Sew it begins

Some things you should know before we start: 

~You can expect a lot more of that. Messy puns and the like. Also, a lot of sarcasm and probably a bit of cursing.
~I'm an out-of-work academic. By which I mean I am not paid for my research and writing.  However, I am an academic so I approach most things as a research opportunity and spend more time analysing than actually doing.
~Also, I am a champion procrastinator.  Have been for years.
~I swing between obsessive pack-rat tendencies and righteous de-cluttering sprees.
~I'm slightly frightened of my sewing machine.
So, in general, the perfect person to start quilting.

Double Wedding Ring
Image found here

I have had this idea to start quilting for about a year now.  I have read a few books and watched a movie and went at my t-shirts with a pair of kitchen shears and the glass panes from picture frames as cutting guides, but it didn't go much further.  It didn't go any further, in fact.

I'm not sure why.  Actually, that's not entirely true.  I do know why.  Quilting is work.  Dedicated, intricate, long work.  I don't have that kind of attention span.  I mean I only finished my PhD because I scheduled my wedding date.  Otherwise, that might have dragged on another three years.

However, it is because of my lack of attention that quilting calls to me.  It seems to me at once a painstaking time-suck and a mindful meditation.  The zen of quilting, if you will.

Continuing on this line of thought, there are contradictions about quilting (in my mind) which I find fascinating as an academic, but also as a woman.  I don't love traditional quilting patterns, I have to admit, but I love the idea of a traditional quilting bee.  Women coming together with their scraps and needles and skill and stories and creating something which has a bit of each of them but is greater than it's sum of parts.  I am drawn to the 'modern' quilting patterns of colour blocks and improv piecework, but I'm not thrilled with the idea of quilting alone, wrestling with my machine and stubborn bobbins.

A few years ago I spent 5 months on the road with a circus.  It was grueling and fantastic all at once.  I learned so much about being a wife, mother and woman during those months of endless mud and driving and performing.  It was in the circus I was re-introduced to a kind of physical memory and storytelling.  I experienced how tangible those moments can be for teaching a physical skill, from climbing a rope to mending tights, as well as maintaining a way of life.  I had been in school for so long I forgot the best way to learn about something is to do it.


Two years now I have been a reluctant housewife and in those two years I have learned to find joy in cooking for my two-person family, creating a comfortable, and relatively clean, home and taking on the mending and altering of our clothes.  It has been a struggle to let myself enjoy these things as I was taught they were the yokes which confine women to the home and stifle our ambition and potential.  But after two years, I have come to disagree with these teachings.  Sure, there are many days when I feel trapped by my life of laundry and 'leisure' and feel taken-for-granted or my talents wasted.  But there are also days when I feel proud of something I created which gave joy or comfort to my family and friends.  More pride than I ever felt as an academic with a well-argued article.  There is something very tangible and satisfying in the role of housewife (at times) and I believe in the role of quilter as well.

All that being said, I still have yet to start.

I have excuses, sure (any procrastinator worth their salt has a grab-bag of excuses for anything and everything) but I'm going to try and work past them.

First and foremost, I have begun to identify the pieces in our wardrobe and home which I will transform into something resembling a quilt.  This is an ongoing process.  I have a few bags stuffed in our under-stair storage already earmarked for this purpose but I have a feeling I will be adding more.

Second, I am trying to decide between using a pattern or just free-forming it.  As a complete beginner, I feel I should probably use a pattern or kit, but I also have a very strong feeling I am going to Frankenstein some tutorials together and see where it takes me.

But before I make any real decisions on to-pattern or not-to-pattern, I will acquire a rotary cutter, measuring tool of sorts and cutting mat to replace my current kit of kitchen shears, picture frame glass and living room carpet.

Any suggestions are very welcome.