Can you tell that I don’t know what to call these blocks? I really have to look the pattern up in Barbara Brackman’s book or Jinny Beyer’s book and see if they have a real name.
First PIQF Crosses
I haven’t made a ton of progress since I last talked about this project. I seem to have not had much time to sew in the past week or so. I finally took a few minutes last night while I was waiting for dinner to finish to sew the blocks together. It really only took a few minutes. I finished two of the blocks I have in process, but the others need fabric cut and I wasn’t set up to do that.
I was able to use scraps for most of the pieces as they are small, which is really good since my scrap bins seem to be overflowing. Still, the blocks are small and, thus, a pain to sew. In my haste I cut off some points, which I will need to remedy if we are going to continue making these blocks. I am not sure I like them well enough to make a whole quilt out of them.
TFQ & JHL Blocks
I think they do look nice together. I like the scrappy look. We didn’t intend to use all blues for the crosses, but it seems to have worked out that way. The others I have in process do not have blue or blue green or aqua in the center.
So, my blocks will be winging their way to TFQ today. It is possible that I’ll have more time to sew tomorrow and will send some on Monday.
Definition-“A lake is an area, (prototypically filled with water, also of variable size), localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land apart from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are also larger and deeper than ponds.[1][2] Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams, which are usually flowing. However most lakes are fed and drained by rivers and streams.
Natural lakes are generally found in mountainous areas, rift zones, and areas with ongoing glaciation. Other lakes are found in endorheic basins or along the courses of mature rivers. In some parts of the world there are many lakes because of chaotic drainage patterns left over from the last Ice Age. All lakes are temporary over geologic time scales, as they will slowly fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin containing them.
Many lakes are artificial and are constructed for industrial or agricultural use, for hydro-electric power generation or domestic water supply, or for aesthetic or recreational purposes.” (Wikipedia)
Mono Lake
Lake Tahoe
Loch Ness
Lady of the Lake
Lake Counties
Great Salt Lake
Lake Placid, New York
The Lake is the first book in AnnaLisa Grant’s Lake Trilogy.
Stow Lake
Lake Merced
Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
Great Lakes
Mammoth Lakes, Calif
Mountain Lake Park
The Finger Lakes, a region once known only for growing concord grapes for juice, is now making rieslings and some reds that can compete with the world’s best.
Lake County
The Salt Lake Tribune
Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.
We are also talking about this on Twitter. Use the hashtag #CPP
The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.
I have made progress on choosing fabrics for the music quilt. I bought some fabrics at Houston and then I received a huge box of music fabrics from Mrs. K. What a bonanza!
The fabrics on the left are the fabrics I bought at Houston for the quilt. The fabrics on the left are music fabrics that Mrs. K sent me.
I still don’t have a pattern. I did another Missouri Star disappearing pattern that might work. We’ll have to see.
This seems like progress, but it is extremely painful.
These are the blocks we saw in the quilt at PIQF. I had a bad start with these blocks.
PIQF Inspiration Blocks
I started making them before I went to Houston and the pain and suffering was almost beyond endurance. OK, I am exaggerating, but I couldn’t understand why the square in a square pieces took so long to make. I really have had very few issues like this with blocks.
While I was in Houston, TFQ sent me one of her blocks. I put on the wall as inspiration for my blocks. When I finally got the square in a square pieces (ONLY the square in a square pieces, mind you, there are 5 additional pieces in this block) finished and up on the design wall, I found they were wrong. Much too small.
Huh?
I went back and checked the measurements and found that I had cut wrong or read the directions and cut wrong or something. Bleah. This was a total head on desk moment.
Once I got the dimensions correct, the square in a square pieces went relatively well. I put the first block together relatively quickly. I was able to cut pieces for the other blocks from some scraps, which was great.
There are lots of pieces in this block, but being able to use scraps is a bonus. I have to make time to sew about 10 more seams and then send them off. Wish me luck.
I can probably classify this as a hack. Really, I don’t know about the hack thing, because I made the apron without the Amanda 7 Pocket Cafe Apron pattern.
ARHS Grooming Apron
I couldn’t find the pattern and, after cleaning my workroom, I called my mom and had her measure the apron I made for her. I looked at the previous blog posts and went for it. I had to kind of make up the pockets, but I think it will work well.
A few months ago, I volunteered at the Young Man’s Band Review. I was assigned to the grooming team, which means that I followed the head of the grooming team around and carried stuff she needed to fix buttons, cut hair, adjust hems and jackets. At that time I thought it would be really useful to have an apron.
I finally had a chance to make one and it took me about three to four hours. The hardest part was pressing the seams. I really dislike that part, because I can never get the seams as flat as I want them.
I have to say that I enjoyed making this apron a lot more without the pattern than I did before. I think the problem with the pattern’s printing/font size was too small.
Regardless, I think the apron came out really well and I hope it will be useful.
It seems a little odd to keep posting these photos of what looks like the same design wall week after week. Still there is some difference. You can see the blocks I am making for the project TFQ and I are working on.
The octagons are still there, because I am still stuck on the Russian Rubix border. I got a little push in the right direction, but I just I haven’t had a chance to do any sewing. I will be really happy when I have a chance to finish the border so I can get the octagons off my wall and put something else up there.
1- As in the previous week, these are the pieces and parts for red and turquoise four patches. Ir eally need to find some more turquoise fabrics.
2- These patches are the start of the newest batch of FOTY 2014 rectangles.
3- Octagons from the Russian Rubix quilt top.
4- Finished red and turquoise four patches
5- Donation blocks, mostly finished, but one in process
6- PIQF Inspiration blocks in process
7- PIQF Inspiration blocks in in cutting stage
I am linking up with Judy Laquidara’s Patchwork Times
I have been a little off fabric buying for the past couple of months, but that seems to have abated. Despite not feeling the love for any new fabrics, I kept looking at Cotton & Steel. Who couldn’t with all the hype?
I am not that fond of the fussy-cuttable prints, but liked the tone-on-tones. I hadn’t yet gotten myself together to go and seek out the prints I wanted when I saw that MassDrop had an interesting offer. Interested parties were allowed to choose two FQ bundles of the tone-on-tone color groups of their choice. Note that this drop is closed now, but you can request that it be opened again.
MassDrop order arrives
Right before I left for Houston, I received the bundles. I didn’t really have a chance to open it as a lot was going on the few days before I left. I was excited about the cute little packets of fabric, though.
Went to Houston, came home and had a lot of stuff to do around the house, related to work, etc. Finally, I dragged my cutting table out of the closet (I store in the Fabric Closet when not in use or when we have guests or when someone is vacuuming) and began unearthing the rotary cutting mat. What a mess! I have a lot of projects in process, as you know, and it just creates chaos. I am in creative chaos stage right now.
One of the things I unearthed was the package above. Of course, I opened it.
Cotton+Steel Open
Inside were two FQ bundles. Normally, I buy larger cuts of fabric, because you never know when you will need to make a border. Considering that I have plenty of fabric, especially in the blue range, I think fat quarters are plenty. I also have a project in mind for the neutrals.
There are a couple of kind of ugly greens (the ones on the end-right), but they look ok with the others.
Now I can I can say I am in the ‘in’ crowd and not just trying to be in the ‘in’ crowd. 😉
I do have to say that once I got them out of the MassDrop packaging, I didn’t want to take the FQ packs apart. They were just so compact and adorable. I gritted my teeth and did it, though.
All Cotton+Steel
The fabrics all go together pretty nicely and as soon as I was the blue and green pack, I will add them to my pile for Tale of Two Cities.
The first thing we did after Julie and I met Marie Bostwick for breakfast 😉 , was look at quilts. Mom and Miss Vickie met us near the beginning of the quilts and we got on with it. We had barely started looking at the quilts when I had the best quilt experience EVER. We were signing blocks and chatting with the ladies at the QOV booth when a man walked up and asked if they were the ladies who made quilts for wounded soldiers. After they said yes, he said he woke up in the hospital in Germany with a quilt wrapped around him after he was injured in Iraq. It was clear this act of kindness meant a lot to him. OMG! I almost cried. He started to leave when they called him back and kind of swarmed him. They asked him to sign a block and just generally treated him like a hero. It was so great to see him as the walking epitome of some of the charity work in which I engage as well as chatting with the ladies. Very moving.
Miss Vickie
As I said, Miss Vickie joined us. It was fun to see the quilts through her eyes. She has clear ideas about what she likes and what she doesn’t like. She is not a quiltmaker, but will be soon. 😉 She bought some fabric and some charm squares and started playing with them while we had an afternoon break with candy bars and chips. We are staying with her north of Houston in the best B&B ever.
This show was similar to Long Beach in the set up, though there were quilts that were entered to be judged and awarded prizes. This was not the case at the Long Beach show. There were a lot of special exhibits: 500 Traditional Quilts, a collection of quilts from a Dutch Cancer survivor, a Bonnie Smith exhibit, Beatles exhibit, a Modern Quilt exhibit and some others I am sure I am forgetting. My favorite exhibit was the Farm to Fabric exhibit, which was an exhibit of quilts made from the American Made Brands solid fabrics. I like the idea of the company, which is that the cotton is grown in the US and the fabric is made in the US. That alone would encourage me to buy some of the fabrics, but when I saw the quilts, I couldn’t believe the colors! They were clear and gorgeous. There was something about the colors. They were different, and kind of glowed. I tried to find some in the vendor hall, but didn’t succeed. I was really excited when I saw the quilts and wanted the fabrics RIGHT NOW. ;-)They have a “find a retailer near you” feature and I see that there are several shops near home that sell them, so I will give myself a treat and go and look.
Inspired by Libby exhibit
The other exhibit that was really moving was the Inspired by Libby exhibit. This was an exhibit of quilts that are being auctioned off (website above) to add to Libby Lehman’s medical fund. They were done by famous, or well known, quilt artists. I just loved Libby Lehman’s class. I am so glad I was able to take one from her and feel really sad that she can no longer sew. I hope it is temporary and she will be able to get back to it.
The prize winners were almost all applique’ quilts. They were amazing applique’ quilts, but I really wonder if you can win an IQF prize with a pieced quilt? I was kind of sad looking at them, because I will never make a quilt like any of the prize winners. I am not sad about that; I just don’t want to spend the rest of my quiltmaking career making one quilt that my heirs can enter after I am dead. I have a lot of fabric to use.
Morrell’s Quilt by Di Ford
In terms of random themes I noticed myself looking at: lines (like grass), circles and turquoise. If you are surprised at all by the turquoise, you haven’t been reading long enough. 😉 Circles have been on my mind for awhile. Part of that is the The Circle Game by Jen Kingwell quilts that have been popping up all over the web. Also, though, I have been thinking I need a challenge. <Nota bene: I might be over that, though, with the &^%$# Russian Rubix border.>
We took some time to talk to the NASA people who were there. They were talking about the program they have with local high schools to get their equipment sewn. NASA donates sewing machines, like Jukis, to high schools and trains teachers, then the teachers train the kids to make things like sleeping bags that astronauts use in space. Not only are the kids learning a skill, but they get to know that their sleeping bag is keeping an astronaut alive in space. I thought it was great.
We checked out the vendors on all the days. We went back and forth. When the visual stimulation got to be too much, we went into the vendor hall and looked around.
We also met a Twilter, Glenna. Of course, she didn’t look anything like what I imagined, but she spotted me and was very nice. We only chatted for a few minutes, but it is nice to put a name with a face.
I saw some cool keyboard fabric at IQF and thought that would be an interesting prompt. Not sure how I will render it, but something along the lines of #197. We’ll see.
Keyboards are actual instruments, but other types of instruments also have keyboards
computer keyboard
Swype iOS keyboard
QWERTY
wireless keyboard
split keyboard
virtual keyboard
Keyboard Magazine
WASD Keyboards offers custom mechanical keyboards, custom Cherry MX keycaps, and other mechanical keyboard accessories.
keyboarding skills
iKey’s SLK-97-TP-BLK keyboard provides users with all the functionality of a full-size keyboard and mouse in a slim, compact package
Corsair Raptor and Vengeance lines of gaming keyboards offers a variety of models to match your play style, the types of games you like to play
Post the direct URL (link) where your drawing, doodle, artwork is posted (e.g. your blog, Flickr) in the comments area of this post. I would really like to keep all the artwork together and provide a way for others to see your work and/or your blog.
We are also talking about this on Twitter. Use the hashtag #CPP
The Creative Prompt Project, also, has a Flickr group, which you can join to post your responses. I created this spot so those of you without blogs and websites would have a place to post your responses.
Yes, I went to Houston. We arrived on Wednesday and left on Monday.
The bad part was that I didn’t get enough steps and ate too much.
The good was so much. I can’t even begin to tell you how many fantastically gorgeous and amazing quilts were there. Even if you go once, you must go to this show. YOU MUST! Not only were there a gazillion fabulous quilts, but there were so many vendors I couldn’t take all of them in. The whole thing was amazing.
I really liked the vendors, but ultimately there was a lot of fabric, a lot of thread and a lot of people.
Janome 8900
I took the time to look at the Janome MC 8900 in person. It is the machine that seems to be the right price for the right amount of features. None of the shops I have visited near my house have it, so the giant Janome booth was the place. I saw that it is a real machine and not as scary as it looks in pictures.
The guy was really nice and did the demo on a regular, if not slightly thinner, piece of quilter’s cotton. All the demos I have seen are done on felt, which, of course, makes the stitches look fantastic. The machine has a lot of decorative stitches and a knee lift. I do have to find a place where I can try the machine out myself.
Sewing Cabinet
Another thing I did was take the opportunity to look at the array of sewing cabinets.
My absolute favorite cabinet of the models I saw was this one from a company in Ontario called EddyCrest. It is solid wood (birch) and would be shipped to me for only $100. I also really liked the guy. He was not a smarmy sales guy and I got the impression that he actually works on the cabinets. He was really humble and nice. I don’t know the cost of this particular model (top left) because this is too large for my room and I probably wouldn’t buy it. I love it, though, especially the thread drawer.
Smaller Sewing Cabinet
If I buy a new cabinet, and, if I buy it from this company, I would probably buy the smaller version. This is a little different configuration than my current cabinet, but a little better, because it has drawers on the right, which my current cabinet doesn’t have. It also has a wider space to the right and I keep a lot of stuff over there for easy access.
This size cabinet isn’t as large as the other one, but I am pretty sure the back is larger than mine. I’ll have to go to the website and look at the sizes.
I also asked about the flip up back, which is fabulous for quilting. He said that he could add one on this size cabinet, which is great. Not that I quilt that much, but I wouldn’t want to give up that feature.
As I said, there were tons of other vendors, mostly fabric, but other stuff as well. I bought fabric for the music quilt, which will have a couple of other prints, such as a keyboard and some fabric that says BLAH BLAH BLAH as a small ode to being a high schooler and a teenager.
We brought mom’s cousin on the second day and, I think (fingers crossed), turned her into a quiltmaker. She has a long way to go, but bought fabric, a rotary cutter and a Creative Grids ruler. I am kind of excited, but we will see.
Hallowe’en 2014
The most fun thing ever was Hallowe’en. I wore a black skirt, leggings and a black shirt. I wanted a black tutu, but settled for the skirt. I wear glasses so it is hard to wear a mask on the front of your head. I bought a mask and mom made eyes to put in the eye holes and I wore it clipped to the back of my head. Friend Julie wore her green witch outfit sans green makeup. People saw us, especially at the beginning of the day, and wanted pictures with her or both of us. It was really fun.
There were sooooo many quilts that we barely made a dent.
My English Paper Piecing half hexie stars are growing into a giant cluster.
I forgot to rotate the photo. What I think of as the bottom is the line of stars with the dark green and Philip Jacobs flower print on the diagonal on the left.
I have some diamonds that will make the border straight. I don’t know what color I will make them, but I would like to decide and make a few to get the feel of how the piece will look. There will be no black stars, so, perhaps, black? I hoping for a look like those 1930s quilts which just have a spark of black. I’ll have to try it out and see how it will look.
I recently finished adding a whole big section, or what I thought was a whole big section and it really turned out to be about four blocks. I thought it was a larger section when I was doing it, because of the twisting of the stars that needs to take place to get them together. I think I will add one star at a time from now on.
My biggest problem is the background stars. I need to make more and keep forgetting to cut the bright white dot fabrics until I am sitting and doing it.
I went back in time to look at the tags for my last FOTY post and was shocked to see that it was August that I last posted. I really couldn’t believe it, but I looked at the various Design Wall Monday posts I have posted recently and those same FOTY patches were there with very few changes. I actually took a picture of this group (above) right before the picture of the design wall for yesterday’s post, so next time I do a DWM post, you will, hopefully, see a new batch of FOTY patches.
The reason it took me so long, aside from being really busy during the week is that the last load of fabric I washed was grey and light neutrals, which I found really depressing to press, so I kind of avoided doing it. TFQ saw the pile and got down to business, so now I have newly pressed fabrics from which to cut patches.
I also have a lot of great fabrics waiting to be washed and I should make time so the patches can go into FOTY 2014. The new year isn’t that far away and pretty soon, I’ll be sorting thesepatches into color groups and picking the shape for FOTY 2015. WOW! Time flies.
My design wall is shockingly similar to the last time.
Fewer octagons.
Similar black and grey donation blocks.
If you zoom in, you can see the beginnings of the Modified Garden of Eden blocks I started after we went to PIQF. You have to zoom in, because all you can see are some grey triangles that are similar in color to my design wall.
I finished filling in the space for the FOTY 2014 blocks, which you will hear more about later this week.
Red and turquoise four patches are pretty much the same. I am in desperate need of some turquoise squares, which is kind of shocking since there is no shortage of turquoise in this place.
I really should do a What’s on the Design Floor, because all of my half baked projects are on the floor right now. I really have to get those octagons and the Russian Rubix out of my life.
Looking for a key to acronyms I use? Check the AQ Glossary.
News
My camera broke a few weeks ago, thus the weird photos I have been posting. I haven’t bought a new one yet, but am planning to do so. It is kind of a pain, because I wasn’t planning on learning something new just now. I had a good rhythm with my old camera and liked the photos it produced. I guess we don’t get to choose these things. I’ll probably borrow my son’s camera for awhile since I would like to figure out what I want and try some out. I don’t want to rush into a purchase. What kind of camera do you have?
Results of the 2014 Quilting in America survey, the 7th conducted since 1994, were announced at Quilt Market. Some key highlights:
Quiltmakers in the US spent $3.76 billion on their passion
1 out of every 20 Americans makes quilts, though there was a decrease
“Dedicated Quilters” (spend more than $500 per year-how many of YOU qualify?) represent 12.2% of all quilting households, and account for 60.4%
of the total industry expenditures, or about $2.27 billion
CHA, the Craft & Hobby Association, has a new Blogger membership. This should make it a lot more affordable to attend, however there are some limitations. The blog post says “The criteria for membership were established to attract established bloggers that do this as a business versus individuals who are blogging to support their love for crafting.” I know that many of you qualify, so go to the show.
Products, Thread and Fabric
Need help matching thread and fabric? PlayCrafts has a new app out just for that. Now you can match your Kona solids to your Aurifil.
Michael Miller has something in the works for Janome Sewing machines and their fabric. They put up a sneak peek.
Patagonia Quilt
Patagonia, the outerwear maker has a cool Twitter feed (@patagonia). It is not just filled with ‘buy this’ and “look at how awesome we are”. They are awesome, because they engage with their readers in their area of expertise. They have beautiful pictures of nature, they show recycled and upcycled products, including a quilt made from old down jackets. I never knew what happened to those down jackets that no longer fit or …. whatever. Now I know one thing. My dad would love this! I was alerted to Patagonia’s down recycling project and went on to read a blog post by Alabama Chanin, which tells more about Patagonia’s relationship with their garment during the entire life cycle of the garment. There is a video that talks about one aspect of the project. This is such a novel and exciting concept. It really makes me want to buy Patagonia products.
Red Pepper Quilts does a Sunday Stash Report and recently she posted about Mimosa by Another Point of View. I thought that I really liked the fabric when I saw a little sliver in a picture of a stack, but I drew back, because a little sliver is a lot different than an 10″x10″ or half yard piece. She posted larger pieces of the blue colorway and I definitely like them. I am not so sure about the red colorway. I also noticed that a couple of the prints look a LOT like Some Denyse Schmidt prints from Flea Market Fancy. Hhhmmm.
What about Charolotte’s Scrapitude blocks? They are very different than the others I saw, but also uniquely her. Charlotte also writes about the comfort of stitching and her words are exactly how I feel. I love her posts and her work.
Bonnie Christine have two new lines. I like Cultivate. Enough to buy? I don’t know.
Timeless Treasures talks about what they are introducing, which you should have seen by now. They also sort of explain the Judy/Judel Niemeyer confusion.
Julie, over at the Intrepid Thread, talks about her wardrobe for Market, which is always of interest to me.
Barbara Brackman has a new reproduction line coming out. She is not going to Market, so has created a virtual booth.
