I made serious progress on the blocks for this quilt last weekend. As I mentioned, I took photos Friday (a week ago). That really prepared me for knowing what I needed to do to make some progress.
Finding the blocks, which had gotten stuff under a pile of fabric, was a really good start.
I laid out all of the blocks and realized that though it is getting there, I still need more blocks. The layout is 6×5 right now, but I might need to make it skinner and longer. Mrs. K’s quilt is on my mind, though, and putting the blocks on point is skittering around on the edges of my brain.
6 more Black/Grey Donation blocks
As soon as I had an idea of where I was, I gathered up all the parts of blocks that were on my sewing table and sewed them together. That added another 6 blocks to the group of blocks above.
My blocks have a lot of fabric repeats, but I think when all the blocks are put together (like above), the duplicates don’t matter so much.
I also think that Jackie and Cheryl’s blocks blend in nicely.
I didn’t sew any new blocks as I tried to work on the Russian Rubix using parts for a new journal cover as the leaders and enders.
I has been nearly a month and a half since I posted new rectangles I have cut for the FOTY 2014 piece. Before the past weekend, I felt like I haven’t been in my sewing room much in the past month. I know I have been in there, at least a little bit, since there have been no shortage of posts to prove it.
I didn’t press and cut very much in that time, though, so the wall where I keep new rectangles has looked the same all this time. Then Friday I started pressing fabric and cutting some new rectangles with a vengeance.
I went to put them away and found my container full, so I have to figure out what to do about that. The work room overfloweth, that is for sure.
“Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total; of all of those acts will be written the history of this generation. -Robert Kennedy
Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.
We are also talking about this on Twitter. Use the hashtag #CPP
The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.
Bend, Oregon
bend in the road
Bendables
going around the bend
Bayou Bend Gardens, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
bend of the river
Turkey Bend Recreation area
bend don’t break
Carrick Bend
X-Men: Days Of Futures Past: The Bent Bullet
South Bend, Indiana
Bend it Like Beckham – 2002 movie
Holla Bend National Wildlife Refuge
“Nature has a funny way of breaking what will not bend”
Engineering and construction
Bending, the deformation of an object due to an applied load
Bend, a curvature in a pipe, tube, or pipeline (see bend radius)
Bend knot, a general term for a knot used to tie two ropes together
The structural element is assumed to be such that at least one of its dimensions is a small fraction, typically 1/10 or less, of the other two.[1] When the length is considerably longer than the width and the thickness, the element is called a beam. For example, a closet rod sagging under the weight of clothes on clothes hangers is an example of a beam experiencing bending. On the other hand, a shell is a structure of any geometric form where the length and the width are of the same order of magnitude but the thickness of the structure (known as the ‘wall’) is considerably smaller. A large diameter, but thin-walled, short tube supported at its ends and loaded laterally is an example of a shell experiencing bending.
In the absence of a qualifier, the term bending is ambiguous because bending can occur locally in all objects. Therefore, to make the usage of the term more precise, engineers refer to a specific object such as; the bending of rods,[2] the bending of beams,[1] the bending of plates,[3] the bending of shells[2] and so on.” (Wikipedia)
As I mentioned last time, I was really feeling quite stalled on my Black/Grey donation quilt project. Jackie and Cheryl, who I mentioned briefly (in a subsequent post), sent me a total of 5 blocks, which when I laid it all out, ended up creating a whole row of the quilt top. I like the clock fabric that Cheryl used. Even though it, and a few of the other fabrics are not specifically grey, it reads grey, and the other fabrics add interest and blend well, with all the other fabrics.
The fabric choices add to the interest of the quilt, I think.
Jackie’s Blocks
Jackie also made some interesting choices. I think when I mix these up with mine, they will add movement and make some of my duplicate fabrics not as prominent.
After YEARS, this piece is finished. I am pretty pleased with it. I think it looks good and I did a good job on the quilting (click on the photo to see the quilting close up).
Please do look at the quilting, because it was a pain to do and I am pretty proud of it.
As you may already know, I started this piece in a class with David Walker, held in Capitola, in 2003. I can’t remember who sponsored the class. I want to say a shop, but I am not sure that is right.
The piece includes Machine quilting, fusible Applique’ with satin stitching, and reverse machine applique’. This is one of the few art quilts where I have not added beading or hand embroidery with Perl cotton. I just didn’t think the piece need it even though I had planned on doing both.
Finished: See – back
I was pretty proud of how you could see the quilting so well on the back, but after facing and labeling, there isn’t much to see.
I actually sewed the label on by hand, which I don’t like to do, but really had no other choice. The piece didn’tlend itself to including the label into the back.
This piece is based on a Chinese character, the character for our word “See”. I made it as a reminder to really look at things, not just glance at them, snap a picture and move on. It is an ongoing process for me to really look and see things.
This has more significance than just a finish, because it means I can cross it off my UFO list. When I do that, it will mean that I am one step closer to having only current projects, albeit a lot of them, but current projects only.
For some reason I became enamored with the Field Day print fabrics by Alison Glass. These are not my colors, they are somewhat muddy and have a flair, or feel, of the turn of the 20th Century. This ‘feel’ makes it so odd that I actually want to work with them. There is something about them that appeals to me.
My favorite print is the dark blue with the turquoise kelp-like print on top.
Shortly after receiving the fabrics, I came across a pattern I will use with these fabrics. It came from the Missouri Star Quilt Company and I found it in their Block! magazine (watch for a review soon). It isn’t a hard pattern, but there is something about it and the fabric that went together in my mind.
I washed the Field Day fabric last Friday, then started cutting 2.5″ strips on Saturday. I have about 10 strips cut. I need to cut them into 2.5″x5″ rectangles, but have only done that for one strip so far, because I still haven’t decided what to use as a background. Also, I still have about 10 FQs to cut strips from.
I thought about looking at the coordinating solids that various online shops suggest. I did that, but did not want to chose gold, chartreuse or deep garnety red-purple for the background. I want something lighter, brighter so the quilt doesn’t seem depressing.
I have the following background options:
IKEA large text print
I love this print, but think that the large letters will get lost.
Painter’s Canvas in Vanilla
This is my favorite, because it brightens up the muddiness of some of the fabrics.
I also have a lot of grey.
Grey print from search
I would probably have to use a few different greys as I only have a yard of this one and I think I will need more. I don’t mind using different greys as it will add interest.
The funny thing is that after I started cutting the Field Day, I came across a friend who I think needs a quilt and this one might be perfect.
I decided to join in the Design Wall Monday posts that people write and discuss. Why not?
My design wall looks remarkably similar to the last time I posted about my design wall. I did note that I have made progress. Though we had some things to do this weekend, I decided to make progress, thus the two photos – before and after. The Before photo was taken Saturday morning about 8:45 and I snapped (HA!) the After photo yesterday in the late afternoon.
I can’t discuss every little detail of everything on my design wall, but there are a few things. First, deciding to make progress meant that I had to actually clean up my sewing room. Horizontal surfaces were stacked with stuff, so I had to clean those off on Friday. That led to me taking photos of projects in process. I finally had a chance to lay things out.
Each of the areas are numbered, so you will see the numbers in parentheses below.
Second, (#3) those octagons are taking up a lot of space, so I decided I would start with the top row and sew all of the octagons in each of those colors until I had sewn the triangles on to each color. Once the stack on my sewing table had been sewn, I would take the octagon off the design wall and sew that. As I took them off, I would have more space on the wall.
Third, (#1) the FOTY 2014 patches had been up there a long time. I have a big pile of fabric to press, so I pressed some of that on Friday in order to fill in the group of patches,
Next, (#4) those Russian Rubix blocks had been on the all for a long time. There were pieces and parts of others on my sewing table, so those were sewn pretty early.
Fifth, (#5) I had pieces and parts of the black/grey donation blocks so I sewed those together as well.
Sixth, (#6) That Stars in Stripes 8 pointed star got very close to being made. I have to unearth the templates or rotary cutting directions for the background, so close, but no cigar.
Seventh, (#2) I am still making those turquoise and red four patches. I have a lot more patches than four patches at the moment and need to get busy. Too many other leaders and enders right at the moments.
Eighth, (#7) I made the 9 patch, but the Young Man sewed the button to the middle in Cub Scouts. I am still trying to think of a project in which to include it.
Last, (#8) those are some of my favorite ATCs. I keep them near my sewing machine so I can be reminded to be creative.
Design Wall – Sunday
After sewing, truly, like a maniac, on and off all weekend I did make some progress.
The four patches didn’t change except that I thought about sewing them.
I took the late July/ early August batch of FOTY patches off the wall and started pressing and cutting a new batch. The ones you see on the wall happen to be Field Day.
I finished a few of the Russian Rubix colors from the top row. The last purple/violet (on the wall on the right) is a bear to get through. I cut extra octagons, so I am sewing for a long time to get through them. Clearly I was afraid someone would steal that fabric in that colorway and I wanted to have plenty. In between I have been sewing other colors as well, so there is some variety in the new blocks.
Since I had so many new quarter blocks for the Russian Rubix, I started laying out new blocks.
That 8 pointed star is still there, as you can see. It is, really, getting closer to the top of the list.
We got an email just before school let out saying that one of the Band moms had breast cancer and she was being treated quite aggressively.
We got an update at Band Camp and I decided to ask for one of the quilts made by the BAMQG Charity Project. Michelle and I met on Friday and she gave me this quilt for the Band Mom.
I can’t decide if it is a star or some kind of ring quilt. I forget the name of the design. It is very scrappy and cheerful and I think will make the Band Mom feel better.
Star Donation Quilt Back
I sewed a small label on to the back for historic purposes.
I just have to wrap the quilt and will give it to the band director soon.
I have a new baby niece named Lauren Elizabeth. I hope she likes pink because I have a lot of pink ideas. 😉
My mom is also thrilled to have another grandbaby. My Young Man is leaving for college too soon so Lauren will be a good distraction for her.
Last weekend I made receiving blankets, my gift of choice for newborns.
I bought the pink and turquoise tone-on-tone at Always Quilting a month or so ago. I thought I would find some other flannels to go with them. As I perused the wares at Hawthorne Threads, I saw the Pretty Potent prints in flannel and that large dot. Perfect!
While I was hemming the edges I listened to an interview with Anna Maria Horner on Modern Sewciety (Episode 37, I think) where she talks about her inspiration for Pretty Potent. I was thrilled to know her inspiration for the fabric with which I was working.
Receiving Blankets in Blue
I really like the Coneflower (Echinacea) print. I think it is a little hard to use in quilts, but it is perfect for this receiving blanket.
I have the card written and just need to wrap the gift and send it off.
Microfinance transparency – Promotes transparent pricing in the microfinance world by collecting interest rate data and publishing educational information about how interest rates work.
Investors should steer clear of companies that lack transparency in their business operations, financial statements or strategies.
Definition: Transparency, as used in science, engineering, business, the humanities and in a social context more generally, implies openness, communication, and accountability. Transparency is operating in such a way that it is easy for others to see what actions are performed. It has been defined simply as “the perceived quality of intentionally shared information from a sender”.[1] For example, a cashier making change after a point of sale transaction by offering a record of the items purchased (e.g., a receipt) as well as counting out the customer’s change on the counter demonstrates transparency. (Wikipedia)
Amazon original series
Trust and transparency have become popular workplace demands as employees seek to be aware of what is real and true.
power of transparency
invisible man
transparent CSS
So to help you better understand whether your emails are protected by encryption, we’ve launched Safer Email, a new section in the Transparency Report.
Welcome to transparent.utah.gov, a website dedicated to the transparency and accountability of government finances.
Transparent aluminum armor
The Transparent Speaker design blends in effortlessly into your bookshelf and sits nicely with any decor.
Transparent Airfares Act of 2014 – Declares that it shall not be an unfair or deceptive practice for an air carrier or other covered entity to state the base airfare in an advertisement or solicitation for passenger air transportation if it clearly and separately discloses: (1) the government-imposed taxes and fees for the air transportation, and (2) its total cost.
With transparent caching, Caching is a simple concept: store the most popular Internet content and deliver it from the operator’s network, rather than always retrieving it from the remote source. The operator benefits through reduced bandwidth consumption, and the content owner and subscriber benefit through better quality of delivery.
Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.
We are also talking about this on Twitter. Use the hashtag #CPP
The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.
Definition (from Google): (of a material or article) allowing light to pass through so that objects behind can be distinctly seen.
I have an ever changing list in my head of projects I want to do. Some of them have patterns, some have fabrics. Somehow they haven’t quite gotten up to the top of the list. I decided to make a list of projects I want to make in the future and what state they are in. They may never get made, but at least I won’t forget about them if I write them down.
Some of these come from the Current Projects list (Hunting and Gathering section). I don’t know if I will keep them there or move them here. Lots to work out, so stay tuned.
Art Institute of Chicago Fusible Quilt
Pattern: Original
Fabric: Blue and red
Steps: need to fuse a bunch of turquoise to something
Thoughts: I like the challenge of piecing this quilt
Food quilt #2
Pattern: Disappearing something, probably 4 patch or 9 patch
Fabric: RJR Food prints. Will use a different color for the non-food print section than I did for the Young Man’s version.
Thoughts: Gift for son of good friends for graduation
Food quilt #3
Pattern: Disappearing something, probably 4 patch or 9 patch
Fabric: RJR Food prints. Will use a different color for the non-food print section than I did for the Young Man’s version.
Thoughts: Gift for nephew for graduation
Music Quilt
pattern: Don’t know
Fabric: music prints and tone-on-tones
Thoughts: The Young Man has requested this quilt as his graduation quilt
Pineapple
Fabric: dots. Have most of the strips cut. Will be much more selective about which strips I use.
Pattern: Pineapple log cabin
Thoughts: I haven’t given up on a Pineapple quilt despite my frustration with the previous attempt. I bought a different ruler: a Creative Grids Pineapple ruler in hopes that it will work better for me.
Fabric: Bonnie & Camille fabrics Bliss, Ruby, Vintage Modern: made two test blocks, but still in the thinking stage while I decide on the background colors. I want the contrast to be good.
Pattern:
Stepping Stones #3
Fabric: Macaron pre-cuts from Hoffman. It isn’t started, but I have all the pre-cuts and think they would make a really fun version of this quilt.
Fabric: Still hunting and gathering. I will use a grey for the background, because if I use more of the cut fabric patches, the pattern will be lost. The pieces are too oddly shaped and I don’t want to lose the pattern in a mass of scraps.
Pattern: Come Quilt with Me Rotary templates
I don’t know if this will be a regular feature, but it might be.
I bought this pattern a couple of years ago at a shop in Mt. Airy, Maryland called Patches. I finally dragged it out, as I said, to keep my clothes clean.
I took out the apron pieces I cut out last week, thinking I could whip at least one apron out on Saturday afternoon. Sigh. the first step has to do with making pockets and is virtually unintelligible**. I had no idea what I was supposed to do, so I did what I thought was best. I am sure the pockets won’t look as cute, but at least the apron will have pockets.
What I have accomplished
Sunday, I managed to understand step 2 and make the ties.
I also read through all the directions and just sighed again. How am I ever supposed to understand this pattern?
My mom came over yesterday and I asked her to read through the step for the pocket and she had to explain it to me about 5 times. I think what is wrong with the step is that it is stupid. The top of the pocket is turned down and then you are supposed to zigzag over the raw edge. That means the trim of the pocket isn’t finished. I like my stuff finished and I don’t have a serger. Mom said that the way I did the pockets will look better and stuff won’t get caught on the raw edges. I might turn over the top so that the text fabric shows on the top of the Phillip Jacobs print and visa-versa.
**Nota bene: I do much better when someone shows me how to do something, but I did turn off the podcast, slow down and read each sentence carefully, after which I let it sink in. I still had no idea what the heck to do with these pockets. ERGH!!!
You probably remember me bringing home the 9k. It worked and I was really happy except that the needle looked out of alignment and the light bulb was burned out.
I called the place that repaired my machine. I felt like an idiot when she, very kindly, told me I could move the needle position.
Oh.
I had never done that before.
Then she explained that she had had to do a factory reset when she re-soldered all of the connections. This meant that the machine was back to what it was like when I bought it. I didn’t remember ever changing the needle position but that was then and this is now. The machine works well. I don’t have to buy a new one; I am happy.
Except for the light bulb. I have an auxiliary bright light over the machine, but it does not shine on the needle. The little sewing I have been doing has been somewhat dark. I asked her about the bulb and she said she would send me one if I told her which one. I was at work; I had no idea.
Later that night I looked at the bulb, which I had to find first. I never had to change the bulb before. That may have been the original bulb! I took a photo and meant to call and tell her, but was too busy at work. My last days mean that projects are being heaped on my that nobody ever thought important before.
On Friday morning I decided I would drive down to the shop and pick up the bulb so I would be ready for sewing on Saturday. When I got there, I showed the photo. The nice lady, Angie, asked if the bulb had two prongs or a roundy sort of connection. I didn’t know. I just stared at her thinking I’d have to go home with no bulb and sew in the dark on Saturday. She gave me one with prongs.
I slotted it in when I got home and turned on the light. It worked and now everyone is happy(mostly me, but also my DH who is happy that I have stopped muttering to myself about incompetent machine repair people and damn light bulbs).
Update: sad news. The machine is on timeout again. I sewed on and off all day on Saturday with my new light bulb, my newly positioned needle and life was good. Sunday all hell broke loose. The machine started running super fast and then giving me an error message about a bent needle or something caught in the needle area.
I changed the needle. No help.
I rethreaded the machine. No improvement.
I rewound a new bobbin. Same problem.
I took off the sole place and cleaned the whole area. It was pretty clean already. Nothing.
I took out the bobbin case and cleaned out under there. The problem persisted, so I put the machine on timeout and took out the backup machine again (no knee lift- BAH).
I feel like I am in an abusive relationship and this might be the last straw. I am going to look and see if there are any contests at which I can win a new machine.
I love to read and periodically I subject you to lists of books I am reading, which I am not going to do today. I did want to point you to a really interesting discussion of what people should read and who is an arbiter of reading/literature. If you have a chance, listen to Books on the Nightstand #286.
Tutorials
Jeni Baker of In Color Order and Love of Patchwork & Quilting magazine has a tutorial on machine binding a quilt. Her machine binding looks really good. she also shows how to put the ends together with the Fons & Porter ruler, so if you don’t want to buy a specialty ruler check out this tutorial. She makes me actually want to try to machine bind a quilt.
You have heard me swoon over process. A recent post over at Be*mused blog is another commentary that makes me swoon. It is all about choosing background. Some of you might say “kill me now” and just pick a fabric, but this detailed description of picking a background denotes that it is an important part of the process of getting the quilt right.
Do you want to know the impact that quiltmakers have in the economy. 13 Spools has an infographic and commentary (over a couple of posts) on the astounding amount of money quiltmakers spend, which contributes to the economy, job creation not to mention all the quilts that get made. It occurred to me that they (whoever ‘they’ is) could have added a question about the respondent’s own perception of his/her dedication to quiltmaking. Those answers would have added a whole layer of meaning that could have been reported to the data.
Tweet about creative work
One of the things I love about Twitter is the random gems that arrive in my Inbox. I love this one, because I believe that creativity has an element of work – a joyous element of work, but work nonetheless.
Mark’s Slow Stitching Movement got a mention on the DMC website. Check out the article and let him know you saw a mention here!
A recent Modern Sewciety podcast (#35) has a FANTASTIC interview with Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr. It is one I will listen to over and over, because their philosophy is so sensible. I also enjoyd the interview with Malka Dubrowsky. Go listen to it as soon as you are done commenting here. 😉
Tina (WeezyWorks) has a new podcast. It is available on iTunes, so go check it out.
Judy Martin’s Quilt Show game is now available on her site.
Fabric and Supplies
I am not sure if I like the range of colors together or if I like the individual dots. I haven’t seen these to purchase anywhere, but I keep seeing them on Instagram and on various blogs.
Field Day
Field Day. Hhm. I like it, but it has so much brown. I want it, or at least I think I do, but it has so much brown. Are you buying it? There is something rich about the overall look of the colors.
Other Artists
Libby Lehman continues to improve. The classes that I have taken from her were some of the best I ever took and hope she will be able to quilt and teach again.
Rhonda’s House Block Quilt detail
I couldn’t help, after posting about the Charity Sew Day, showing you a close-up of Rhonda’s house in her House Block Quilt. I love the way the door opens. It would have been cool to put a novelty fabric in there.
Projects
Are you going to do the Banned Books Week challenge this year? I wasn’t planning on it, but I got some new fabric, then was listening to BOTNS and got an idea. Perhaps I will! Regardless, I always enjoy the interpretations!
I haven’t made a lot of additional progress since my last City Sampler/Tale of Two Cities update, but I have made a little. Frankly, I haven’t been at the machine much, so little progress has been made on anything.
City Sampler no.21
I was able to sneak in some of the background fabric on this block (No.21), because that one square is surrounded completely by other fabric. I am interested to know how those bits of background will look once I have all the blocks done.
As I look at it, I remember Sue’s (from CQFA) Eat, Play, Sleep, Repeat baby quilts. Blown up this might make an interesting baby quilt. Not that I made baby quilts.
City Sampler No.22
I also made it to No.22, after a couple of tries. AND, Patti and Nicki will be pleased to know that I used strip piecing! I didn’t really get it that the strips needed to be different sizes for different parts of the block. Sometimes I wonder about my brain.
I really hate to admit it, but I think I have too many projects going on that are in a similar stage.
Lots of piecing, no shortage of leaders and enders means that only a little is getting done on any of them.
More blocks was a bit ambitious of a title, but hope springs eternal.
