Monday, January 4, 2021

New Tricks … the title of a new favourite on Netflix but not the point of this post.

Last year I thought I might sell my quilting rulers as I wasn’t using them and they weren’t cheap. But then I decided I really hadn’t given them a good try. I took a class at the Guild but I don’t do well learning in a crowd – especially sewing techniques. I tried a bit at home but didn’t feel very comfortable with them. Hence the thought that I should sell them.

But later in the year I decided I was going to go through my instruction manual one ruler at a time to see if I couldn’t get myself sorted out. The instruction manual has you making a large quilt and then quilting smaller sections but I decided to start with smaller blocks and not worry about having a quilt at the end of the day.

Today’s ruler instructions used a six-inch block and my cards are a perfect size. I spent the morning playing with the ruler and a six-inch square without planning to use the block for anything. By this afternoon though I felt confident enough to try a “real” card. Although not perfect it is better than I ever anticipated for a first day. Doing the quilting this way means I need to bind the card by hand rather than use an envelope finish but I’m okay with that.

I’m a long way from moving on to Step 2 in the book and the idea of using rulers while manipulating a full quilt makes me cringe but I’m okay if all I ever accomplish are my cards.