Last week, I posted about finishing the Scrapitude top. I also talked about the Adventures in Arting podcast in a recent Various & Sundry post. I was listening to it while I was piecing and the discussion they had made me think that I needed to document a problem I came across.
I had problems with this quilt, as I do with many of my quilts.
It wasn’t the pattern.
It wasn’t the difficulty level.
It wasn’t the fabric or other supplies.
The problem was simply the process of being human. Often I will sew to get away from issues in the rest of my life with which I am struggling. I pieced the rest of Scrapitude as we finalized the sale of Super G’s house. It was a tough weekend. Piecing Scrapitude kept my mind on a task on which I needed to focus, but one where my mind could wander.
Scrapitude Error
In the course of piecing, I found mistakes I had made earlier when putting the blocks together. One of them I had already pieced into the quilt and that one will be there for eternity, but I removed several others and fixed them before I pieced them into the quilt.
In the picture to the left, the bottom left hand four patch was set in incorrectly. The foreground white on blue dot square should be in the upper right hand corner of that section in the block, not in the upper left. It isn’t a major error and with all that is going on in the quilt, nobody would notice.
Scrapitude Error detail
I noticed and cared enough to rip it out. The question I always ask myself is whether I can live with the mistake or if I need to fix it. In this case, I could have lived with the mistake, but decided to fix it anyway.
There are issues with the finished top, but the quilt is very cheerful and I like it. I don’t think I will take up mystery quilts in general, but I am glad I did this one.
I had 14 items on my February To Do List. I have removed four that I completed prior to that post and have crossed off the ones I completed since January 4. I also added at least 3 new ones, so it doesn’t look like I made much progress.
This list is in no particular order.
To Do List:
Sew green and red striped 8 pointed star (probably should include an item called “find background template for 8 pointed star!)
A few weeks ago I was feeling very “light and fluffy” in terms of projects finished and the mental space to start considering the possibilities of new projects. I had finished a number of smaller projects, had really made some good progress (reached a tipping point) on my UFO list, and felt like the world of quiltmaking was at my feet. I was just waiting for the inspiration for my next project.
How the mighty have fallen. Of course, there are never NO projects on my design wall and the ones in the hopper came to the fore.
Small Design Wall
Chaos reigned my workroom this past weekend. I felt king of overwhelmed by all the projects that were going on.
Large Design Wall
Finally I had to face reality that this chaos was what I was dealing with and it wasn’t working for me. I had to deal with it because I realized I was wasting precious sewing time.
The visual intensity of all of these projects plus the mess of my workroom was creating chaos in my mind. I couldn’t seem to focus, which is why, I think, I whipped up three cat beds. It got me sewing and gave me something to focus on so I could figure out a solution to my problem.
As I sewed, I realized that I needed to put away the donation blocks. I am not done working on them, but they didn’t need to be on the design wall.
I also let Scrapitude take over one of my design walls. There is a lot going on in that quilt and the sooner it is done, the better for the relief of the visual chaos. I wasn’t able to get the whole top put together, but I made good progress.
I also decided that I didn’t need all of the Disappearing Pinwheel blocks on the wall while I was working on them. I am also using those as, mostly, leaders and enders as I sew Scrapitude together.
I started to use the extra Russian Rubix pieces as leaders and enders to get some of the octogons off the design wall.
I haven’t done anything about cleaning my workroom except making that one cat bed out of my own fabric. I figure that getting one piece of fabric out of the place is a start. Not a great start, but a start.
I had 16 items on my list last time. I have removed four that I completed prior the January To Do List post) and have crossed off the ones I completed since January 4. I also added two new ones, so it doesn’t look like I made much progress.
Yes, yesterday I finished the last details I needed to do to prepare the top for quilting. The tasks required were:
Finish back
Make binding
Trim top
Stay stitch
Saturday was a busy day, because I attended the CQFA meeting. I stayed after the meeting to sew with Sonja, Angela and Rhonda. It is good for me to hang with others and talk sewing. I am tending to work alone lately and am trying to get out of that rut.
During the sewing time, I worked on finishing some buttonhole stitching on one of the stockings and making progress on applying the sleeve to the Original Bullseye top. When I returned my mind was buzzing with an idea using the technique that Caroline taught based on Susan Carlson’s book, Serendipity Quilts. I worked on getting the design to the size that I wanted. That was about all I had energy for before I needed to go to bed. In the process, I ruined the cropping tool on Photoshop Elements. I know there is something I clicked, but I don’t know what it was and will have to take some time to find it and undo it. Ergh! All this is to say: 1) I didn’t work on the Attack of the Hexies on Saturday and 2) I have an idea for a new, small art piece, so stay tuned.
Yesterday morning, I had big plans to get up early, go to the gym, take a shower and get going on Attack of the Hexies by 10am. Famous last words! I didn’t get up until nearly 9 and I felt creaky. I have been dealing with a cold. While I am on the downslope of it, I am stilling fighting it off. I didn’t sleep well a few nights in a row and am trying to make up for that lack of sleep. I cut myself some slack.
After writing in my journal for awhile, I went upstairs and started sewing. I had to add a bit of fabric to one half of the back before I could sew the whole piece together. I did that and had to trim the whole back so that the piece was essentially square.
Attack of the Hexies Back
The line of bricks on the horizontal in the center of the back used to be hexagons, but I cut the leftover hexies up into rectangles and used them to add a little interest. The rest of the back is leftover yardage from the Flower Sugar line of fabric. I still have at least 5 yards of yardage left from that line. Not sure what I will do with it, but it will go into the stash and will show up again. There are two pieces that I really like.
Next, I made the binding. I used one of the pinky-reds from the line to provide a frame for the entire piece. I also made it a straight of grain binding. A lot of the border is on the bias because of the way I placed the hexagons as I added them to the piece. Basically, I didn’t pay attention to the grain line. I should have, but didn’t. I don’t do straight of grain bindings very often, because they tend to get kinks and near-folds in them as I hand stitch them on to the quilt. I like the ‘give’ that bias bindings have. It makes them very easy to apply by hand.
In this case, I want the edge to be stable. I don’t want it to get out of whack when it is quilted, thus, a straight of grain binding. We’ll see how it goes.
Trimming Border
Finally, and I don’t know why I did this last, I trimmed the border. It wasn’t straightforward, but I had to trim half of each hexagon one by one. I used the lines on the Clearview Ruler I discussed in the Hexagons Follow-up post to keep the who piece as straight as possible.
It wasn’t straightforward, because of the bias, so I just did it slowly and as carefully as I could. The piece will not be as straight as the Quilt Police would want, but they never made this quilt and I am happy with it. As you can see from the photo above, the border looks a little odd, but I like how it looks different.
The piece is now ready for quilting. I’ll take it to Colleen for quilting as soon as I can. I look forward to getting this completely done.
As I mentioned, all of a sudden, I am working fast and furiously on the Attack of the Hexies (Flower Sugar Hexagon). I spent all weekend trying, in vain, as it turned out, to finish the top, back and binding of Attack of the Hexies.
Attack of the Hexies border – in process
As I have said, Y seams are not hard, but they do take time. I decided to put a border on the piece and I needed to do it using hexagons. I don’t know another way to piece fabric into a hexagon piece without using hexagons. I could have cut off the hexagons on the edge, but I have always disliked that look for my own quilts and didn’t want to do that for this piece.
I also didn’t want to buy new fabric. Fortunately, I had enough of the Art Gallery solid Linen to use for the border. I didn’t even use all that I had, though my stock is significantly diminished.
The border is on the piece. I intend to trim it so the edges are square and still need to do that. I am all for wonky borders (Case in point: the Zig Zaggy Quilt), but not in this piece. I want the border to be square and subtle so that the center looks like it is floating on the border.
I am partway through the back as well. I lounged around for a long time on Sunday and didn’t have enough time to finish it. I had big pieces left over, so I didn’t have to piece a lot of small pieces together.
For months I didn’t work on the Hexies project, then on the first I just dove in and added rows. I am not sure why except that it didn’t require cutting. The hexagons were there, the piece was there and I needed something to sew.
I got my head around the Y seams and did it. I didn’t want to sew one hexagon on at a time and I had a row started, so I finished the row and worked on sewing the whole row on at a time. It was a lot of stopping and starting, but I just did it. I developed a system and kept at it.
Things I have to figure out:
How big to make it. It seems small now, but I know that if I fill my design wall it makes a pretty big quilt.
Whether to unsew a section where I sewed two of the same fabrics together.
How to finish the border – to square it off or leave it jaggedy. I am not sure I can face all those mitered binding corners
I plan to just work on it until I am done with the top.
I had 25 items on my list last time. I have removed the ones I completed (you can see them in the December 2013 To Do List post) and have crossed off the ones I completed since December 4. This list is in no particular order.
The center of the Russian Rubix blocks has been bothering me.
The block is put together like a four patch. to build the 4 patch, you add large and small triangles to the octagons. This makes the block really easy to put together (you should still buy the pattern).
The problem is that this type of construction means that there are four seams that meet in the center creating a very distinct seam line. I have had this block up on the design wall trying to decide if I can live with the seam lines or if I need to piece the block in a different way. Sometimes I can’t see the seam lines and sometimes they scream like a neon sign.
Russian Rubix block with solid center
As I might have mentioned, I decided to cut a square and try piecing the block with a solid square.
As you, can see from the photo (bottom right), the center looks great – seam free and pristine. The bad news is those weird angles with which I need to sew the other parts of the block.
Sigh.
Some observations:
Print fabric with a large or distinct pattern would not work for the background. The messed up fabric design (from cutting up a large print or, for example, dot fabric) would scream at the viewer
Low intensity or solid fabric would work best.
Piecing the block with a solid center will end up with some weird angles to sew.
I don’t know where I will go from here. I will probably try to sew more parts of this block together to see if the piecing is as bad as I think it will be.
Periodically, I look at my design and think “there is enough here for a post”, so here is that post. The last post I wrote about what was on my design wall was earlier this year. You can find it on the April 1, 2013 post.
Design Wall 12/1/2013
My cup runneth over. Well, my design wall runneth over. Seriously, there is barely any space for one more piece of fabric.
I often think that my design wall mimics my mind and my mind is in quilt chaos at the moment. My mind is better now that I made a bit of progress during the Black Friday Sew-in and the weekend.
Mostly, the design wall is covered with octagons for the Russian Rubix. I don’t know why I feel the need to look at them spread out like that, but I, apparently, do. That feeling may be passing. The group on the very bottom is helping me to see all the unique colors. I have placed the octagons on the top randomly. I might be getting over this desire to see them all. Or I may just be getting annoyed at not having one spare inch of design wall space.
On the very bottom left are ATCs. These are bits of art from my art quilt friends.
Above the FOTY (mid/top left) is a Russian Rubix block. I am looking at it to see how bad that seam running through the middle looks. It looks bad, but not all the time and mostly if I look at it closely.
Top left are 2″ squares in red and turquoise. I cut the fabric whenever I wash and press either of those colors and then send them to a friend when I write her a letter. I don’t know how many I have sent her. I have and buy a lot of red and turquoise.
My Stars in Stripes are still waiting for background fabrics (upper right).
A lot of my Scrapitude pieces are on my sewing table along with a few Russian Rubix blocks.
What’s on your design wall (you can upload photos to Flickr, if you don’t have a blog and want to show me)?
Yes, I am a listmaker. Soon you will see that I will get overwhelmed by the lists I am posting and I will abandon some of them.
As I mentioned last month, this list was a way to get me back in the saddle after, what felt like, a non-sewing October. This is separate from the 26 Projects list, and I decided that I would post it again as showing progress is always a morale booster. I might still add it as a separate category to the 26 Projects list, but it might also be good to continue it as a separate post.
When I know I will have a block of time to sew, I like to be prepared. I have a block of time on Friday and am not really prepared.
I am always a little prepared, because I keep stuff around to sew to get me in the mood, get me out of a slump, get me going. With a block of time, however, I want to maximize the time available and get the most done.
Many people will be starting the latest Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt, Celtic Solstice. I am not planning on doing that one as I still have plans to make Easy Street from last year. I also have a lot of other things to do and think one mystery quilt is enough for now.
The To Do List has helped me to stay focused and know what to work on next. The 26 Projects List has helped keep me on track for getting old UFOs off my shelves. It is kind of a macro view of my quilt life while the To Do list focuses on the smaller projects and achievable goals.
I hope to have some time later today to figure out where I am with Scrapitude and make myself a list of what comes next. I know I have some more triangle units (different ones) to sew, but I have to figure out if I have cut the pieces I need to use to sew them together.
I can work on the Russian Rubix. I also still need to find some more cool colors, I think, for the Jaye-Roll. I haven’t thought about either project for a month or so.
I also want to make a sleeve for the Original Bullseye and a bag to wrap the T-shirt quilt in. Those may be first on my list as they should be quick finishes.
I guess I do have a kind of plan and only need a bit of
I feel so discombobulated. Not only is the machine still gone, but I was also out of town unexpectedly for a week. I am, now, not sure I know what I need to do or how to do it. I am definitely out of my element and out of my habit of sewing.
I thought a good way to get back in the saddle was to make a to do list. This is separate from the 26 Projects list, because it is more about immediate things. I might add it as a separate category to the 26 Projects list, but it might be a good post on its own.
I had a feeling about the background drama and decided to make a couple of test blocks using my top two background fabrics.
Russian Rubix; Test Blocks
I am glad I did. A couple of observations:
the Russian Rubix blocks have a lot of seams
the seams seem to be in weird places, even though they make sense based on the design of the block
the fabrics I chose as potential background fabrics make the seams look very prominent.
In the photos, the backgrounds look like either would be fine. In real life the dots look better. The movement in the batik isn’t as good as I thought it would be.
These blocks are not difficult even though they look complex. The pattern is written so there is a lot of trimming. If you join in, definitely get the templates from Richard. It makes the cutting and trimming easy and painless.
I thought I would have been able to choose a background from the previous post, but it wasn’t to be. It occurred to me to think about what I wanted. I do want the background to be a player. I don’t want it to just fade into the background, so to speak. I also don’t want it to overshadow the foreground fabrics.
So, I spent some time on Sunday pressing greys and trying different greys with my octagons. It meant that I didn’t sew, but it also meant that I was carefully and deliberately engaging in the process.
Grey Batik
Above is a batik that I bought at The Granary. It has a bit of blue in it. I thought it wouldn’t work, but I do like it. It gives movement to the background. The dark grey bits remind me of swirling fog.
Grey Batik
It isn’t directional, which is a bonus. The blue doesn’t show up very well in the photos.
New Wave
This background goes with the blue flower in the upper left of the photo above. It is from the same line. I may even have bought it at the same time. It is a true background, in the sense of it doesn’t add anything.
New Wave
Again, has a directionality, but I wouldn’t say it is directional — or the directionality wouldn’t look weird if the pieces were cut different ways.
Grey Dot
Dots are always a safe bet. This dot is the right size not to interfere with the other dots, even the red ones.
Grey Dot detail
Not directional.
Angela Walter fabrics
I am not sure why I bought the amount (2-3 yards) of this. I think I was expecting the color to be a little different. Since I was pressing greys anyway, I decided to press this, but I don’t think it is appropriate for the project.
Angela Walter fabrics
Very directional. I don’t want to worry about the way I cut so that the lines of dots lined up. I am not sure I would want to worry about that.
Pearl Bracelets Grey
Lots of movement. If the pearl bracelets don’t interfere with the foreground, then the fabric adds a lot of movement. I would err on the side of this being too busy for the piece, which is a little busy anyway.
Pearl Bracelets Grey detail
Not really directional. I only have a yard of this and would have to buy more.
Ta Dot Grey
I have a boatload of this fabric, because it is a good background and I had the foresight to buy plenty.
Ta Dot Grey detail
Not directional.
Between the the choices above and the previous choices, I think my favorites are below:
Grey BatikGrey DotP&B Happy Go Lucky Grey
Of the three above, I think the batik is the most likely. I don’t have enough of the Happy Go Lucky, and can’t get anymore so that doesn’t seem to be a real option.
The grey dot is perfectly fine, but doesn’t really add anything to the piece. If I decide I don’t want to add the movement I discussed above, then that fabric would be a good option.
That leaves the batik.
My SIL commented that I only showed the light blue on one of the backgrounds. This time, I used the same octagons for all the different backgrounds. I did rearrange them, however.
