Portal Quilt Sewalong Week 3 Video

 

How is everyone doing? Are you making a Portal Quilt with us? Hopefully if you are, you are learning a few things and are creatively distracted for a few moments. I know I am!

 

Last week we cut, this week we sew! I joke during my lectures that I plan out my cutting or sewing time in such a way that I can have uninterrupted Netflix time while I’m doing each task. Its actually very much how my process works, even though that wasn’t the original plan.

 

When my kids were younger, I looked at sewing as time for me, and I wanted to be able to get into a creative “flow” easily, without having to spend a lot of time figuring out where I left off. Over time, I figured out that making a quilt could be broken down into specific tasks that I could batch together. Meaning, if I needed to cut pieces, I wanted to cut them all at the same time. I didn’t want to cut a few, then make a few. That never felt as productive.

 

I have become pretty skilled at being able to look at a quilt I want to make, and break it down into specific tasks I can batch together. I do all the cutting, then a big chunk of sewing, then I might lay out things on my design wall and work with it for a day or a week- whatever amount of time it takes to feel like I have it where I want it. Then I sew everything together.

 

The benefits to this for me- I can keep things organized, clean up between each batch/task. I can jump in and jump out of my studio quickly, without having to take lots of time to figure out where I was. An unexpected benefit is that it has kept me from overthinking my design decisions and second guessing myself. This can take on many different forms with each quilt, but I no longer worry about lots of little design questions throughout the process. Sure if its a big decision, I take time to weigh the options, but if its something that is better as a “Try It And See” type of decision, I go with it. Often, you see, I have made the decision in my unconscious mind already. Maybe this is my gut instinct, but it is something that I believe has come to define my style, almost accidentally.

 

As always, you can follow along with us on this page. Jump in any time and start making a Portal Quilt with us.

 

As I keep telling my kids, we will feel great if we have something to show for all this time we’re spending at home. I’m taking my own advice!

 

Take care everyone!

Follow Wise Craft Handmade