That led me to more thinking. (Big Surprise!) I started thinking about how I teach free motion machine quilting and why I teach the way I do. I continued thinking about how I can teach machine quilting better and encourage my students more. I was thinking about how quilting – from beginning to end – is not particularly easy and how smart and intelligent quilters are in general, no matter what style of quilting they take on. I thought about the time it takes to really get good at quilting in general and machine quilting specifically.
I thought about quilters from long ago who made exquisite quilts with a clear, intuitive understanding of geometry, color, and a sense of purpose and re-purposing. How quilts were meant to keep their families warm. And while quilts often had a utilitarian purpose they could be aesthetically pleasing as well.
I thought about how I once professed to be a self-taught quilter and came to the realization that I learned somewhat intuitively from what I knew from sewing so as a teenager but from patterns written by quilters and books explaining how to make quilts and quilt shop employees that eagerly shared their skill and encouragement. Now there are tools and books and websites and blogs and free patterns from fabric companies. Just think, nearly 40 years since the renewal of quilting in the states quilt making has changed and grown and new tools to make things easier; how machines have changed offering us so many tools and feet to make the process of piecing and quilting easier.
But
Ultimately
Really
It comes
down to us.
It comes to us to believe that we can make quilts
It comes to us to believe that we can do good work
It comes to us to believe that our quilting will improve over time
It comes to us to believe that our quilts are good enough
It comes to us to make the commitment to Do The Work to get from here to there.
Where ever there is in the quilting world!
How do I teach machine quilting (for those who haven’t yet had the opportunity to take a class with me)?
Quilters are indeed smart and intelligent and we need to remember that.
Happy Quilting!
Teri
yes we are! and caring and generous and helpful and fun!! Preach it girl!
yes we are and I wish I could take a class with you
I need to pin those wise words out and pin them on the board next to my machine.. for those moments of doubt . Practice does make it easier. I struggle most with the “what to do” especially on a traditional sampler style quilt.
Those are such sweet insightful words that will bring encouragement to even the most hesitant (future) machine quilter. Thank you for a lovely post and the reason I love your blog!!!! Hugs……………
Thanks!!!
I’m excited to hear about your news!!
I might change that to the 500/5,000/1 million hour principle …. sigh! x
Now Rachael I’ve seen your quilting in person.
You are not allowed to be that hard on yourself.
I can come spend some time with you if you’d like.