Birthing a Quilt

Birthing a quilt is a traditional method of finishing the edges of a quilt without using a binding strip around the border. In effect you layer together the quilt top, the batting and the back so that they are inside out. Then you sew the edges together leaving an opening big enough to stick in your fingers, grab the corners and turn the quilt right sides out.

But for me, "birthing a quilt" better describes my experience at the studio yesterday. A new quilt idea began brewing in my head sometime last week. I could see flashes in my mind of what it might look like, but the picture wasn't complete. It was like watching a movie preview without understanding a coherent plot for the story.

It was a busy weekend with responsibilities that kept me away from the studio for a few days, but the fleeting images kept flashing. Finally yesterday I was able to spend the day at the studio and I couldn't get there fast enough. I still hadn't gotten the whole picture, but I knew it would come if I just sat there in my creative space for a little while.

It took all morning. I leafed through some diving magazines with photos of sea life waiting for some image to trigger the ideas in my head. Then I saw my sketch book and leafed through that, and that's when it happened. An old sketch came to life and coalesced with all the images I'd been seeing on the magazines, and I had the plot for my new quilt.