Finished a small quilt

On Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:12:07 -0600, teleflora wrote (in article ):

I can't say for certain. I was not much of a doodler either. But then I got assigned to listen these weekly conference calls at work. They take hours and I usually don't have much to say. Someone had told me to practice "stippling" with pen and paper.

It did make a difference for me. It' is like my eye learned where to go and when I'm machine quilting, my hands just follow. I love machine quilting now.

Maureen

Thanks, Launie. Those little circles were actually lots of fun to do. :)

Cindy, you're describing me. I can't draw or doodle to save my life. :S Writing your name is actually good practice, as it involves control and going in different directions.

I'm thinking that too, Maureen. If I can fill pages with swirls and smooth loops, I got to believe that can only help me. Now I just have to set aside some time for doodling, for goodness sakes.

Cindy

Piggybacking to Cindy: Did you have cursive writing in elementary school? if so, did the teacher make you do pages an pages of PRACTICE O's and o's before you were allowed to make a page of 'to be graded' O's? We did. that is another way of 'doodling. Not all of us are gifted in that department. Instead of doodling per se, do a practice page of O o's, Cursive A a 's, etc.that will get your brain in 'connective mode' which is what quilting is....connecting lines: straight, curved, looped, etc.

Wow Sandy - you succeeded - not only in the air, but I can see the dragon flying. Awesome and I love the colors. Mmm, machine appliqué - wasn't it you and I that took a hand appliqué class at the LQS so many years ago? Beautiful job on the entire quilt! Carl

Thanks, Carl! :) I really did fall in love with that background -- so much so that I bought more of it the other day, just to "have". I didn't want to take a chance that I'd need it someday and kick myself. ;)

Yes, we did take that class -- and now I'm hoping to take another hand appliqué class at camp next summer. Some day I may find a technique I like and can use. ;) While I love doing machine work, it's very nice to have something to work on by hand, too. :)

OH WOW! It's gorgeous. Your quilting is exquisite Sandy. If you're doctor doesn't like it I'm sure you'll have plenty of takers on here :)) I've got a wall it will fit on quite nicely :)

thanks for sharing Elly in Scotland

Thanks, Elly! :) I'll let you know; my next appointment is at the end of the month.

I only WISH I had some kind of handwriting training in elementary school. My handwriting is not good either. If i have 3 "e"s in a word, they all three may be made differently.

I need to practice on paper before I practice on cloth.

Good analogy though. I think I shall do "i"s tonight!

Cindy

You didn't have penmanship in elementary school? Well then, how do children learn cursive? Maybe I'm just too old to get this!

If you want to improve your penmanship, you might try a course in Calligraphy. It is lots of fun and you can amaze your friends when you sign birthday cards with the fancy script. Ask at your local Michael's or other craft store for a short course. Just buy the special felt tip pen to start. As with quilting, I advise not to spend too much money on tools until you decide to continue the craft. Good luck.

PAT

You didn't have penmanship in elementary school? Well then, how do children learn cursive? Maybe I'm just too old to get this!

If you want to improve your penmanship, you might try a course in Calligraphy. It is lots of fun and you can amaze your friends when you sign birthday cards with the fancy script. Ask at your local Michael's or other craft store for a short course. Just buy the special felt tip pen to start. As with quilting, I advise not to spend too much money on tools until you decide to continue the craft. Good luck.

PAT

I did the pages-and-pages-of-doodling thing, but it didn't work all that well. At first my handwriting was so bad the teachers thought I might have low-level cerebral palsy. What changed it was a different approach that required thinking more than drill: they showed me examples of a few different kinds of handwriting, and the one I decided to try out was one where the letters were s___p___a___c___e___d o___u___t with connecting lines, looking a bit like Arabic. It didn't take long before my writing was way better than the average (though still rather slow) which is what it still is - though I didn't stick with the spaced-out style for very long. What it did was make me THINK about the shapes of the individual letters, it wasn't a rote-learning process at all.

That was in New Zealand nearly 50 years ago. New Zealanders still seem to have better handwriting than the British. From what I've seen, most British methods of teaching handwriting are garbage and have been for decades. If you don't get it first time, rather than try an individual approach, they encourage you to just give up and label yourself as dyslexic/dysgraphic. I'd probably think of myself that way if my parents hadn't got me out of England before it was time to switch to joined-up writing.

(I have seen one exception: an approach used in Fife in the 50s and 60s which is described in a book about improving your writing by Tom Gourdie. There must have been other local experiments around the UK, but overall, the British of the last two or three generations write dismal ugly scribble, and Scotland is no better than England).

I'd suggest Tom Gourdie's book first. It's more down-to-earth, aimed at communicating rather than creating works of art.

Oh, and before that, throw your ballpoints away and get a fountain pen.

==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === ==== Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557 CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts

Chiming in here, since I've got a lot of background in this area (linguistics and composition master's degree and all)...

I did a bit of research in grad school on cursive writing in the middle and upper grades. Turns out that well over ninety percent of the students I polled had not received cursive training since fourth grade...and that was ALL the training they received. They were not forced to use it, so they didn't. The result is that they use either printed letters or block letters (i.e. all CAPITAL LETTERS) when they write. The only cursive most of them retained was used to write their signature. Many didn't even use it for that.

Even though a lot of researchers have found that cursive writing is faster and puts less strain on young arms and hands, the trend to devote more time to "hard" subjects and less to "frivilous" ones in American schools has led to handwriting instruction being given the boot. One article I read said that only fifteen percent of SAT test takers in one recent year used cursive or print to write out their honesty statements; the other eighty-five percent used BLOCK LETTERS.

Schools justify the trend by saying that typing skill has taken the place of penmanship. It's hard to argue against them, but when they have students spending so much time actually writing instead of typing....it's no wonder it's frustrating to the students!

And I would whole-heartedly encourage the study of calligraphy for someone wanting to improve their handwriting. A dip pen is especially helpful, since it allows you to worry more about your stroke and less about pressure, which is the downfall of an elegant hand. Personally, if I could afford it and they were a bit more mature, I'd have all of my students return to dip pens and ink. Hand cramps would be a thing of the past!

--Anastasia

(who is still tossing around the idea of studying ancient orthographies for her doctorate)

Chiming in to say, I agree with you & Pat re: the calligraphy course. It is great fun and beautiful penmanship all but becoming a lost art. I was self-taught with a show on PBS called "The Ken Brown Method", bought the book, pen & nibs, and it was easy to learn. Also regarding penmanship -- my son started school in the mid- eighties, and was taught "The DeNealian (SP?) method" of penmanship, they never really learned to "print" with block letters; they learned a different style which flowed easier into cursive handwriting. Today his penmanship is very nice; unusually neat and even.

Sherry