As I mentioned in my last post, I put my hand stitching aside in order to take a Pat Pauly virtual workshop. It was all about line, setting, composition and boy did she pack a lot into those two days. So much fun!
I’m not a quilter. I just have to say that. I mean I love quilts and I love seeing what others do, but I cannot sew seams so that they meet perfectly, nor can I manage to make those points that people do with ease, and a 1/4″ seam on any kind of regular basis baffles me. If I manage to get one, it’s a gift, and I appreciate the beauty of it, even when using a 1/4″ seam sewing foot, I still don’t seem capable of it. The fabric bunches up, the little guide line gets in the way, oh right, it’s there to help me, but it never really does. Anyway, the whole thing ends up as a disaster, but Pat… Pat’s work is much more fluid and isn’t exacting, it’s improvisational and she talks about how the various parts need to speak to each other. This is exactly what I say and do when I’m hand stitching. Is this area having an interesting conversation with this other part? Is this thread bossy and taking over? This is a language I speak!
But then there’s the whole using a sewing machine aspect to this sort of work. I get the appeal, it’s a whole lot faster than hand stitching and one can do things that you just couldn’t do hand stitching, but it still comes with its own set of pitfalls. At least it does for me. On day 1 of Pat’s workshop everyone was racing ahead with the next set of instructions on setting a shape into another piece of fabric and things seemed to be going well. I mean the whole 1/4″ seam thing continues to elude me, but I’ve made peace with that, so all was well.
And then my machine ran out of bobbin thread. Now normally this wouldn’t be cause for great distress, but in my case, this is a newish machine, having traded in my Bernina 880 (which was in the shop more than it wasn’t) and so here I was with my new Bernina 790. It’s a beautiful beast of a machine that uses different bobbins and a different bobbin case than I’m used to, so after a little struggling I managed to wrestle the bobbin out of its little case and then tried to put it onto the bobbin winder on top of the machine. Except that it didn’t fit. I could hear Pat in the background giving valuable information that I would no doubt desperately need, and yet here I was with a bobbin that I couldn’t figure out how to refill. No one must ever know, I thought as I desperately tried to make the bobbin winder work. Finally in a moment of panic I jammed the bobbin onto the winder and then manually held the little lever so that it would wind. Sort of. I then yanked the thing off, put it back into the machine and tried to sew, only now I started getting an error message.
Having now completely missed the last important instructions from Pat, something I knew was vital information to have, but never mind, getting the bobbin to work was taking all my time and energy. What to do? So I did what I do when my computer or phone starts behaving oddly, shut the whole thing down and reboot. Every now and then Pat would say, “So how’s it going _______________” and I would say a silent prayer that she wouldn’t call on me and then I’d have to confess to everyone that not only was I incapable of sewing a 1/4″ seam, but I also had no idea how to refill the bobbin. I could hear everyone else in the background, machines purring happily as they created tiny works of beauty, while I, in all my shame and humiliation, couldn’t manage something so simple and basic!
As I waited for the machine to turn back on, I went in search of my instruction manual, only I’d done a very thorough clean up just the day before and so who knows where that thing was!? Finally I located it and saw that I’d put the bobbin upside down onto the little bobbin winder. It’s a wonder I didn’t break the machine! But never mind, eventually I got the thing working and off I went, making tiny skinny lines in various places. cutting up new pieces, placing shapes within shapes and having a blast. Even better, no one seemed to notice that I was having a tiny crisis!
I would show you the whole thing, but that will have to wait until another day when I have something that’s not quite so “work in progress”!
I have this dream that one day I will be able to keep my sewing machine out all the time AND have my hand stitching and threads all out in another part of the room so that I can seamlessly move from hand stitching to working on the machine and back to hand stitching without having to put everything away each time!
One day…
I love that you admit to being “real”. I am so glad you got the machine working and enjoyed the rest of the class. You give me inspiration, thanks
Haha! Thx Mary. We had a wonderful time. Pat is one of my favorite artists!
I’m excited to see your work. Hang in there, it’ll all work out and your piece will be marvelous.
Ha! Thank you for having such confidence in me!! If it’s all about the process, (and I like to think it is!) then it was fabulous start to finish and will continue to be. ❤️❤️
Ah, Ariane, I can sew relate to your experience. I was going through the exact same thing during the Dorset button classes with you.
I’m always the one in class to have the issues or have to go back and start over while everyone else is whipping out perfect class projects.
You handled it with grace and finesse as you always do.
Your piece is really cool and I can’t wait to see the finished project.
Funny because I had a discussion with my cousin yesterday about quarter inch seams and no matter how hard I tried, I can’t make the work. So you are not alone in that! This is why freeform and scrappy are my friends.
Hugs
Martha
Aw… thanks so much Martha. And I had no idea. I’m so glad it was a positive experience though. Nothing worse than feeling you’re falling behind as everyone else is galloping ahead! ❤️
Good morning fellow classmate. ❤️
Your confession was cleansing! To share our “not so in control moments” is to share our common bond. As you know I have Parkinson’s and mornings are definitely not my best hours. Day 1 of this wonderful class was a fast moving challenge for me. I simply could not keep up. The great thing about a zoom class is I can tap the mute and video button … and my terror is concealed for a brief moment. My fumbling fingers touched my machine needle …blood started to dot my gorgeous Pat Pauly handprint fabric… etc etc
Day 2 Same me. Same slow hands. But a completely different day was ahead. Pat pops the class up. She is smiling and greeting us. And then….here it comes… I confess…yep…confess what? I tell her I have Parkinson’s…mornings are extremely slow for me etc. She graciously thanks me for telling her. My day 2 went so much better.
Yep … confession…
Ariane… your openness is your greatest gift to others.
❤️
Aw Pat, thank you. And here’s the thing about all of this – it’s all about the process, or as a Buddhist teacher, Sherri Huber says, “How you do anything is how you so everything”. I always remind myself if that when I feel like things are getting away from me. Your piece is going to be spectacular, by the way. I just LOVE it. ❤️❤️
Well I was in the same boat as Martha during the Dorset button class! My post-op numb and tingling fingers just could not keep up. Humiliating to say the lease. I still enjoyed the class and today the ones I did don’t look too bad. I hate that feeling when the class is miles ahead of you!
I am just going to have to learn to accept the things I cannot change and just forge ahead!
What I can see of your Pat Paula piece I am loving. Can’t wait to see the whole piece and what you are going to do with it! I already know it will be gorgeous!
“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together” – Vincent Van Gogh
Oh no Bobbi! How are your hands now? Better I hope. I’m so glad you still enjoyed the workshop though. I did love taking Pat’s class. I learned a lot and am going to try and work on it a bit more today, before going back the comfort and ease of my hand stitching! ❤️❤️