Constraints and Creativity

I think a lot about constraints as a quilter. Some of this is circumstantial. I live in Kuwait, and we do not have access to the abundance of paraphilia that American quilters do. Some of the constraints are self-imposed on principles of sustainability and frugality. Admittedly, I have moments of being jealous of the quilters who have access to and the ability to purchase all the gadgets and fabric they desire. However, ultimately, this would be overwhelming to me- without some sort of constraint, I think my creativity would flounder. There would be no decisions to make- do I have enough fabric, or do I need to improvise? This might not be the perfect color, but what can I put next to it to make it work?

This project had particular constraints- I could only use fabric from a specific stash. A couple months ago I bought a bunch of fabric for a song from a woman named Carrie. Her mother had passed away, and she was selling off her stash. Carrie’s mom was a woman after my own heart and saved all sorts of random fabrics, notions, and such for future use. She left a pile of blue star blocks, and I immediately knew they had to be put into a quilt- they were nearly done! She also had some great yellow fabric- admittedly a little stretchy, so not the greatest, but I made it work.

Her mom also made banners for her church. I vaguely remember seeing these in my preschool, which was held in a Lutheran church basement. It was probably blasphemy, but I decided to cut up this prayer banner and reorder the words. I then hand-sewed the words on top of each star. Without the words, it’s just a classic Sawtooth Star. With the words, I find it much more interesting. This project helped me to use self-imposed constraints to make a piece that is more of an art quilt than a functional quilt.

For me new fabric is a supplement to what I have in my stash or what I can thrift. This forces me to be frugal with what I have because I cannot just order more of the fabric in my stash. And it forces me to amend my ideas to work with what I have available. It certainly is not for everyone considering the epic amount of purchasing many quilters do.

Another way to constrain is to use only one color or fabric theme. Only denim, corduroy, silk, or only blue, yellow, or red fabrics. This has been one of my favorites- using single colors for improv quilting. With small pieces, this creates a new fabric. There are endless possibilities of self-imposed constraints- what would you like to try?