Thread: Liberated quilts?

I just read an article about liberated quilting in a magazine sent to me by a fellow quilter. I have never thought to make a quilt wonky on purpose but after staring at the pictures of the quilts in the article for several minutes, I started to see the beauty in it. I'm thinking of trying it.

Has anyone else tried this and if so, do you like it better than traditional piecing?

Nothing I make is straight. I remember my Mom always telling me that "only God can do perfect" when I couldn't do things perfectly. So now, all my quilts have a slight imperfection in the on purpose.

Great answer.....nothing is perfect, so there am I ! I'm so new at this and I can assure you that all that I do is wonky, but on the other hand, wonky becomes a trademark !

I will make a liberated quilt, but it's really not on purpose. See, we had this tub from my great aunt, and in it I found several items: a few crochet quilts, some rectangles of shirt fabric that was being sewn together in a quilt, and a rather long giant rectangle of almost canvas material that had been sewn together as the start of a quilt. The seams are all cock-eyed and intersections a mess, but rather than take all the fabric apart and start over, I've decided to cut it into smaller pieces, preserving all those crooked and awful seams in the quilt. My new seams will be perfect, but it will also preserve the old. I did the same with the shirt rectangles, and from it emerged a quilt that keeps the posterity of the original process.

I think that is what people are trying to replicate- times before rotary cutters and modern rulers and tools. The shirt pieces were paper pieced- it had small segments of paper still attached into the stitching, and I was almost tempted to leave them in the quilt, but I had to wash the fabric and they dissolved.

If by liberated quilting they are relishing wonky seams, I am not sure I agree with purposely making those errors on new quilts, but where I run into ones from old quilts, I celebrate them.

I continue to try to make a perfect quilt, not there yet but, slowly getting closer.

I have... and I love improvisational piecing. I took a class with Denyse Schmidt... we started out grabbing little pieces from a bag blindly sewing them together and then getting larger & larger pieces.. the idea of the excerise was to trust the process and not try and control the outcome of the block. I can say it was liberating. I now make both traditional/pattern/precise blocks and improv too when the need arises ;-)

Originally Posted by thelondonzoo

I just read an article about liberated quilting in a magazine sent to me by a fellow quilter. I have never thought to make a quilt wonky on purpose but after staring at the pictures of the quilts in the article for several minutes, I started to see the beauty in it. I'm thinking of trying it.

Has anyone else tried this and if so, do you like it better than traditional piecing?

wonky can be charming--
there are tutes on here for wonky blocks &
on quiltville, too

quilting IS liberating!

Originally Posted by Jingle

I continue to try to make a perfect quilt, not there yet but, slowly getting closer.

Perfect is overrated :mrgreen:

At the point I ever think I have made a "perfect" quilt, I'm sure I will "perfectly" spill something all over it.

I'm unique and so is everything I create...not on purpose but by sub-conscience actions. Not gonna sweat over it -- not enough brain cells left for that.

Wonky has a place and a home.

Oh...do people really TRY to make quilts like some I turn out..and hide in the closet or under other quilts on the bed in coldest weather?