You know when you have a big challenge ahead that can make a huge difference if it’s successful? A true game changer? And even though you know you can do it, you feel a bit nervous because it will make such a difference? That’s what this project was for me.
Since mid December, I’ve been making a mountainous pile of molds for quilt squares. So many that I can cast a whole quilt in a single pour. In my previous quilts, I’ve only had two or three molds so I’ve had to pour, wait for the resin to cure, demold the quilt squares, prep the molds, pour again . . . and repeat that process however many times it took to make a single quilt. It took forever! Since making silicone molds is expensive and super time consuming, I never took the time to sort out the problem. This year I decided to get serious and tackle it.
The process starts with making wax prototypes of the quilt squares in the right size with all the needle holes. I wrote a blog post about that which you can see here. Next, I had to make plasticine molds to pour the silicone in.
Then after checking the leveling, spraying mold release, etc I mixed up the silicone and poured it in.
The silicone takes 18 hours to cure, then it’s time to demold them! This involves a lot of careful trimming first and then Viola!
See the needle holes? This will keep me from having to drill thousands of holes every time I make a quilt! And the flexible, rubbery nature of the silicone will mean I can definitely get it out of the mold every time.
Then I repaired the wax prototypes, prepped the plasticine molds and poured again . . . and again . . . for about a month . . . until I eventually had twenty 3”x3” molds.
To my joy I had extra silicone and got to make some more 4.5” x 4.5” square molds too. I made a few more wax prototypes and plasticine molds and got busy. My hands are still a bit sore from rolling out thick plasticine with the rolling pin!
That’s it! Now I have enough molds to cast an entire quilt of 3×3” squares in one pour and enough 4.5” x 4.5” molds to make a 9 square quilt in one pour. This will really speed up my productivity. This will also help me teach workshops and allow me to start the collaborative commissions I’m itching to get going on. These rubbery little darlings really are game changers!
Now it’s time to get going on actually casting resin quilts again (I have been waiting for this day!!!)
Also, if it interests you, the productivity method I’m using is from The 12 Week Year by Brian P. Moran and Michael Lennington. I love this system. It makes me feel like I can accomplish anything.
I hope you are feeling successful too! If not, take heart. A little self care can go a long way to helping that change.
Take Care,
Jenny
PS. Stay tuned for my next update! It’s going to be exciting!
