Sunday, December 27, 2020

Working Small

For some time I've been of the mind that 'making a quilt' doesn't necessarily mean it has to be big. My friend Jill/@pieladyquilts said basically the same thing in her talk last weekend, and I appreciated her unknowing affirmation. Then Paola/@thecultofquilt shared a post with her latest 'experiment' and expressing the same sentiment. Alot of us have grabbed on to the respite that working small provides. 

I think of Gwen Marston often when I get a twinge of guilt over working small. But I figure if small "sketches" were ok for Gwen, they must be for the rest of us, right? Fact is, I find that working small is a great motivator. I can try a new idea, a new technique, just take a breather - whatever, making small takes alot of the pressure off at least for me.

With Crosscut (24" x 24"), I tried a method of piecing blocks together just to cut them into blocks to piece them together again. At the time, it felt excessive, but it led not only to a well-loved tutorial, but a sewalong and an avenue for folks to dabble with improv, even now.



StringSong (24" x 24") was another exploration into 'create it to cut it up,' which over the years has become a favorite 'technique' for me when I just want to play.



Playing with scale was one of the impetuses behind Nine of Ten (14 1/2" x 20 1/2"), something I don't consider often enough, but need to.



Relatively Subtle (17" x 17") was a palate cleanser, clear and simple, and though I created in fabric a doodle from my sketch book, it was in the quilting that I really got in the groove.



With So Wrong It's Gotta Be Right (17" x 17"), it was in response to a given challenge on the use of 'one wrong color,' and though I remember my viewers didn't think anything was wrong at all, it still was definitely exploring a concept, and the small size was all that was needed.



Scrap Leather (17" x 17") was a foray into minimalism in piecing and maximalism in quilting and it remains a favorite to this day.



Finally, Loosely Connected (11" x 11") was totally one of those where I didn't know where I was going at the outset, but just started cutting and sewing. It evolved, let's say, even into the quilting and the micro-binding. This one still screams of the best kind of creating for me, and hangs in my studio as a reminder.


So I know some of you aren't really into miniature quilts, that big and 'functional' is where it's at, and that's totally ok, obviously! But I really do love the space working small opens up for me, and I fully intend to keep on going there.

6 comments:

  1. I love seeing your small projects and I sometimes "envy" you for them, because you get to play a lot more. Finishing the big quilts takes so much longer (of course). But somehow my mind wouldn't know what to do with all those small creations. Maybe I need to find more babies to test ideas on that scale ;) xo

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  2. I do love your mini quilts and I get so inspired by them. I participated in your Crosscut sew-along and to this day, the mini I made is still one of my favourites. It still hangs in my dining room. I usually go for functional when I make but small can be functional too - placemats, mug rugs, table runners... I also like to make small quilts that allow me to practice techniques and then use the block design in a much larger quilt.

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  3. Love all your small experiments. I didn't realize just how small some of them are. Seems like an especially effective way to play with improv ideas. I usually make smallish lap sized quilts. This size allows for my love of mixing lots of different fabrics and using large scale prints. Haven't found a way to do that in anything smaller. Wishing you a wonderful 2021 Debbie.

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  4. i love working small, especially to try out new ideas

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  5. Thank you for the inspiration! The Crosscut tutorial is definitely on my "do it soon" list.

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  6. All your smalls are beautiful! I'm especially fond of Crosscut, which, as you know, I made. Happily, it was given to a cousin "just because," and she likes it. You are always inspirational.

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