Yearning...

Tonight I worked on block four of A Journey to Light. I think it turned out pretty well. But, for whatever reason, while putting it together I just felt blah. I really have a yearning to start a new quilt— something small... a baby quilt, maybe. But I have this guilt about all of the unfinished projects I have. Thffpt! Stupid guilt.

I suspect part of the reason I really have this urge is so that i can actually finish something. JtL is coming together really quickly, but I know that the quilting part of the project is going to be an endurance test. It will involve stitching down all of the applique as well as using monofilament thread (always an adventure for me).

What's wrong with something small, really? So long as I don't buy any new fabric for it.

Speaking of buying fabric... I seriously fell off the wagon this week. I bought 12 fat quarters (2 fun colorful children's prints, 10 Asian prints for my Grandmother's Flower Garden project) and 4.5 yards of a wonderful white-on-white gingko leaf print to use as my path for the flower garden. I know, I have another 30 blocks or so still to go, but I'm feeling close enough that I just wanted to be ready (and it was really, really cool). :P The current tally:

Fabric In: 22.125
Fabric Used: 15.875

I'd better get sewing!

And the Journey continues...

I just completed Block 3 of A Journey to Light. I think I've solved the snow issue. I'm backing the main snow pieces (the hills, ground), and then not backing the others. I think this fits well with the feel of the first block, and I'm pretty happy with the final look.


So now the question is, Block 4 or window seat cushion? I'm pretty motivated to do the fourth block at the moment, but it would be nice to finally get rid of that big ol' slab of foam. The boy is napping, so I've got a little bit of time. Hmmmm...

Snow is my nemesis!

I've completed Block two of A Journey to Light now. Sooooo much smoother than the first. Firstly, there was no snow to deal with. Secondly, I learned from some of my mistakes in the first block, and positioned my pieces on my own (as opposed to on top of the given placement guide). Again, I still need to complete the embroidery component (just the cardinal's beak)-- but other than that, it's done! Yay!


Then I moved on to block number three. Back to the snow. Agggghhh! In the first block, I discovered that my snow was rather sheer. Because I fused everything together before sticking it all on the background, my only fix could be made to the main snow bank. I just fused another piece of snow behind the main bank to give it more opacity. However, the layers of snow that sat atop that main bank still showed "shadows" of the fabrics behind them. At first, I was thinking I would just need to do it over. But then I decided I kind of liked that look.

For block three, I had the sudden vision of backing all my snow with muslin, thereby providing perfect opacity. Then I realized that would a.) look kind of strange next to a block where I didn't use that technique, and b.) the pieces would be pretty thick and heavy. As a result, I scrapped that plan for all but the main snowbank. Unfortunately, I had already cut out all of those backed pieces (this is in large part how I came to my determination that the two layers together were just too heavy). Sigh. So then I re-traced, and re-fused. Such time/energy/effort wasted. But, it's all about the learning process, right?

Speaking of snow... we got about four inches here this morning. It was beautiful, but it kept me from going out and about. Gah! Snow truly is my nemesis!

Quilting mojo!

Finally! My quilting mojo (that is, my desire, motivation, and inspiration quotients as related to quilting) has returned. It's been awhile. I only managed to complete two quilts last year. Something to do with having a baby, maybe? But, the fire is in me now!

My first project: A Journey to Light, a quilt designed by McKenna Ryan of PineNeedles Designs. I've almost completed block 1 (only have the hand stitching left to do... berries and bunny faces and such) and am excited to start work on the second. I'm planning on doing the entire quilt (as opposed to individual art quilts), and my goal is to complete it by Christmas. I think that's a pretty reasonable goal. We shall see.

I purchased the patterns for this quilt at the 2004 International Quilt Festival in Houston. I've been collecting batik fabrics since then. Of course, that didn't stop me from running to Keepsake Cottage Fabrics on Tuesday to pick up some more fabric (I just didn't have the perfect snow... now I do. Along with some wolf grey, bear black, and mountain purple.) But I think I really am set at this point, and my stash will suffice.

Block 1 isn't perfect, but I think it's good enough. And I've learned some things that will make my future blocks better. The main one: when the pattern says, "Do not use this guide for tracing and cutting pieces," it also means, "Do not use this as a guide for direct piece placement." I literally stuck my applique pressing sheet on top of the placement guide and placed my pieces according to the lines. But the lines aren't exactly to scale. So my snow banks don't go all the way to the edge of the background, and my stuff isn't quite right. But really, no one will be able to tell once it's in the quilt. Secondly: my snow is pretty sheer. So you can see the pieces behind the snow. Again, this isn't too bad, and I think once quilted, it will be barely noticeable. But now I know to either trim carefully any pieces behind the snow and/or use two layers of snow to provide more opacity.