas on Paper




I spend a lot of time doodling. In fact I have a large book of said doodles that I hope someday will become quilts. I am heading to a 4 day retreat next month and needed to cut out a couple of projects to take along so I decided that this time I was going to sew on something I really really wanted to work on. In the end I couldn’t decide on just two so I have been busily cutting out all three projects. The first one up is my Bitchy and Unstable quilt. I found this tea towel at Paducah in 2007 and just knew it had to be made into a quilt. This gives you an idea of how I draft mine out. I am not a good drawer and I am not good at math so none of my drawings are done on graph paper to scale. I just draw them out on paper and write or draw the pattern or shape out and then just go with it. I have all my blocks cut out for this one and I plan on using Tonya’s freestyle letters around the outer border. Oh and to be shown at a later date I have the most fantastic quote from Joan Rivers that will be pieced on the back, well okay I can’t keep it to myself as I just love it so much so here goes….Don’t Cook. Don’t Clean. No man will ever make love to a woman because she waxed the linoleum –
“My God, the floor’s immaculate. Lie down, you hot bitch.” -Joan Rivers
Moving on to the second top I cut out, it is my daughters age 15 quilt. It is going to be on a black background and it will have raw edged pieced flowers. It will also have freestyle words (yes I am a junkie) which will say Daughters are flowers that are forever in bloom. The last one I cut out was my son’s graduation quilt. He has gone by the name T since he was born. In fact we don’t know if his dad has ever called him by his given name (Tanner). This one was a no brainer as the T block will work perfectly. I want to do single T’s instead the double ones that are more popular so I need 120 of them. Around the edge appliquéd letters will say – (HIS NAME) was born in the year 1990 and was given this freedom quilt in the year 2009. It is based on the antique quilt I am showing. So now you have a little idea of how I work. I am not real meticulous, I just draft out a rough plan and fly by the seat of my pants and more times then not it actually all comes together. I would love to hear your methods for creating your ideas.

8 comments:

Tonya Ricucci said...

ooh, I love that bitchy project - perfect. I was trying to find my favorite quotation by Elayne Boosler, but couldn't. it goes something along the lines of: "people talk about kitchen floors being clean enough to eat off of. well, you can eat off my kitchen floor - there's plenty to choose from" This quilt is going to be a hoot, esp the back.

love that antique T quilt, what a great inspiration piece. Im not nearly as organized as you.

Sunny said...

Wow! I love the idea for your Bitchy and Unstable quilt! I love love love it! It is *sew* me. LOL I really find it interesting to see your doodles. I do not really do that stuff anymore. All of your designs are fantastic. You are quite talented.

Lindah said...

Your doodle plans are beautiful compared to mine! My hand calculator is my best friend. My plans are 99 percent text and figures. I rarely do a drawing any more. --unless the intended quilt needs to go on a shelf for an extended period of time--then I draw and hope I can figure out what it all means later on. lol

Cornfield Quilter said...

I love the flower quilt for your daughter that you drew, it will be stunning with black fabric. You are so good at this, have you ever thought of designing patterns?
You would be great at it!! :D

Sweet P said...

Thanks for sharing your doodles and how the drawings become quilts. I'm always fascinated to see how other people work on their designs.

McIrish Annie said...

I love your Bitchy quilt idea!! can't wait to see it complete. I "draft" my ideas much the same way you do. I can't draw worth a lick but I definitely see it in my mind's eye and I can "translate" it into fabric with drawings like yours! It's nice to know there is another great mind out there with doodling skills like mine.. have a great time on your retreat!

Linda C. said...

Oh, Laura . . . I love it. You always manage to knock our socks off! I think your doodles are so interesting, and inspiring. Love ya to pieces.

John'aLee said...

Oh thanks so much for sharing. I do the same thing, and it's so cool to take a piece into your notebook!