Quilting through lockdown

Entertaining oneself while at home on lockdown can be challenging during this most hard time. Now we can get actual books during curbside pick-up it’s great to see some beautiful art!  If you can have hobbies that keep your mind and body active, you are less likely to be depressed. During the summer, it is possible to have many exuberant outdoor hobbies; during the winter, having one is difficult. There are a variety of crafting projects one can delve into, yet I decided to re-examine my fascination with quilting, so I created a list of recent books from the last 4 or 5 years that sound intriguing.

Why does one quilt? You could find it in Why We Quilt by Thomas Knauer. One woman writes, “The quilts in our homes all send this same message: you are warm; you are safe; you are loved.” I got into quilting due to the love in the log cabin quilt by my great grandmother Nellie, so I wanted to make one for my brother’s wedding. I was not able to immerse myself in a quilting bee like the one in the older book,  The Quilt, by Gary Paulsen so I took a class.

There is a current book that is fascinating: An American Quilt: Unfolding a Story of Slavery and Family by Rachel May. It explores historical quilt tops linked to a Charleston family that are hand pieced with intriguing writing on the backside. It looks likely to be a compelling way to come to terms with America’s deep historical wrongs. I wish there was a way to quilt the love back in.

       Sarah Payne’s Quilt School might be a way to build skills, as would The Weekend Quilter by Rosemary Wilkinson. To get ideas, I would turn to Victoria Findlay Wolfe’s Playing with Purpose or The Modern Quilt Bible by Elizbeth Bett’s. Maybe you’d like to do a story quilt with animals? There’s Simple Patchwork Projects by Hayley Smith, or Adorable Animal Quilting by Ingrid Alteneder.

If you are more advanced, and do other sewing, there’s The Handmade Quilt by Carolyn Forster. When you finish making the top and it’s time to quilt by machine, there’s Color, Thread, and Free-motion Quilting by Teri Lucas. Otherwise, How to Hand Quilt is on YouTube for beginners, without even having a frame!

     ~ Posted by Kris B.