Playing around with Fabric

[Link to the book by Sharon Malec]
Quilting - a Fabric Hobby

Fabric is a wonderful thing to have in your hands. And quilting is a great way to play around with fabric.

Quilting fabric is soft, comes in unlimited range of colors and patterns. It is easy to cut (unlike oak or maple lumber) and doesn't need to be sanded, varnished or sealed.

The material can be safely handed indoors, and doesn't need extensive ventilation while working with it. It is easy to clean up - no solvents required, and you don't have to knock dirt off your shoes after working in it!

In theory, because each fabric is approximately the same thickness of most other fabrics, it also can be interchanged with any other fabric within a project.

It is this last attribute that hooks quilters into what can be a life-long, hmmm.... obsession? Or as a friend once said in mild amazement about the questionable logical basis of modern quilting,

"What ? You take perfectly good piece(s) of fabric, cut them up and sew it all back together again??"

But as every quilter knows, there is something pretty intriguing about the exploring the creation of new patterns with color, line and angles. So many possibilities!

(As a rough indicator of the widespread interest: there were 65278 results for quilt* in amazon.com, just in books! That means lots of people have different ideas about what looks good in quilts and are interested in sharing their ideas, and lots of people who are interested in seeing other's new ideas!)

And of course, quilts can be perfectly functional items. They can protect a table top or your hands from a hot dish, decrease drafts or acoustic problems when hung on a wall in your castle and, of course, keep you warm and snug!

(Just don't use them as a rag or dropcloth, unless you wish to quilt-maker tears!)

Quilting is a great creative outlet and hobby, done while surrounding yourself with beauty - each fabric used is, in itself, a work of art.

[Heck, who needs to actually sew the fabrics together? I (and many others, I think) enjoy just looking at them in a stash! CM]