People have been talking about Ellen Lupton’s book on DIY – not Do It Yourself, but Design It Yourself, which Lupton produced with her graduate design students at Maryland Institute College of Art. At first I thought I just didn’t need another book full of projects that I don’t have the time to do, or don’t even want to do, but then I read this Washington Post article and took a closer look at the book and the companion website and now I’m totally into this DIY mentality.
Lately, I’ve gotten it into my head that I want to make a quilt. After exhaustive hours browsing fabric and patterns, reading quilter’s commentary about techniques and materials, I’m really no closer to getting started. I don’t even know if I have the tools or the skills to accomplish the project that I have in mind (I’m kind of a snob. I don’t have the patience for starting with something small, and I know it’s a fatal crafting flaw.) Why not just buy a nice quilt with the features I’m attracted to? In the end, it would obviously be less time and energy consuming, it might even be more cost-effective!
But that’s not the point. I want something that is exclusively mine; colors, patterns, dimensions and materials specific to the quilt I envision. I “long to put [my] personal imprint “on everyday items and products,” as Jeff Turrentine of the Post phrased it. Oh, and I also want to say “I made this!” All the time, I see all kinds of products and think, “I could make that” or “If I could make that, I would do it this way.” I mentioned how I’m kind of a snob, right? I want to design it myself. This book is just what I need.
Design It Yourself doesn’t have a quilting section, but it does show creative types that we don’t have to settle for whatever is available in stores or online, it encourages us to channel our inner-designer, and assures us that we all have one in there. Encouragement. Another reason I need to DIY.
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