Interview with Marcia’s Crafty Sewing and Quilting for Season 2 of Project QUILTING

  What made you decide to join Project QUILTING? In November of 2010 I was at the Quilts by Barb Quilting Retreat. Kim did a presentation about Project Quilting. She displayed the some of the unique and wonderful quilt projects the she and Karen had created during Season One. They were so cool. I particularly liked the Nursery Rhymes Challenge. I decided I have to do that! I want to have fun too! I also offered to sponsor Project Quilting with prizes. What was your favorite part about Project QUILTING? My favorite part about Project Quilting was the excitement of the challenge, the brainstorming, and the process of creating and seeing all the wonderful quilted projects. I loved taking photos of each step and seeing how my projects all came together. Then posting about how I did it. Which Challenge in Season 2 was your favorite? and why… My favorite challenge was the Hardware Store Challenge. I called my wall hanging quilt Connectivity. I compared electrical wires to a group of quilters. I really connected with this project. At this point in the season, I was comfortable with my creating process and had a good time management plan in place. Which Challenge in Season 2 was your least favorite? and why… The second challenge, not because of the challenge, I liked the What’s in a Name Challenge, but because my brainstorming was working right that week. I had a very busy quilting schedule and I just could not put the time I needed into the project. After Challenge 2, I managed my time better. I came up with a schedule for the week. Remember, I work full time at home (quilting) and I was determine to make it fit into my busy schedule! Because I wanted to have fun! On Sunday, I would Read the challenge and think about it. Sometimes I would surf the Internet for ideas. I didn’t look for quilts or quilted projects. I would look at all sorts of other things that pertained to the theme, but not necessarily quilts. This gave me all sorts of ideas. I would sketch ideas and write notes, as they came to me. I started following non quilt blogs – photography blogs, cooking blogs, and gardening blogs. Monday, I would pull fabric out and look at it only for a few minutes and just imagine the project in my head. On Tuesday, I would take photos of the fabric and the drawings
and post a blog about it. Then at the end of the day on Wednesday I would start to cut and sew! Thursday after my customer’s quilts were done, I would quilt my project. Finishing touches, bindings, and photos on Friday or Saturday. The schedule really helped me, as most times, I was done by Friday. I posted about every project, taking pictures of the whole process! Which Challenges did you come up with your idea immediately and which took some marinating? Challenge 5 – Flying Geese – My Fly Bag – I based my project on the artwork of graphic artist MC Escher (Maurits Cornelis Escher). I found the two pieces of his artwork on Google images and decided I could place triangles in a similar pattern to create a cool design on the front of a quilted bag. I used yellow-orange and blue-purple for my complimentary colors set against black and white. My original plan was to make a small passport bag for myself, but I was having so much fun with the triangles, I decided I had to make a larger bag AND the passport bag.           Did you try any new techniques for your projects during these challenges and if so, what were they? Yes! Zentangle Quilting on the 1st challenge – My primary colors Baby Quilt. My definition of Zentangle Quilting is repetitious patterns, designs and shapes. I had fun with this quilt, as I just created all sorts of patterns in each block. It was not completely new to me I had done it before, but not on a finished quilt – just on practice fabrics. How does everyone find the time to make such beautiful pieces!?!? I’m not sure, if I would say mine were beautiful, but they were fun! It just happens when you give yourself time to create! How has Project QUILTING made you a better Quilter? I was forced to manage my time better, thus resulting in more creating time! What didn’t you like about Project QUILTING? The “one week” time frame. I think two weeks would be perfect! You could order fabric online or run to the fabric store if you had more time. Did you find the judges comments beneficial, annoying, or inconsequential? Why? I was pleased with the judge’s constructive critiques. Do you think the judging format should be more structured, less structured, stay the same? and why? Maybe a form for each area like …Color, balance, piecing, binding…just an idea. What was your favorite piece that you created for the Project QUILTING challenge? My favorite was my last project – Spinning Spiral Flower Bag. I think it was because I was really enjoying the whole process. What were your top three favorite pieces that someone else created for the Project QUILTING challenge? I loved the wall hanging: A Mother Never Forgets, because Jennifer really put her whole heart and soul into this one! I really liked the cloth basket, Organizing Papa, because I felt Sally put a unique twist on the project by using hardware pieces and making a very useful final project. Welcome to Toadvine was from the 2nd Challenge – What’s in a Name! Christine made this project very whimsical! Very creative! What changes would you make to future Project QUILTING Seasons? Two weeks for a challenge. Is there anything you’d like to add or comments you’d like to share with me and my readers? If you haven’t tried one of the challenges – try it! It is fun! Take the time to have fun again!   ~Marcia Wachuta of Marcia’s Crafty Sewing & Quilting, Boscobel, Wisconsin     Thanks for taking time to fill out my interview questions Marcia!  I highly recommend people heading over to Marcia’s blog and checking out her ‘May for Me’ Project!