Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
I have been thinking of freshening up the blog looks. I like the colors and the bright white, but too long wearing the same dress seems boring. I tried out the WordPress ‘Sketchpad’ theme.
What do you think? A bit too beige? What about the posts only have a paragraph or two?
When I receive an email like the one below, it makes all this blogging even more worth it. To really find that someone gets value from my work is fantastic!
I got an email with the gist of the information below last week. It came from my dear, dear friend, Mrs. K. and made my heart sing.
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My morning ritual includes reading your blog. I have loved the charity quilts. Then you shared about leaders and enders. I had the book, but hadn’t applied the lesson. So I started with Kona Snow and a bunch of mostly blue 2-1/2 inch squares. I was amazed how fast the pairs and then the quartets got sewn! I really had not noted how many starts and stops happen when sewing… like shortening pants and mending, and bag making.
I finally decided I’d better get them sewn into blocks to see what I had. Well, I had enough for 34 blocks!
I like sashing between the blocks so I auditioned a bunch of things. Under your influence, I have been collecting some nice grays and I liked how they looked.
Then I went to my LQS (for something unrelated). I was the only one there and had a chat with the quilter/associate there. As I was leaving I had to walk past a large wall covered in all kinds of rulers (uh-oh). I mentioned that I am something of a ruler fanatic and the lady got all excited. OHHHH! you must try THIS one… The Cutting Corners Ruler.
She had a notebook with her from a class she had taken from the author. She showed me what she was doing and it is pretty clever. So, of course, I bought it for several reasons. I wanted to practice setting the blocks on point. And I loved the idea of the stars in the sashing. With her instructions and the ruler, it was easy to fashion the stars.
Also, the author shows how to do the setting triangles in a more interesting way…not just a big plain triangle, but with it divided into sections…
So I thought I’d give it a try. The problem for me, as it always is, was choosing the fabrics. I had wanted to continue incorporating some of the Kona Snow, but it was too bright. So I got the grand idea of making checkered fabric by cutting up the extra blue and white squares. I began working with 1-1/4 inch squares.
The Ruler author has a very clever way of figuring the math of the setting triangles and cutting the corners on the pieces. But it didn’t work for me because of the ‘elasticity’ of my checkerboard strip. But I managed it differently.
<Photo right shows the setting triangles in place.>
Later I made the corner triangles. It is clever how the author divides the triangle into two so the design makes a square corner. It was only as I was sewing them onto the quilt top that I figured out a better way to have done the checkerboard stripe. I will consider redoing that tomorrow…. or maybe leave them.
Next I need to sew on the last border. This is the one that, I hope, will make the design ‘float’.
Here it is on the design wall with pieces pinned. I like it.
So there you have my current project. It has been fun to make something to learn new skills. No deadlines, no focus on anything buy enjoying the process. I might even keep this one!…of course I still have the back and then the quilting to do.
Thanks for your inspiration!
Susan
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This makes my heart sing.
One thing about leaders and enders, to which Mrs. K alludes, is how much thread goes in garbage when you start and stop (not using leaders and enders method**). I was testing my machine last night and found at least 6″ worth of thread between the needle and the thread cutter as I was working. That thread could have been holding squares together to make pairs that would have ended up in a charity quilt if I were using leaders and enders. I know that a few inches of thread isn’t that expensive, but in a quilt such as one of the FOTY quilts, I can’t do a lot of chain piecing. I need something in between each set of FOTY shapes so that I can keep them in order unless I just want to cut the thread after each pair are sewn. That adds up to a lot of thread.
Mrs. K’s blocks look really bright in the closeup, but the whole quilt looks cohesive when we are shown the whole quilt.
I haven’t tried the ruler, but I am very interested in it. I have a couple of setting rulers and it takes me forever to figure out how to use them. Perhaps this Cutting Corners ruler would work for me?
**Nota Bene: I didn’t think up this technique. I am just a huge fan of the leaders and enders method. I first heard about the leaders & enders method from another quiltmaker who referred me to Bonnie Hunter’s website. She also has a whole section on her blog on Leaders and Enders, which includes detailed how-tos, photos of quilts made using this method and books, such as Adventures in Leaders & Enders and More Adventures with Leaders and Enders, on the topic.
Boy Meets Girl
Girl gang
American Girl dolls
Definition: “A girl is any female human from birth through childhood and adolescence to attainment of adulthood when she becomes a woman. The term may also be used to mean a young woman.[1] The word is also often used as a synonym for daughter.[2](Wikipedia)
Girl Scouts
Girl Genius
Batgirl
Girl power
New Girl
1998 movie
Hey Girl!
Girls’ Home
Girl Up
Girl Rising
Girls Inc.
Girl Meets World
Gone Girl
Grammar Girl
Girl Talk
early girl tomato
Gluten Free Girl
Powerpuff Girls
means girls
bad girls
Rainbow Girls
Girls’ Life Magazine
Material Girl
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.
A week or so ago, I posted some black and white photos of the Fabric of the Year 2013 quilt. I also took photos through the red and green film of the Ultimate 3-in-1 tool. I am not sure they were very help, but they are interesting. I thought I would share those photos with you.
The green makes the entire quilt look a little sick and this might cure me from this color green for awhile.
It is helpful, though, as there are a couple of places that stick out that also stuck out in the black and white photos I posted previously. A few other things stick out that I need to look at in the real piece.
The red makes the colors extremely subtle.
One thing to remember is to look at the piece in real life. I mentioned it above, but it is an important point. These different views that I have shown are great tools to use to point out glaring problems. The key thing to remember is that they are tools. TOOLS. Your viewers won’t be looking at the quilt through a black and white, or green, or red filter when the quilt is on your wall. Be sure to use these tools to get an idea of what might not be working, then look at the real pieces in color before moving patches around.
It almost feels sinful to enjoy sewing for charity so much. Odd, I know.
I spent all afternoon on Saturday sewing at the Charity Sew Day. At first, since I don’t like lugging my sewing machine around, I thought I would run around and cut and press for people. Nobody responded to my forum post about that idea so I brought my back up machine. What a waste! I forgot the foot pedal so I ran around and used other people’s machines while I was doing an improv quilt top, then Gerre let me use hers pretty regularly when I started on the second top.
One of the great things was showing Gerre how to do leaders and enders. She was charmed and made 2.5 blocks at least in between her Dr. Seuss wonky log cabin blocks. That means another person knows how to do leaders and enders and more blocks will get made.
Michelle and Peggy were really well organized, as usual, and had a number of different solids to use with our scraps.
I took the ends of quilt backs, which Colleen cuts off and returns to me. They aren’t much good unless I want to cut them up into squares or something and I never seem to get around to that. It occurred to me that I could make some Improv quilt tops with them so I brought them along. Two birds, one stone: gets the ends out of my house, adds comfort and, hopefully, beauty to someone else’s house.
The first top I made was made from the leftover back pieces from the Flower Sugar hexagon quilt. Edge pieces were quite large and I sewed them together relatively quickly. This is not great work of art, but it isn’t completely boring either. I brought it home to make the back for it. I’ll use some of the leftover Flower Sugar fabrics. I still have a lot of them and I am happy to use them for a good a cause. I may also ad something to the bottom. It looks a bit unfinished.
Next, I took the edges from the Star Sampler and worked with those. Michelle had an idea to make a sort of easy log cabin, but I thought the pieces were too small and I made them into rectangles. I got pretty far – to putting on the sashing – but I wasn’t able to finish the top, which would have been my preference.
I still have trimming to do and the sashing to finish. I will have used all the green fabric, from the charity stash, before I get to the two outer borders, so I have to figure something out about that. I don’t know what, but something.
I have two long strips of Philip Jacobs Chrysanthemums that I will put on the outside. I’ll probably put another border on after that, but we will see. I pinned a lot of it together so I could just sew on Sunday.
It was also fun being there with other people. Gerre, Rhonda, Susan, Leanne and Lindalee, with our bosses, Michelle and Peggy, of course, were all there sewing and we were laughing quite a bit. Kelly stopped by, but couldn’t stay.
Rhonda made a large house block quilt and then worked on an Improv medallion piece. The stripes were made by sewing 2 parallel straight lines the width of the black and white fabrics (right sides together) about an inch apart, then she cut 1/4″ away from the sewn line and had strips already sewn together. I want to try the idea.
We played around with the placement of the stripes – both width and direction. It was kind of a group activity and really fun to see how people interpreted the design.
That coffee cup fabric is really nice and in a colorway I haven’t seen. I have some with a teal background. This colorway goes well with Rhonda’s overall design.
Rhonda has only been quilting for a few years and I am continually impressed with her design sensibility and what she chooses to tackle. The house block quilt reminded me of my house block quilt, mostly because of the placement of the house block.
In case you can’t tell, she made the door open, which is a really nice touch.
I also really liked the four patches she used as windows in the upper story.
Gerre was using Dr. Seuss fabrics to make wonky log cabin blocks. The red in that line of fabric is very primary, making the blocks really super bright. Working at her table made me feel very cheerful.
Leanne brought some fabrics that were not her style and she was trying to figure out what do with them. They felt as though they had never been washed even though she said they had.
Lindalee was making strip sets and ended up with two strip blocks, where the strips are on the diagonal. She does really nice and precise work.
Michelle was working on two really, really Improv quilts. One was blue and gold and had inset strips throughout the blocks. The other was a beige and purple piece with a lovely New York Beauty-like arc as part of the design.
Peggy was working with brown and turquoise and she did an excellent job. I really love the color combination and know that my sister would love it as well.
there was a lot of discussion about layout and at one point the two shorter sections were down at the bottom, placed symmetrically. I’ll let your imagination consider what the visual symmetry could have symbolized. Someone suggested moving one up and filling in top and bottom and that solved the problem. It is really a nice looking quilt and a good use of color.
Even though I sewed steadily, I didn’t get as much done as I expected. I have high expectations, but am satisfied with what I got done.
I spent last Saturday making the facing for See. I merrily cut strips (straight of grain), pressed hems and sewed. The whole process was going so well!
I put all the facing strips on to the piece and was about to press them all to the other side, when I realized, as you can see from the photo, that I had sewed them to the wrong side.
Sigh.
I ripped out all of the stitching, which wasn’t hard, but, apparently, required lots of sighing. What an idiot. Finally, I was done and sewed all the pieces to the front. I made a few adjustments that I was only able to do because I had noticed them while I was ripping.
The photo shows the facing before I pressed it to the back. Hopefully you can see two important things:
After I pressed the facing to the correct side (front to back), I made a tiny sleeve. I have been stitching away on the facing while watching TV. I have all but a few inches of the facing sewn on. The sleeve comes next. I hope to finish soon.
Previous Posts
We live in a house called a Doelger House. It is split level and very open plan. That means we have a railing in the hall that is open to our living room. After I ran out of space in the Fabric Closet, where I hang quilts, I started draping them over this railing.
Basically the photo shows one area of my house and how we display quilts.
Recently we had dinner guests and they wanted a quilt show. We pulled quilts off of the chairs, couch and rail in our living room and held up many, many quilts.It was really fun to see some quilts I hadn’t pulled out in a long time. It is also always interesting to hear the reaction of people who really don’t sew or make quilts.
My friend, also a law librarian, commented on how different the quilts were and what a lot of creativity was involved. My thought was “if I was allowed to use this creativity to solve problems at work, my library and information services would be way more awesome than they are.” I don’t know where that popped from but it was kind of a revelation. Lesson? Show your quilts to non-quiltmakers!
As you have seen on this block I make a lot of quilts. I do give some away, but a lot of them just pile up around the house. They get used as nap quilts or TV watching quilts, but mostly they just pile up.
Some of you may think that is a big waste, but making the quilts really keeps me sane and able to live with people.
I actually have at least two quilts that I need to send off as gifts; I just need to spend a little time wrapping and packaging and writing notes. I just haven’t done it yet.
I feel fortunate that I can contribute to a charity that helps people locally by using my sewing and quilting skills. I don’t think that contributing to charity should be unpleasant or painful and making quilts or quilt blocks is an awesome way to contribute.
That being said, this year has not been the most stellar example of charity quiltmaking on my part. Life is like that sometimes. I think I am back in the saddle with my charity-teenager-boy quilt.
I wrote about my whole dilemma a little while ago and got 3 blocks almost immediately from a quilt-mate. I also got a promise of blocks from a Twitter friend. I was so excited that these lovely women just made and gave! Quiltmakers are often such nice people. Thanks, ladies.
Their generosity got me going again and I made eight blocks last weekend in between sewing on the facing to See and sewing triangles on to the Russian Rubix octagons.
I was feeling a little stuck in terms of fabrics. I really want this quilt to be interesting even with the limited ‘color’ palette. I dug into my grey box and got some new greys. I had a few black scraps around, so I cut those up into 2.5″ squares and that made the project a little more interesting.
I have over 20 blocks now and if I had even a few feet of space on one of my design walls, I would put the blocks up to look at them and see how large the quilt could be. I don’t expect or want it to be bed sized, but teenaged boys are large and I want to make sure it will cover most of one.
I really would like to get this project into a quilt top as I don’t want it to get to the point where it is dragging me down. I want the project to be filled with positive energy. I guess I just have to do it!
I didn’t make as much progress as I did right before the July post. Work is getting in the way of important progress.
To Do List:
– I washed and pressed a load of grey fabric. It made more of a difference than I expected and I had some fun doing it. As I said last time, I still have a lot to do.To see the 26 Projects Lists, which list quilt WIPS, visit the July Current Projects update. Last month’s to Do List is about the same.
Completed small items since November 4, 2013 (prior to this month’s list)
cricket chirps
CHIRP – Candlewick Handselling Indie Recognition Program for Frontline Children’s Booksellers
In Simply Fine Lenox® Chirp, bold splashes of teal and watercolor birds are unusually stunning. Delicate brush strokes give each fine china piece an Asian feel.
GeoChirp – Twitter Google maps mashup which allows one to find twitter users with similar interest in any particular geography around the world.
Definition: “A chirp is a signal in which the frequency increases (‘up-chirp’) or decreases (‘down-chirp’) with time. In some sources, the term chirp is used interchangeably with sweep signal.[1] It has also been called quadratic-phase signal.[2] It is commonly used in sonar and radar, but has other applications, such as in spread spectrum communications. In spread spectrum usage, SAW devices such as RACs are often used to generate and demodulate the chirped signals. In optics, ultrashort laser pulses also exhibit chirp, which, in optical transmission systems interacts with the dispersion properties of the materials, increasing or decreasing total pulse dispersion as the signal propagates. The name is a reference to chirping in analogy to the sound made by some birds, see bird vocalization.” (Wikipedia)
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.
CHIRP is a free, open-source tool for programming your amateur radio. It supports a large number of manufacturers and models…
Description. Chirp is a magical new way to share your stuff – using sound. Chirp ‘
CHIRPradio.org is a listener-supported music and arts focused community radio station in Chicago staffed by more than 150 volunteers.
CHIRP is the most sophisticated sonar technology available for use by the fishing and boating public.
Chirp magazine
chirp distributed filesystem
To chirps is to chat up, woo, or court another person. This is a London street slang definition.
Connecting families and nannies, the Chirp way! Since 1994 Chirp has assisted hundreds of San Francisco Bay Area families hire best-fit nannies…
Easy Chirp is a web-based Twitter app with a simple interface. It is optimized for disabled users and works well with assistive technology such as screen readers.
Chirp is a plant watering alarm – as simple as that. You put it into the soil near a plant and it emits a tiny chirp when the soil is dry, reminding you to water the plant.
Chirp Interactive is a social network aggregation platform that leverages social media and networks to keep users connected at all times.
I splashed grease on yet another shirt and decided that Super G and my Great Grama had a good thing going with the whole apron idea. I also remembered the aprons hanging in the shop in San Luis Obispo. I pulled out a box, which I remembered had some patterns in it. In the process found a huge cache of other bag, etc patterns –OOPS, I wondered where those were.
When I can make more, why would I just make one? I might be in the mood for sedate one day and crazy another day.
Yes, I have cut out two aprons.
Cutting is a good activity to do while at Sew Days as it does not require a machine, as I have said numerous times. I cut out one apron at the Sew Day and the other at the recent CQFA meeting.
I needed help with the layouts and even though the second pattern, the Church Ladies Apron Pattern by Mary Mulari, says it only needs a yard, you can see the layout problems I had when I used one yard of fabric.
I decided to use a nice Philip Jacobs prints for one side In searching for the perfect other side, I came across a text print and decided that would be fun. I am sure I will get some modern points for the text fabric. 😉
The other pattern is from McCall’s and is called Fashion Accessories “The Retro Collection” (#2811). I don’t remember when I bought it, but it has been around for awhile.
I have not started to sew yet, but stay tuned for that step.
Yes, this month you get two Various & Sundry posts! I had planned to post #6 on July 20, but it was getting so hefty that I posted it earlier this month. I promise not to bore you with more fiction books.
Media and Tutorials
Thanks to Daisy for sharing this great blog post putting to rest misconceptions about quiltmaking.
Nancy Rink’s studio was broken into and many, many quilts were stolen. Read about it on Bonnie Hunter’s blog. There is a link to Nancy Rink’s blog/website.
This Penguin UK book quilt is a fabulous idea for a reading chair quilt.
If you want to get the Jenny Doan (Missouri Star Quilt Co.) magazine called Block, you buy them at Always Quilting. They have three issues and the issues look like books.
AuriBuzz has an interview with Camille Roskelly.
If you want to make bias binding or the fabric for piping using the tube method, Whip Stitch has a tutorial.
Ms. Lottie gives some tips on writing a quilt pattern.
I am on the fence about talking about something like the post on a very popular blog. I was disappointed that this was posted after only a few days of viewing the Twitter feed. Personally, I can stop following the person in question if I am offended. I am more offended by things like the Hobby Lobby decision about WOMEN’s reproductive rights than the tweets. Perhaps the tweets are offensive, but to condemn someone so publicly is something I wouldn’t do. Yes, I am being circumspect, because I want to avoid, if possible, my blog being caught up in the firestorm that this has already generated. It makes me wonder if I am too quick to judge and stop buying a product? It makes me wonder if I am making unfair judgments about people based on social media (perhaps they dont’ write well or are still learning technology?) and whether unfair judgments are being made about me?
I heard that the Quilt Life magazine will be ending its run in October 2014. Even with the star power of Alex and Ricky, the magazine wasn’t sustainable. No layoffs are anticipated as a result, which is great. I get the magazine and I have to say that issues are piling up. There are some really good things about it, but others that just don’t grab my interest.
Easy Quilts, Fall 2014 issue is surprisingly cheerful for a Fall issue. One of the patterns, called Viola Blossoms is basically a Flowering Snowball recolored.
Patterns, Tools and Notions
ByAnnie has a series of tutorials that help you use their zippers by the yard. I think I need to try these so I can get the colors and lengths that I want in one package.
In my endless quest to push out corners into a shape that actually looks like a sharp corner, I bought the Quick Points Mini Point Pusher about a month or so ago. I still get a little rounded tip on the very corner, but this does a better job, without poking holes in the project, than anything I have used before. I sometimes have a difficult time getting it in the right location, but the idea is really good.
Fabric and Supplies
If you need to know all about bag interfacing, Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness fame (remember my Purse Palooza post?) has a post all about it. She includes the Vilene conversion, so if you are in the UK, or other places where you commonly use Vilene, this post is for you, too. If you don’t care about bags, you have to go to the post anyway, because the main image is hilarious and everyone needs a good laugh.
They hooked me with Jamaica. If the actual color of the fabric is anything like this color on my screen, I am all in. Yes, please, I’ll take 5 yards. Thanks.
I guess this means there is a new color card (or an update) in my future.
Other Artists
Pamela Allen, one of my favorite teachers, now has an online gallery. Go take a look.
Katie of the fabulous Katie’s Quilting Corner podcast posted some fabulous photos of her Hopscotch Lane quilt. The design, quilting – just everything came out very well. Her photography is wonderful as well.
Exhibits
The following are thanks to Ann May:
I have been making more blocks; I just haven’t had a chance to post them. I only made it to 21 blocks, though I really tried to make 25 (1/4 of the total blocks) before the last meeting.
At least there is no real consequences for not making my goal except for a little disappointment in not trying just a bit harder.
At the meeting, we each showed the blocks we had made. I brought all of mine, though Patti, also in the small group, has seen a few of them. I have to try and remember not to show the same blocks again.
Patti is doing hers in batiks and I love the look.
Nicki joined us and is doing hers with scrappy fabrics choosing fabrics based on her whim of the moment. What a freeing experience!
I finished the crosses and am now in the rectangles. The small group is a great idea as people have good ideas on construction. I showed one of the rail fence type blocks at the meeting and both Nicki and Patti asked if I had made it using strip sets.
I was kind of shocked at myself that it hadn’t even occurred to me to use strips sets. I am not sure why, but it didn’t even occur to me use strip sets. Now that I am reminded, I will try to keep strip sets in mind.
I was looking for some pink fabric and, once I was finished, I rearranged my fabric bins. Now the aqua and turquoise bin was on the stop of the stack. I have a Leaning Tower of Pisa sized stack of fabric for this piece and yet, there is always the possibility that I will need more.
So, the project continues. How are you doing?
Previous Posts
Wednesday
I have a talked a lot about my sewing machine in the recent past and the news has been all bad. 🙁
Finally, last week I got some GOOD news. Finally!
My mom took my machine to Always Quilting for me. I really had nothing to lose since it had been deemed terminal and, perhaps though hope was slim, I could catch a break. I feel like the machine has been at the shop forever.
Anyway, Wednesday I got a call from the woman who was working on it. She wanted to hear the story of the machine.
Huh?
Why would someone want to know the story of my machine? Good idea, but it sounded weird. I think it just sounded weird, because nobody had ever asked me about that before. I told her my whole long sad tale of woe.
She asked if I had noticed skipped stitches or tension problems. I said that I could never get the tension right to free motion quilt, but other than that I wasn’t having any problems. She said that my needle bar was out of alignment. That was a new one on me! I now have a secret hope that I might be able to free motion quilt again sometime. Maybe? Perhaps?
She said that there had been too many hands on the machine and the connections were a mess. She said that a lot of the electronic connections had to be re-soldered, but no new screen was needed and I should have the 9K back by the weekend. I couldn’t believe it!
She said that the machine was NOT terminal!
I feel like I have won the lottery, a reprieve or something really good. I can’t wait to get my machine back.
Sunday
I went and got the machine today. I normally don’t leave, but I am in a weird place with various projects and needed some exercise.
I got the machine back and set it up. First thing I noticed was that the light doesn’t work. Sigh.
The second thing I noticed was that the screen DOES work. YAY!
The needle bar definitely is different. I hope it is straight, though it doesn’t look straight. The seams seem to be straight if a touch wider than a scant 1/4″.
It sounds better, too. I like the sound of my 9k. It is quieter than my other machine.
I will also have a knee lift available again. I haven’t used it yet, but it is set up and ready to go.
My fingers are crossed.
Well, I finally finished the quilting on See.
I find that once I get started on the quilting of a piece I stay and quilt until I can’t move. Not being able to move is a bad thing.
Still the quilting is done on this piece! After so many years of not working on it, I finished the quilting.
This does not, as you can see, mean the piece is done, but I am so much farther along. The quilting is really a block for me. The quilting hangs me up.
Perhaps I’ll consider this a turning point?
One of the biggest problems with a project lingering so long is I forget the details. Did I use up all the background fabric? Is there anymore left? If so, where is it? What did I plan for the facing? Did I start a label? Sometimes these are important details and another good reason to work steadily on one project (and I don’t mean ONLY one project) and not let it languish.
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