On Podunk Pond Assembly Line

 Happy Monday Quilting Friends!  It's days like today that make me thankful for my happy place.  Outside it's going to be another cold, gloomy and gray winter day in Indiana.  But inside it's bright and happy like a warm spring day.  The sweet smell of the lilac candle in the living room has drifted into the Studio giving me the illusion of spring.  My brightly color version of Bonnie Hunters quilt pattern called On Ringo Lake is singing to me....🎵🎵 Hello sunshine, Good Morning, Morning...Wakeup sleepy Head....I'm the happiest Girl...In the whole USA.🎵🎵  While admiring the vibrantly color design wall it occurs to me that this quilt will need a new name.  It's doesn't remind me of a lake.

Can you see it?  This quilt laid out on the ground with a picnic basket, me and my girl Khaleesi(dog) laying in the sun watching the clouds roll by on a beautiful spring day.  Yep it's official, my quilt will be called On Podunk Pond.  I feel this better describes my version of this pattern, color makes all the difference. Not to mention I have a strange emotional attachment to many of my quilts that helps me with making and naming them.

Quilting has always been an outlet for my emotions, good or bad.  I tend to stitch the happy times and the not so happy times of my life into a quilt.  It's also used as a way to keep the blues at bay.  I find surrounding myself with bright and happy colors makes my little ole heart go pitter-pat.  So when I feel a little negative or blue I like to open the fabric stash cabinets and just pet, sort or play with different fabric combinations.  

Not everyone feels the same working in the same color pallet and that's okay.  We each need to find what we are passionate about and what makes our heart and soul sing. 

 Following the popular color trends is not my thing.  Like right now, most fabric lines are muted with browns or grays and lean towards pastels.  I suppose it's a sign of what's going on in the world.  Things do seem a lot more dismal and gray in the last few months.  I may make an occasional out of my comfort zone quilt to challenge myself but I always go back to the basic box of crayons for color inspiration.  What colors make your heart sing? Are you more of a warm and cozy quilter?  

Another trend in quilting is efficiency.  A quicker way to do this or that is great but we need to remember to move.  While it can be great for pumping out the quilts quickly it can also have an adverse side effect if we don't take steps.  STEPS being the key word.   In the past I was always looking for the fasted way to get things done.  That has changed a bit.  I still want the process to be fast but I also want to move even if it's just a few steps.  Having my quilting assembly line set up in a nice "U" shape allowed me to never leave my seat.  Efficient for quilting but not for health.   So I've decided to make it a point to MOO-VE.  It's not about weight it's about health and being able to MOVE.  I'm sure many of you here in the USA have seen the TV commercial for a drug that says "A body in motion stays in motion".  

I want to stay in motion as long as possible.  We all do right?  So here's what I've done to make myself move a tad bit more in the studio.

Steps 1, 2 and 3 in the image below are the basic no movement, keep it quick and simple quilt assembly line.  In the past I would piece all the blocks at once.  Then get up press them all at once and put them on the design wall all at once.  That's the low movement way. 

The new more movement way is to piece one block at a time, press the one block and put it on the design wall.  I have two options for pressing the blocks.  I can either get a nice stretch by standing and stretching over my machine to reach the pressing board(4) or walk around the table to the other side press the block and walk back around to the design wall(5).   

The yellow arrows are pointing to the empty design boards, there's two sizes. Previously all of these would be put right beside me on a table, no movement.  Now I must stand and stretch a little to put the small ones on my cutting table...more movement.   While this isn't an aerobic workout at least I'm getting some movement and working the largest muscles in my body, the leg muscles.  And this project is moving along after years of being a UFO.

So far I'm loving this new game plan.  However, the efficiency police in my brain is having a cow right now.  Changing up my system/quilting rhythm has effected my attention to detail.  Interesting how changing the way I move can effect other areas like quality and attention to detail.  I'm so focused on the new  movement steps that I'm making more piecing errors and spending more time with jack the ripper.  Oh well, I guess I just need to make the best of it and look at it as more movement.  

  

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~ Assembly Line Sewing ~

Most non quilting people think quilters are patient.  That couldn't be farther from the truth.  As a quilter I know just how impatient I and other quilters can be.  I mean really lets be honest.  Almost  all of us have a drawer stuffed full of UFO's or WIP.  Why does this happen?   Could it be we lack patience?  Well of course!  We can't wait to start the next project.  We will give excuses for our lack of commitment to a project.  But really it all boils down to we don't have the patience to stay with that project from start to finish without interruptions.  You can deny it if you want, but you know deep down in your heart I'm right.  To me the ultimate patient quilter owns no rotary cutter or mat.  Their sewing machines are used only when an emergency mending is needed.  They don't keep count of how many quilts they made this year.  From start to finish these quilters take their time and use only the basic of tools.  

The rest of us however use every trick, tool and tip to get us to finish line as quickly as possible due to our lack of patience and still have UFO's hidden away.  It's hard to admit, I know.  Sure you're going to kid yourself by saying things like "work smart, not hard".  But to the ultimate quilter it's not hard to use the old fashion methods.  Now I'm not saying there's anything wrong with quick tips and tricks, I quilt by them everyday.  One of my favorite fast quilt making tips is assembly line sewing, speed piecing or chain piecing.  The discovery of this magical technique many years ago changed my quilting world.  I use it to make almost all my quilts.  We have become so accustomed to the tricks that we forget the newer quilters have no clue what we are talking about.  This very thing became apparent to me last week when quilting with my friend Judy.  She's fairly new to quilting but has be sewing for years.  As we quilted together and discussed many things, she brought it to my attention that she felt many quilt patterns are written with the experienced quilter in mind.  How very true.  Even I will add to my patterns "Basic quilting knowledge is required".  

With that being said I thought it would be a good idea to share my current quilt and the assembly line sewing I used to make the quilt go together super quick.  Most of the time setting up for assembly line sewing takes very little extra effort.  This quilt however took a bit more since it's scrappy.  I needed to lay out all the pieces to make sure no two fabrics touched.  How much extra time?  About an hours worth of work putting the pieces on the design boards.  (click here for design board tutorial)  Not all speed piecing requires design boards.  The blue fabrics below are an example.  In the video at the bottom of this post you will see examples of the two types of speed piecing mention, with boards and with out.

Speed piecing is a game changer once you get the rhythm down.  I'll admit it, the first few attempts at this years ago I failed miserably. The seam ripper and I became best buddies.   But like with anything, the more you do it the better you get.  My advice to anyone trying this for the first time is to take it slow and talk yourself through it so you don't need to break out the seam ripper. Making super scrappy quilts also helps because no one will now if you didn't use the fabrics as they were planned.   As long as the same two fabric don't touch it's sewn correctly!  The idea is to cut your thread as little as possible, just keep feeding the fabrics through your machine until you have no more fabric.  

There's also a technique called webbing quilt blocks where you don't cut the threads in between the pieces.   I used this method when making my Podunk Posy quilt. (all links to the Podunk Posy FREE pattern can be found here)  Cutting the threads in between isn't necessary if you are pressing the seams to the side.  This also keeps your blocks together with no fear of getting the patchwork out of order.  Not cutting threads is also a real time saver.  Not all blocks can be done this way but most can.  However if you will be pressing your seams open I don't suggest this method, it's easier to cut the threads as you go.  

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