February Interpret This

Indigestion  

31" x 32"

It was a rocky road this month.  It never occurred to me to be thematic, I think because I've done Chinese before, so I tried to keep a visual relationship to the original photo (which you can see here).  Since I don't draw, and prefer to work with shapes, this was difficult.  I could only see the circle and the diagonal.  You can read more about my struggles on the Interpret This blog.  Be sure to look at all the other interpretations too--two already posted and more to come today through Sunday.  There's a fascinating range of approaches.

Some technical points that might be interesting:  1.  Quilting with a walking foot at an angle that's not a straight bias is difficult.  The quilt tries to move back to the straight and narrow, producing lines that are wonky in a different way than intended.  It also distorts the quilt a great deal.  2.  Twelve weight thread and batiks are not a good match, at least on my Janome.  Even with a #14 topstitch needle I had problems with skipped stitches and thread breakage.  I've ordered some #16/100 needles for next time.  3.  I was using a scrap of Quilters' Dream Poly batting which has been recommended as good for wall quilts. Having used it twice now, I don't think I'd agree.  Its denseness compounded the stitching problem, and being polyester, it didn't help in blocking the quilt back into shape.  Now that it's gone, I won't buy more.

I have this piece hanging in my studio, and I like it more all the time.  Odd how your feelings about things change.

Interpret This Reveals

Thank you, everyone who commented on the quilt show question.  I was surprised how few people who commented entered shows at all.  I guess in spite of the hassle and expense involved, we're all glad that the large shows exist, and they do need the support of entries.  Definitely a two-way street.

For an on-line show (sorry no vendors) click on the Interpret This button to see the February reveals beginning this morning.  That plate of Chinese food is sure to have produced some interesting interpretations.

A Serious Question

This isn't intended to be a rant, or a complaint.  It's more a "what's it all about?" question.

In the last few weeks, I've packed and shipped quilts for three shows.  This is an unusual number for me, and so I've been thinking about the process of entering shows, and why anyone  does it.  I always think it will be fun, until there comes the actual work of finding a box, folding the quilt to fit the box, finding the proper packing (plastic bag, pillowcase, NO pillowcase), assembling the mailing label, the show's ID label, the inside address, the return shipping check, the photograph, and anything else a particular show might want.  Then there's sealing the box, addressing the box, driving to the post office or UPS,  standing in line, and of course,  paying.  But then I forget about the hassle, and do it again the next time.

But after doing this chore three times in quick succession, I'm seriously considering saying "Never again." I have no hope of a prize, all I'll have is a page of not very helpful judges' comments. (One show is not judged, so there won't even be that.)  Surely a large majority of people who enter shows share my expectations.   If only those who win or hope to win entered, quilt shows would be small indeed.  Why do we enter?  Any thoughts about this?

Some Shopping, Some Sewing

I'm back home, after a good visit with grandchildren, son and daughter-in-law.  Two year olds have lots to say, and lots of opinions, as we all know!

I made a quick stop at Vogue Fabrics in Evanston.  Such a wonderful place!  It almost makes me wish I were still doing garment sewing.  But I bought only thread, and just gave the fabric a quick walk through.  Interesting shoppers there, always very multi-cultural; this time there was a group of women in full veils, one in what I think was a burkha.  They were admiring the gorgeous silks and taffetas, so someone is going to wear something that isn't black.

Across the street at 10,000 Villages I couldn't resist a bag of tagua nut beads.  Aren't they wonderful?  They're very lightweight, and I thought they'd make great embellishments.  Of course, I usually don't embellish, but who knows...

Now I'm busily quilting my challenge quilt, having some difficulty.  The combination of 12 wt thread, batiks, and a dense batting has been causing skipped stitches and breaking thread, but after some experiment with needles, I think I've got it licked.   I started with a #14 quilting needle, switched to a #14 metallic needle, but it seems to be the #14 topstitching needle that does the trick.  Back to work.

A Teaser

Check out that orange border--1/8 inch!  The other day Karen of Lee Haven posted her beautiful narrow border, and today as I was finishing the top of the Interpret This challenge, I remembered that, and also that Sally Collins talks about how to do tiny borders.  So I pulled out her book Borders, Bindings and Edges, followed the directions, and they worked beautifully.

The top is ready for quilting now.  That was my goal for the day.  I'm spending the last four days of the week in Evanston with grandchildren and won't be able to sew, so I had to get at least this far to meet the deadline.

Another deadline is the one for mailing entries to the Smoky Mountain Quilt Show, so I have a label and new sleeve to sew tonight.  That would be good Olympics-watching work, but I haven't been able to get interested this time.  I don't know why; maybe I'll give it another chance.

Valentine's Day Greetings

This lovely card was made by Joy Vale in Australia; it came to me through the Stitchin' Fingers swap.   I wish everyone love and happiness today.

And--it's teaser time at Interpret This.  If you visit the blog you may get some sense of what we're doing.  The reveals start February 25.      

This 'n That--Some Celebrations

1.  I spoke to my mother on the phone today, and wonder of wonders. the valentine I mailed on Monday arrived.  Not only that, she loved it.  Apparently the combination of red satin and lace is just what she thinks a valentine should be.  So hooray for me, and hooray for the USPS!

2,  At guild tonight, a member showed fabric she had bought on a trip to the Bahamas.  She had stumbled across a local guild's show, and naturally jumped at the chance to visit.  She said, "My husband started to laugh.  He said,  "I feel like I'm in South Bend.'  The quilts and everything else at the show were exactly like what you see here."   I don't know about you, but I think that's depressing.

3. ( Not totally unrelated to #2)  Today, I picked up a copy of a book called One Hundred Japanese Quilts, the catalog of a show I saw in the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2004.  Believe me, these quilts DO NOT look like what you'd see in South Bend.  I am endlessly amazed by the individuality, the invention, the intricacy of these quilts.  When I first bought it, I studied it for hours.  I haven't looked at it for a while, and it's a pleasure to rediscover it, and to know that it hasn't lost its wonder.

So what's the connection between these two points?  When what is seen at quilt shops and shows looks so much the same, whether in Indiana or the Bahamas, it's wonderful to know that there are individual visions out there.  They're in the Japanese quilts, and in some of the quilts I saw at guild tonight, and in what I see on-line.  Hooray for that individuality, too!

Guilt: or What I've Done and What I Haven't Done

What I've done is a baby quilt for my son's best friend's new baby.  It's currently drying, and when that's finished I'll post it.  The baby was born in December, so this needed to be done.

What I haven't done is make much progress on my Interpret This February challenge.  I have an idea, but it seems to be taking a long time, and doesn't really thrill me.  Maybe there's a connection there.

I also didn't make valentines for my grandchildren.  I had an idea, but didn't get to it, and now it's too late.  They won't know or care, a commercial card is just as good, but I feel guilty.

I also didn't make a valentine for my mother.  Well, I did, and here it is, but it won't arrive in time.

The only reason I post this is that I'm pleased with the solution I worked out as to how to use the slippery, fraying bit of satin as a background.  I edge stitched it directly to the Peltex, leaving a bit of an edge. This stabilized it so I could do the applique hearts, which are scraps of kimono silk. Then I painted Fray Check around the edge on the wrong side and trimmed after it dried.  No fraying.  The edge is a big of cheap synthetic lace with a little glitter to it.  It crunched up beautifully with a wide zig-zag and should hide any other tendency to fray.  I like that so much, I might even buy more of the stuff!

I also  haven't been to the gym for too many days.  I'm off there now, and to the grocery, since we're supposed to have lots of snow tonight and tomorrow.

Later:

The baby quilt is now finished.  

Very unorthodox, yes?  My son chose the fabrics, and while he doesn't really know what the parents might like, his guess is probably better than mine.  They're a theater couple living in a hip part of Brooklyn, so blue teddy bears didn't seem right.   Laurel Burch demon horses it is!

Another Texture Study

Texture Study 2--Black

7" x 10"

When I was making arty clothing, I found that the best selling items were vests, jackets, and bags made out of a variety of black fabrics--no color, just the textures that the different fabrics or black-on-black prints produced.  So it was natural to follow up the white texture study I posted recently with this black one.   The background is a faux suede, and because I didn't want any more light or variety in it, I didn't quilt it.  I just quilted around the shapes and followed the curves in the brocade.  Instead of binding, I zig-zagged black rat tail cording in place.

Valentine

This fabulous valentine came from Judy McCarthy of Australia through a Stitchin' Fingers swap.  These ladies put my efforts to shame, I'll tell you!  Thanks, Judy.

Thanks and a Recommendation

Thank you to everyone who visited my self-portrait and made such kind comments.  I'm pleased with the way it turned out.  The idea was a while in coming, but once it did, everything went together smoothly. Sometimes that happens, I guess.

The February challenge photo has been posted, and if you're curious about what we're up against, go over and check the Interpret This blog and take a look.  A lovely picture, but challenging.  I've made some notes, and may have an idea of how to proceed.

As I was hanging the self-portrait, I remembered a tip to share.  Did you know that used sewing machine needles make great nails to hang lightweight pictures or small wall hangings?  They're very strong and make such a small hole that the wall isn't marred.  I have a TicTac box full of dulled needles that I use for this purpose.  Now if there was only a perfect use for dull rotary blades...

Self Portrait

                                                                    

                                         14" x 14" fusible applique, machine pieced, hand quilted

You can read more about my self-portrait on  the Interpret This blog.  This was a challenge, both in planning and in technique.  I did quite a bit of work in Photoshop to manipulate my photograph and create the faint background images.

I also used some new techniques with the fusible applique.  This was by far the most delicate fusible job I've ever done and I wanted to minimize the tracing and retracing of the pattern, both for convenience and for accuracy.  After some thought, I worked out a way that I thought was very successful.  It probably isn't new, but it was new to me.

After I got the image the way I wanted it in Photoshop, I printed a copy as a reference copy, then I printed it on a clear plastic sheet of the kind that used to be used for overhead projectors.  You could also make a tracing or maybe print on lighter paper.  This copy is for an overlay to help place the pieces.   I used a Sharpie to draw a dotted line from the center point of each side, and make a pencil mark in the seam allowance of the background fabric as alignment points.

 Then I pressed the shiny side of a printer-sized sheet of freezer paper to the right side of the fabric.  (I used batik so there wouldn't be any fraying.)  I pressed hard with a hot iron to make sure there was a very tight bond.  I put this through the printer so the image was on the dull side of the freezer paper.

Then without removing the freezer paper, I attached fusible web to the wrong side of the fabric according to directions.  I used TransWeb, but Wonder Under would probably work.  I wouldn't use

Steam-a-Seam though because I don't think it bonds tightly enough.  Then I removed the paper back of the fusible.

Using an Exacto knife, I cut through the freezer paper, fabric, and fusible and cut out the piece.  Then I removed the freezer paper.  You can see I started with easiest part, the shoulders.

Then I placed the plastic overlay on top of the background, lining up the marks, and slipped the cutout piece underneath, lining it up with the printed shape on the overlay.  When it was correct, I carefully lifted the overlay, and pressed the cut out lightly.   Here you can see the marked reference lines on the overlay, and the very dark part where I've put the shoulders in place underneath.

I cut and placed a few pieces at a time until everything was placed. After everything was placed and lightly pressed, I pressed again with hot iron to set it tightly.

This technique would have to be adapted if you're using more than one fabric in your applique.  But as it is, it's perfect for a silhouette or for letters, since the image isn't reversed and can be cut very accurately.

Be sure to check the Interpret This blog tomorrow morning to see the first self-portrait reveals.  Comments are welcome.   Mine is done, set to be revealed Thursday, and I can't wait to see the others.

Wonky Curves Charity Quilt

The charity quilt I was working on it now finished, bound and washed, and I love the way the Mountain Mist batting turned out.  It's soft and drapeable,  with enough loft to show the quilting stitches.  I'm pleased with the quilting too, actually.  Thank you Supreme Slider and Janome.  The overall look is less pleasing to me--an odd mixture of gentle and almost straight curves.  That's a lesson for next time, I guess.

Quilt Batting

Cotton or wool batting seems to be the preferred choice for most quilters now, and that's all I've used for quite a while.  But recently I haven't been happy with the way cotton batting looks in the quilts I make for guild service projects.  The flatness of the cotton doesn't seem to say warm, cozy, and cuddly for a small child.  Also, the easy care of polyester seems a good thing for these quilts.  Not all families have access to washers and dryers with gentle settings, or the time for line drying.

So for this one, I bought Mountain Mist 100% polyester with  medium loft.  At the halfway point in the quilting, I'm very happy with it.  I like the puffiness, and it clings as well to the fabric as the cotton battings do, maybe better. There are no pleats or puckers, at least so far.  When it's been bound and washed, I'll know better, but right now it seems a good choice.  Good thing, because I bought a king size batt at JoAnn's half price sale, planning to make four child-size quilts.

Maybe it's the stiff, cheap batting sold by the roll that gives polyester a bad name.  This is quite different, worth a second look.

Texture Study

                                                            Texture Study     8" x 10"


It seems a long, long time since I had a finished piece, but finally here is one.  For Christmas, I received a copy of Lyric Kinard's book art + quilt and have started working through some of her exercises.  One of the first ones is to make a piece in all white or off-white, focusing on texture.  When I made "wearable art" I used lots of monochromatic fabric combinations, so I had plenty of interesting scraps.  This piece includes satin, corduroy, chintz, polar fleece, as well as muslin, and some pearl trim.   This was fun, and I like the results.  I've already cut and planned another in black.  It's amazing how many different blacks there are, and how beautiful they can be when combined.

I've also finished my self-portrait for Interpret This, and put together the curved piecing blocks I made for the guild program back in November.  They'll be a charity quilt when they're finished.  And--I trimmed the all the blocks for the basket quilt, laid them out on the guest room bed, and plan to slowly sew them together, aiming for February 1 as the finish date.

Last, but not at all least, thanks to all the helpful answers to my questions.  It looks like I'll be ordering a bendable bright light in the near future, and probably going with "Harvest Gold nouveau" for the dining room walls.  And to those of you who suggested repainting if the color didn't work, easy for you to say!  I won't admit how long it's been since the last paint job.

Questions

1.  Does anyone have a Bendable Bright Light?  Is it worth the money?

2.  Does anyone have the clip-on-your-glasses magnifiers like my dentist and dental hygienist use?  If so, where did you buy them?  The ones I find on Google cost a fortune.  Keepsake Quilting has some much cheaper ones in the catalogue, and I'm curious if they're any good.

3.  Why do I have to click Submit Comment twice on some blogs?  And even more annoying, on others, why do I have to click twice, and then add the letters too?  Is there something I can change on my settings to avoid this?  Do other people do something to their settings to cause this?

4.  In deciding on paint colors,  I'm leaning toward something that looks a lot like 70's Harvest Gold, except grayer, for my dining room.  I know this is really impossible to answer since there are so many variables, but has anyone had any experience in living with walls this color?  Is it too much?  The room has lots of light in the day time, sun in the winter although it doesn't shine much here, but no sun in summer.  There are no draperies, no rug, and the room opens into the high-ceiling living space which will be Antique White.  (And no matter what some have said:  white walls are NOT a refusal to decide.  They ARE the decision!)

There's lots of knowledge and opinions out there.  I'd welcome any input.

Time for Tantalizing Teasers

Click on the Interpret This button on the sidebar to see hints about the self-portraits the group is working on.  The reveals begin January 27.  Warning:  these teasers are definitely teasing!

Two Works-in-Progress

As I've said, I'm hand quilting my Interpret This self-portrait. I appreciate the suggestions about the net question, and it's interesting to know how many of us suffer when we do handwork. Here's a shot showing those beautiful quilting stitches I mentioned yesterday, with my hand in its support glove. The glove is very helpful. Also, like Rian, I have little bits of freezer paper to show. I used an Exacto knife to cut these; that's something I've never done before, but it worked great.
















I'm also working on this little piece. It's a texture study using all white and off-white fabric, based on an exercise in Lyric Kinard's book, art + quilt. Since taking this picture, I've added horizontal lines of stitching underneath the circle shapes and am doing some seed stitches in the center circle, which gives it a pebbly texture.  (More handwork!)  These changes have improved it, and I think I'm going to like it. A finished version should be visible soon.



And finally, the temperature is above freezing, and I was able to go to the car wash!

An Addiction?

As a joke, people say quilting is an addiction. But when you keep doing something that hurts, is it a joke?

I'm hand quilting my self portrait for the Interpret This challenge. (I chose to hand quilt because I couldn't think of a way to machine quilt I thought would work well.) Hand quilting hurts my wrists and my hands, which have been feeling a bit arthritic the last few days. So this morning when I woke up with pain, I resolved to give the project a rest today. But I've been back at it. Hmmm.

Ironically, this is a small piece, with really just a few hours of work, and my quilting stitches are ugly anyway. So the painful fascination has no rational cause. Oh, well. I think I'll stop now, and go have some food--that's harmless, right?

Hand Quilting over Net

Did anyone ever hand quilt over nylon net/tulle? I put net over a small piece with unstitched applique. I intended to machine quilt, but have decided to do simple hand quilting instead. After two rows of hand quilting the effect is unattractively puckered. The back is not puckered, but just quilted looking, so I'm blaming the net. Does anyone know anything about this? I can remove the net at this stage, but before I do, I thought I'd ask for advice. Thanks to anyone who has ideas.

Happy Twelfth Night, everyone. I undecorated the Christmas tree easily with lots of help and companionship from the cat, but then the Lord of Misrule must have taken over, because everything went crazy. I don't understand what happened.

First, I was printing out some photos on fabric treated with Bubble Jet Set the way I always do. They looked perfect, but when I washed them according to instructions, they faded so much that one was unusable. I don't know if I mixed up treated with untreated fabric, my detergent wasn't "mild" enough, or what. So I made some more, which required treating fabric and waiting for it to dry. These I didn't wash. As long as I don't touch the project with water during construction, it should be ok since it won't be washed.

Then while I waited for the fabric to dry, I worked on the pieced setting triangles. First there was the math error. Recut. Then there was the positioning error. Rip and re-sew. Then there was pressing direction error. I pressed again, went back to sew, and discovered that the first direction was right after all! How did that happen?!

In the middle of this, the painter who told us he'd "get to us sometime after Christmas" called. He may get to us next week. I'm not ready for moving furniture, thinking about paint colors, etc. We have an open plan house, so he would be painting living room, family room, dining room, and part of the kitchen. What a mess. But I guess I can cope. It had to happen sometime.

The good news is that I did finish the setting triangles and can see what this quilt looks like. I'll sew it together eventually, but there are other projects to do, and paint chips to look at.


More good news--no snow today.

Planning Ahead

One thing I'm looking forward to this year is participating in the Interpret This group. Eleven of us have committed to the challenge of creating a work every month based on a photo. All members will interpret the same photo, except for January, when each of us will interpret a photo of ourselves. Clicking on the Interpret This badge in the sidebar will take you to the blog dedicated to the challenge, where you can read an introduction by the members, see albums of our work, and at the end of the month see the reveals. If you haven't seen this blog yet, I hope you'll go look, and sign up to be a follower.

I'm not posting year long goals, but besides the Interpret This challenge, I hope to work through some design exercises I received as a Christmas gift, make as many service quilts as I did last year, keep making small works for Alzheimer's Quilt Initiative, and do whatever else strikes my fancy! One of the first things is to finish Boring Baskets. I finished the alternate blocks yesterday, and will now start the pieced setting triangles--maybe today!

Been and Back, Again

This shot of St. Patrick's cathedral with snow outlining the stonework on the spires is one of the few good photos I have of New York City. There were plenty of photo-worthy sights, but I either didn't have my camera, was too distracted to pull it out, or photos weren't allowed anyway.

Highlights: 1. Fela!, the broadway show about the life and music of Fela Kuti, a Nigerian musician and political activist. This was a compromise choice that both my husband and I agreed on, and it was a lucky one. I never heard of Fela before, but I've always liked Afro-pop music, and the acting, general production, and especially the dancing were outstanding. Watch for it to win big at the Tonys.
2. Der Rosenkavelier at the Metropolitan Opera. We only had two and a half hours sleep that night because of an early flight, but it was well worth it. ( A no-photo place: I was yelled at for trying to take a picture of the chandeliers.)
3. The Metropolitan Museum is always wonderful, and there are always new things to see. We intended to spend just a few hours, but stayed all day in spite of the crowds.
3. Delicious food everywhere.

No, we did not stand in Times Square on New Year's Eve. We took a harbor cruise instead. It was a bit tacky, with lots of bad booze and bad food and crazy people, but fun anyway.

I only made a quick pass through a few stores in the garment district, and only bought one piece of fabric for a gift.

But here's a quilt story. On New Year's Day, I was walking up Fifth Avenue past a souvenir shop, when I happened to see, of all things, two antique quilts in the window, and the sign: Antique Quilts in the Back of the Store. So I went in, and there were indeed beautiful antique quilts. My favorite was a mint condition, 1870 quilt with thousands of one-inch square pieces. I chatted with the nice woman in charge, who turned out to be Mary Koval, who as you probably know, designs reproduction fabrics. Here's her website, and information about the store in New York City.

Now we're home, and snowed in, so I hope to do some work!

The Day After

I hope everyone had a happy Christmas. We did; quiet and a little unusual, but very pleasant. We slept late, had a good brunch, and then went to the noon showing of Invictus. I'd highly recommend this feel-good movie. We came home, opened the few presents, had dinner, and relaxed. Great! Monday my husband and I are off for five days in New York City, and I can't wait. This is our gift, and a good one it is!

Today and tomorrow I hope to make progress on the alternate blocks for the basket quilt. My current plan is shown above. I took Nellie's advice and put the border fabric in the center. Instead of a march of dark blue squares throughout the quilt, this arrangement gives a bracket of blue around the baskets. It also pulls the border fabric into the center of the quilt, which I think is an improvement. I will need to draft the pieced setting triangles so there are no bias edges, but I don't think that should be hard. That won't happen until after the new year however.

A Poem for the Winter Solstice

I Heard a Bird Sing

I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.
A magical thing
And sweet to remember.

'We are nearer to Spring
Than we were in September,"
I heard a bird sing
In the dark of December.

Oliver Herford

A Wonderful Postcard

This card came yesterday from Sharon in Australia. I hope if you click on it you can see all the wonderful detail she's created with fabric, paint, and hand embroidery. Santa is having some needed after-Christmas R&R in sunny Australia. I'm sure many of us here in the East and Midwest would be happy to join him.

Thank you so much, Sharon!

I Admit This is a Snarky Remark...

I just learned from the new issue of American Quilter that some quilters, (Karen McTavish is the best known) have been tattooed with quilting designs, feathers, patchwork, etc. Did you know that? Do you care? I have nothing against tattoos, but that's not why I bought the magazine. Now I'm wondering why I did buy it.

Christmas Quilts

I don't do much decorating, just the tree, some real greenery, and the Christmas quilts. I have two. The first one is an Alex Anderson design, very scrappy. I've actually made three versions of this quilt: one I sold, one I gave to my sister, and this one I kept. It was a futile attempt to use up scraps. As you can see, Florabelle gives it the seal of approval.

The second one is also scrappy, although less so. It's an early quilt. Unfortunately I don't have a label, but it must have been about 2000. My husband gave me Quilt-Pro for Macs for Christmas, and I used it to design this quilt. It was fun to play with the alternate blocks and create a path of color across the quilt, seeming to extend the star lines. I also tried for transparency with the red and gold, not totally successful, but not bad. I still like this quilt, although the quilting in particular leaves much to be desired. I stitched in the ditch on a puffy batt, and I wouldn't do that now.

I Bet the Maytag Repairman Isn't Lonely Any More

This morning I put a batch of cookies in the oven, and was standing at the counter mixing up the next ones. Suddenly I heard a thumping sound coming from my stove, turned around and saw flames shooting from under the floor of the oven where the heating element is. I turned the oven off, no harm done, except to the under-baked cookies. By an interesting coincidence, the repair man is coming this afternoon to replace the heating element on the largest top burner. That repair will cost about three hundred dollars total. My range is a year and a half old, off warranty, of course. I guess I got a lemon. I wonder if they will give me a free diagnosis call for this new problem.

There goes the rest of the Christmas baking. Is that a bad thing?

Update: The nice man came, took off the oven floor, and found that the element had broken into three pieces (that was the thud) and so obviously burst into flames from the loose ends. The element only costs $40 and the labor will be about $20, so this is much less than the upper element. Of course, the part is not in stock, so we won't have an oven for a while. As my sister says, that does take the pressure off. She's thinking of sabotaging hers until after Christmas.

An Interlude

Wrapping gifts, baking cookies, visiting grandchildren, cleaning--very little fiber content to show. I made some Christmas postcards for an exchange, but can't show them yet, and yesterday I printed photos on the computer to make little photo albums for Aidan and Conor. That's it for creativity. Today's goal is to make room for the Christmas tree, vacuum, and de-clutter enough to decorate.

In the back of my mind I'm thinking about the basket quilt. I have begun the alternate blocks, but am wondering if that large square in the center is so prominent that the secondary design may take over. Replacing it raises the question of what to use instead. There's plenty of time to think about it while I do the Christmas jobs.

Neckties

Does anyone else love men's ties? I don't go in the men's department of big stores often, but when I do, I'm drawn to the beautiful display of ties: the rainbow of colors, the rich silky textures, the patterns. Yesterday I went to buy my son the dress shirt which he had requested for Christmas. He hadn't asked for a tie, but I had to buy one--couldn't pass up the ties any more than some people can pass up the new lines of fabric. This combination is actually rather dull. My first choice was a grayed yellow-green that really popped with this shirt; but that combination would never pass, so this is second choice--bland, but tasteful.

Beautiful quilts can be made out from ties, but I've never wanted to do that, I think because there are so many other things ahead of that idea on the "maybe someday" list. I've never made a tie either, though I know people who have. I'll just look, and sometimes buy.

As I was debating which to choose, two young girls walked by. I heard one say to the other, "I just love ties! I don't know why, but I do!" I know why. She's a quilter in the making.

A Humbling Experience

All the basket blocks are finished. When I started to square up, I had to face some unpleasant truths. Bad blocks! Very bad blocks!



After wondering what to do for a while, I realized that it's obvious which seams are wrong--the ones where the piece is too small, right? Why was that hard to figure out?

So I took out one flower, and re-sewed it. Perfect, right? Oops!


One more try:


Not perfect, but much better, and when the lower right corner is trimmed, it will be at least within an acceptable margin of error. There are still a few blocks to fix, and then on to the alternate blocks. I want this thing DONE.

I did these corrections while listening to President Obama's speech. If what he's doing is a mistake, it will be much harder to correct than mine.

New Hoffman Challenge Fabric

I had several things scheduled for today, and I did do some Christmas shopping, but then I went rogue and drove to Shipshewana to buy the Hoffman Challenge fabric. Here it is. This picture doesn't show the color well; it's much more aqua but the photo gives a better idea of the range of colors than the picture on their web site. The real fabric is much less solid color than it appears. The design is directional, and there's about an 8 inch repeat. I like the Jacobean/Persian design, but hate the color. The coordinates Hoffman is pushing to go with it seem to be all in the green and blue range also.

I have no idea what I might make for the challenge this year, or even if I will make anything, but I'm ready for inspiration.

Pressing Tip

I always have trouble pressing a block with lots of seam intersections so that the seams are really flat. A hard ironing board and a heavy iron help, but I don't like steam. Lately, I've been trying this method, which I like, and I thought I'd pass it on. It will be familiar to anyone who has done lots of garment sewing, especially tailoring, but I've never heard it mentioned by quilters, and I never thought of it myself until recently.

Here's the basket block; see all the nasty intersections to make flat. There are more on the other side too.



Here's the tool I'm using. I don't know what this is called, but it's used to press seams open before they're pressed together, and it has all those weird curves and points to accommodate different seams. For quilting all you need is a long flat piece of wood; a 12 inch piece of 2 by 2 would work fine. Wood is the best because it is a good conductor of heat and pulls the heat out of the fabric quickly so that the seam cools in the position you want it to be.

All you do is press the seam together, then open the block and press the seam to the side, as usual. While the fabric is hot, put the wood piece on the seam, press down, and hold it for about 10 seconds or so.



You end up with a flat seam without worrying about scorching or puckering from steam. If you really want to use steam, give just a second of steam before you put the wood down.


(Do you think that woman needs cosmetic surgery on her hands? Yikes!)

It's been a disgracefully unproductive week here. There's been a bunch of time-consuming things to do: trips to buy a replacement faucet for a leaky one, hair appointments, waiting at the VW dealer, making on-line Christmas orders, and so on. We're going to my son's for Thanksgiving, so preparing for that is not one of them, thank goodness.

The piecing of the basket blocks goes slowly anyway. There are points and seams to match up and pin, and of course this is where any earlier errors come back to haunt you. Part of the problem is that I think I used a different method of making 1/4 inch seam long ago when I started these blocks, and so there is a slight difference.



In addition, I am one of several people demonstrating different ways of making curved seams at guild Monday, and I've been practicing, making samples, and digging out some information to display. I've got a copy of Stack a New Deck by Karla Alexander with ideas, and I can use my quilt Refraction too. I'm not expecting great enthusiasm from the conservative people in the guild about the irregular look of blocks made this way, but a variety of options and ideas is a good thing.


In spite of talking about using up fabric, I had a hard time deciding on fabric to sacrifice for some sample blocks. I finally chose these brights, which I bought a few years ago, and am so tired of. I'm not sure how they'll look put together, but maybe they will make a good kids quilt for someone. The combination of fabrics may be another cause for raised eyebrows.

Boring Baskets: Moving On

Boring Baskets as a working title doesn't refer to the finished look, I hope, but to the piecing process: slow enough to be tedious and time-consuming, and not difficult enough to be terribly interesting. This quilt has been in process a very long time.

After lots and lots of thought and advice and shopping and stash-rummaging, I settled on this blue fabric for the baskets, and can get back to piecing blocks. Ironically, although I had thought I couldn't move on until I settled on a basket fabric, when I started working today, I found there were several steps before the basket triangle had to go on. So more time has passed. But now, I hope I can buckle down and finish the blocks; the slow part with the flowers and the leaf unit has been done, and I'm sewing large units together now. There are also alternate blocks, but they are mostly strip piecing, all squares, no triangles.

I Dreamed a Dream

I dreamed last night that I had laboriously finished a quilt, working under some kind of deadline; when I washed it, it faded, the binding came off one side, and an actual large hole appeared. What a nightmare! I've eaten breakfast before telling this, so it won't come true. Do you know that superstition?

I'm Not Crazy About It...

but it's done. As you can see, I didn't add much since the last version. Some of the fabrics and embellishment materials are still on the work table, so I may do another block before I forget some of the skills I remembered in making this--like, Duh, you CAN cover a button with a more interesting fabric than that plain purple one. In fact, that's why that metallic brocade has a circular hole in it!

Other news: I received one of those "We're sorry blah, blah, blah" letters from Road to California about Refraction, and and acceptance for my Ghost Orchid quilt in an exhibit called Quilting Natural Florida. This exhibit will hang in the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville from January to March, 2010. So I guess one for two isn't too bad, although we all know which one of these had more entries. The rest of you who entered Road to California, if you didn't get a rejection yet, you'll probably get a nice fat letter of acceptance on the December 1 date.

I'm off today to Yoders in Shipshewana to buy the new Hoffman Challenge fabric (if they have it), and look for fabric to jazz up my Boring Baskets project. It's beautiful Indian Summer weather here, a perfect day to see the Indiana countryside. I love the look of the bare fields before the snow comes, all swept clean for winter.

Going Crazy Again

The other day, Debra said she was going to break down, stop kidding herself, and USE the materials she'd been saving for a "big, important project". By coincidence, I'd been doing that myself, from the jumping off place of a bit of machine embroidery Debra sent me a while ago. I have lots of small pieces of kimono fabric left from the days when I made and sold small bags. Some of this fabric is beautiful, and some is just tiny bits, but I keep waiting for just the right project.

Then I decided to use some bits in a crazy block for Alz quilts. Here it is in its naked state,

and here it is now, partially embellished.

Making a crazy quilt block is a strange experience; I don't know whether I like it or not. Embellishment is not my style, but I can see a certain fascination, and I understand why people get hooked. On the other hand, I am painfully rusty at embroidery. I used to do lots of it because it was good to do while keeping one eye on small children, and I was fairly skillful. Now I can barely remember how do the stitches, and I feel like the tomboyish heroine of a novel, forced to work on her sampler--tangling threads, needle pricks, etc.

I haven't even skimmed the surface of my kimono scraps, so the big project is still waiting.

And as a pleasant surprise, Dawn who writes a great blog titled Subversive Stitchers, linked to my blog and said kind things. If you haven't seen her blog, you should. She features different bloggers including links, and has some terrific pictures in the sidebar. The Boob Scarves picture alone is worth a click!

SOFA Chicago, Faust, Family

My husband and I had a wonderful twenty-four hours in Chicago this weekend. We left early enough to see the SOFA (Sculptural Objects, Functional Art) at Navy Pier. This is a large, very pricey art show with galleries from ten countries representing several hundred artists. There's lots of Chihuly-type glass, jewelry, ceramics, and a very small amount of fiber art. Hilde Morin, Carol Shinn, who takes thread painting to a new level, and Lesley Richmond were three of the artists represented. Photos were frowned on, but look at the links. Lesley Richmond uses photographed images which she paints with a resist, removes the negative space fabric, and then paints the fabric remaining, producing a lacy metallic image that is still as flexible as cloth. I particularly loved her work. You might also enjoy looking at the work of Amy Orr, who does mixed media, patchwork-like pieces.

It was a perfect fall day, the kind of day that makes Chicago one of the most beautiful cities anywhere: brilliant blue sky, gleaming buildings, the glorious lake. We walked through Millennium Park and across the new footbridge connecting it with the Art Institute's just completed contemporary wing. That footbridge is made to move, rather disconcerting at first. (The pictures above show the humongous Trump Tower reflecting some smaller buildings, the view of the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park from the Millennium Park bridge, and the view of the lake looking down Monroe street from the bridge.) There wasn't much time in the Art Institute, but it will still be there in January when outside isn't so lovely.

In the evening we had dinner and went to the Lyric Opera to see Faust, not a favorite of mine. I hate the women-as-victims opera plots, and the music just seems trite to me.


Sunday morning we drove to see my son and his family. The twins are still adorable. We had quiet time, and then played outside with the leaves, and came home to a still-beautiful day.

Personal Style?

I just recently read a post about influence, finding one's own style, etc., which seems to lead into this post of mine. Do I have a personal style? If so, it's not discernible from these three things I just finished.



This is based on a scene in Innsbruck, Austria, that I photographed last spring. I love the candy-like colors of the houses and their charming shapes against the blue sky, and tried to capture it here. The river was originally much lighter, and I added paint to darken it. The paint caused its own problems, but the effect is still better than the lighter fabric.



Here's one of my scanned flower images. I originally made a postcard from the image, but this time made it larger for a mini-quilt. I like the added texture of the French knot centers on this version.



And finally, another scrap lap quilt for the guild's service project collection. This is from the collection of Mary Ellen Hopkins scrap blocks that I work on from time to time. It's fun to see the number of patterns than can be made from what's essentially a block with a dark triangle and a light triangle. This quilt was the largest piece I've free motion quilted using the Supreme Slider, and I continue to love that little gadget. The quilt is only 36 x 48 because we have required sizes, but I plan to work up to something a bit bigger now and see how it goes.

Anyway, there doesn't seem to be any continuity here. I just like to go from flower to flower, I guess.