The Process Is Often More Important Than the Product!

As a teacher, I have said this phrase many times, "The process is more important than the product," generally followed by, "So what did you learn by doing this?"  These are not necessarily the words 11-14 year olds want to hear when their cookies come out of the oven looking like something they might want to scrape off their shoes.  Or their bread dough is so tough you couldn't stretch it if it were attached to two 18-wheelers.  Or if their shorts look like...gee, what's the worst I have ever seen?  The boy who cut a small front and a large back?  or the girl with the 1-inch casing at the front and the 3-inch casing at the back?

I stumbled across Rossie's blog the other day about "fresh modern quilts" http://r0ssie.blogspot.com/2010/05/process-pledge.html 
and I was struck by post "The Process Pledge."  In this post, Rossie explains the necessity and the philosophy of posting about the process of quilting, but this could be about anything one is learning how to do. 

I like to journal--about what I am thinking and feeling, things I am struggling with, things I want to do better, etc.  On her blog, Rossie invites other bloggers to take the pledge to blog about the process.  Now if I were computer savvy enough, I might add the pledge, but I haven't quite figured that part out.

See I am blogging about the process of becoming better with the computer.

Anyway, I have been working on a baby quilt for my new grand-niece the past couple of months.  I promised her mother I would have it done before her first birthday, so I have, let's see, ummm, 10 months to go.

Actually I have the top all done...finally.  Hey, I am really good at the sewing machine.  I tell my students I have been sewing for 43 years and I KNOW what I am doing when it comes to a sewing machine, but I will NEVER, EVER (see the all caps thing)  buy a kit of pre-coordinated fabrics again!!

Just look at how cute these fabrics are.  They coordinate so well.  And there are all these cool textures for a baby to touch.  YE-AH!  But they are a sewing nightmare.  Remember, 43 years of sewing.  I have done wedding and bridesmaid dresses, Dumbo and Piglet costumes, a Harry Potter hat, a sequined looking prom dress that broke the needle every 5 minutes, etcetera, etcetera.  Lots of different weights, textures, amounts of stretchiness and slipperiness...But WHO thought it would be a good idea to put ALL these fabrics together in one project and hope for it to end up squared without puckers?   UGGGHHH!!!



The green velour stretches crosswise, but not lengthwise.  The flannel is stiff. The satin frays like it's trying to win a contest for first fabric to totally disintegrate!  The cottons would be perfect if they weren't teamed up with these other dillybops.  So that is my gripe--pairing fabrics that really don't like each other!

Me, who rarely has to unstitch sewing, has finally got the top "sewn" together, though I know where every little pucker and mismatched seam is.  Now it comes to the machine quilting part.  I fear even the stitching in the ditch is going to be a nightmare.  But I will persist.  Hey, I've got a deadline:  May 26, 2011.

What saddens me the most, is that I wanted to create something precious for someone precious.  I didn't realize what a hair-tearing experience it would be.

Sweet Little Sophie, I love you and your momma, Andi.  One of these days you'll get to hear all about the nightmare the making of this quilt was.  And if I end up like your great-great-grandma Virginia, you'll probably hear about it again and again and again.  Then you can all laugh at me for repeating myself.  I won't mind.  Been there.  Done that!