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Writing Challenge

The Squid Hexie Quilt

Hello, and welcome to those who might be new to this blog! I signed up for the 31 Day Blog Writing Challenge hosted by Cheryl Sleboda, so I will be posting a little more often this month. Some topics I plan to write about are outlined here.

EPP Hexie Quilts

I started writing this blog after going to my first Portland Modern Quilt Guild meeting in 2010 and learned about hexies for the very first time. I was so excited about the possibilities of using the hexagon shape with fabric, that I went home and designed the Squid Quilt that night!

The Squid Hexie Quilt
The Squid Hexie Quilt

Right now I’m working on a few short video tutorials on EPP piecing that I’ll be able to share later this month.

Chakra Quilt Series

Quilting tends to be a meditative and healing activity for me. I sometimes use it as a way to process deep emotions as a sort of art therapy. The Chakra Quilt Series started in 2015 with the Root Chakra Quilt after a few old friends passed from liver failure while they were in their 40’s. It shook me a bit because I too suffer from liver damage from our past lived experiences.

Root Chakra Quilt - photo by Juline Bajada
Root Chakra Quilt

I once lived as a gutter punk… my friends and I squatted abandoned buildings, lived in vehicles, or just slept outside. I was running away from processing any emotional trauma of my childhood. This was another life for me, but made deep impressions. It’s been over 20 years since I quit drinking, speed, and cigarettes. These Chakra quilts have become a way of connecting my present with my past in a way to help heal my body and my mind. In this blog challenge, I’ll be writing more about my current project: The Third Eye Quilt.

Writing Quilt Patterns

Recently, I started writing quilt patterns and it’s something I really enjoy doing. It mixes some of my graphic design skills with quilting – and math! It’s a challenge, but I think I’ll be writing more quilt patterns since I have more time (Covid). I’ll be posting about my process of writing patterns this month with some formatting tips I just learned about.

Screen Printing

Another topic I’ll be writing about during this challenge will be about screen printing and our online store called The Phantom Chicken Gift Shop. My husband and I have run a t-shirt printing business together since 2002 (he actually started it in 1995). It has just been the two of us: he does all the set up and printing, and I do the graphics and bookkeeping.

Covid has taught us that we are an “event-based-print-shop”. Most of our clients have shirts printed for their concerts, trade shows, restaurants, or other events, so our business has been negatively affected. Luckily, some essential businesses still need shirts for employees, and some people are doing online fundraising. To help financial strain, we are going to focus on some retail sale options, and created the store: ChickenScratch.

Sewing Tutorials

As noted earlier, I plan to make a few tutorials over this next month. I’d like to show how to baste different EPP shapes, how to do a skimming whipstitch for piecing EPP shapes, and how to make a hexie binding. I also have some ideas for tutorials on basic sewing techniques like binding, getting an accurate 1/4″ seam allowance, and chain piecing.

Till tomorrow – Happy Quilting!

2 thoughts on “Writing Challenge”

  1. So nice to meet you,Gail. I love your squid quilt. I too find quilting to be good therapy at times. So glad to hear you are on the recovery road. I wish you much success and look forward to seeing what you have to share with us. ( I grew up in Portland and now make home in Southern Oregon)

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