Friday, July 15, 2011

Value in Repetition

Hello, lovelies!

I figured I'd reveal my Super Secret Sewing Project once it arrived at its destination, and today I heard that the package made it safely, so: Here it is! (Click for bigger!)

Comfort pillows--pre-stuffingComfort pillows
Comfort pillows, all together This owl is not impressed.

These are comfort pillows for a dear friend who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. She's headed in for surgery on Monday, and I hope she finds these useful and cheering! (The bone-shaped pillow is from this pattern on Connecting Threads, the bird is from this pattern by Pillow and Maxfield. The rectangular one was half-mistake, half-late-night-crazed-inspiration, and I really like the baffling baffled box pillow I ended up with. *g*)

I also attended a Rock River Modern Quilt Guild meeting this week, and had a lovely time chatting with everyone! Jeanne of Grey Cat Quilts talked about being in a 'sampler quilt mood,' as opposed to making the very same block over and over, and it got me to thinking.

Sampler quilts can be a lot of fun--I'm in the middle of my first two, right now, and it's nifty doing so many different blocks! There also seem to be lots of sampler quilt-a-longs going on in blogland right now, which is also great.

But.

I think there's a lot of value in doing the very same block over and over, too, especially for beginning quilters. (I think Jeanne's a long way from a beginner, let me be clear!)

For me, I don't think my skills particularly improve in one block, but across many--I would be far less confident with my kaleidoscope quilt if I hadn't had sixty-seven blocks of pinwheel practice with my Tweetygigs quilt. I'm finding my kaleidoscope blocks are getting better, too, and I'm only a third of the way through putting them together.

So I urge you, if you're a beginning-to-intermediate quilter, not to dismiss single-block quilts. Sometimes repetition really is the best way to learn!



(Linked with Fabric Tuesday, check out all the goodies there, too!)

7 comments:

  1. Lovely gifts for your friend! I hope she has a very speedy recovery!

    I completely agree with you about repetition being important for beginning quilters. I am doing the Farmer's Wife QAL, which I am definitely learning a lot, but there is something about doing the same block over and over again that is good for my confidence level!

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  2. What a nice friend you are. I am sure your friend will be happy with the gifts.

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  3. I am getting ready to do a repeat block for my next runner and, like the kaliedoscope, if you use an assortment of fabrics, there is something exciting about arranging those blocks when it comes to putting them together.

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  4. Love your pillows! (I do have a thing for owls, which might be part of the reason.)

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  5. I have to agree with you as a beginner doing several of the same do help polish my skills, but there is also a lot of value in learning that you can do something so you don't get stuck in a rut, like I did avoiding anything with a triangle.
    ~Kimberlee

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  6. A very thoughtful gift and such cheerful and nice pillows.

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  7. OMG those are so adorable! Love it!

    BTW I'm hosting a Fabric Giveaway over at my site and giving away 12 FAT quarters. Swing by if you get a chance: http://www.jaqsstudio.com/2011/07/fabric-love-19-fats-and-fabric-giveaway.html

    -Q

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