Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Sometimes Fabric Talks to Me

I picked up an alphabet panel somewhere recently.  It wasn't that long ago, but I can't remember where I got it.  I was at a quilt shop -- could have been locally, could have been online.  It was on sale.  I needed it. 

I intended the panel for my daughter who just started kindergarten.  She sings the alphabet all the time, but I recently realized that she can't recognize all the letters yet.  Oops! 

The panel instantly became my two year old's when it got home.  She played with it daily so I had to do something with it quick!  I was going to make an alphabet book with it, but daughter wanted a quilt. 

Hmmm. . . .

I took the panel into my sewing room and the things just happened.  I showed the panel some cute polka dots friends, but they didn't want to play together.  I had a red that I thought could be a good friend, but no.  There was a piece of black and white fabric sitting there so nicely.  I thought it would be great for another project so I didn't think it should play with the panel.  The black and white piece wouldn't let me be.  So I gave in.  I used the whole piece.  It was the perfect amount of the perfect fabric. 

The panel wanted to be tied.  It said that kids like playing with ties, and it didn't really want to be stitched.  I was even going to just stitch between the blocks.  Oh well.  I listened.  I tied it.  When the gold yarn said, "Pick me!  Pick me!"  I picked it up, set it down, and tried to find something else.  But gold it was and that was that. 

It asked for a poly batt, but when I went to get the batt, this cotton said he would work.  It was just the right size.  No poly spoke up quick enough so cotton it was. 

After I got it tied, I wanted to bind it in red.  But there was this piece of orange that wanted to play.  I almost refused, but maybe I was learning because instead I picked it up and sewed it on. 

And here is the quilt that all but sewed itself:


Both the 2 year old and the kindergartener love it.  Fortunately there hasn't been any fighting over it yet.  Do I need a psychiatrist?  I don't think so.  Sewing is my therapy.  Maybe that's why my fabric talks to me. 

Does your fabric ever talk to you?

18 comments:

Sandy said...

I think it looks great! What a fun quilt for the kids...and that's all that matters!

Lee Ann L. said...

I wish fabric would talk to me sometimes! I have a hard time picking out colors. What an awesome quilt!

Marge said...

fabric talks to me all the time but only while it is still in the shops. They say "buy me, buy me" I listen quite often
Marge

Cindy said...

I guess fabric "speaks" for itself..LOL

luv2quilt2 said...

What a fun little quilt!

Tiffany said...

I love that you let us in on the whole conversation and I absolutely LOVE the end result :) Glad you listened to those voices in your head ;-)

Karen said...

How adorable this is! Glad there have been no fights over it (so far)! Fabrics talk to me also....they usually begin when I walk into a quilt shop....saying "take me home"! That is why I have such a treasure trove of fabrics.

Happy quilting!

Karen

Mama Spark said...

OMG mine talks to me all the time and so do the quilts as I work on them. I thought it was just me!! Thanks for confirming that someone else has this happen to them too! LOL!!!

Pauline said...

This is such an interesting post, cos as a novice to quilting, I'm too scared to listen to the fabric, but as a cross stitcher, I hear floss and fabric speak all the time and actually listen to it!

Barbara McD said...

Fabric talks to me in the strangest places: magazines, catalogs, online stores, fabric stores - you name it, it has called my name in a very loud voice! The sad part is, once it gets home, I put it in the fabric stash where it calls to me several times a week, but I can't always hear it, because of all the OTHER fabric calling for me to come use them. I'm wishing my stash could be downstairs instead of upstairs so I could hear its voice more clearly and answer the call!

scraphappy said...

My fabric talks to me all the time! Sometimes when I can't decide, I just let it sit there until it figures out what it wants to be when it grows up. Inspiration is funny that way. You have to be open to it when it comes.

SheilaC said...

Great post!! I wish my fabric would talk to me.... sometimes I just don't have a clue :)

Very cute quilt.

SheilaC

Melinda said...

I think fabric talks to me a lot. Sometimes I try to do something to a quilt that the quilt just refuses to have happen. The quilt knows best!

Suzanne said...

Fabric talks to me all the time. That is why my stash is so huge!

Shellie said...

YES... Not to buy them either. They have to speak to me to fit the project and until then it just wont do. That is a perfect quilt for the little one.

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

Absolutely, when fabric talks to me, I must listen. Nothing goes right if I don't listen.

Marianne said...

Yes! And I wish it didn't sometimes. It yells at me to buy it at the LQS but once I get it home it is so quiet. It is a ploy just to get "adopted"!

Barb said...

I've had fabrics wake me up in the middle of the night ~ telling me what to do and not to do with them. And once they are in a quilt, they will "usually" tell me how they want to be quilted although sometimes I need to leave them out where I can see them for a day or six before they decide.