Semantics

OK, so I guess if a person wants to be a literal, hair-splitting sort, a project that one has not actually begun cannot be called a "Work in Progress". But I sort of think of this un-begun quilt as a WIP. Maybe because it's a kit? I don't know. Anyway, the back story is this:

In the autumn of 2008, my Mom fell in her house. (She had been falling more. At the time we did not recognize that this was probably an early sign of her dementia.) She hurt her back & had a mild concussion & it was then that I realized that I should be checking on her more often -- so began my daily phone calls. A year later, I called her from Quilt Festival 2009; we chatted, she said she was doing OK, I said I was calling from the Quilt Festival & she told me to buy myself something to be from her. She was always generous & in the years after Dad's death, she was especially so, trying to give us things, writing us big checks (probably another sign of the Alzheimer's). Mostly, I turned her down & I had no intention of getting anything "to be from her" this time either -- then I passed the Den Haan & Wagenmakers booth. This is the Dutch shop that has the beautiful, old-world polished cottons; they had fabric, patterns & quilt kits. I lovingly stroked the beautiful prints & started to pass them by. Then I stopped, went back & bought myself a kit as a gift from my Mom to me. She was so pleased I did!

A few months after that, her physical & mental health nose-dived, she moved into nursing care, then into memory care & now she's gone.

The quilt kit sits untouched. It is a challenging pattern --  a small block with small, odd-shaped triangles. And the instructions are in Dutch! I kept trying to figure out a way to simplify it -- partial paper-piecing was the best I could come up with, but I never got it started. And now I don't really want to make it as instructed -- something simple & spare is more appealing. So I'm going through my Idea Book & making sketches. There are 22 sort of fat quarter meters plus the yardage of the 3 shades of blue (& a few extra prints that I added at the time). 
Flying Geese? Friendship Star? A modern, trendy pattern?
Stay tuned!

Hurricane season

The Hurricane Cognoscenti are saying that there will be few, maybe no, hurricanes hitting the Gulf Coast this summer. The El Niño circulation is starting to form in the Pacific Ocean; historically this has meant fewer storms in the Gulf of Mexico, possibly more for the Atlantic Coast. Not that the early predictions are ever 100% correct & not that we are letting our guard down! No, we're checking battery, bottled water & canned goods supplies, starting up the gas generator, planning an evacuation route & destination.

I've also gotten out my hand-crank sewing machine, my Singer 99K, Agatha. I haven't used her since the year I got her, the first year after our last hurricane, Ike. I sought out the machine because of our time without electricity. I decided then that the best thing to keep me sane & happy during & after the next storm would be the ability to do some sewing -- a portable, non-electric machine was the answer.

Lynn, The Little Red Hen, has also gotten out her Singer 99. She plans to enjoy sunny, balmy weather with some outdoor sewing & has invited others to join her for a #crankalong & some #backporchsewing. I won't be sewing outside -- too hot, muggy & buggy here! more like #undertheairconditionerventsewing for me! -- but I have been thinking about a project so I can crank along with Lynn.

The patchwork needs to be quite simple because you are sewing one-handed while the other hand powers the machine. It takes getting used to (I keep looking for the foot-peddle) but it really is very pleasant -- just a few steps away from hand sewing. I chose a spike-y star made with slivers of bright batiks. I'm making them kind of like paper piecing -- I mark the line on the back of the square & sew the batik on from the back. Once I get into the motion of assembly, it will go fast & because the blocks will be large -- 10 inches -- it won't be long before I will have cranked out a quilt top!

You do the math

If you are my brother or his 2 daughters --

!!! SPOILER ALERT !!!

I will be talking about your Christmas gifts, so if you don't want to ruin a surprise,

STOP READING NOW!

OK, now that they're gone (truthfully, I don't think any of them even know I blog, but just in case) --

I've moved other quilt projects to the back burner & have begun working on quilts for the 3 of them (& one for myself) using fabrics from 24 shirts, 12 of Mom's & 12 of Dad's.

I wanted the shirt element to be the same for all four quilts, but something I could change up. The fabrics in the shirts are mostly polyester or polyester blends, many are thin & loosely woven, so I wanted blocks that would surround the shirts in good, strong cotton. I finally decided on a simple + shape. The 2 quilts for my nieces will be similar to each other but not identical. The pair for my brother & me will be different from the nieces' quilts, & again, similar to each other. The nieces' quilts will have 36 + blocks each; my brother's & mine will have 64 each.

2(36) + 2(64) = 200 blocks

!!!!!

Well. I'm glad I'm starting early.

I selfishly began by making 4 for my quilt (-4), but I put them aside. I've finished one nieces' worth of blocks (-36). Now I'm working on my brother's -- I've nearly got 2 sets of 24 done (-48).

200 - 48 - 36 - 4 = 112

112/200 = 56 %

I'm nearly halfway done!!!

Creatures from Deep in My Stash -- Out-of-Date Colors

Everything new, well, it just gets old.

Those on-trend colors & prints that make quilts look so hip & modern today will eventually make them look old & dated. Harvest Gold & Avocado Green, Dusty Blue & Dusty Rose, Gray & Aqua, Gray & Tangerine, Gray & Gray.

Sad, but true. 

The good news is that, if you wait long enough, those colors will become retro & vintage & will again be hip -- but you'll have to wait a while for that. In the meantime ....

In the early 1990s I worked in a quilt shop. At that time the very trendy colors were deep blue-green grading into reddish purple. I liked these analogous colors, I liked them a LOT -- evidence: the yards & yards of fabrics I own in these colors. I have to say they aren't yet old enough to be Retro Chic, they're just a little old-fashioned. So what to do with them? Can I diminish their stodgy-ness?

You've already seen me using some of these -- the painterly floral was in Constellation Wonkulae & the daisy-like print is in my winged squares. I've used the blue to green watercolor-y one in a donation lap quilt or 2.

The leaf-y, frond-y one I'm making into old-school applique block -- though I won't be doing old-school applique -- machine zigzag & fused leaves will make it fast & fun. I found the block in one of my oldest quilt books -- a Better Homes & Gardens book copyrighted in 1985. They call it Ohio Blue Leaf. An internet search yielded nothing that looked anything like this, but really old applique patterns, especially outliers like this one, tend to be hard to find.

I've been thinking that a smart thing for me to do with some of these creatures would be to experiment with something I've never done before. A quilt with words has been on my mind, so I'm starting to build some letters. Stay tuned!

Seven & Eight

Which is which?

I worked on them together. I finished E's top first, but got R's quilted & bound first. Technically, I suppose that makes R's Seven & E's Eight. Anyway, both are done & ready for Christmas giving!

The fabrics are Jelly Bean Batiks & Bartholo-Meow's Reef, both by Moda. The solids are Kona, ash, charcoal & white. The pattern is Charm Pack Cherry by Fat Quarter Shop.

Thanks, I needed that

I think that if I had been one of the early Humans, we all just might still be living in caves.

Tea & coffee, for example. I truly don't think it would have ever occurred to me to look at a coffee bush & think, "hmm, what if I heated those beans, ground them up, then poured hot water over them?" Or tea? Dry the leaves, again with the hot water. Nope. Dots I definitely would NOT have connected. We would all still be drinking water if it had been up to me to discover two of the most basic, universal & pleasurable beverages of Humankind.

Or Retreats? Going off with a group of friends with whom you share a passion, spending a few days away from one's daily routine & partaking of that passion. Again, nope. I would not have come up with that either. But I'm so very, very glad that someone did!

I'm recently back from HMQG's 3rd retreat. While the pace of my life has slowed to a more manageable one, the Daily Grind still gets pretty grind-y sometimes & getting away from it for a bit was just The Thing I needed.

Old friends, new friends, lots of sewing & a little wine! My main goals, quilt-y wise, were to take advantage of the large design walls at the retreat center & finish 2 tops that had outgrown my design door -- one done, one nearly done (I didn't bring enough of my background fabric). Then I just puttered & played with some of the many bagged-and-ready-to-go projects: plus blocks made with my parents' shirts that will be gifts for my brother & 2 nieces, a block for an HMQG charity quilt, wonky stars with a stash creature.

A confluence of inspiration

Inspiration 1:
Were you lucky enough to see the Folk Art Museum's exhibit of red & white quilts? I was not so fortunate, but I pored over the internet images of those who did see it & shared their images online. It was called "Infinite Variety", was held at the Armory in New York City & represented one woman's collection of 650 (!) red & white quilts.

Inspiration 2:
I was poking around in my stash & pulled out several red prints. Then I pulled out a few more, was thinking, hmmm, red & white quilt, Infinite Variety-style. But I had quite a few quilt balls in the air, so I stashed the reds back in my stash.

Inspiration 3:
The International Quilt Festival celebrates its 40th anniversary this year -- their *Ruby* Anniversary. So they put out a call for red & white quilts -- old & new -- for display.

Hey, I'm going to make a red & white quilt!

I pulled a wide age range of cherry-red prints -- old calicos, novelties, gingham, dots, contemporary prints -- then got out my Idea Book & found a sketch I made of sparse & randomly placed bowtie blocks. I decided I wanted the look of the traditional block, with one piece of fabric making up the knot -- but without having to set in seams, so I made a dimensional bowtie using this tutorial. I quilted it with my fave wiggly walking foot stitch (last time, I promise (at least for a while)). I really love this quilt, it is so cheery!

I am concerned that after the first wash, I'll have a red & pink quilt. I'll use hands-full of Color Catchers, but do you have any other suggestions? I've read of using Dawn dish soap to set dye.

Downtown Foley's

Back in the day, cities, large & small, had their locally-owned department store. Some stores have managed to stay in business, others have either closed their doors or been bought out by large national chains. Ask anyone of a Certain Age about their local store & you'll hear lots of stories & fond memories.

Foley's was one of Houston's department stores. I moved to Houston too late to see Foley's in its prime; by the time I was here, it was Foley's in name only, bought by Macy's. Eventually it lost even its name.

The downtown flagship store was built in 1947. It was a simple, graphic structure that seemed to anticipate the modernity of the last half of the 20th Century. I never really noticed it or gave it much thought -- that is, until it no longer existed -- it was imploded in September of 2013. Then, thanks to the images on the internet, I kind of fell in love with it. The north-facing facade seem to beg to become a quilt. My quilt is not an exact replica of the old building, but an homage to downtown Foley's & all the other department stores that are now gone.

I like big blocks & I cannot lie

I've had a few projects recently that were made up of pretty little parts. So after some small sewing, I decided to sew big for a bit.

A while back, Victoria at Bumble Beans was making Winged Squares -- delightful & quite old blocks -- I love them, they repeat & create some very cool patterns -- so I decided to join her.

Only I went big -- really BIG.

I'm really starting to like big blocks. I love their bold statement. I love their Pop Art-y-ness -- you know, like giant shuttlecocks or huge, sculpted balloon animals. You really have to have the courage of your convictions when you make them. Until now the largest blocks I've made were Swoon and Modern Maples -- 24 & 12 inches, respectively. My Winged Squares are 30 inches. Four of those & I've got a quilt!

Quilting? I was thinking of using this quilt to work on my free-motion skills -- pebbling? maybe feathers in the triangles somehow? I'm not sure & am open to suggestions.

Hater no more

I've always loved making quilts -- picking patterns, colors, fabrics. There is nothing more fun than seeing 2 fabrics joined together with stitching! Then laying out the units to make the whole -- pure joy! But in my long history of quilt-making, different phases of the process have come & gone as my least favorite part.

I think when I started out, I liked least/hated cutting out of the quilt. I suspect the reason may have been that I was using scissors & sand paper templates. Rotary cutters, rulers & mats were brand new when I began getting serious about quilting (does that make me sound ancient!?). Once I got my "whizzy whacker", I was faster & (usually) more accurate, but I still did not love it. Over the years, I've learned tips & techniques that make me better at it. Now, I get on cutting jags & just cut & cut & cut.

Even when I was young & limber, basting used to kill me. I'd clear a space on the floor & crawl & stretch & reach -- it makes my muscles ache just thinking about it! Now I have Shug set a tabletop on a couple of saw horses; clamps & spray baste are a great help, too. I still have to reach a bit & if I baste more than one top my back gets tired, but there is no more up & down to the floor. I do a better job & even look forward to making my quilt sandwiches.

It was not all that long ago that quilting was my bête noir. I nearly always machine quilt & I used to dread it. Again, I think better techniques have helped. Early on, I was taught to 'put my pedal to the metal' when doing free-motion. My shoulders hunched, I didn't breath & I ended up with jagged, uneven stitches. Slowing down & relaxing has done wonders -- I'm no pro mind you, but not that bad. I also experiment more with my walking foot quilting & like the results I'm getting.

Another part of quilt-making that I did not like was anything that involved handwork. Projects flying forwards would come to a screeching halt when I needed to get out needle, thread & thimble. With hand-sewing, it is not better skills that have made me more appreciative, but learning to slow down & to like slowing down. I don't think I would ever do much hand piecing & I'm not particularly good at hand-quilting, but sometimes I wish for some handwork to curl up with.

Easter Sunday was beautiful down here on the Gulf Coast. I was able to indulge in a bit of all aspects of quilting. I hope you & yours had a wonderful day as well.

Learning to exhale

All I want to do is make quilts. I don't want to go to work or vacuum rugs or make dinner. I don't want to go for a walk or read a book or take a nap. I don't even want to blog. After the years when my 'free' time was not really my own, I am finally learning to expand into my unscheduled hours. I'm (more than) a bit selfish & stingy with my now really free time, but that is beginning to fade.

A dog story I read on Instagram reminds me of myself. A woman I follow there fosters pedigree dogs. She recently took in an adult male dog, a  sweet & good fellow, but very nervous & un-used to freedom. She can only guess at his story -- not abused, but neglected & often confined, maybe from a puppy mill. At his foster home, the ability to run & play then rest was just too much for him; he'd pace until he was weary but couldn't rest until he was back in his kennel. The good news is love & nurture is bringing him around.

That's where I am now. I sew until I'm exhausted. I have to make myself stop. I just finished my 5th & 6th quilts for the year. Tops 7 & 8 are done, basted & ready to quilt. It isn't like I'm in a race, mostly I am enjoying myself, but I'm trying to pull myself back, kennel myself so to speak, so I don't get burnt out.

Quilts 7 & 8 will be Christmas gifts for our 14-year-old nephew & 12-year-old niece. They are terrific kids! The last quilts I made for them were their baby quilts, so they're due some new ones. The tops were made using the Fat Quarter Shop's Charm Pack Cherry pattern. (The whole time I was assembling them I was humming the B-52's song, Love Shack -- I guess because "Charm Pack Cherry" made me think of "Love Shack Baby". Anyway...) 4 charm packs worth of fabric in each quilt, they were easy & fast & are pretty cute -- well, one is cute, the other is manly. ;-)

One year

It has been one year since my Mom's death.

In my small experience with loss, the first year is the worst -- all the milestones -- a year ago we were doing this or that -- and anniversaries. It is a little different losing a person who had dementia, you've been 'losing' them all along, but the finale is so very, well, Final. I feel a bit changed by her years in memory care, then death, kind of tempered -- stronger I hope, not harder. And it is a strange not having parents anymore. The child in me feels unattended, a little uncared for. The adult in me does not feel ready to shoulder the mantle of being the Senior Generation. I can't be a Matriarch (or Aunt-riarch)! I don't know anything, I'm just a kid!

The last time I saw my Mom was about 6 weeks before she died. During that visit, I went with her to get her hair done. Very often with dementia suffers, if they don't understand what is being asked of them, they'll just answer no. Do you want to go for a walk? Do you want to eat lunch? Do you want to have a bath? Do you want to get your hair done? Saying "no" is easier than trying to understand the question in their plaque-addled brains. My Mom's hair, permed & set all her life, had become long & straight because her permanent had grown out, the only 'do' she had was what the aides did after they gave her her shower. So we went together down the hall to the beauty/barber shop where she got a wash, trim & set. She looked nice. Then I did something I had not done in her 3 years in the nursing home:  I snapped a photo of her. She looked directly at my camera with this heartbreakingly clear, blank, bleak expression. I love this picture, can still see a glimpse of my Mom there. Then a new filter app that let me turn this photo into a 'watercolor; it took a bit of the edge off the original, making it even more beautiful to me.

Remember me?

I blog here from time to time. :-}

I've been sewing away on a couple of things I'm hoping to have done to enter for this year's Quilt Festival. One will certainly be finished, the other just might make it too. Sorry, but I'm going to keep them mostly under wraps until I get the official thumbs down or up. Either way, I enjoyed planning & making them, so I'm already a winner!

Shug's Mom came to visit. She's pretty weary of the long, cold, snowy Midwest winter, so came South for some warmth. One day she & I went to a local quilt shop, another day all three of us went to the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo -- we saw barrel racing, mutton bustin' & pig races, we ate some good BBQ, watched some wild midway rides & had a good time.

Easily amused

Yes, that's me -- Easily Amused.

The combination of this quilt block, the maple leaf, representing a traditionally cold-climate tree, with these tropical Hawaiian fabrics just pleases me.

I unearthed the fabrics recently (yes, yes, my stash is just this side of infinite), a long ago purchase at the Quilt Festival. I got them from a Japanese vendor who had a lot of tropical prints. I got 6 & later found some other fabrics that coordinated. But I hadn't a plan for how to use them, so they all got stowed away.

Re-finding them, they jumped to the top of my Make-Me-NOW! list. I liked the colors when I got them & am really loving them now -- golden yellows, peanut butter tans, avocado-y greens. With large-scale prints, sometimes I like to cut them up, making the print hardly recognizable. But this time I wanted to show off the ukuleles, plumeria & hibiscus, so I wanted a large-scale block. The Modern Maples pattern from Lark Crafts -- the blocks finish at 12 inches, a chunky leaf -- was perfect.  My fabrics were funny cuts, kind of fat half yards, I used nearly every bit to cut out 4 leaves from each print -- nothing left for stems. So my leaf stems are 2 different browns. My background solid was something I found on my shelves, but again, I ran out. And again, no problem: I can substitute in a text-y, texture-y print.

Soon I'll have an Aloha Maple quilt!

Jessica's Color Party

Last month, the very darling, Jessica Darling led a color workshop for my guild, HMQG.

I loved it, I learned a LOT. Though my lesson was not so much about color. What I learned was a lesson in improvisational piecing.

Grids, perpendicularity, parallel-ness, -- those things make my heart soar. Does that make me anal, right-brained, a control freak? Maybe, I don't know. I do know I love & admire quilts that aren't like that & I really do want to, at the very least, experiment with that sort of quilt making, but for now this improv quilt is all right angles & straight lines but with a "use what's there" approach. Who knows, maybe this is how *my* improv looks -- not so much about wonky angles & wavy seams but use-it-as-you-find-it scrap combinations.

Anyway, Jessica led a very entertaining & educational workshop. I like the little quilt that I made. And I tried something new to me when it came to quilting -- I quilted it to death! Straight lines, 1/8 to 1/4 inch apart! Unfortunately, I love the look & feel of this quilting. Why unfortunately? Because it takes FOREVER!
Things worth having are worth waiting/working for -- or some such nonsense. Right?

Repurposing

A while back, I was going through the mountains of stuff in my sewing room -- a Sisyphus-ian task -- and came across a large stack of vintage, printed tablecloths. They are bright & cheery; I have some that belonged to my Mom & Grandmas, some my Mom bought for me, some I bought myself. Back in my denim-skirts-and-vests days (don't judge -- though I'm sure I looked a pretty frumpy), I made clothing with them. I have a shirt & a vest or two & had plans for more, but never got them made.

Last year, HMQG had a garage swap day. We brought in our unwanted fabric, notions, patterns, books & other craft supplies, let our friends pick through our piles & take what they wanted. (I brought home less than I took to the meeting! Yay me!) As I was making my pile to give away, I added several of my old tablecloths.
Then I took them out.
Then I put them back in.
Then I took them out again.

So I *still* have that large stack of tablecloths -- now, what do I do with them? Well, as I was piecing my pine trees, I was wondering what I could use for the back. With all the white, I wanted something light in color, maybe something with green & red. Then a lightbulb come on. I pulled out a cowboy print tablecloth that was a good size, but I didn't like the cowboys with the pine trees; none of the florals nor the plaids quite did it either. Then I found a smallish, square green & white one -- my search was over! I added some bands of leftover Christmas prints, a back was born & a quilt was finished!

The Thrill is back!

First, let me thank you for your very, very kind & supportive comments & emails about my hurt feelings at the hands of the QuiltCon judges. {Very Big Hugs} to all of you!!!
What great friends I've made through my little blog!!!

Secondly, let me share what I've learned from the quilts-for-show process:

1. You need a thick skin. If you are putting your quilts out There for more than your loved ones to see & evaluate, you really should try to not be hurt by negative comments.
2. The judge that didn't like your Quilt A, just might love your Quilt B.
3. If Quilt A did poorly in one juried competition, it might do very well in another juried competition.
4. Lastly, most importantly, don't take it personally!!! Negative comments -- positive ones, too -- are about the thing you made, not about you. There may be merit in the comments, or maybe not, try to learn from them -- then move on!

But, back to my regained Thrill:

I am very happy to report how Very Happy I am in my sewing room. I am having So! Much! FUN! with my projects! I have 10 (!) going right now! One is nothing more than a stack of pulled fabric, 4 are partially cut out, 3 are cut out & are being pieced, 1 is being quilting & 1 is being bound; HMQG is doing a mug rug swap this month, so I'm playing with mug rug-ish ideas & I'm working on a few small birthday gifts. Oh! And I'm excited about a sketch that I may try to get made to enter for this year's Quilt Festival -- getting back on the horse!
That makes what, 11? 12? 13?
Who cares?!?!
I'm! Having!! FUN!!!

And you know what else? Lucky is proudly on display in our home for the first time in a year!