Thanks, first to all those who shared their inspirational books in posts over the last couple of months. There were some excellent recommendations and I loved how varied they were.
This time around I thought I'd ask about your sewing habits and most specifically what you do when you are travelling or away from home. There is a bit of an ulterior motive here. If we take holidays in the UK I usually just bundle up whatever I am quilting at the time and take it with me, but I have a couple of things this year where that won't be a sensible option, so I'm looking to see if I can pinch good ideas from other people.
I did, once before, piece some cushion covers in advance and then work on them, just quilting. But I've made a few of these now and it's not something I would want to keep doing over and over.
I am wondering now if I should look on travelling as an opportunity to try something different. Maybe there is a way to make paper piecing work with my messy and imprecise approach. Maybe I should revisit the joys of stitching on denim.
So, do you just take a break when the holidays roll around? Do you work in a sketch book, or plan but not sew? Do you have a travelling bag full of hexies that goes everywhere with you or are you lugging big quilts wherever you go? Are the holidays an opportunity to try something new or revisit old habits. As usual, no right or wrong answers so just hop in and tell us what you like to do.
8 comments:
Holidays are a time for me to totally leave projects behind. Let the wind blow out the cobwebs.
but! I do visit any quilt/fabric shops in the area, and talk quilts/projects/fabrics with the shop employees or other customers. Every shop has a different focus and style. And I enjoy finding out about their business, how long they've been in the quilt business, what inspired them and what keeps them going? Fascinating really!
I rarely take sewing stuff on a vacation since working on it in the car makes me feel awful (headaches and mild nausea). I do take a composition book to write down things I see that could spark a future project (tree covered hills with multiple shades of greens or autumn colors, for example, or an interesting combination of shapes - I take tons of these kinds of photos as well) along with interesting place names that sometimes end up becoming quilt names. If possible, I visit quilt shops although that can be hit or miss depending on locations. Mostly I see it as a time to let my mind wander freely to refill my creative reservoir.
I am no help here. I haven't been "on vacation" in a long time. The last vacation was a trip to California for my brother's wedding and I spent every extra minute just walking up and down the beach. When I take vacation days to travel with my nephew's band I take a cross stitch piece to work on while I sit at the merch booth waiting for customers.
I try to have my quilt bag ready to go with simple applique projects. Nothing overly large and it usually works best if the size is lap manageable such as blocks. It's pretty hit and miss when and if I actually do any hand work while on holiday but I love having it ready to go. When my kids were younger and I had to spend hours waiting on them at tournaments or practice, I would always be working on a 'forever' sort of project that I didn't have motivation to do anything with at home!
When my husband had 3-4 day conferences I would go with him. We'd drive and I'd take my machine, my cutting board, the project, and all the tools so I could sew undisturbed in the motel while he was at his meetings. I didn't work on anything in the car because of motion sickness. He's retired now so no more motel sewing for me.
I rarely go on vacation. If I do it is a camping trip to meet up with family somewhere. But if I do go somewhere like a camping trip or have to sit in the hospital or travel by car for an extended period I usually take books to read, little embroideries and/or something to crochet.
I read Mel Beach's Piece Love and Happiness blog. She's collaging paper, etc. on those cardboard kids books. It might be nice to change things up like that.
I don't take much on vacation but I rummage in family stuff... not in friends' stuff though.
I travel as least as possible - meaning that I go the quickest way I can to get from here to there, so I don't take along sewing projects. But I plug along at home during the hot days. Have a heat pump in that room and it makes the room nice and cool so I can quilt away on my charity quits.
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