WIP Wednesday

I have sewn together my class project, choosing the more realistic of the ideas I was playing with. I'm trying not to second guess myself about this. Now I'm mulling over how to finish it. I could either finish it simply with no border at all, just a tight close-up effect of the flowers, but I'm also auditioning a few fabrics for a border of some kind. I think I want the plain finish, as it's more dramatic, but I really love the way the batik on the right looks with the design. There's plenty of time to think about this, because I'm now starting the very tedious process of marking, layering, and quilting the Hoffman challenge quilt. Since it's very traditional, I'm just doing a close grid in the center and parallel curved lines in the border. This is something I can do without problem (knock on wood), and should fit the design. I must say that after a break from the Hoffman, it doesn't grate on me as much as it did--not not quite so Awfully Aqua.

Return of Winter

Here's a picture I took from my dining room window this morning--I was using color film, but the world was totally black, white, and grey. Incredibly beautiful. When I went for my camera there was a crow perched on the top of the tree, the perfect finishing touch, but he was gone when I came back. I love winter, and although it's good to see more daylight and more green, I was glad for one more touch of wintery beauty.

Workshop Creation

I have started trying various compositions for the shapes I made in my workshop last week. The pictures aren't quite right because I was trying to photograph the layout on a table. First I tried the vertical arrangement, but the way the flowers are floating bothers me, although I know this is too literal.


Then I did the horizontal, flower arrangement one. Very conventional, I think.

Then I tried this one, the least realistic, with all the shapes radiating out from center. It looks a bit like you're looking straight down from above. I've been leaning toward this one. Try to imagine it without the distracting background--I don't have a big enough piece of fabric for this at the moment.

Service Project Kids Quilt

Here's the kid's quilt I just quilted and bound for the Quilt Studio service project. Debra, Jen, Julie, and Barbara were also involved in this. Isn't it a striking, masculine looking quilt for a boy? I quilted it with 12 weight thread in a pattern to echo the nine-patch design; this makes it even more graphic. A value of this project to me was that I did something way out of my comfort zone. I would never have put these fabrics and colors together, but I like the way they turned out. I'll be sending it to Amy next week to go the Children's Campus in Bethesda.

Since I got back from Bloomington I've been dealing with a sick husband and two sick cars, so it's been hectic to say the least. It seems like things may be looking up now however, and also Blogger has decided to work for me, so here are a few more pictures from Jane Sassaman's class at the IHQS.

The idea of the class was to choose a flower, sketch it in several different ways, and finally produce a very abstract version of it. When the flower is basically reduced to shapes you can then decide on a composition and then finally move to the sewing. In a two day class we only did the sketching and shape cutting. The first picture is of the shapes I had by the end of the class. Although I like the colors, the shapes are not finished, not even satisfactory, and just sort of thrown on a dark background. I need to do something with the flying saucer-like thing on the left, and the leaves need more detail--they currently resemble sting-rays. (I do have a plan for both these steps.) My flower is something called astrantia major which most people, including me, had never seen, but it's a very interesting plant with pointed petals surrounding a large puffy center. I can't even think of another flower to compare it to.

The second picture shows a classmate's work, much farther along, even with a good composition. And the third picture shows Jane helping someone refine her sketch/shape. I loved doing this and am looking forward to finishing the project after I get some other work out of the way.

IHQS and J. Sassaman class

I had the greatest time in Jane's class at the IHQS! A wonderful teacher, delightful person, and interesting classmates, all of whom were way above my head in terms of artistic ability. But as I told Jane, one advantage of being old is that you don't really embarrass easily any more, and I just enjoyed myself tremendously. The quilts at the show were less interesting this year. Many of them I had seen before, either in reality or in pictures, and many more looked like something I had seen before.

Here's the Best of Show, made by Linda McCuen, who apparently also won the $100,000 quilting challenge for another quilt. This piece is lovely, amazing machine quilting. It's a traditional applique pattern with original quilting and trapunto designs. She used a ecru innerlining to make the trapunto darker so that it stands out. Linda was in my class; see, I said these were talented people.



The winners are on the IHQS web site, so these other quilts are just ones I liked. This is a striking portrait quilt; although it's not as intricate as many are, I thought the features and expression come through well. N



I have always loved the Carolina Lily pattern, but it's often very stiff. This setting is much more contemporary than usual, and I think gives it new life. Too bad about the blurry picture.



I did this part of the post yesterday and had to stop. Now pictures of the class and of any other quilts will have to wait until Blogger recovers from its current problem. Also, Firefox won't show me the letters in the visual verification thing, but won't let me post a comment without entering them. What's with that?

It's Wednesday again--

1. My Hoffman challenge top is in its final throes. The word choice should give you an idea of my feelings for it. Of course, now I see ideas everywhere I COULD have done, but I'm not making another.

2. I have one of the kid quilts for the Quilt Studio service project that I will quilt soon. Barbara pieced the top and you can see it at this link. (It will be a warm-up for the delight of quilting the Hoffman.)

3. I'm leaving tomorrow for the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show in Bloomington, Indiana. It's a very good, small show, and although not juried, the quality of the quilts is high, and it attracts fine quilts from all over. The teachers are well known too. This year I'm taking Jane Sassaman's class, and looking forward to it with a bit of nervousness. I hope to have some good pictures to post when I come back.

Miscellaneous Tips

Housekeeping: The best thing I've found to pick up threads, fabric bits, etc. from your work table, ironing board, or sewing machine area is a piece of medium or coarse steel wool. You just LIGHTLY brush it across the surface (lightly, not like you were sanding, but like you were dusting), and it picks up all the junk and doesn't redeposit. In fact, you can use the same piece almost indefinitely. I like this better than those micro-fiber cloths. They always look so dirty even after washing, and are too expensive to throw away. Steel wool is cheaper and lasts longer without looking hopelessly cruddy.
Who else has a secret?

Movie: My husband and I just spent two evenings watching an Italian movie (originally a TV miniseries, I think) called The Best of Youth. It's the story of two brothers over the decades from 60's to 2000's showing how their lives change with the turbulent times. I know that six hours--yes, six!--of a film in Italian with English subtitles isn't everyone's cup of tea, but if anyone likes that sort of thing at all, you should try this. The characters are fascinating, one of the actors (Alessio Boni) is amazing, there are beautiful shots of Rome, Tuscany, Sicily, and it's fun to see those excited Italian conversations and know what's going on. The last hour is a bit slow, but we were totally enthralled by this, even my husband who can't sit still for much.

WIP Wednesday

The last issue of Quilting Arts announced a challenge called "What's in a Name?" where you are supposed to make an art quilt interpreting one of the phrases they provide. One was "the devil is in the details" and to me that immediately suggested all the "great" ideas that don't get done because they don't work out somehow. I thought about how to express this, and came up with this result.

I never really thought I'd finish this, so I didn't take pictures in early stages and I'm sorry I didn't because the process was interesting and very unlike what I usually do. I usually have a plan, but this time I started with the idea of cutting up an orphan block and using that, then went to the four skewed nine patches and one perfect nine patch. That was boring, so after sticking it under the table for a couple of weeks, I tried what Libby Lehman calls "pot-luck applique". It's really reverse applique using a pieced fabric underneath, stitching the design on a top layer of fabric, and then cutting away, not really knowing what will show through. I was a bit hesitant to do this, but Nellie of Nellie's Needles had done something similar and encouraged me. That change made the background more interesting, but even after some thread embellishment it was drab because of all the dark colors, so I stuck it away again. Then last Sunday I got it out for one last look, intending to pitch it. Then I remembered the batik flower-garden patches I made two years ago, and when I put them on top, the thing came to life, IMHO. I glued them on, leaving the cardboard and the basting (not sure that was a good idea) and then put net on top and quilted around them. The silk and fleece flowers sort of jumped out of my ribbon and flower embellishment drawer and wanted to go on, and so did the pieced binding (but that doesn't show up much in the picture.) This was fun--totally no rules, and I like the result. I hope it suggests the way ideas pile on top of one another, unfinished and maybe poorly conceived, but sometimes turn into something interesting after all.

I'm calling it "The Devil is in the Details": a Quilter's UFO's". Even former academics love subtitles.

Friday Collage

One of my favorite paintings is "Love of Winter" by George Bellows, American, 1913. I visit it every time we go to the Art Institute of Chicago. I'm not sure what I like so much, but I think it's the colors: the dark blueish greens, and that one splash of bright acid yellow. So today I tried to abstract it, emphasizing the blocks of dark and lights and the colors. I just pinned the pieces to fleece, layered net on top, and did a minimum of stitching to hold everything down and to try not to successfully to capture the random splashes of yellow Bellows scattered in the background. I don't think it's too bad, although about half way through I almost trashed it. Needs more stitching to give depth I think, but that's it for now.

WIP Wednesday

I have been making cards. Two valentines:




And a birthday card:



In addition, I am almost finished with the border blocks of the Hoffman; next of course is the tedious business of putting them together with the points matching "perfectly" and then hoping the border will fit.

Friday Collage

Here's another snow scene. I tried to capture the look of the countryside north of my house last week during a near whiteout. I used a piece of yellow net over the sky to reproduce the eerie glow you get when the sun is actually shining through the snowstorm. I put Angelina fiber over the whole piece to represent the snow, and that makes it very hard to photograph. This week's lesson: think about the finishing. I used the pillowcase method for this because I was hurrying, and forgot that you can't press after you put on the Angelina. Hence the very wonky edges.

And here's the aftermath--ugh.

Fast Friday Collage

I cheated on this. I used this design in a Christmas card, but it was smaller and had no stitching, just fused fabric. So I enlarged and tried some stitching. I don't think I added much... When I made this in December it looked nothing like a view of this area because we had no snow. Things have changed!

Not Too Cozy...

No new work today; but this is what I saw from my bedroom window a few minutes ago when I went to take pictures of the snow. Perfect photo op, if only I had a better zoom!

Quilt of Valor

After I posted this quilt a few weeks ago, I almost took the lazy way and let it go as it was, but I decided to take Nellie's advice of adding a narrow white border and then a blue border. I'm very glad I did; it improves both problems, and I am now much happier with the finished product. Thanks, Nellie, and everyone who commented.

Friday Collage

For my last Friday Collage, I expressed the Daily Life theme by focusing on one of my favorite things. This time, I'm showing one of my least favorite: my regular visits to a well-known women's fitness chain. Exercise is supposed to free the creative part of the brain, but I find this place totally mind numbing--terrible music, mindless repetition, and the chit-chat which is supposedly one of its big sells usually just irritates me (there's that introvert thing again). However it's a necessity, so I go.

Not much to say about making this. I just printed some words associated with the place, and added a sketch of one of the machines. The composition has no clear focus. The word pieces and the machine should not be the same color; this was partly done to save time, and also, I need to learn to look more critically AS I work, not afterwards!

WIP Wednesday, and a meme

I'm putting a border on the Quilt of Valor that I posted on two weeks ago, and will post a picture when it's done.

In the meantime, Nellie of Nellie's Needles tagged me to blog about five things I've never mentioned on my blog, so here goes. It's hard, because although I don't blog about everything in my life, there doesn't seem much I haven't mentioned that is interesting.

1. I have a cat. Not a big deal, except that it surprises me I haven't mentioned it, because so many people post pictures of their cat(s) all the time. I don't take second place to anyone in my love of cats, having had one all my life. I could easily become one of those crazy cat ladies like the one on the Simpsons.

2. Like Nellie, I grew up on a farm. I never milked cows, but I did have a 4-H Baby Beef steer that I fed daily and groomed regularly. When he went to his fate, it was sad, but the money went in a savings account for college. I still won't look at the livestock projects when I go to the fair because they bring tears to my eyes. I also know how to pluck and dress a chicken although my mother always did the actual beheading!



I'm the tall one with the droopy drawers. This was a new tractor, so we are excited to be riding it!

3. Learning to sew was also a 4-H project, starting at age 9. Having work judged by 4-H judges in the county fair where I grew up in Missouri has caused me to be much more of a perfectionist in sewing that I am in anything else, and to have no nervousness about quilt judging. Over the years, I've made everything you can think of except a man's jacket or pants. Oddly enough, sewing never seemed that enjoyable to me (reading was much more my thing), and the clothes I made for myself never seemed right to me. It's only now that I really love sewing--quilting is somehow more liberating and creative.

4. I did mention our stay in Paris last summer, but I'll expand on that a little. For the last two years my husband has been able to spend a month in Paris doing a little research and writing with a French chemist there. We'll be going for our third and almost certainly last stay this May. We stay in a tiny Spartan flat near the Blvd. St. Germaine as poor relations in the heart of wealth, art, and culture. I never thought when I was growing up that I'd have such a marvelous opportunity. I love feeling some small sense of what life is like in this beautiful fascinating city. Hemingway described Paris as "gray, but always beautiful" and to me that is perfect. It's a city of lines, not color. The repetition and variation of the building shapes is the defining characteristic of Paris to me. In preparation for the trip, I'm continuing to take a very low key French class. I wish I could say that I'm fluent in French, but the best I can do is say a few phrases in a horrible midwest American accent and understand even fewer. I can read quite well, however. Without that skill we'd never survive! And--I don't find Parisians rude. A polite "Bon jour, madame" has always worked for me. It's when you forget, and act like an American, that trouble starts!



At home in Paris--



5. I've never posted about dyeing fabric, because I don't do it! I have one set of fabric I made in a workshop, and that will be it. Way too labor intensive, and I'm so sloppy that I would turn our house into a Super Fund site very quickly. (When you're married to a chemist and have a chemist son, you hear more than you ever wanted to know about the danger of toxic stuff.) I have done a bit of painting and stamping, which seems much more fun to me, but still-- I think I'll just buy it!

Part of this meme is to tag five more people, but I'm really shy about doing that. But please, I'd love to read about you!

Personality Traits

As suggested by Debra, I joined in with Jen at Bayou Quilts and took the Meyer-Briggs personality test and discovered I am a INTJ. The disparaging way to summarize this personality might be as a bossy, know-it-all eccentric. But the positive way would be as a creative, pragmatic and self-sufficient person with deep feeling for others, although often for only a selected few. As I e-mailed Jen, I'm glad to be grouped with Jane Austen, but I'm not so sure about Donald Rumsfeld! My favorite part of the profile was this line: INTJ's may "simulate some degree of conformism in order to mask their inherent unconventionality." But enough about me--

If anyone wants to pursue the personality analysis thing a little further, Dr. Martin Seligman at the University of Pennsylvania has a website with a questionnaire where you can measure your signature strengths. I read his book Authentic Happiness several years ago and found it thought-provoking. He defines "signature strengths" as the activities or values that give you the greatest satisfaction, and a job or life style which allows you to use them would therefore provide happiness. My strengths were interest in excellence, and pursuit of knowledge. (I may not be remembering his terms quite right.) As a teacher most of my life, I've been fortunate to be able to use these. Come to think of it, these traits fit with the INTJ personality too. Hmmmm.

I'm so happy to be home after being away for a week! I've been catching up on blog reading, and particularly the wonderful 12 x 12 x 12 Challenges on the Quilt Studio blog. Beautiful work, everybody, and what a range of techniques. This makes viewing them a learning experience as well as just eye-candy. I've been having trouble commenting as much as I would like, and have a question of those more Blogger-savvy than I am. Why do some people's comments open a new window, when some people's do not? I assume this is a setting, right? I have particular trouble with the comments that open in a new window. The response is very slow, and there is no sign that the comment has registered until it does, so I sometimes end up commenting twice. Is this just something about my internet connection, or is it more general? Can anything be done? I'd appreciate any hints, and meanwhile, I would love to comment on everyone's challenge work, but sometimes I can't. So if I haven't commented, blame it on technical difficulties!

Fast Friday Collage

I thought I'd like to try this challenge this year as a way to force myself to pump out ideas and try new things. Last week I was away and I'll be gone next week too, but here's at least one for the first month.

The theme Kim chose for January is Daily Life, so I've shown my favorite part of the day--morning. I truly love morning: everything seems possible, there are new things to do, the light gradually brightens. I especially love the wonderful coffee my husband makes, so here it is, along with lots of cheery morning cliches. This was fast, except for the fact that I had to soak the fabric with Bubble Jet Set and then mess around with Word Art and various fonts to get the look I wanted. I have a lot to learn there. I also used my painted fabrics, so I feel real arty!

I posted this piece a couple of months ago. When my son was visiting at Christmas, he admired it, but wanted it framed. I wasn't sure how to do this, but happened to read Deborah's blog describing how she framed a recent piece. Basically, the piece is tacked with stitches to a piece of mat board or foam core which is then put in the frame, glass removed. I tried her method, and am pleased with the results, although I would have prefered a narrower frame. Now that I've done it once, I will try some of the other frames and see how they work. Deborah includes a link to Melody Johnson's ideas for framing also. Very interesting reading.

Thanks for all the suggestions on my previous posts. I'm thinking it over.

One reason I didn't commit to the 12x12x12 challenge was that I wanted to clear up some UFO's and start new ideas that have been simmering for a while. One of them was this Quilt of Valor. I did these blocks in the fall and put them aside, but have now finished the top, I think. The blue and white blocks were the ones remaining from a guild exchange after I used the first half in an earlier QOV. The challenge this time was to use only stash fabrics. I considered tea dying the blue and white, but didn't because I've never done that and wasn't sure how it would work. I regret that I didn't; I think they jump out too much. When I planned this, I didn't think it needed a border and planned to finish with a wider than normal (half inch) blue binding, but now I'm not sure, and am considering adding a border. That will require buying fabric though. In addition, it's currently 62 x 62, and a border will make it an awkward size, I think. I'd welcome opinions on the border question. Decisions, decisions. Anyway, Deb Geyer has agreed to quilt this, so her work is sure to improve it considerably!

How Old Are You Really?

Our local paper yesterday had an article about this website and its creator:RealAge. I would advise a visit. It's a questionnaire about nutrition, life style, medical history, etc. that averages all the data and calculates your body's actual age. I came out very well, but need to eat more vegetables, less meat, and more fish. Alas, I already knew that! But I did find out I have an ideal body mass index, and that was a VERY pleasant and very LARGE surprise. I thought this idea fits well with the emphasis on a healthier new year.

Debra, if you see this and can move it to the Lounge blog, go ahead. I don't know how to post there.

Wednesday

The last showing of this, I promise. It is actually finished, except for hand work on hanging sleeve, label, and removal of the basting stitches which show in the lower right of the close-up. I use water soluable thread in the bobbin and basting stitches come right out in the final rinse or spraying before blocking. A neat trick. I don't know why this project has taken so long: I like it, nothing about it has been difficult, but I seem to let it rest for a long time between each stage. The other technical tip I would repeat is to beware of Rainbows thread by Superior Threads. This fine thread KEEPS coming loose. Backstitching and a gradual reduction of stitch length for the last 1 1/2 inches is all that seems to work. Tying ends and burying them does not work on this stuff and neither does backstitching alone.


My other project is to make a paste-up block of the Hoffman Challenge design I have planned. I probably won't reveal this for a while, but the color scheme is still what I showed last week, and I made trial blocks of the small pieces for the border, so I think I can pull it off.

Final Post of 2006

Here's my final project of the year, the Project Linus top. It's a cute design, but this isn't my best work. I hate paper piecing and tried to strip piece the center strips, but had trouble placing them correctly because the paper was too thick. A novelty stripe worked better in a couple of blocks. As a result, there are some pretty crooked center stripes. But it's cheerful and serviceable. I hope other people will try it.

Happy New Year to everyone--I hope it's long on whatever makes you happy, and short on the other stuff!

WIP Wednesday

Today is the day to really do some post-Christmas clean-up: put away the still scattered gifts, vacuum, pack up the wrapping paper and ribbon, and catch up on the laundry, which doesn't take a holiday. Still no need to cook--hooray! In spare minutes over the last week and a half I have continued to think about the Hoffman Challenge and have a design plan and some fabric choices. These are the fabrics I am currently considering. I will weed out some of the duplicates because I'm not going for scrappy and may substitute others with more pattern if I can find pieces in the right color and value. There are too many solid looking tone on tones here. The design I've planned is very traditional with pretty complicated piecing. It looks good on paper, but I can't get psyched so I may do other things first. There's plenty of time, for sure, but I always start this project in January, and it's worked before. (Looking at this post, I'm even more convinced that these fabrics need more pattern--pretty dull, at this point.)

The newest issue of Quiltmaker has this year's Project Linus project. Very cute--check it out. I think I'll make a couple of rows or even a whole top. I did this last year with the ice cream cone pattern and enjoyed it.

Mess is Good!

Periodically, we all feel guilty about the clutter that builds up in the studio (sewing room, sweatshop or whatever we call it). Take some time to look at this article from yesterday's The New York Times and relax! I sent this article to everyone I know, and am now sharing with you. It seems particularly timely at this season.

WIP Wednesday

Scrooge that I am, I really do have a Christmas tree nonetheless.

And I have done holiday baking. Here is a great new recipe that I discovered this year: Pumpkin-Cranberry bread. This is actually cake like. Very easy, better than banana bread because you don't have to mash bananas, and if made in those aluminum foil pans than have a snap on plastic lid, makes easier gift than cookies. Healthy too--two Super Foods and no bad fat.

Combine dry ingredients: 2 1/4 cup flour, 1 T pumpkin pie spice, 2 tsp. baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt
Mix 2 eggs, 2 cups sugar 1/3/4 cup pumpkin (one can), 1/2 cup oil
Add pumpkin mnixture to flour mixture, stir until moistened. Fold in 1 cup fresh cranberries (It says you can use dried cranberries too, but these would be very different because they're sweet. Haven't tried that.)

Bake in 2 greased 9 x 5 inch-loaf pans at 350 degrees 45-55 minutes.

And I have pinned the beauteous Hoffman Challenge fabric to my design wall and look at it as I walk by.

Some options: Make it disappear.



Funky contemporary batiks.



This coordinate really pops.



Not a totally impossible fabric, but I still have no real ideas.

Hoffman Challenge

Has anyone else bought the new Hoffman Challenge fabric? What do you think? Mine finally came--I find it pretty, but quite uninspiring, at least so far. If you're thinking about ordering the Hancock's of Paducah pack of fat quarter coordinates, be advised that they are all busy multi-colored prints, several of them the same fabric in a different colorway, only a few tone on tones, (all three green), no variety in value or in type of pattern. I wish I'd saved my money.



Photo as requested. I aim to please.

Uncommon Threads

Did anyone else happen to hear the interview with Gayle Pritchard, author of Uncommon Threads: Ohio's Art Quilt Revolution, on NPR's Diane Rehm Show this morning? If I had known it was going to be on, I would have posted earlier, but just happened to catch it as I was running errands. The book seems to be a history of the "art quilt" movement beginning in the 1970's and the first Quilt National and continuing into the present. Gayle Pritchard did a good job in presenting material, although she must have been disappointed at the level of understanding of the topic shown by both Diane and the callers. Diane herself clearly knows little about quilting (although she says it may be something she would like to do when she retires!), and I thought it was apparent that she didn't "get" some of the quilts pictured in the book. (Of course, potato chip bags sewn together are not for everyone.) Many of the callers had stories about what their grandmother used to do, but few had anything substantive to say about quilting today. Still, it was good to see this subject get some recognition. Interestingly, many of the callers were men.

There are some photos from the book and a link to the book at Amazon on the link to the Diane Rehm Show.

Saturday I went to the One of a Kind Show at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. This is a high end arts/craft fair. Besides prints, glass, pottery, and jewelry, it was full of fiber arts/wearable art stuff, fascinating for anyone who is interested in that. Unfortunately I couldn't take pictures, so I have to try to remember and describe. There were scarves of every description: painted silk, felted, hand-woven, textured silk, knit. One of the most interesting techniques, which was new to me, was scarves made by felting hand dyed merino wool and silk together so that one side was wool and one silk, and very interesting textures and blends of color developed. I coveted these, but $175 was a bit out of my price range even though they should be very durable and warm, really rather practical. The other new technique was scarves made, I think, by sewing together fabric scraps and bits of fiber on a water soluable stabilizer, so that when the stabilizer was removed there was an open, net-like effect of color and texture. Beautiful, but rather fragile.

There were clothes of all types, hand woven jackets, silk jackets, patchwork looking jackets. Felted sweaters were used for patchwork vests, purses, and jackets. There were hats of all types: fleece, wool, felt, knit. These were very popular because Chicago is of course one place where a hat is almost a necessity. Also I remember from my craft days that women seem unable to resist trying on hats, all the while they say "I'm not a hat person," or "I look so stupid in hats." So I don't know if the hats were really selling--but I bought one! I guess I'm a hat person--

My quilt was accepted at Road to California! I'm very excited since this is first time I've been in a juried show. I won't see it, but that's ok; just having it there is good enough for me. Such good company to be in! Laura , the Quilting Diva has one also.
Since several people asked, I added the link to the earlier post.

Some work

I've been making Christmas cards and a post card for my niece's birthday. The first card was a pattern from Quilter's Newsletter, and the second is my design. The design came out of a Quilt University class, and a small study seemed a good idea. Then there's the usual Christmas stuff: wrapping, mailing, some shopping, some baking, no decorating yet. That may come today, or not. Don't know why, but I detest the decorating part. Once the tree is up, I love it, but the rest of the decorating I could do without. It may be because no one in this male-oriented family seems to even notice, or it may be because my few years of selling at art/craft shows at the holidays made me never want to see a Christmas decoration again. In any case, less is more rules in this household.

Christmas Wishes

I know that everyone wants health and happiness for their friends and family, as well as world peace, but just for the heck of it, let's indulge in some selfish quilty Christmas wishes. I personally would like the Koala QuiltMate II Studio Package available at Nancy's Notions for $2595. Or I would be happy to have a week at The Hudson River Valley Art Workshop. I could take a class from either Carol Taylor or Laura Wasilowski. One week is $1270. I passed these wishes on to my husband, and he gave me the blank look. Darn. Or maybe someone would like a tour to the Tokyo Quilt Festival, or an Alaska Quilting cruise with famous teachers, etc., etc. Anybody?

Work in Progress Wednesday and a tip

I've finished the machine quilting on my Australian circles and am doing a little handquilting inside the circles to highlight some of the motifs. That is almost finished too. Here's my Christmas gift quilt ready to quilt. I think it's pretty, although I worry a bit that it looks more like a quilt for a seven-year-old "princess" than an elderly lady. I'll just have to hope she likes it.

When I started to cut the backing yesterday, I discovered that I was short of fabric, and so remembered hearing at my retreat a couple of weeks ago about John Flynn's technique of using a bias seam in the backing. This allows you to use less fabric; so with nothing to lose, I tried it, and it worked.

Here's the process: You cut the backing fabric on the bias from corner to corner, making two triangles. (They're actually longer and skinnier than this, of course. A real blogger would have taken photographs of the fabric spread out on the living room floor, but I didn't think of it!)


Then you slide one triangle down enough to give you the width you need for your quilt and sew the bias seam together. And that's it.



John Flynn claims that the bias seam doesn't stretch in the quilt, and in fact the bias actually works better in a long-arm machine. I'll report again if there seem to be problems developing later, but for now, I'm pleased. I used a yard less fabric than I would have needed for a vertical seam, and there is almost no waste, just little triangle-shaped tips. I also don't know how to calculate the amount of fabric you need. I didn't see the show, and the friend who did, didn't remember. Maybe someone else knows.

Thanks!

Just a few Thanksgiving pictures. We had a quiet day, even though it started with a two and a half hour drive to Evanston.

Our host and hostess pose proudly,


and chef Karl displays his masterpiece.

Unfortunately, the pride was short-lived because when he started to carve red juice ran out! There was much ranting and fuming and gnashing of teeth, since at this point everyone was starving. But the cut pieces finished cooking quickly, and here the refreshed diners take a break before dessert.


Friday was actually more peaceful and pleasant. We did some very low key walking around downtown, which was quiet because everyone must have been at the malls, and in the afternoon watched Master and Commander on the large screen TV. Here the men are doing a few little chores, including putting up the ND flag for the game Saturday.


I've always found Thanksgiving stressful, not sure why, but this one was pleasant, perhaps with less emphasis on preparation on my end than usual. My busy son and daughter-in-law probably don't feel that way, but after all, it's their turn!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I have just prepared one of three dishes to take to my son's tomorrow: cider braised greens with chunks of apple, the recipe from Good Housekeeping. It's very good, and think about how healthy! (I usually don't taste, actually, but this time I did.) I'll also be making a pumpkin pie and a green bean dish, not the casserole. Cooking is much more fun when you don't do the whole meal, so I am very thankful for that! No quilt pictures today; back to kitchen, and then errands.

Stitch Regulator?

Does anyone know anything about the new fabric mover/stitch regulator attachments that are available for Vikings and Pfaffs? Bernina has had one for a while, but I think theirs is a bit different. I've looked at them, and think they MIGHT be wonderful, but I'm a bit sceptical. How well does that mover work with a large quilt? How hard is it to take off and on? (On the Viking, I bet it's a pain, since everything else is.) And don't you have to relearn how to do free motion stitching since the movement runs the stitching in a different way than ordinary free motion does? I tried one at the Chicago show, and was confused, although I do lots of free motion stitching (although not well). So is this thing a miracle or a boondoggle? I would like to hear an opinion from someone other than a salesperson. Anyone?