An Interesting Blog

My friend from North Carolina, Carol, sent me the link to an interesting embellishment blog, In a Minute Ago by Sharon Boggon.

Carol is always finding interesting things on the web. This one is not specifically a weaving, spinning, or knitting blog, but it deals with textiles (both contemporary and historical), fiber arts in general, quilting (especially crazy quilting), needlework, and embroidery. It also has a fantastic stitch dictionary, which all embroiderers and embellishers will be interested in.

I like this blog because quilting and embroidery were two of my first textile loves. Quilting is part of my family heritage. I remember my great grandmother hand sewing quilt after quilt.

My record UFO was my one and only crazy quilt. It took about 22 years to complete:


I defense of myself, I have to say that for the first 10 years I didn’t know it was going to become a quilt. The bird embroideries were gifts to my parents and grandparents at various times for many years. When my grandparents died, and my step mom inherited all the embroideries, she asked me to make them into a quilt. Then my daughter was born and life turned to raising children. The quilt was packed away. My dad used to love to tease me about it. His first question when he called would always be “How’s the quilt coming along?” We would both laugh, but that quilt nagged at my conscious. There were other things I was interested in, such as learning to spin, but for some reason the quilt kept me from moving on. (For close-ups of all my bird embroideries, click here. )

Sara Lamb has an interesting comment on her blog about being a single project person (an SPP). I’ve thought about that and wondered how it applies to me. I usually have a project on one of my spinning wheels, something on the loom, and one or two knitting projects at hand. But I finish what I start. There was a time in my early life however, when I started many things and finished none. My problem was that I didn’t have the self discipline to finish anything. When a new impulse struck, I was off and running.

Somehow the crazy quilt was my turning point. My enthusiasm for it as a project was long gone, but I knew that I had to finish it. I knew that I could never go on to anything else until it was done. I lamented having ever agreed to do it. I agonized that there was still so much to do on it.

Finally, my family had a conference and told me I had to finish the quilt. Everyone vowed to help with cooking and dishes and housework to give me time to finish it. So, roughly 12 years after I started it, I finished that crazy quilt. Then I packed it carefully in a box and mailed it off to my folks. I had such a sense of relief! I felt free! Shortly after that I bought my first drop spindle. Later came my first spinning wheel, then my second, then the loom. I haven’t made a quilt since.

Sorry for the digression, but crazy quilting does bring back memories. So, back to In a Minute Ago. Sharon updates her blog frequently with all kinds of interesting textile related links. Currently, she is presenting “A 100 Details for 100 Days.” Every day for the next 100 days she plans to feature a different stitch, embellishment, or seam treatment. Today she is on day 8.

But …………be forewarned. If you do visit her blog, you’ll find that it’s easy to spend hours here!

© 2006 Leigh's Fiber Journal