MY LOVELY PADDED CELL

Today I come to you from the confines of my padded cell. Some of you refer to your sewing space as "the sweat shop", or "the studio", or even "the kitchen". As for me, it will always be My Happy Place, where my walls are padded with layers of fabric. Some in the form of finished quilts, some on a soft wall in the process of design, and some walls are padded with stacks of my fabulous stash of mish-mashed fabrics.

I sadly have no real plan when I buy fabric, and I often chastise myself for my random purchases. But at the time of the purchase I am quite sure I felt I needed it desperately. Thus the title, Marcie Patch, Quilt Designer, Quiltmaker, and Compulsive Collector of Fine Fabrics. Sounds so much better than "Fabric Psycho!"

Oh, I actually do have a bit of a plan when I purchase. I love reproduction fabrics from the Civil War era. And that is about all it takes for me to cross the line from "shopper" to "psycho". My fabric stash is not really as mish-mashed as it would seem to the casual eye. Ninety percent of it is Civil War era, and the rest is about to be removed from my presence to a more accommodating home.

My favorite creations are those that combine newly purchased fabrics along side the old ones. It is such a thrill to me to pull out a piece of fabric that I have had for years and see it blend perfectly with something I just purchased. And I am rarely content to make a quilt from a kit or from a certain line of beautifully coordinated fabrics. What fun is that? A quilt like that contains nothing of myself in it. I need wiggle room. Even on the rare occasion when I buy a kit, I end up changing something. Actually, that is how I ended up designing quilts. I always needed to change something to make it my own.

I am not so pious as to think that my way is the only way. It is a big wide wonderful world of quilts, and each of us is free to decide where we fit in. We are all blessed with Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Scrappiness! (Oh my gosh, that is the perfect name for a quilt! Don't steal that, I am hereby copyrighting it!)

New topic. With all that is going on in our family this year, I started having nightmares in early August about not getting my Christmas projects done. For the past couple of years I have offered a free little Christmas quilt pattern, or, with a change of fabric, Hanuka if you prefer. We all recognize this traditional quilt pattern. Nothing too out of the box here. But just look at how cute it is with these fabrics! Don't fabrics just make all the difference?! It measures 22.5 inches square. I am working on the instructions for this quilt and it will be available for you soon. I will post a link on the top of my blog when that happens.

Hope you get some sewing in today!