Make It Work!

I've been a fan of Project Runway since the very beginning, and I instantly fell in love with Tim Gunn and his wonderful phrase, "Make it work!"

I'm reading his Gunn's Golden Rules: Life's Little Lessons for Making it Work, and I am enjoying every word.

You can go read about it to find out more, but reactions from many readers about how I worked my way through the white rules quilt really got me to thinking. I changed directions several times while making that quilt, but I never gave up. I never put it aside, never started over. I was amazed that several readers congratulated my tenacity.

What was I supposed to do? Throw it all away? Not me. I had given myself a challenge, and my goal was to meet it. I had put a lot of work into it, and a lot of it was good. I wasn't going to quit.

Gunn writes, "Making it work means finding a solution to a dilemma..."

To make it work you have to figure out what the problems are, and find a solution using the skills you've learned and the materials you have. When you've made it work, you realize that you have the ability to solve the problem, and it gives you confidence to take on other challenges.

So my next lettered quilt will be a small one, an homage to Tim Gunn. It will say...

Make it work!

I have to figure out how to do that.

I've decided to use upper and lower case letters. I've decided I don't want the letters lined up perfectly on their baselines, and I want the letters to be made of more than one fabric. I've decided the background should be yellow. Most importantly, this quilt can only use fabrics that are in my stash.Here's the first letter. I always make my letters big so I can trim them down if needed. This M won't be either as tall or as wide as it is right now.