Has anyone else felt a little bit of rebellion when you hear something like "Easy Peasy Fat Quarter Quilt"? Would it be safe to say that anyone who has ever pieced together a quilt top might feel that way? Then again, I have seen quilters do exactly that, but they have been quilting for a l-o-n-g time and are pretty fast.
Personally, I think we need a Quilter's Dictionary. I nominate a couple of definitions.
Personally, I think we need a Quilter's Dictionary. I nominate a couple of definitions.
Easy: Relative easy with repetitive cuts and sewing. 1) Often is used in conjunction with buying precuts and using them as they are and then sewing them together. 2) Sometimes it means that you will be joining like pieces of fabric cut in the same shape (usually square) into a block, then sewing the blocks together. 3) Frequently used to suggest that the designer found a way to make a very complicated quilt in a more simple manner for the same end result.
Quick: This has nothing to do with the phrase "in a minute" unless your minutes stretch into HOURS. This is a relative term used when comparing a more complex, larger quilt to a more simple and smaller table runner, baby quilt, placemat, or wall hanging. It may have more relevance to a fast piecer/quilter. This term often describes projects using precuts.
Precut: Fabric already cut off the bolt in some shape throughout the stack of quilts.
Stack: For all the reading demons out there, this term has nothing to do with books. It has everything to do with fabric stacked in some fashion on shelves inside a sewist's or quilter's home. Or in their arms or carts in a store.
Seriously, folks, when I read that the quilt I chose to make was "quick," I took it literally. I thought I could get it done in a day or two. Me, who took a whole day to make a 50s-style felt, full-circle skirt with a dog on it. Umm, yeah, NOT.
So my Christmas quilt that I started in high hopes of finishing in a week or so? I've set a new goal of completing two blocks a day because I have other things to do. I have (older) kids and a husband. Enough said. My daughter has set several sewing tasks for me that she doesn't have time to do with schoolwork (and mid-terms.) She is more of a beginner than I am too, but at least she is grateful for those things I have created for her.
I am very pleased to report that I have finished 21 blocks. Maybe it will be done by the new year? The blocks will be finished if I complete two a day anyway!
Oops--said daughter needs a semi-formal for a dance on the 30th too. That one is not something I would classify as either easy or quick! The costume she needs for Saturday is both of those.
