I Need A Fix

Your know the feelings. The rush you get when you plan a quilt. The giddiness you feel when each phase of the quilt is completed. The euphoric high you get when the quilt is finished. Well I have a need for all those feelings, and quick. I do not do drugs of course, but looking at what I have written, I kind of scare myself with my terminology. As a hand quilter my ride from the rush to the euphoric high is long, and the giddy sometimes loses its gid. Now, with the Masterpiece underway (I've hand appliqued a gazillion grapes this weekend, though I am still giddy) and my queen size quilt less than 1/4 quilted, I could not see that "high" in my near future. Well, like I said, I need a fix. I decided I would spend one weekend a month and make a miniature or tablerunner. Something that would give me all those feelings in a very short period of time. I dug out 2 of my favorite books, Little Bits of Whimsey, by Kathleen Brooks, and Pioneer Storybook Quilts by Mary Hickey. I have had these books for years and have made a couple of the miniatures for silent auctions or gifts. Then I remembered a miniature I already had cut and in a baggie. I found it (first drawer I looked in) and searched for the book. It is no where. I have looked for it several times and it is just not here! Luckily, I recalled how it went together as I have made several of them. I use to make them for Kyle's Special Ed Teachers and put the kids names in the blocks. So off I went sewing my little 1 inch squares onto my 2x3 inch rectangles. Soon I had a nice chain. I felt the rush and the giddy all at the same time!!!




It did not take long and the top was done, borders and all. It is already basted and ready to be quilted. It will be a great project for sitting outside while the kids are in the pool. I should have it hand quilted in an afternoon. Very soon I will have that euphoric high that I have been craving! Next month I think I will do a new table runner for my table in the main eating area. Then I will do a miniature again. I do not like to paper piece so I may do some of these by hand as the pieces are so small.

By the way, I have met Kathleen Brooks, and she has a very impressive trunk show of miniatures. Her book is wonderfully done and I was fortunate enough to have an autographed copy.

Here's to that feeling that you can get only from taking a vision (even if it is from someone's book or pattern) and creating a reality from it. I wish you all a rush filled, giddy, euphorically high day!