The Road to Rockstardom

In 2013 I invested in a Handiquilter Sweet Sixteen - Mollie - in a bid to be able to finish my own quilts without wrestling them through the small harp of one of my faithful Berninas (Penny and Bernadette). For years she sat, neglected, as I would try in fits and starts to not be afraid of failing. Perfection is buzzkill. A few years ago I committed to spending time each night working on practice squares to get over my fears and hesitation. That worked for a few months and then life happened in the form of water damage an rotting floors. I ended up sleeping on an air mattress for longer than I care to remember as we got organized and finally found a contractor we liked. But it still took months. The happy ending is that during 2020 we realized our goal of ridding the house of carpet. We also gutted and replaced both bathrooms - which Mike has wanted to do since we bought the house in 2003. It was quite the journey.

Over the years I have taken numerous quilting classes with Harriet Hargrave, Sandy Fitzpatrick and Sharon Schamber to name a few. These always involved travel with one of the Berninas. All the classes were valuable, but I was still hesitant working with Mollie.

Back in January, I learned about the String and Story Free Motion Quilting Academy and Holly Anne Knight. This is an online course - teaching 30 free motion quilting motifs and a lot of handy tips along the way. Holly Anne is vivacious and enthusiastic and an incredible cheerleader. 

The first task was to create a heap of practice sandwiches. I bought cheap muslin and cheap batting, and then decided to double my stack by starting to pull fabrics from my stash that I just don't see myself ever using in a quilt - no matter how small I cut it.  I spent a weekend assembling 30+ sandwiches. 

I also had a few sandwiches hanging out from other classes. I think this one started out in the Sandy Fitzpatrick class. And I've used it over time to test tension and play.

The intent of having so many sandwiches is to practice a motif over and over. 30 motifs leads to at least 30 sandwiches. In the first unit, I used multiple sandwiches on the same motif.

Switchbacks and spirals and lots of paisley. And as I played and moved around, I got more and more comfortable, and a bit experimental

After I stitched my continuous curves (a motif I was also exposed to in Harriet Hargrave's class) I started playing with pebbles and spirals and filling in the blocks.

I am taking this at my own pace so won't graduate in May with the Spring 2021 cohort. However, once you enroll in the course, you have lifetime access to the teaching materials so I'll continue to practice and develop my skills. Graduation involves a 30 block sampler and a fat quarter sized whole cloth quilt. I've done a lot of doodling but haven't started stitching on the sampler. As I have lots of projects ongoing, I decided to enjoy the journey. There is a new academy enrolling in May for the summer and I anticipate finishing in August.

I have learned so much about my machine and myself and I've gotten over a big confidence hurdle. Since starting the course I have finished multiple projects, including a large lap quilt (The Marvel Quilt). Well worth my time and investment!