Various & Sundry 2017 #11

Have you been enjoying Palindrome Week?

I went through the blogs on my blogroll and found that many of them have not been updated in months, some for a couple of years. I guess I will be finding some new blogs to include. Any blogs that you particularly like?

Tell Your Friends

For Sale Items: Take a look at fabric, a design wall and more! Buying helps me get a new design wall. 😉

The Quilt Class page has been updated. Have you made your sampler yet?

Tools, Fabric, Products and Notions

Doug Leko has a new-ish ‘folded corners ruler‘. I believe this is similar to or the same as the “flippy corners” method. I am not 100% sure and haven’t watched the YouTube video to be able to say for sure. Scott of Blue Nickel Studios posted about it.

As I have mentioned, Gen Q Magazine has notebooks with a No Quilt Bullying message. I can’t think of any good reason for quilt bullying or meanness.

Books, Patterns, Projects & Tutorials

Have you seen this birthday cake block by Handmaiden? It is free download from Craftsy. I have a thing for cakes, so this is right up my alley. I am trying to think of ways to use it.

I had seen the New York Beauties and Flying Geese book briefly somewhere, but didn’t pay much attention until I saw mention of it again on the Sew Sweetness blog. Sara has a sample block posted and it looks fantastic. Of course, a lot of it is about the fabric, but the designs are great. I am sad that none of the three libraries to which I have cards owns it.

I mentioned a few V&S post ago that Judy Martin has launched a new eBook venture called Judy Martin eBooks. I am delighted to be a new Judy Martin Affiliate. I love her patterns and books and, most importantly, her sound quiltmaking techniques. I have a goal to take a class with her sometime. This means that I will probably have to travel to Iowa since she rarely teaches outside the area anymore. Did you take a look? She already has a number of her eBooks up on her site. Purchasing eBooks saves pace on your bookshelf. I encourage you to look through her offerings and purchase some. Yes, I will get a very nice cut of your purchase if you click on the links listed, but you will also be directly supporting her hardworking family. Links:

  • July Fireworks: this is the first e-pattern I saw as a sample. I was blown away. I love the innovation in the layout.
  • Star Happy Quilts is an e-book, originally published in 2001. The patterns are comprised of 3 different star blocks, which are arranged and resized in different ways. The books gives you the design practice to create tons of star quilt designs!
  • Celtic Squares Deluxe is a new-to-me pattern and very modern. The interlocking squares make my mind dance with ideas for gradations of color.
  • Patchwork Among Friends is not just a pattern e-book, but is a resource guide for getting people together to sew. There are 10 patterns, recipes for potluck dishes and ideas for getting quiltmakers together.
  • Starry Night Log Cabin is a pattern from her book Extraordinary Log Cabins for you log cabin fans. Judy has some different techniques for making log cabins that improve accuracy. It is also free!
  • Scraps is an e-book of one of Martin’s classics. There are 16 original designs presented in 3 different sizes to help you customize for your needs. The instructions contain a choice of accurate rotary cutting instructions or templates. Fat quarter requirements and yardage are listed for each quilt in every size. Color diagrams show piecing instructions. There are also ratings for each pattern to tell you ease of cutting, ease of sewing, and ease of thinking.

Quilt Rat has a post about embellishing ready made fabric and clothing. She talks about the importance of testing and shows her process.

Exhibitions, Projects & Events

QuiltCon Registration for the general public started July 8, so spread the word to your quilt family and friends. I will be attending and would love to see you there. There are many open sessions as well as more public social events than ever. Hope you can make it.

The MQG Exhibit at the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles is on display until July 16.

Are you doing ICAD from Daisy Yellow? Friend Julie is and she has some great pieces that would make wonderful fabric. I hope she puts some on Spoonflower.

Linda M. Poole mentioned The Big Beach House Quilt Retreat hosted by Charlotte Agnotti in Corolla, NC, Feb 19-23, 2018 in her blog post.

I wanted to remind you that the Quilters Take Manhattan (QTM)event is a three-day event Sept. 15-17 that includes garment district tours, museum and gallery exhibitions, a night on Broadway, a vendor hall, silent auction and raffle prizes. The QTM 2017 keynote speaker is Sherri Lynn Wood, author of The Improv Handbook for Modern Quilters: A Guide to Creating, Quilting, and Living Courageously. QTM sponsor Quilt Alliance recently posted an interview with Sherri on its blog.

And this year at QTM, attendees are invited to participate in the Fashion Challenge, By making garments and accessories featuring fabric from the Quilters Take Manhattan collection available at Spoonflower, they have a chance to win prizes.

QTM is an annual fundraising event for the non-profit Quilt Alliance which works to document, preserve and share the stories of quilts and quilters. (thanks to Stashed for the tip)

The non-profit Quilt Alliance is conducting a membership drive through August. Established in 1993, the Quilt Alliance documents, preserves and shares the American quilt heritage. Individuals as well as guilds and small businesses can join.  (thanks to Stashed for the tip)

Tips & Tricks

Vicki Welsh has a blog post about stapling your quilt to your longarm’s leaders and enders. Her method makes a lot of sense and you don’t get stuck with pins every 5 seconds.

Inspiration

I am behind in my House Beautiful reading, so I was pleased to see a blog post pointing me to the book, Colorstrology. Mostly, I love the cover and the name. I am not sure I need to know what my birthday says about me in terms of color. 😉

FOTY 2017 More Progress

FOTY 2017 - early July 2017
FOTY 2017 – early July 2017

I am still cutting for FOTY 2017. It’s only halfway through the year, so why wouldn’t I be?

When I went to crop the photo, I saw that it was sideways from the orientation in which I had photographed it. Since I intend to arrange the rectangles in a horizontal orientation, I thought I would display the latest additions in this orientation, so you could tell me what you think. Lots of greys since I am working ona  grey background right now.

ColorPlay: Pressed Glass #4

White & Red Pressed Glass - original
White & Red Pressed Glass – original

I still have some of the pressed glass photos from my trip to Indiana and wanted to try a few more palettes. I thought this color scheme would be an interesting challenge.

ColorPlay July 14-default
ColorPlay July 14-default

The default was, of course, in Jaye-world, not to my tastes. It isn’t horrendous. The Silver and Pewter, as well as the Primrose are all nice. The Cayenne adds some zing.

I did think it was interesting that most of the circles were clustered in the top of the photo. Not all, but most.

It is a little dusty for my tastes – the colors are not clear. It is good that I could try again.

ColorPlay July 14 - n.1
ColorPlay July 14 – n.1

The second palette, the first where I moved the circles, was much more focused on the reds. I intentionally kept the circles to the top row of vessels and tried to get as many reds as possible.

As you can see there is a Peach, Pale Flesh and Spice, which are tones and shades of red, but not strictly red.

There might not be enough contrast in this palette for a quilt where one really wanted to show off the piecing, but for a subtly shaded quilt, it would be great.

ColorPlay July 14 - n.2
ColorPlay July 14 – n.2

In the third palette, my second, I tried to go for bright and cheerful.

Success! The combination seems cheerful to me and all of the colors go together.

This palette also has Peach in it and I noticed that the peach looks very different next to the Butterscotch than it does above next to the Sienna. I have always wanted to play around with putting one color next to a bunch of different ones to see the effect of the different colors on the one. Someday, perhaps.

ColorPlay July 14 - n.3
ColorPlay July 14 – n.3

My third, the fourth total palette, uses the middle of the image. This is a challenge on a couple of levels based on the question “what color is clear?”. Well, our eyes say something different than the Palette Builder tool. The Palette Builder tool has to assign a Kona fabric color. I knew that this palette would be wintery.

It is. The greys and blues are colors I would use for a snowy landscape quilt. Some of the darker greys are a little depressing for me, but I do like the Silver and the Oyster is okay, too.

ColorPlay July 14 - n.4
ColorPlay July 14 – n.4

I wanted to see if I could make a very different palette in the same area of the photo. I ended up moving the circles down to the next row on the photo.

My idea didn’t work very well. The two palettes are very similar with the addition of Bison (hilarious name if you have ever seen a Bison).

Stone shows up, which is repeat, as does Ash, which is not. Ash is another one of the Konas that I really like.

ColorPlay July 14 - n.5
ColorPlay July 14 – n.5

I was running out of photo, but I decided to try with the white and clear pressed glass one more time and see what I could come up with.

Another wintery landscape palette with some more blue tints added. Some of my favorite Konas are included: Ash, Snow and Silver. The Shale was an unexpected addition. I think the Shale gives the whole palette an icy feel.

I think I went in with a different mindset this time and was much more openminded about the palettes. The Palette Builder is a great and fun tool. Try it out! Let me know if you make anything with any of these palettes.

 

 

 

En Provence Part 4

I went to Craft Night with dark blues and text fabrics in hand. The event was at SIL’s and she has the Peaky & Spike die. I planned to cut up the Peaky and Spikes I needed for the next step in the En Provence quilt.

Peaky & Spikes for En Provence
Peaky & Spikes for En Provence

I accomplished my goal. These are supposed to be purple, but I am not using purple in this quilt. I find purple to be a depressing color when I use a lot of it in a quilt, so I tend to shy away from it.I don’t hate it, I just have other favorites. Since I used blues in the recent 4patches, I am using a dark blue to go with those pieces

I had to dig through a lot of my fabric to find these dark blues. I used up most of the my dark blues on the Stars for San Bruno quilts. I don’t use dark blue that much, but I am finding that it comes in handy periodically. Not all of these blues are super dark. They are, however, different and darker than the blues used in the four patches.

I have started to sew the Peakys to the Spikes, but haven’t gotten very far. Small accomplishments.

Net Neutrality Day of Action

Net Neutrality means that everyone receives the same treatment. My content is delivered just as fast as a movie from Comcast. Unless I am doing something illegal, no ISP can slow down what I serve up as content to you. Content providers cannot pay an ISP to provide their content faster than mine.

I am a content provider. While I may not provide content that everyone likes, I am able to provide content.

45’s appointee “Ajit Pai has proposed a reversal of these regulations, which he’s said unfairly burden the ISPs and are archaic for relying on utility-style regulation.”

Allowing ISPs to slow down content will affect public libraries, companies whose product interferes with a product owned by the ISP, schools and more.

Send a comment to the FCC and to your Congress person telling them to protect Net Neutrality. Do it now.

You can find more information on these sites:

This is not a left or right political issue. This is about innovation and fairness. It was a hard won battle to get Net Neutrality. Let’s keep this as a right.

Bamboo Scarf

Bamboo Yarn
Bamboo Yarn

Occasionally I knit.

I learned in Austria when I lived there and have made a sweater, a vest and a scarf that I can remember. Now I just knit scarves, though I am tempted to knit a skull cowl for the YM.

I haven’t for awhile, but when I saw the colors of this yarn, it drew me in and the softness sealed the deal.

It ended up that the different widths of the yarn were really a pain, but I am pleased with how the scarf turned out. Knitting and listening to audiobooks is a great activity for airplane trips and you all know I had enough of those in the past few months.

Bamboo Scarf
Bamboo Scarf
Bamboo Scarf detail
Bamboo Scarf detail

Once I got the hang of knitting again, I went to town and was able to finish this scarf in a few months. I found that I liked purling better than knitting, which my SILs think is a scream, so the scarf I am working on now is all purling. I think I will do the next one with 4 purls on the edges and knits in between.

I might enter this scarf in the Fair. I made it for me, so it will be around the house. I may, however, make another that is better. We’ll see.

More Tula

Kelly's quilt
Kelly’s quilt

As I implied yesterday, I was part of a group making the Tula quilt. The group, I think, really struggled with what blocks to make. I don’t think people were reluctant to make the blocks. I think we were just having a hard time getting inspired. If there had been a theme, like stars or Flying Geese or something, it might have been easier. Still we all came through with flying colors! There was some cohesion in the blocks that were contributed, which was fabulous. Of course, the Tula fabric help make them all hang together.

Amanda and Gerre worked on the layout, but I think the block makers feeding off of each other made it easier. The large Flying Geese type panels can certainly bookend any other layout. Cheryl’s castle is a great center.

I am so pleased with how this all worked out.

All Tula All the Time

Back in the Spring, I received an email about contributing to a lovey quilt for a friend moving to Scotland. She is a Tula Pink devotee and that would be the theme. Of course I wanted to participate, but I am not a Tula devotee and I only had one Tula fabric as far as I knew.

Fat Quarter Shop Purchases
Fat Quarter Shop Purchases

I went online and bought a couple of pieces. I didn’t want to buy a lot as it isn’t really fabric I generally use. I was pleased to find a fat quarter pack of Tula solids. I knew I would use those, so I scooped them up with a couple of the more Tula-esque prints and started thinking about a design.

This was to be a modern quilt from Tula fabric and I really was at a loss about what to make. I would normally default to Sawtooth Stars for a lovey block as they are great all around and work well with fussy cutting. They didn’t seem right for this piece.

I needed to get busy as the deadline was approaching and my work travel + Grand Parlor were all coming up quickly. I decided on a modern house block a la the Clerestory quilt.

Both Tula Blocks
Both Tula Blocks

I wasn’t really excited about the house block and hadn’t started yet when I saw another member of the group working on hers at a Sew Day. She was making a Pineapple block. This made me think that a house block would be hard to fit in, so I decided that a wonky log cabin would work better. I am not a huge log cabin fan and wonky log cabins are worse. However, I could fussy cut the special motifs and work around them in a way that would really scream ‘TULA’. That is what I did. I am pretty pleased with the blocks. They didn’t come out exactly as intended, but they look nice and people seemed to like them.

Carpenter’s Wheel Top Finished

Carpenter's Wheel top finished
Carpenter’s Wheel top finished

A few weeks have gone by since I finished this top. I am not sure why I didn’t post it, but I am now.

The piece, as I have said a million times is HUGE. This means that it is hard to photograph. It further means that you get a glimpse of some of the furniture that needs to be recovered in the photo. 😉

I am pleased with the way it came out. The back is done (no photo, sorry), the binding is done and I am working on a sleeve.

I made The Peacock sleeve this week and thought it would be great to just make the Carpenter’s Wheel sleeve as well. It would be ready for hand sewing and I wouldn’t have to stop what I was doing to make a sleeve. I haven’t completed it yet, though it is in process.

Creative Spark #15: Doubt

Remember the Crazies in Spark #4? I think Doubt is related, but the Crazies prevents us from doing things while Doubt makes **me** think I can’t do something and should just continue on as I am. Doubt prevents me from taking risks. Not knowing the outcome is scary.

Bloomston says we have to trust the process. She says to “befriend your doubt…. Maybe even nicely ask your doubt to leave.” (pg.65). Hhmm. I have never tried this. She says that “When we are trying to get rid of something, we expend a lot of energy and we are unwittingly feeding it.” (pg.65). This is interesting and really makes me stop and think. If I have doubts, are they creating other doubts – inviting their friends to the party?

Bloomston has four ways of removing doubt: Rituals, Music, Affirmations and Talismans. Rituals spoke to me most. We do not “…have enough rituals in our modern culture…” (pg.65). To each his own, but I feel this is true for myself. I have created some quiltmaking rituals:

  • I turn on all of the switches and things in the same order.
  • I check all of my tools: are they in the right place? Are there any issues I need to resolve?
  • then I get started with the step I have set up unless I have been working through a construction problem in my mind and am ready to tackle it.
  • When I finish for the day, I always set up the next step so I can get started right away when I have a moment.

Perhaps I have more rituals, but I will have to think about what they are.

Carrie Bloomston describes a talisman as “…an object believed to contain certain magical properties that may provide good luck or fortune.” (pg.66). I definitely have talismen. I have a little shrine of photos of people closest to me. In that same space I have some objects that I care about: a shell, a smooth glass heart, some rocks with words – courage, peace, healing – carved into them. I also have a rotating ATC and a few other things there as well. There are a few places where I have placed things I care about. I guess these all could be called mini-shrines. I never really thought about it because I have created these instinctively, but these are my talismen.

What are your rituals?

What are your talismen?

Nota bene: we are working through Carrie Bloomston’s book, The Little Spark. Buy it. Support the artist. There is a lot more to each spark than what I am writing and the original chapters will help you. Go buy Carrie Bloomston’s book, so you get the full benefit of her fabulousness! You can see my book review, which is what started this flight of fancy.

You can find the last spark on the blog several weeks ago.

Triple Star Progress

Lots of prep this week.

I suppose that is what has to happen at some point. I know I mitigate massive bouts of cutting by breaking it up, but occasionally, I can’t get away from it.

Triple Star background fabric
Triple Star background fabric

In addition to everything else I did at Sew Day, I also cut background squares for the Triple Star.

This was a task I really needed to do to make anymore progress on the piece, but was also reluctant to do due to space considerations. At Sew Day, I commandeered a large mat and table. I was able to lay out the book, the finished pieces, my rulers and still have space to cut. It was great and I got the job done quickly.

I still have foreground fabric to cut as I have been focusing my cutting on the 2.5″ x 6.5″ rectangles and using the Alison Glass Sun Prints layer cake. Before I can do much more I need to cut some of the smaller foreground pieces from other pieces. I don’t want to make a one fabric line quilt. I want it to be more controlled scrappy like the version I saw at Back Porch.

Triple Star Rectangle-Spikes
Triple Star Rectangle-Spikes

I did a little piecing using the pieces I cut and they are looking good so far. I am using the Janome 6600, which I talked about yesterday. They came out perfectly. There was no fighting with the machine. I used the “flippy corners” method and the machine did not eat the corners. It was a relatively painless experience.

Sewing Machine Angst

I seriously DO NOT want to collect sewing machines. To me, sewing machines are a tool that I plan to use. That being said, I do have my great grandmother’s Necchi, which I had repaired, but only used a few times as a sewing machine. It is currently being used as a night table* in my bedroom. I don’t really have a place to set it up, so, for now, it is a night table.

Janome DC5100
Janome DC5100

I also have the DC5100, which I purchased as an upgrade to take to classes. I had the Janome Jem for awhile and really liked it. Great stitch quality, easy to use, a few more than basic stitches. Very workable for classes. Still, I wanted a little more, so I bought this one, which I used on and off as my main machine while struggling with problems with the 9k.

Janome 9K back from the shop - June 2016
Janome 9K back from the shop – June 2016

I also have a Janome 9000, which was the first Janome electronic machine. It is 20 years; I bought it the year before the YM was born thinking it would last me forever. I couldn’t even begin to conceive of the fabulous features new machines would come out with when I bought it. Also, I didn’t count on wear and tear. As you know from recent posts, it is showing its age.

Janome 6600
Janome 6600

My friend has moved to Scotland, mostly. She left last week, but will be back later this week to clear up a few things. She suggested that I buy her Janome 6600. I really wasn’t in the market for a new machine except that I sort of am. I need something that will go through multiple layers of bag construction (remember my fight with the Boxcar Tote?) and generally be a workhorse. It isn’t the fancy machine that is the Janome 15k, but it is a new machine (to me) and has a lot of good features I want. She also will give me a payment plan and is allowing me to try it out.

I brought it home and sat it on my floor for a week. When I realized I needed to decide in a week, I knew I needed to get on it. I started to prepare to sew after Sew Day on Saturday and decided that I wasn’t allowed to sew until I set up the machine. I put it into my table and started to use it. I had to read the book to thread and wind bobbins. It isn’t that different from other machines, but is a little different.

I really like it.

  • It is smooth running.
  • It fits in my table, though not super well.
  • Great stitch quality.
  • Not too loud.
  • Doesn’t eat triangle corners.

It has an integrated walking foot, which I haven’t tried, but plan to soon.

The bad part is that I got both of my other Janomes serviced recently. The 9k is running better than it ever has. Angie, from the Sewing Machine Place, noticed that the feed dogs were acting strange and now the machine is feeding and not acting up at all. Figures, right? It knew I was planning on replacing it.

Stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*It is a truly awesome night table, as on it I can keep a big stack of magazines, a smaller stack of books, a small container of pens, post-it notes, etc, a small vase of flowers, a clock, a box of cough drops, a bottle of water and a few other things.

More on Sew Day

I wrote about Sew Day the other day, I had more to say so here I am again.

Belinda's Block
Belinda’s Block

Belinda was making blocks for a donation quilt. I thought the design was great. It was great for all quilts, but especially for donation quilts.

The rectangles are 2.5″ x 4.5″, which is a size I am cutting for two future quilts, so not unfamiliar to me. The blocks can be made from any size rectangle as long as the rectangles are proportional.

Belinda used a Bali Pop, which looked really great. I thought that cutting rectangles from a variety of fabrics as I cut other fabrics up for my projects would be interesting as well – a scrappy look.

I figure that the blocks are about 12×12 finished, so making 9 would make a good sized donation quilt. I’ll see about making one once I have the other two, which are in process, finished.

Sew Day-July

Sew Day was Saturday and, as usual, it was great. My guild has such a nice, caring group of people. I feel so fortunate.

Thanksgiving Style Sew Day Setup
Thanksgiving Style Sew Day Setup

We have started to just put out a few tables and then let people add tables as they arrive. The day is very informal and people come and go as schedules permit. This also makes cleanup easier. If we don’t put out tables that go unused, we have less to put away.

Recently we have started to use a “Thanksgiving” configuration for the tables. This means one long table. It is hilarious and wonderful as well.

White - will be Sawtooth Star Legs
White – will be Sawtooth Star Legs

I took stuff to cut, though I did consider bringing my sewing machine for a minute. I am working on a database for a client and my neck and shoulders need to be pampered, so I just brought cutting. I didn’t even get through all the cutting I brought, but I did get A LOT done, which was great.

I cut some white to make the Flying Geese for my next Sawtooth Star donation top. I liked the one I made before and wanted to make one a little larger this time. All the blocks are made, but I needed to cut some backgrounds for the Flying Geese. I also need to cut some colored squares, but one thing at a time. I didn’t have the wherewithall to pull out many prints to bring. These are supposed to be from scraps, according to Jaye rules. I want to go through my scrap bins and find pieces I can use before I cut into yardage. I need 5.75″ squares, which I am unlikely to find in my scrap bins as my scraps are generally smaller, but you never know. It’s worth a look.

I chatted with Tim quite a bit. He has Janome machines, too. I always tease him about getting his 15k repaired. He had some issues free motion quilting and is now a little scared of the machine. I might go with him to get it repaired to act as moral support.

Tim also claims that he is going to make the Poolside Tote, so I am kind of waiting for him, but I want to get it done to test out the 6600 (more on that later), so he has better get busy.

Mary was fluttering around setting up and helping people in her wonderful way. We chatted about the outfits I saw at the Heard Museum recently. The Retreat Committee met. I am signed up and can’t wait to see what they have in store for us. Gerre came. It was great to see her. Rhonda is finishing a super secret project. I can’t wait to share it with you all.