As mentioned, I had to make a swap gift for the Winter Extravaganza Palooza at the guild. In that previous post, I talked about the pattern. Since then I have been contemplating WHY I chose what is, basically, a giant pincushion.
Short answer: I don’t know.
Long answer: it is kind of a strange gift, but it is useful. It reminds me of the cube I made for the YM. It is also different from other things I have seen. The pockets can hold scissors and seam rippers, etc. I photocopied a variety of tools and put them in the pockets to show how the pockets can be used.
Mega Pinnie with needle felt
The baby pincushion (Mini Pinnie) can be removed from the Mega Pinnie and used away from its giant mom. There is also a piece of felt designed to hold needles.
The top has a handle, which can be used to hold the full Mega Pinnie.
As I usually do, I filled the piece with some Beanie Baby pellets as well as stuffing. I didn’t use wool roving on this one; I used poly-fil because I needed so much of it. I hope I put enough of the Beanie Baby pellets in the square to keep it anchored. I know I could have put more in it.
I have been working on gifts for almost all of November. That makes it hard to have anything about which to post. The people for whom I am making gifts read my posts. I have almost finished the major gifts for the upcoming holidays, which is a relief. However, I have some gift bags to show you.
Julie Gift Bags
I talked about gift bags and making them as I go along earlier this year. It hasn’t worked out completely as planned. I had plenty of leaders and enders projects in the donation quilts I have been making. Also, because bags are good mind sorbet, but boring if you don’t need mind sorbet. Also, I have a lot of small gifts to wrap and small bags are quicker, but also fiddly-er. I will have to buckle down and find some small bags in my stash of bags or make some. The only other alternative is to wrap with actual paper and tape. Bleah.
I wanted to make gift bags in which to wrap the gifts. I have had some fabrics waiting to be made into gift bags. There happened to be some purple that was perfect for some of the gifts I have made.
One of the things that was in the first Frolic! clue was a mention of Bonnie Hunter’s Scrap User System. I had forgotten about her system, but was reminded when I clicked on the link and started reading the article.
2019 Cutting Chart
I don’t do exactly what Bonnie does, but I do a version of it. As I have mentioned, I cut certain pieces out of every piece of fabric I use or buy for future projects. As I mentioned the other day, this sometimes comes in handy when I work on a project that needs certain unit sizes that I have cut. This is the point of Bonnie’s system.
My cutting varies from year to year depending on what projects I have going, as I have said. I like the idea of cutting up all of my scraps into usable pieces, but it just isn’t practical for me. I like the compromise I have made. It breaks up my cutting, as I have also said. I have the pieces I need for my next projects ready to go when I am ready to sew. I have something (cutting up pieces of fabric) I can do when I have a few minutes free.
I also like having random shapes and sizes of fabric in my scrap drawers. I would be able to make interesting journal covers or the improv donation quilts without them.
I think the key is to think about different systems and make them work for you.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about a leaders and enders demo I did at my guild. I am not sure if I changed any world views, but it was a good way to clarify the process in my mind.
As I was working on Frolic! this week, I realized that chain piecing and leaders & enders are related, but not the same and thought I should clarify.
Leaders & Enders Clarification
Chain piecing is where the quiltmaker sews piece after piece without cutting the thread. Leaders and enders are used instead of a thread bunny.
I got used to using leaders & enders when I made my FOTY quilts. It is not really possible with those projects to chain piece. I have to keep the units in an exact order on the design wall. If I chain piece they get mixed up. Thus, I put two FOTY units through the machine and end with an ender. I go press and replace the FOTY combined units back on the design wall and grab two more units. I put this FOTY set of units through the machine, which means that my ender is now a leader. I put another ender through the machine and cut off the FOTY unit and the leader.
In the above photo, you can see me chain piecing. There are a number of Frolic! units after my leader (the white pieces). I won’t cut off the last unit until after I have sewed on an ender. I adjust how I piece depending on the look I want.
As I have said before, you can use anything as leaders/enders. I have used gift bags, bag parts, other quilts. Most frequently, I use pieces for my donation quilts.
The key is to use leaders and enders to improve your productivity.
I have copied the resources below from a previous post. As I have said before, Bonnie Hunter is the leaders & enders queen.
I am working on the four patches for the first clue. They are taking more time than I would like (WHY am I in such a hurry lately???), but I am doing a couple other things in the process. First. I looked through my pink scrap drawer to find some pieces of raspberry fabric. I cleared a little bit of random bits of scraps out either my tossing them into the “to be pet bed filling” bag. There is slightly more space in my pink scrap drawer, but most of the fabric were not the right raspberry.
I also looked through a lot of fabric. I have bins of fabric, but I also have some stacks of fabric. I looked through all of them to find the right colors. I had to press and cuts small strips of fabric in order to create a lot of variety. I don’t know what the next steps are so I can’t tell if the pieces I have made so far are going to be right for the project overall. I guess we’ll see.
I have been making some progress on the White Improv piece. I am not working as fast as I would like.
It is looking good, I think, different than the others, but interesting in its own way.
The pieces I have in my scrap drawer are a trial, however. There are many, many pieces of great fabric in stupid lengths. They seem to always be wrong. I am making it work, though.
Bonnie Hunter released her 2019 mystery quilt on Friday. All of the clues will be posted on the Frolic! tab on her site. Normally I wait to see what the quilt looks like, but I decided to do it. One reason was that when I read through the whole first group of instructions I was, once again, impressed with Bonnie Hunter. She may not have an MQG aesthetic, but she has sound techniques and good designs.
I am mostly following her color scheme so far. There is only one clue, so that isn’t saying much.
One of the reasons I decided to do this was what Bonnie said about cutting. She said
“When cutting, do NOT leave the ruler line you are measuring by on the mat NEXT to your fabric. Get it UP ON THE FABRIC. Be sure the line is ON the fabric, not next to it. Don’t leave the line on the mat.”
This is something I never have been able to find out. Nobody really taught me to rotary cut, so I never knew where the lines on the rulers went until I read this post. I should be embarrassed to tell you, but I am not. I make quilts I love and I have good technique. It can always be better and this is me getting better.
I really can’t believe it is November — oops! I meant I can’t believe November is ending. The good part of November ending is that it is the YM’s birthday today. He was born on a Saturday so this particular birthday is special to me. I am now the mom of a 23 YO! How can that be? The bad part of November ending is that there are very few days left to make projects for Christmas! Yikes. On so many levels, time is just flying along.
I updated the Quilt Gallery Menu (check the header) to include more quilts, tutorials and pages of series quilts. Take a look!
Exhibits
OMCA: Woman Statue
As I mentioned in two recent Burning Man posts, I went to the Oakland Museum of California. I did see some other things besides the Burning Man exhibit. One was this beautiful statue that was 40 feet tall and a fraction of the original’s height. The lines and shape of the body are simply amazing.
Projects, Patterns, & Tutorials
Charlotte Hawkes of Scrapitude fame is coming out with a new mystery quilt in January. The kickoff post, which I found a little confusing, is already posted on her site. Thanks to Valerie of Evening in the Garden for the link.
Remember I talked about Mega Pinnies? I saw a post from the designer where she showed a whole bunch of different Mega Pinnies. It is fun to see the different fabrics used. Also, I found that you can buy the pattern from the author’s Etsy shop.
The Daredevils QAL is finished, but I found one block I forgot to post. Katherine’s Block is one of the best of the bunch. I like the way the circle is split.
Scissor cozies are something I haven’t thought about, but I saw the tutorial and thought that it would be a nice idea for a future gift grouping.
In the paper department is a site that has origami and paper folding. I saw a project called a Mette Ring. I have to try it as it reminds me of a slightly different take on a wreath.
The directions for Bonnie Hunter’s newest mystery quilt, Frolic, were posted today. You can see all of the posts on the Frolic Mystery Quilt tab. The directions are only free for a limited time, so make sure you save them if you can’t start now.
Fabric, Notions, Tools & Supplies
SewTites is having a sale through December 2. Get some! They are fabulous!
I found glitter vinyl on the Sew Hungry Hippie site. I cant’ remember if I told you about it. If I did then this is a reminder to go look at it. I think I might be in love with glitter vinyl!
Other Artists
Charlotte of the Slightly Mad quilt Lady talked about how to discuss your quilts in a recent post. She follows up on that topic in an even more recent post by clarifying that ALL quilts have a story and we must all tell their stories. I agree. If we don’t tell the stories, they will be lost and that is a crying shame.
Because of my job I found out about a site called Behance. Of course, I did a search for ‘quilt’. I update it every day and look to see what I can see. Through that site, I found Karlee Porter’s site. Her lion is fabulous!
I have heard of Lynn Carson Harris before. Today’s Quilter, perhaps? I don’t remember. I just know that I like her quilts: lots of pieces. She is also working on a series about domestic abuse. This is a subject near to my heart, not because of personal experience, but because it primarily (not exclusively!) affects women and children. A number of the donation quilts I make are sent to a local domestic violence shelter to comfort the victims who have taken shelter there. The quilting on LCH’s quilts is wonderful.
Media
I often think of QALs and SALs and BOMs as another thing on my to do list. Gretchen posted about why she likes them and it really made me think about these group projects in a different way.
I always think of creatives like musicians as just making their music and that is enough creativity for them. Boy was I wrong, at least in the case of Sir Rod Stewart. He has worked on a creative, non-musical project for 23 years and he finally shows it off. I can really understand how he would want a break from the music, but would still want to be creative. This is amazing and I am thrilled he finally showed it off. I use a lot of creative problem solving at work, but it is a lot different that the part of my brain that is used when I sew. Both are good. I can see the benefits of engaging in both.
The article about drawing to learn is really interesting.
Amish Acres in Indiana is set to close. My friend thinks it would be a great quilt retreat and I should buy it.
Frances of the Off Kilter Quilt and Quilt Fiction fame wrote a long essay about why she makes quilts, the making of quilts in general, quilt stories and selling quilts. She writes “I said I wouldn’t go into quilters underselling their quilts on Etsy, but I will say that while it bothers me, I think I understand why you might sell a quilt easily worth $1,000 for $250. For most quiltmakers, the point of making a quilt is not having a quilt, at least not after you’ve been quilting long enough to have more quilts than you know what to do with. The point of making a quilt is making a quilt. In this way, making a quilt is similar to taking a trip to Paris. You purchase fabric and thread just as you would an airline ticket. Working on the quilt is akin to spending a series of gauzy fall afternoons walking along the Seine or through the Tuileries Garden. You wouldn’t count that time as billable hours. You are passionate about being there—in fact, being there is part of what gives your life meaning. When you return home, you don’t expect someone to reimburse you for your travel expenses. The cost of the travel (the fabric, the thread) is the price you were willing to pay for the experience. ….” Go read the rest of point #4 (or the whole thing!). It is well worth your time. She makes some excellent points.
Gifts
Philip Jacobs has a Zazzle shop full of items covered by his designs.
Edgestitch had a reminder to go get a Mammogram. When was your last one? I want to extend that out to general self-care. I get a haircut religiously every 5-6 weeks. I get a pedicure every month. I exercise. These things cost money and there are other ways to care for yourself. I think it is important to care for yourself because you can’t care for the others in your life if you are falling apart. What is your self-care routine?
Life is busy right at the moment. I’ll get back on track next week. In the meantime, I read an article* in the Wall Street Journal about Julianne Moore called “Julianne Moore is fighting for safer kids.” The article is by Jason Gay, and was posted Nov. 6, 2019 8:34 am ET
“I ask Moore about winning her Oscar, and what it meant—if, after being nominated four times, including twice in 2003, for supporting actress in The Hours and best actress in Far From Heaven, it loomed, perhaps heavily, as a goal. “You can’t have it as a goal,” she says. “It can’t be. It’s a marker. I remember somebody asked Jodie Foster about winning an Oscar, and she said, ‘Oh, my God, it was such a relief.’ ” Moore smiles. “I laughed, because that is how it feels. You have to work for the work. You have to like the process and like doing it because you like doing it. And yet our culture has these competitions and these prizes…so on one hand, it feels like, Phew.”
I left in the surrounding text so you would understand the context, but I have highlighted the sentences that spoke to me.
Hope you are doing well!
*The link will probably bring you to a paywall. Logon to your public or university library and get access to the WSJ through them.
Here in the US, we are celebrating Thanksgiving today. My little family is celebrating by having 24 people over for dinner. That means I am busy so you just get this little wish.
Have a great day whether you are celebrating or not.
The guild did a color challenge recently where people were supposed to make something they like from a color swatch they picked out of a bag.
It was a small, but mighty group. There were people who participated for the first time and also those who don’t have a lot of spare time. I was really thrilled to see some new folks participating Everyone did a wonderful job.
My design wall is not full right now. Neither design wall is full as I work on gifts for Christmas and upcoming birthdays.
Design Wall – 25 November 2019
My small design wall is not completely empty either.
There are two projects on the left. I have the leftover Strip blocks from my donation quilts in the very upper left hand corner. I am saving the leftovers for a quilt that will encompass all the colors.
Directly under those blocks are the 2.5 inch squares for Fabric of the Year 2019.
Bottom left: the Ring Toss block is still hanging around.
In the middle, you can see that I have made progress on the White improv donation top since yesterday.
That’s all there is. Stay tuned as I get back to making some quilts.
Now that I finished the White Strip Donation Top, I can work on the White Improv Donation Top in earnest.
I spent time on it this past weekend and the slabs are getting bigger.Except for the middle, the piece is still very much in process. The strips I have are very uniform in size and I feel like the other pieces are all triangles, so this isn’t an easy piece to put together.
There is a large-ish slab in the bottom of the drawer and I don’t know if I will make a journal cover or if I will use it in this piece.
Valerie made a comment about the White Strip Donation top the other day and it got me thinking about successful scrap quilts.
White Strip Donation Top: finished
I think the strip and improv donation tops have been successful because of the consistency of color used. Primarily, these quilts are monochromatic. I say primarily, because fabrics often have different colors on top of a primary color, so other colors are included in monochromatic quilts. Also, for many of them, I have used a different color (complimentary, usually, though neutral as well) for the sashing and border.
I have used a different color as sashing or border to provide contrast in the strip quilts. The White Strip Donation Top I recently finished has a different look. I used fabrics with a white background for all the pieces. Readers can see some of the other colors as they dominate the image (click on it to see it larger and get a better view), but the overall look is still white.
I often worry about the successful color selection of “paper bag” scrap quilts. Many find it fun to grab a piece out of a paper bag and use it without thought or consideration. I find this method of selecting fabrics to be incredibly stressful. I like to carefully select my fabrics. In that way, I feel like I have a better chance of a successful final project. I don’t want to spend time on a quilt that ends up ugly.
Scrapitude Carnivale Finished
Making the Scrapitude quilt was an exercise in faith. It was a mystery quilt so I had no idea how it would come out. Often, I wait until the end to see the finished product, but this time I stuck to the schedule. I still carefully selected my fabrics and was careful to use the same type of prints for the background-dots on white.
I love the way this quilt came out and I do enjoy looking at it. I wonder, though, when I look at it if I should have included the blacks, dark greens and some chocolate pieces? I like all the fabrics I chose.** I often think of making another version of this quilt and making the changes I wonder about.
I think carefully selecting fabrics even if you are grabbing from your scrap bin is really key to a good looking finished quilt. The quilt will look like your style. You will like it and you will enjoy working on it.
** I think it is absolutely key to only work with fabrics you like. Whether it is the brand, the designer or the colors, life is too short to work with fabrics that make you cringe.
I have worked on this project a little bit over the past several months, but decided I needed it out of my workspace. I finished it on Sunday.
It is big!
I thought of using it as an officer bag, but I really like the fabrics I used. I think I will keep it and use it to carry my hand quilting project around.
Mondo Bag lining and handles
Again, the method of construction foiled my attempts at organizing the fabrics. I still think it looks good and I really like the lining and handle fabrics.
