I’m Rachel Trindle, also known online as RST in WA or Rachel,
mom of boys.
I live in Seattle, WA with my husband and 4 sons (ages 20,
17, 14 and 14). A dog and 2 kittens round out the household.
I made my first quilt some 43 years ago. Yes, I am old. But I also started quilting
quite young. I caught the bug as a 6 or
7 year old sitting under the big quilts on frames that church ladies were
putting together. I remember having the chore of pushing the big darning
needles with yarn back up to the top of the quilt whenever one of the ladies
lost her grip as they did a tied quilt.
I loved the fabrics, the colors, the designs, listening in on the adult
chatter. My own first quilt measured
about 12 by 16 inches, and shall we just say that I was ahead of my time in
wonky-improv charm? I picked up quilting
in earnest as an adult when I was in grad school and fell in love with needle
turn applique. All things crafty and hobby-related took a back seat when my
boys were babies, but I got hooked again when my twins were about 3 and have
been cranking out quilts pretty regularly since then.
My stash is extensive, but as I like to point out, I’m not
technically a hoarder since I really do use it.
And fabric acquisition is my only vice, so that’s not bad, right? I keep yardage in big Rubbermaid totes,
pieces bigger than a fat eighth but up to a yard in drawers of a dresser
(arranged by drawer: black, gray and white / cream, beige and brown/ seasonal
and novelty/warm colors/cool colors.)
Smaller pieces, strips, and snippets go in plastic shoe boxes by color. I
sometimes will keep specific lines together in their own very special shoe box--
Tula Pink and Kate Spain get their own places of honor, as well as a half
drawer of Kaffe Fasset lovelies I’m hoarding for something truly fabulous
someday. I also find that using clean pizza boxes to collect fabrics cut pieces
for a work in progress is a nice way to keep things organized and under control
– I’m definitely of the school who has many projects going at any one time.
Thing I wish I knew earlier on: Hmmm.
I think I wish I’d embraced a more relaxed attitude. When I was first quilting seriously, the
ideal was very much about perfect points and exact seam allowances and bias cut
borders painstakingly mitered at the corners.
It’s been nice to just throw some of the “rules” I was taught in
quilting classes in the 80’s right out the window. I love improve piecing and relaxed design-as-you-go
approaches; it’s made quilting so much more fun!
On a related note, my must-have item or tool is a big design
wall. Mine is made out of insulation boards
from Home Depot (8 x 8) and covered with white felt. I love being able to design and preview my ideas
up on the wall. It’s also a time saver
in that I can leave a project up on the wall until I’m ready to assemble. I’ve been known to press, layer and baste on
the wall for smaller projects too.
Insullation board holds up to the heat well. The felt holds most smaller blocks, but if
they’re falling off, a pin into the insulation holds well. Highly recommend a
design wall if you can fit one in your sewing space. Mine was under $40 all
told -- 2 pieces of 4 x 8 pink insulation
board, extra wide white felt to cover it, hot glue, and some nails and washers
to secure it to the wall.
And on to this month’s block. . . .
As hive 4 knows, I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time in
the hospital with my youngest son. In
January he had a spinal fusion surgery to correct severe scoliosis which was
caused by his cerebral palsy. The surgery
just spiraled into one complication after another and he’s currently
hospitalized again, with no end in sight yet.
We’re exceeding 100 days in-patient in addition to many days or nights
spent in the ER. Sitting by his side, I
have very little I can do for him except to hold his hand, let him know that I’m
there, and use my words to encourage him.
I tell him how brave and strong he is, remind him to fight, or rest, or
sleep. But most of all I tell him I love
him. Words don’t feel like much in the
face of illness and pain, but they are powerful.
So here’s my plan. I
want to make word blocks. I’ll let you
choose the word. I’ll let you choose the
fabric colors. And I’ll let you choose the technique or method. I’m not sure what my final project will end
up like. It could be a sort of fabric
wordle. Or maybe I’ll come up with a grid layout that works. Or I may use individual word blocks separately
as focal points on simple comfort quilts to donate Seattle Children’s hospital
or another organization benefiting kids like my son. Or maybe a special block
will become a wall hanging or a pillow.
I’m going to let the blocks themselves dictate what I end up with.
I encourage you to be creative. Use another
language! Go for a code (see my Morse
code quilt on the pinterest board linked below). Consider nautical flags to
spell out a word. If you have a fabric
that features letters or sign language motifs or braille, that could be fun.
I’ll
link you to a lot of sources for free alphabets, or use your own favorite
method: piece with a pattern, paper
piece, improv piece, needle turn applique using stencils or an enlarged
computer font or free-hand letters, do raw edge applique, machine applique,
reverse applique, even fusible (but please minimize stiffness by either using a
light weight fusible and/or trimming away excess fusible (aka window pane).
Please use cheerful fabrics-- not too
babyish, and gender-neutral is great. I’d
like a white, gray or low-volume background. Tone on tone or solid fabrics are
fine for the background. I’d like the
letters to be at least 3 or 4 inches high.
Your final block size depends entirely on the word and the size of
letter you choose.
Here are some ideas for words: Love. Rest. Hope. Care. Live. Brave. Believe. Strong. Sleep. Grow. Heal. Thrive. Happy. Peace. Joyful. Determined.
Breathe. Laugh. Wish. Faith. Relax. Loved.
Precious. Dear. Care. Home! Or use another word of your choice—something
with power to encourage and uplift.
Here’s a link to a Pinterest board that includes a ton of
links to many techniques for making alphabet letters in fabric, free patterns,
and some photos of word quilts I’ve made: http://www.pinterest.com/rtrindle/use-your-words-quilt/
Please excuse the lack of photos here in this blog post. I’m
trying to post this on a borrowed laptop and relying on hospital wifi. Apparently the photos I had put in a drop box
file to use in this post are too large to load, and I don’t have photo-editing
software on this laptop. At some later date, when we’re home, I hope, I will
try to edit and get some photos added.
In the meantime, let me know if you have questions or points to clarify.
Thanks for playing!
