This week in the quilt mines...

There was a lot of cutting and a even a little bit of sewing as I started in on quarter-square triangles for the sashing in my Hop to It quilt.

I got my glue on making some fun nametags for a quilt guild event.

And I even dug out the grandmother's flower garden and built a little more of the path (with kitty in my lap!).

Variety is the spice of life!

Computery goodness!

Yay! My computer is fixed. Or rather, it has been replaced with a spiffy new one that actually turns on and off and works and everything. Huzzah! Last night I busily began installing the essentials, including the Dear Jane software, Electric Quilt 6, my super nifty scrapbooking software, and Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2. Best of all, I'm feeling ready to blog again.

Unfortunately, I don't have anything particularly awesome to share at the moment. But I can show some progress photos:


I've completed another block in Grandma's Country Album II. This one is called "Cactus Flower." After all these appliqued leaves lately, I'm definitely getting better at pointy points.


This pretty block in pink and chocolate reproduction prints is my first completed block for my guild block exchange. For this one, all of the fabric was included in the box. But there were lots of different options, and it was fun getting to pick out which ones to use. Based on the fabrics in there, this is definitely going to be a stunning quilt.


Quilting on my Star Quilt Along quilt is progressing nicely. I've never done so much stippling before! I'm on my third spool of thread now (I've only got one spool left... I think/hope it will be enough). It's taking awhile, but I'm pleased with how it is looking so far and the end is definitely in sight.

Also in progress are a couple of Dear Jane blocks (finally!) prepped and ready to sew. I've also finally completed all 126 blocks in my hexagon quilt and have just started putting together the "path" and connecting blocks (I have a whopping two blocks connected together thus far).

Tomorrow work begins on our backyard. We're getting it professionally landscaped. I'm really excited! It's is a tiny, tiny area (as is often the case in these newly constructed homes) so it will likely take only a couple of days. But it will definitely be a transformation.

Some reading

Eek! I only just realized that it's been a week since I've posted. I guess I was hoping that my next post would be a completed Star Quilt Along top. Alas, I'm not quite there yet (still working on borders). I have been busy doing stuff, but really there isn't much in the way of excitement to share. I've been working on my hexagon flowers (keeping my hands busy during the Dear Baby Jane break). I've finished cutting out the Prairie Pinwheels fabrics (that took way too long... ugh). Last night I started on the last posted Dear Jane block, H-6. And I've been thinking about quilt tops.

I have a pile of quilt tops in my closet. Most of them have been there for at least 3 years... waiting. One still needs a final border, but the rest are just waiting for quilting. My main reason for not having quilted them is that I spent so long putting these tops together that I was afraid of messing them up in the quilting. I'm finally feeling like I'm confident enough to tackle at least a couple of them. To help myself along, I've been doing some reading.

Machine Quilting by Sue Nickels

In 2005, I took a class from Sue Nickels at the Houston International Quilt Festival. It was eye-opening and really boosted my machine quilting skills and confidence. This book offers much of the same information that she provided in the class, as well as similar practice sampler projects. It's almost like having her with you. She addresses everything from needles and thread to deciding what quilting designs to use on your project. I also appreciate that it includes not just free-motion info, but also valuable wisdom on stitching in the ditch which is often completely glossed over in many machine quilting books (though it sounds so simple, it can in actuality be very challenging). This book is a great resource for anyone interested in growing or enhancing their machine quilting skills

Mastering Quilt Marking by Pepper Cory

A number of the tops I have in the closet are large... I think there are three queen-size, and one king in there right now, and the Star Quilt Along quilt is not small either. Though I like stippling and free-motion meanderings, I also really enjoy traditional patterns like feathers and wreaths. One of the keys to doing those well is getting them marked on the quilt. I bought this book years ago, but only last week picked it up and really looked at it. In fact, I read the whole thing cover-to-cover over the course of a morning. The book focuses on the art of marking the quilt in preparation for quilting. The author discusses the tools, a variety of techniques, when to mark what (before basting or after basting?), and how important marking is. The book does NOT discuss how to quilt a quilt. But it does offer advice on how various styles of quilting have different effects and can serve different purposes.

After spending some time with these books, I'm feeling much less intimidated now, and am anxious to start in on one of my tops. I even have one in mind... now I just have to find somewhere to baste it!

Start-ups and progress

For whatever reason, this last weekend I've been on a starting projects rampage. It's not like I've run out of stuff to work on, or even finished anything lately, but I'm feeling this need to start on new things. Sigh... I'm hopeless, I know.

On Friday evening, I started cutting fabric for a new quilt project. It's going to be a largish queen size. I've only managed to cut about 1/4 of the fabric thus far.


Hopefully, I'll get the rest cut in the next week or two. The pattern is "Prairie Pinwheels" from the August 2008 issue of McCall's Quilting magazine. I'm anxious to start stitching on this one!

Last night, I went on a cutting frenzy and cut out five patterns—all clothing for me! Included are three tops, a pair of pajama pants, and a pajama top.



But it hasn't been completely about the new projects. I managed to complete a Dear Jane block. I also stitched up a few more flowers for my Grandmother's Flower Garden. I'm up to 112 now! (Only 14 more to go!) I've actually started in on pressing my completed flowers as well. I've pressed more than half at this point. (Yay!)


The pile on the left is unpressed, the pile on the right is pressed. The pressed pile actually has more blocks in it. Doing all this pressing is making me appreciate why most people seem to do these quilts by English paper piecing. I suspect they are not only much more accurate, but probably much easier to deal with!

Completely unrelated to my ever-growing list of projects— today I had the pleasure of meeting and having coffee with the fabulous Anina! She's like a quilt celebrity to me at this point. I just love her blog, and so appreciate her guidance and efforts on Dear Baby Jane. She's an amazing quilter and it was much fun meeting her and talking for a bit. She was also so patient with my rampaging toddler—she laughed even as he threw her keys in the fountain. (Fortunately, they were waterproof and easily retrieved!)

Hopefully later today I'll have my Dear Jane block update ready. Also on my afternoon agenda is to prep A-1.

Hex-a-rama!

For the past few days, I've really been cranking out the hexagon flowers for my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.


I've managed to complete 12 over the last five evenings. For me, that's a lot. And it brings the total up to 92 now! But I'm just going to be kicking myself when I finally have to start pressing them. I've been pretty lazy (with all of the tiny seams, these are not fun blocks to press), and have only pressed about 15 or so of the finished blocks. So that's going to be a lot of pressing of at the end. And the end draws ever nearer!

Meanwhile, I've also been obsessing about colors for my Dear Baby Jane. I know, I know. I'm using all green. What's to obsess about? Well, there is quite a spectrum of green out there. To wit:


Even after I took this picture, I continued to find more greens in the stash and add them in. Evidently, I have a lot of green. A lot more than I realized. But, after laying them all out like this, I do actually feel better about my heretofore haphazard approach to choosing fabrics for each block. I think they all really will work together in the end. Yay!

No crafting tonight though. I really need to get some work done. And watch Top Chef. :)

Mysterious motivation

I bit the bullet and went out to buy more green center fabric for the Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. I knew there was zero chance of me finding the exact same fabric purchased so many years ago, so I tried to shop with an open mind. Imagine my surprise though when I found nearly the perfect color match at Keepsake Cottage Fabrics! It's a Michael Miller Krystal print. Yay! So, another 2 yards into the stash.

It occurs to me to wonder why, exactly, am I suddenly so hyped-up about this project that I started so many years ago (and really, that I'm nowhere near completing). I wish I knew. Part of it, I think, is just the satisfaction and joy I'm experiencing as I build each block. Part of it is the relatively steady progress I seem to be making each week (it's so cool to see my stack of blocks growing!). There's also a really gratifying sense of connectedness as I work on this one. There is truly an inspiration behind it—my quilt from Great Aunt Gertie. This connection really is setting this quilt apart from my other projects at the moment. Why now? No idea. I just hope it lasts and will really keep me going so that I finish this project sooner rather than later!

Yay for mysterious motivation!

The magic of Electric Quilt

Electric Quilt (EQ) is a great (and handy) tool. Especially when you have a funky block and aren't sure how many are needed. After much frustration and mathematical hijinks, I finally gave up and used EQ5 to figure stuff out for my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. Why not do this in the first place? Frankly, it just didn't occur to me. Last year, after a virus, my computer was wiped—including EQ5. I just hadn't installed it on my computer post-virus (maybe the near complete lack of quilting time last year contributed to this oversight).

The class I took on making this quilt has a worksheet that I've been using as a guide. But it occurred to me that nowhere within the handout is it indicated what size blocks are actually being referenced in all of the yardage and block/size requirements. I had been working under the assumption that I'd need 7 flowers across and 9 down to make a queen size quilt. But with a completed block in my hand, that just didn't seem right—but I just could not figure out what I did need, what with the funky block shape and all.

EQ to the rescue! I went into EQ and then created a quilt (pictured above) to figure out sizing.

As it turns out, I don't actually have enough of my green center fabric to make as many blocks as I'd need for a true queen. Poop! But, it looks like I might be able to get pretty close to a 80x97 quilt. Kind of full-queen-ish. Meh. It's not like it needs to be a specific size anyway. It will take 102 whole flowers, and 12 half-flowers. (Whoa! Good thing I second-guessed the handout, eh?) I might need to fudge with a different fabric center for a few of the blocks though. Of course, if I do that, then maybe I should just go for the 98x97 king-ish size (which would require 126 whole and 12 half flowers)? But then I'd need to buy more path fabric too. No matter what, it seems I'll have to buy more fabric! :P

I guess my next step (apart from continuing to make flowers) is to determine exactly how much green center fabric I actually have. Meanwhile, my garden continues to grow... I now have 67 flowers!

ETA: Eeep! Only enough green for a total of 105 blocks...

More fabric-liciousness

Sigh. I'm hopeless, I think. Curbing my enthusiasm for purchasing new fabrics is proving to be difficult. I try to console myself in that at least the fabric is being purchased for specific, current projects. That's something, right?

Pacific Fabrics & Crafts had a spiffy President's Day sale with all fabric 25% off. Crazy! I showed admirable self-restraint and managed to get away with just 3 yards, both earmarked for a specific project. It was hard though. I really wanted to buy more (that leopard sweater knit is still calling to me... even at $29.99 a yard). But the really awesome thing about the experience is that I was sans boy! I got to spend two-and-a-half hours fabric shopping while papa watched the boy. Woo hoo!

Having a little time on my hands, I took the opportunity to go across the street and visit Bernina Northwest and continue on my "World Sewing Tour." Every month they "visit" a different country and offer brief demonstrations on a technique. This month, I visited Italy and learned about a method of machine trapunto that utilizes the embroidery unit. As always, it was both educational and fun. I'm sad that March is the last month they'll be offering this program.

I also had a birthday gift certificate (thank you Keith!) for Keepsake Cottage Fabrics burning a hole in my pocket. So today, I went on a fat quarter binge (18!) to further my Grandmother's Flower Garden endeavors. I tried to do some calculations to determine sizing, and it seems I'll need at least 81 blocks (and probably a few half-blocks) to get to a queen-king size. Sigh. I'm further away than I thought. On the bright side, however, is that I had a reason to buy more fabulous Asian prints!

Gah! Basting.

Though I have been procrastinating on basting "Fairy Flight," I have not been completely idle. I did attempt to mark the top, but the fabric was just too busy. So I've prepped my Golden Threads paper with my motifs (we'll see how it works... I tried it one other time, and seem to recall being annoyed with it, but it can't hurt to try again), and have chosen a border design that I think I can "free-hand" (since I couldn't mark it). Now I just need to get going and baste it. Ugh. It's small, and so should be relatively quick. Even so, I just haven't managed to get myself motivated. Maybe tonight?

Meanwhile, as I procrastinated on one project, I worked on another. I've been very productive making flowers for my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. I counted, and this week I've made 10 flowers! Many of these were stitched as I viewed the BBC production of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. No matter how many times I see the film (or read the book)(one of the few books that I have read more than once, and would happily read again), I never tire of it. Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth are wonderful as Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy (mmm... Mr. Darcy). And what better Valentine's movie-watching fare? (Keith and I will be able to celebrate "for real" next weekend as the grandparents babysit!)

57 flowers made so far! Only 11 full, and 8 half-flowers to go! Then I'll begin work on the "path" connecting them all together. Or maybe more? I'll have to do some math because I'm using 2" hexagons and the pattern is either referencing 1" or 3" hexagons. I can't tell. Hmmm... maybe I should have calculated this sooner. :P

On handwork

The other day, Sew, Mama, Sew! featured a post by Jennifer of Moving Hands about hand-piecing and it's place in today's quilting world. It was a wonderful impetus for me to revisit my current hand-piecing project, a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.

This project was inspired by the quilt pictured at left. It was made by my Great Aunt Gertie (my grandfather's sister). It was given to me after my grandfather died, and is a beautiful display of handwork. It was pieced and quilted by hand. The main colors are orange (faded to a soft peach color) and off-white (which may have begun as white in some distant past), and features wonderful feedsack prints as well as what were probably pieces of old shirts and whatnot. After using it non-stop for years, I realized the quilt was wearing out. Some fabrics were disintegrating, others beginning to fray. If you look, you can see that the block with the red center is surrounded by bare batting now... all of the fabric in the inner ring just wore away. That's the worst one, but not the only one that has worn. It has become too fragile to use.

So I decided to take a class taught by Donna Poster at the Houston International Quilt Festival on making a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt. I think it was in 2002, but it may have been 2003. (I need to start writing dates down...) Anyway, that's when I began. I knew I wanted a queen size quilt. I knew I wanted to use Asian themed fabrics. And I've been working on it since then.... very, very slowly. I think I actually completed more blocks in 2007 than I had in all of the previous years combined. I think I have about 30 blocks to go at this point. It's a slow process, but there is just something about the handwork that is so relaxing. It's deliberate, it's more thoughtful, more quiet. I don't know. But it's different than doing it on a machine; different in a good way.

Tonight, I got out some of those flower garden blocks, ironed them, took a picture, and then made my new blog banner. I'm feeling pretty proud of it right now. I love that it showcases some of the blocks I've made. It's definitely me. :)

And now I'm going to go do a little handwork.