Sunday, January 19, 2014

The Secret Is Out!

Congratulations Lynn! 
It's your turn to be in the spotlight!
 
I'm so glad you finally shared your news cuz I was about to burst!
Our wonderfully talented Lynn Wilder over there at Sew'n Wild Oaks has been asked to share her Patchwork Math Component information on Alex Anderson's Quilt Show!
Lynn has been so excited and nervous over the past week that it was felt clear up here in Idaho!
I was sitting at my desk at work when I got the news!  Work immediately went right out the window and I was emailing her back!  By my 9:00 break I was so excited for her that I was on the phone sharing the news with my husband!
My words to Lynn were " Is there anything I can do to help you, other than cheer you on and be excited with you & trying to help calm the butterflies in your stomach the night before Alex is sitting in your class!  Teach those butterflies to fly in formation darlin'!  You can do it!"
 
I am so thrilled for her!  She has invaluable information to share, which, as I have told her, has been somewhat skipped over in today's quilting world.
This is the foundation of quilting.  A couple of hundred years ago when I took my first quilting classes we began with math and graph paper, drafting our own templates, adding quarter inch seam allowances and hand piecing every step of the way.  There were a few books, a few patterns, but it was not the industry it is today, with much of the planning taken out of it for those of us who aren't math wizards!  We dreamed up and made our own.  For better or worse.  We had successes and plenty of fails!  Certainly nobody at that time was making 12 quilts a year, applique made most quake in fear.  As for piecing a quilt on a sewing machine?  Sacrilege!  And nobody had heard of a longarm quilting machine!  We were all looking around for groups of little church ladies who might foolishly agree to handquilt for us!
 
We've come a long way baby... but to maintain an appreciation for the effort that went into the creation of quilts that are now part of museum collections, we need to share this foundation of knowledge with future generations.
 I believe it's essential to revisit our roots in order to move forward as continuous learners.
 
I'll be pulling out my copy of Patchwork Math very soon for a self guided class, because I'm certain that Herself, Madame Instructor, will be sending out a test very soon!
 
~Nancie Anne

5 comments:

  1. Start cramming for the test! There will be a surprise quiz this Tuesday.

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  2. I can't think of anyone nicer or more talented to be on The Quilt Show! Good for her! And good for you for cheering her on! Woo Hoo! Cheery wave from Bev

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  3. Am I excused the surprise test cos I sat in the class last summer at its debut?

    You're right though Nancy, things have changed a lot in the past 15 years, but I don't think we always realise just how much easier it is to make quilts today, compared to even 20 years ago.

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  4. So wonderful to hear such great news! Lynn generously gifted me with her Patchwork book awhile back and I have referred to it several times already. Good luck on the test, giggle!

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