This weekend, I had the opportunity to hear a seminar by famed quilter Libby Lehman. Libby is known for her creative use of threads in composition and texture, and one of her quilts, Joyride, was selected as one of the 100 Best American Quilts of the 20th Century by the Houston International Quilt Festival in 1999. She spoke in Portland at an industry event on creativity - fostering, inspiring, and actively using creativity. I found her to be witty, sensible, and very motivating, and I asked her permission to share a portion of her lecture with you, which she enthusiastically consented to. Here, with no further ado, is Libby Lehman's "Quilter's ABCs" which she pointed out only go to "H", because to go further would be overkill. I will be paraphrasing, as I am not a speedy note-taker.
Quilter's ABCs
Accumulate - collect what you love, whether that be batiks, florals, metallic asian fabrics, rayon threads, silk dupionis, etc. (Libby claims she feels she has an obligation to purchase every plexiglass template or ruler she can find, and dreams that someone will produce a 60" gridded square. She also showed a photo of the massive wall of thread in her studio - then added that it was just the metallics we were looking at.)
Begin - It is easy to daydream and delay, to check our e-mail or flick on the tv, and suddenly hours have passed and it seems silly to start with only an hour or two left in our day. Practice getting up and moving straight to the sewing machine or the cutting mat.
Cut - Don't save your treasured fabrics for the project that you might do someday - use them. Too often we fall for a gorgeous scrap that we keep for years - but fabric is meant to be used, not to insulate your house (advice I desperately need to take - I have drawers and shelves stuffed with treasured scraps.)
Do it! - Like the Nike slogan, this is a really straightforward command - spend your spare time quilting rather than thinking about or planning future projects - make time for your work and just do it!
Evaluate - This is a challenge for so many of us - to dispassionately step back from our projects and take stock of the success and aesthetic pleasure in the project - Libby advises accepting that something is ugly, or hopelessly askew, or has dreadful color choices, and let it go. Don't spend your creative resources trying to rescue a dog of a quilt. She suggest that you give it a quick finish, and donate it to a charity - although she adds that as charities cannot get much for a dog of a quilt, perhaps you should donate it to a charity for dogs! Many shelters need blankets for the rescued pups, and your ugly quilt could be very snuggly, and you can move on to making something you will love.
Finish it - Most of us have a project or ten in progress - the crafting world calls these UFOs - UnFinished Objects. Try to move projects along, completing them in some way - if you are not interested in quilting your tops yourself, have a quilting friend or a professional long-arm quilter take them on, so you have a finished object you can take pride in (and more room for your next project!) Pacific Fabrics offers professional custom long-arm quilting.
Get Photos - So often our projects are gifts, and we give them away for weddings, holidays, birthdays, raffles, or just to show someone we want to keep them warm. But too often, we forget our amazing accomplishments. Take your finished projects somewhere beautiful, with good lighting, and do a little photo shoot, so you have photos of your beautiful artworks. Be sure to note along with each photo who it was given to, and the date - Libby says that she can't remember otherwise what happened to which project. You will be amazed to see how impressive your portfolio comes to look.
Hallelujah! Rejoice in your successfully completed works, and take the moment to congratulate yourself, then go get some more fabric and inspiration (and Libby would never forgive me if I didn't say, "and get more thread!")
I just wanted to share with you one of Libby's beautiful works - this was made with several shades of Gelato, a gorgeous ombre (meaning it slowly variegates in color from one selvage to the other) that we carry at Pacific Fabrics. Libby made this quilt by making two simple square 16-patches, exactly the same size, one light, and one dark. She layered the darker one over the lighter one, matching seams, and then did those amazingly precise satin-stitched circles. After she finished the circles, she cut out the upper layer, and quilted the whole thing. Her mastery of threadwork is so inspiring, and I am dying to experiment with this technique - although I have a couple of UFOs I need to finish before I can start anything else!
Thank you to Libby, for a very inspiring lecture, and for allowing me to share with you!
- Anna-Beth
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