I suck majorly at math. I always have and always will. Even the smallest thing that somehow seems like a math equation is a huge diversion to me. Like, how many gallons of gas does my car hold? I have no clue. I don't care to know. Gallons sounds a little too much like something that would have baffled me and made me want to cry in middle school. Which is how I feel whenever I encounter math. And really, it can be the simplest addition and subtraction. I don't know why this is. Perhaps some undiagnosed learning disability, or the fact that I was out sick the day we learned the multiplication tables in third grade and I have never quite caught up. But math is one of the only things that truly makes me feel stupid.
I am embarrassed sometimes at my lack of math skills. When I used to work at a job where I was at a cash register I would be thrown into a blind panic if I didn't hit the correct button on the register that would tell me what change to hand back to the customer, or my heart would sink whenever I would ring the total through, get my amount to hand back to the costumer, and they would say, "Oh, wait, I have a dime...." Uh, ok, super. What the hell am I suppose to do with this dime? I know this some how rounds up your change to a solid dollar amount, but what it is? Mostly kind-hearted women would take pity on me and see the terror in my eyes and say, in the most conversational manner, "Oh, and that will just give me back a five!" I always wanted to hug these women. Men, well, they never really offered their assistance. Poor social cue reading. Oh, well, they apparently never noticed when I would hand them back in the incorrect change, either.
Anyway, the math in quilting isn't gallons, or change, obviously, it's measurements. Inches, mostly. I have been working in the world of "quarter inches" these last few days. I'm still not quite sure what they are, but apparently, I rock at them. "Oh, your doing really well on your quarter inches!" Vickie will say, after I finished sewing a few squares together and hand them over to her to press ("that means iron" Jim offered helpfully to me the other day, yeah, buddy, I know what she means when she says "press") Last night Vickie explained, and I tried to comprehend, "See, you want to be right on with your quater inches, that is where you can get screwed up. Then your quilt will never lay right and the seams will be off." Hmmm...I didn't know so much of the finished product relayed so heavily on the oh-so-sacred quarter inch.
The quarter inch is a setting on the sewing machine. I figured that much out. It's where the pressure foot sits in relation to the edge of the fabric you are sewing. On Vickie's million dollar machine you can just punch in a few numbers to the little computer on the top, and the pressure foot moves to the quarter inch spot automatically. Impressive! I wonder if I would be so awesome at the quarter inch if I was left to find that magical spot all on my own with a cheaper, or old school, machine.
I ran into this quarter inch problem on the quilt I made a few years ago for Cori. Her quilt lays flat, but there are several squares that don't line up. It's ok. They are few and far between, but pretty noticeable, especially if they are pointed out.
Aside from the quarter inch, there are other inches to be measured, that can't be punched into a high tech sewing machine.
Now, Vickie is "teaching" me to quilt. But, she isn't a "teacher" she's a "do-er." She can just do it, and I think sometimes if something comes to easily to you, you have a hard time teaching it to someone else, which I think we are running into this a little. The particular quilt I am working on is a different style them my first one, a much more precise hand is needed. We reached the step last night where we are to sew three of the big squares together, however, we needed to leave space to add our border. Vickie held up the square, mumbled to herself, set the square back down and quickly measured it. "It's 17 inches, so we need 5 inches of border." Uh....ok. How did you reach that conclusion? I didn't ask. I was just happy she could figure it out quickly, while I would have been, "err, uhh, it's about, I dunno, which lines do I read the ruler at again?"
The math is probably my biggest obstacle with quilting. The math, and the sewing. Which I am doing much, much better at my second go-round.
Enjoy some pics of my first quilt!
The quilt, in it's permanent spot. Cori's living room. Oh, and her papillion Moya. The dog literally saw me take my camera out and went running to be photographed as well. Little ham.
It's a Queen sized quilt, but Cori doesn't have Queen sized arms, but she's holding it up for me anyways. The style is what Vickie calls a "star climber" quilt. Is this an official style? I dunno. I just nod.
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