bekka

second time around placemats

Once I finish up napkins for my BRTS swap and the buttons I'm making for the fabric button swap, I can rest a wee bit and gather my strength for a few other swaps I'm doing this season. This time with the placemats I chose to do reversible ones without the contrast front or the ribbon/bias trimming. Am much happier with how they turned out.

Hope to have a quick time with the napkins. Read the instructions for making them, and it sounded simple. But we'll see how I manage.

P.S. If you're seeing things, especially various drafts of this post, appear and disappear in your RSS feeder, my apologies. Typepad goes through spells when it won't load my photos. I change the file name and sometimes it works, but today? No go. To accomplish my post, I go about it a roundabout way: I write the post and include the photos with Windows Live Writer, then have to manually change the formatting of the photos once it's been published correctly in typepad. It's a pain in the ass, really. But what can you do?

placemat snafu

Thought I'd get a head start on making placemats and napkins for the BTRS swap I'm doing. Bought fabric last week and got to it on Saturday night. After cutting out my fabric I realized I didn't have enough to make the placemats. That's my first complaint about BTRS, the instructions don't tell you how much fabric you need to complete the project. I went ahead anyway, found a different fabric in my stash and thought I'd make these for a friend who is new to homemaking.

But once they were done, I was so disappointed in them, that I decided to keep them for myself and use them at home, where only the select few invited to dine with us might catch a glimpse of my failure as a sewer, as a crafty sort of woman. The second thing I didn't like per Karol's instructions, was basting the contrast piece to the front. When I did my basting stitch, the fabric pulled, almost ruffled, so I had to constantly straighten it out. So I did that on the first one or two and decided not to do it on the others. Sort of big mistake. Because somehow I didn't sew my ribbon as close to the edge of the contrast piece on the unbasted ones and that fabric pulled away, from underneath, the ribbon. Tacky. Ugly. Poorly done.

What else? Oh, I hated the way the ribbon looked. My mitered edges are passable. But somehow I thought there'd be more of a contrast between fabrics. I thought more of my stripes would show along the placemat's edge. Nope.

Despite not being a huge yellow fan, I absolutely loved this yellow flowered fabric. I wish I had more. Wish I hadn't wasted it on these sucky placemats. The other thing to consider, is that the stripes from the front show through the lighter yellow fabric, which was not an issue with the original avocado green fabric I chose to accompany the blue, white, and grey stripes.

This afternoon, after work, I'm making another trip to search for fabric for these placemats. It's turning out to be a bit of a bust, really. First, my partner only likes lime green and blue. Not normally a problem, but she describes her kitchen/dining area as modern: concrete counter tops and stainless steel. Maybe it's my problem with interpreting what modern means. It means no floral, no pattern other than geometric. Sadly, that doesn't match anything in my fabric stash.

Karol mentions, in the box at the bottom of the project's instructions, that you may wish to forgo the contrast top. And I shall, on this next set, that I hope to whip up tonight. Something positive that I can say about my experience is that the project was quick. I finished four placemats in perhaps 2-3 hours? And Karol's technique is simple and effective, and so I imagine I'll use her process again when I'm not making placemats for this swap.

a quilting we will go

Hands down, my favorite quilt pattern is log cabin. I dug out a few squares I made at least ten years ago in my first quilting class ever. Still haven't completed the project. Think I have two more squares, if I can find them, and then perhaps, I can revamp/refashion those into something snazzy. Yet I have an appreciation for all sorts of patterns like fans,  sweet simple nine patch, crazy quilts, Georgia rattlesnake, double wedding ring, grandma's garden, dresden plate, shoofly, the lively pinwheel pattern, yo-yos, maple leaf, and cathedral window. 

But Jacquie's tutorial made log cabin seem a bit more doable, within my grasp, and on my own. Let me tell you, that class I took ten years ago? Oh, I'm sure that I tried my teacher's patience. There was lots of action on my behalf with the seam ripper. What was so unusual about the class is that I was the only one, besides the teacher, who spoke English as her native language. There were 3 or 4 other women, all whose spouses worked for Siemens, and so one was from France, another from Holland, and perhaps the other two from Germany. But anyway, Jacquie's tutorial eases my mind because it contains lots of great photos, tips, and step-by-step explanations. And so, somewhere down the line, I'll try another log cabin project.

Gag, this seasonal table runner has me down a bit. Seems like I'll never get it finished. I worked on another flying goose strip Friday night. So maybe that is 2 I've completed? Out of a dozen? At that rate, it will take me another two weeks just to finish that phase of the project. But, I've learned something about paper piecing process and what works best for me. 

The way Linda taught us to approach the work reminds me a great deal of scientific management, or Taylorism. One of the tenets of Taylorism is developing a "science" for every job/project that includes regimented steps in the process. When Taylor went into a factory, he broke down a task and looked for the most efficient way to improve it.

So with the paper piecing method Linda teaches, it's very mechanized. You do the same step 8-12 times, or however many pieces you have to sew together. You fold your paper, trim the edges, match fabric to fabric and then stack the paper pieces one atop another. Once you've completed that step, you take your stack and run them through the sewing machine one by one by one. Then you slip the threads between each of those pieces and take them to the iron and iron your pieces the proper way.

I tried to love this method, but I do better with a bit more instant gratification.  I fiddled around with Linda's process and decided what worked best for me was not her method. I work on one piece at a time. Fold the paper, trim the fabric, sew it together, and then iron those pieces. Then on to the next step on that particular paper piece. In the end, I have one completed section rather than twelve pieces that still require a lot of work. It works better for me that way. I feel more productive, I guess. Or more satisfied.

Last night our quilting class met, and it whips me every time. I'm exhausted by 9 when I'm pulling together my notions and rotary cutter to go home. So instead of toiling away on my geese, Linda showed me how to put together that third, and last bit for the runner.  And there were only two pieces, which I completed in class, hooray. Now just those geese to finish up. Diane had much of her sections sewn together and so Laura and I watched as her runner reached completion. Linda showed Diane how to cut strips on the bias for its binding, and I'm sure Diane selected a backing, too.

Laura and I are supposed to call Linda in a few weeks, or maybe two months or so, when we're ready to assemble everything. And by the way, I told Linda how I'd shucked off the process for paper piecing that she showed us in class and she smiled and said something to the effect that eventually I'd return to the method which she showed us. Just don't know. I'm still skeptical.

Took a while for me to get Laura's loaner (my circa 1980-something Singer) working. Winding its bobbin always winds me up. But the problem last night was that the bobbin I tried was defective. Ugh. Was upset with the machine at first because it's the first time I've used it since retrieving it from the service man. So glad to finally get it working for Laura though.

Seriously though, quilting and sewing really appeals to me at this point in my life, much more so than does knitting, and I cannot understand it. Maybe it's that I've got a languishing knitting project that I've had several problems with. Now that I've developed the negative association with the project, I don't ever want to work on it again for fear that I'll encounter more problems. Does that ever happen to you? I know, I should buck up and not let those possibilities inform my knitting so much. Perhaps I can motivate myself to get my mind right and enter a phase of No Fear Knitting!

The other issue I'm dealing with at this point is my back. It aches almost everyday. That's not conducive to any type of creativity, unfortunately. All I want to do is recline and read. Getting lots of reading done, that's for sure, but my other projects are rather wasting away.

And, I'm seriously contemplating yet another quilting project. As I mentioned in a prior post, Quiltfest is next month. Linda had samples of the quilts/projects that each class would work on hanging in the shop. Diane is taking the Strips & Curves class, and the project sample is gorgeous, but I decided that choosing fabric for that would be beyond my ken. Besides that class, Linda suggested that two others would be good for beginning quilters: Big Tumble and Bamboo & Pinwheels.

not my den, but an idea of the color to complement w/project

There's a space in my den, on the wall that encases our fireplace's back, that sorely needs something hanging there. The color is called Jalapeno or maybe Hot Pepper. At the Glidden site I found Hot Pepper, but it looks a lot more yellow and brown than the color on my wall. I've never hanged anything there because when we use the fireplace, maybe 2-4 times each winter, that wall gets quite hot. My concern is that whatever hangs there could ignite and fry us in our beds. Simply removing the item while we've got a fire going seems like the best solution. Anyway, I think that the project I begin during Quiltfest will be the one to hang on this wall.

Big Tumble, lovely as it is, has a distinct Optic effect. Reminds me of Qbert in the days that I spent the whole of my $5 weekly allowance at the Gold Mine, our Mall's arcade. And the thing about Bamboo & Pinwheels is this: You get two quilts for the price and effort of one. You stack and sew and the pieces you use in the quilt/wall hanging come together. But then your remainders are also sewn together into a throw, or another wall hanging if you so desire. Seems like a good deal to me.

Now it comes down to color choices, and of course, signing up for the class. You chose dark, medium, and light tones in your fabric/patterns. I'm thinking brown, orange, and yellow or blue. Just don't know which will please me and suit my room. And the sample is made with Asian-inspired fabrics, but I probably won't do that, either.

sucker for swaps

Can't recall the last swap I made. Sort of wrote them off for a while. Not so much bad experiences, but just grew tired of having lots of deadlines and keeping it all orderly and in the correct compartment in my mind. In the next 2 or 3 months I'm doing Doll Quilt Swap 4. I participated in round 2, I believe. And I keep coming across the most amazing quilts that participants make and send to their partners. Wowie. I want a piece of that action.

Then there's Kelly's Favorite Things Swap, where you choose at least three objects that you love, or just like, to send to your partner. What I like about this one is that it can be as much time and effort as I have at the moment, you know? Can be store-bought or handmade goodies.

And the one I'm super excited about is the Bend-the-rules-sewing swap. I missed Round one, which was the Pleated Beauty Bag from the eponymous book. But Round two is Place Mat & Napkin Set.

Mostly what I love about swaps is doing the detective work, especially if it's a secret swap. Blog-stalking and anonymous comments and getting to know my partners likes and dislikes. I'm ready for a bunch of that. Cause once baby comes in November, well, I may be out of the swapping loop for some time. And  the worst thing about baby's arrival is that it's smack dab in the middle of my favorite swap all year, the Holiday Ornament Swap. Sigh. What to do? Last year sign ups ended on 9 November and groups were assigned by 12 November, so maybe, possibly, I can make ornaments and send them off before my 20 November due date? Just don't know. Don't want to over-extend myself.

baby steps to quilting for baby

Finally got off my expanding arse (watched Notting Hill a few nights ago, got arse on the brain) and popped into baby's intended room/sewing room to look through fabric stash in closet for an appropriate backing for the quilt I'm making for baby. Settled on this lovely orangy-dotty thing. Really loved it when I bought it; still do. Maybe have a half a yard left after cutting off what I needed for backing. I hate it when fabric manufacturers don't identify themselves on the selvedge; Robert Kauffman always does. Because now I'm sad that I won't ever find any more of this fabric. My memory of buying it is gone, so anywhere within the last 10 to 15 years I found it and made it mine.

After adequately sandwiching quilt top, batting, and backing--and that was more difficult than you might think given the batting's exceptionally clingy character--I attached those layers together with about 8 or 10 safety pins I managed to round up. And I used to have scads. Somehow they're missing. Disappeared into that same universe as the extra dryer sock.

better perspective of how backing complements quilt top

It's stable enough, but later today I'll buy a 50-pack of safety pins and secure the rest of the three layers so that I won't worry when getting down to the real thing, the dicey, the daunting, the hand quilting. And I may get down to that dirty business tonight. I call it dirty, but really, is it? Most hand-quilting I've done was minimal, consisting of smaller-than-normal quilt squares prepped while teaching school children the rudiments of the art while dressed as a person from the 18th century; but at least I spoke modern English.

quilting queue

Naturally, being surrounded by fabric took its toll on me. But I ended up only buying almost 8 yards of plain white fabric at Tennessee Quilts Monday. See, I have this appliqué project in mind and I need a lot of plain white fabric on which to appliqué my design.

I have lots of red fabrics, and green fabrics, and my design only includes green and red. While I'm mostly set with what is already in my fabric stash, I found a few other reds that I liked and a yellow, that has nothing to do with this long-term appliqué project, that I had to have. Yellow is one of my least favorite colors. It surprises me when I cannot say no to it.

This aqua and red plaid-like fabric at the bottom of the stack will be the quilt's sashing. I'm sure I bought enough. At least, I hope I bought enough. Maybe come pay day I'll return to the shop and buy the rest of the bolt. No reason to let anybody else have it, right?

Also couldn't resist an intermediate quilting book called I Can't Believe I'm Quilting: Beyond the Basics by Pat Sloan. I grabbed it because the projects were so beautiful. I want to make most of them:

This one

and this one

and this one, too.

paper piecing pain

Monday night's quilting class was rough. I understood just enough of what our teacher explained to be dangerous. Rather, I understood the concepts, if not the exact techniques.

First, there was all this standing and cutting. Cutting through 10 and 12 layers of fabric and then cutting out paper quilt piecing pieces. Way too many p's. This could be a tongue twister.

We spent much of the evening cutting out pieces and only in the last ten or fifteen minutes of class did we haul out the sewing machines and begin sewing. Ahem, piecing. But even trying this so-called "gentle art" my back ached. I crawled into bed as soon as I arrived home.

This class, this project, is way more involved than I imagined. And I roped Laura into it. She's never used a sewing machine before in her life. I planned to loan her one of my Singers, but I took in the circa 1984 one to have it serviced, almost two weeks ago and the guy hasn't called me yet. That means that he hasn't gotten to mine yet. Ho hum. Luckily the shop had an extra machine that Laura could use. It was a Pfaff, and was pretty nice.

My circa 1997 Singer was the loudest machine going. Rat-a-tat-tat. Sounded like a machine gun. I was embarrassed to sew. Felt like I was working-class piece-sewing factory girl, even though those are my origins (fyi: Grandma, Aunt Donna, Aunt Ruthie, and even my Mom did stints as piece-work sewers at Industrial Garment of Erwin, Tn.),  toting in her industrial strength machine. Not that there was anything wrong with that. Just that everybody else's machines were super-subtle and quiet, which I think equates to high-end, expensive machines.  My complex surely lies in my librariaish nature: Quieter is better.

Anyway, the class was supposed to be just this one. Was I naive? Yup. Silly Rebecca thought we'd whip out that table runner in three hours. No way. No how. We stayed until about twenty of 10:00 p.m., believe it or not, just to make it through the rough stuff. I think our teacher was Linda. She said we'd meet at least two more times, possibly a third.

I'll need that help. I tried working on homework tonight and fear I fudged it up real good. I can always start over, with some close supervision and guidance. But ripping all that out, and cutting out more pieces. Sigh. I didn't have enough yardage for one, maybe two parts of the project anyway, and there were other women from the quilt shop who helped me select exact yardage I'd need according to my pattern.

So, lots of cutting. Come to think of it, the cutting was sort of fun. Then we set aside certain piles of fabric into specific plastic bags. That's another new technique I've learned. Is it a technique, or merely an organizational trick? Whatever it is, surely it foretells the difficulty ahead.

Linda said she'd be in Saturday that we could come in for help. Yup, I may very well do that, if the day is yucky and I can stand being inside.

I assured Laura that if she mastered this technique that doing normal quilts, like the simple square pieces in a square block that Traci showed us, would be a snap for her. I can't wait to finish this up so that maybe she and I can take on a really simple one like a Nine Patch or Picket Fence or some such.

spreading the joy...of knitting

Friday night I taught Laura to knit. She's my Saturday riding partner. Isn't it amazing how quickly you can become friends with someone if you have just one thing in common? We'd talked about having a knitting & baking night for several weeks and Friday was the night.

She has a cuisineart breadmaker that she received as a wedding present; she's still a newlywed at one year. And the only time she used the bread machine, her bread was a fiasco. Not certain she read the instructions. We started on making the bread straightaway, decided on Cinnamon Swirl and substituted dried blueberries for raisins.

Then she popped in Annie Hall, her Netflix selection, which neither of had seen, because of a lobster scene reference that a local band, Catbird Seat, threw out in their set a few weeks ago at a show we attended. Didn't watch Annie Hall. Even turned it off. Guess the 1977 cinematography was very ugly, distracting, even, from our beauteous knitting lesson. Then we popped in Namesake, my Netflix selection, and mostly ignored it, too. Because I was teaching her to knit.

Actually, to make a slip knot. I went really slow. And that she still didn't get it. Who knew that making a slip knot was such a chore? We spent twenty minutes, at least, on that. Finally, I decided to cast on a few for her and let her just play with knitting and not bother with the casting on. Also brought a set of clover straight needles and a set of Addis so she could decide which felt better in her hands.

When I taught Kellie to knit, I mistakenly gave her straight needles to use and she never got over the awkwardness of them in her hands. And to this day, I doubt she's ever finished that scarf we started. Laura picked the Addis. I brought several yarns and said she should choose between a scarf and a washcloth/dishcloth. She chose the latter and a variegated cotton yarn.

Occasionally there were breaks to go peek at the dough in her machine. There was a false start, too. Didn't have the bread container attached properly to the bottom and the dough wasn't moving. Wasn't being kneaded. Sigh. Had to unplug the machine from the wall a few times to get it back to start.

Mostly though, Laura's fingers didn't want to work in that way. She claims she never learned to play guitar because of her lack of dexterity; that's why she played baritone for all those years (in Virginia Tech's band, too! Go Hokies!). So by the time I left her house Friday night, my tummy filled with hot bread, I wasn't sure she'd take to knitting at all.

Then Saturday, after riding, we went to my LYS. Ostensibly to see our PCP, whom we learned we have in common, who is also an inveterate knitter, so that Laura might get a scrip for cough syrup. But anyway, she was amazed at the variety of yarn. And we looked at books. I took several over to her house for her to browse at her leisure the night before, but didn't have a good intro knitting book to share with her. I suggested Stitch n Bitch. Then I asked C., my LYSO which book she'd recommend, and she concurred with me about SNB. We both valued it highly for its reference abilities, plus there are "Edgy" patterns, there, too.

Then we went to lunch. Then Laura and I spent way too long at Tennessee Quilts, selecting fabric for our class on 12 May. Way too long. I've never had such trouble deciding which fabrics to use for a project. The ladies at TQ strongly urged us to select batiks for the Seasonal Table Runner that we're making. Apparently, having not ever worked with batik before, they're perfect for the quilting technique we'll learn because it doesn't matter which side you use.

Paper piecing. That's what we're learning. I'm sort of excited, sort of cautious/skeptical about it. And instead of Laura going out and buying a new machine, her first machine, on a whim, she's using one of mine. See, I'm such a bad influence on Laura. Getting her into knitting and quilting and who knows what all else. And causing her to spend money. What kind of new friend am I? Introducing her into this world of sewing and quilting and knitting and all. What a bad, bad influence. But, the best bad influence, right?

Later on Saturday after we parted ways I ended up stopping back by her house to retrieve my purse. And she made me come inside to see what she did. She taught herself the long-tail cast on method from the SNB book! I was so proud of her! Then the next day she texted me a photo of her progress. Her only complaint is that it takes so long to knit a row. She's knitting far too tightly. She asked if she was supposed to be in pain, and I told her no, not unless she'd been knitting for 6 or 8 hours. Had to tell her to relax, relax her shoulders, just like Jim does when we're riding.

quite quilt happy

Surely the rapid coming together of my quilt is the reason that I'm so stoked with this project. I highly recommend a craft or crib-sized quilt because it's almost instant gratification. Last night I attached both its borders, then unfurled the batting only to discover that it was almost a foot to big. But I trimmed it down and shall keep the remainder for other quilty projects.

I've ironed it several times. But wasn't a stickler for all that ironing after sewing each piece to each piece. And maybe I'll pay for it. I so don't expect perfection though. Last night I pointed out all the little imperfections to Ian and he basically told me to be quiet, that it would be an heirloom no matter what.

Did I mention the fabrics, at least, the main fabrics, are Mabel Lucie Attwell? And I have another two or three yards of a complementary MLA fabric that I bought to use as this quilt's backing. But after looking it over, I may not use it after all. I planned to simply fold the excess of the backing onto the front to use it as my binding. But there's absolutely no contrast there. And I like a contrasting binding.

So... two options: First, still use that fabric but use a contrasting bias tape or make my own bias-cut binding tape. Or second, go with a very different color for it's backing that will then appear at the quits edge as the binding. The problem with option two is that I wonder if it won't be too jarring a contrast. Much of the colors are pale and beige, but there are bright blues, oranges, and greens.

Decisions, decisions. It's in the car. I hope to stop by Tennessee Quilts after work today so I might pick out a fabric for its backing that I can live with.

Then, the real fun begins. Hand quilting. I'm trying to remain enthused about it. But I just wonder if I'll take to it or not. Must also remember to buy two thimbles so I can get that quick-action quilting going on without turning my fingers into pin cushions.

I'm actually quite quilt happy at the moment. I dug out all my quilting books and they're piled next to my bed so I can browse them before turning out the light each night. So even if the hand-quilting doesn't go according to plan, there's always machine quilting.

And, I'm even talking my Saturday riding partner Laura into taking a quilting class with me at Tennessee Quilts. There's a seasonal table runner class on May 12 that I want to take and I'm trying to drag her along with. She doesn't have a sewing machine though. I offered her one of mine, though only one is working at this moment, but by the 12th I may have that non-working one repaired. And it certainly took me a long time to get the stitching on this one just how I like it. Don't know how to troubleshoot that better.

Laura says she's meaning to buy a sewing machine anyway. I so want to advise her to buy something good from the get-go, but THAT good means at least $1,000 dollars; she's looking at under $200. Both my Singers (circa 1982 and 1997) tear up so frequently. I yearn for a Bernina, but not a new one. Just an 80s or 90s workhorse of a Bernina.

quilt or die (i'm serious!)

Saturday I bought batting, a hoop, new quilting needles, and quilting thread at Tennessee Quilts, my favorite local fabric/quilting shop. Yup. I'm gonna finish that baby quilt I started sometime in April TWO YEARS AGO.

Sigh. So all the babies for whom I thought to make this quilt for are quite past the baby quilt stage. There was Mick. He'll be 3 in December. There's Zac. He was 3 last week. Or maybe I bought it for Ian's second cousin Violet who is 4 or 5 now. Whew. Those babies grow so fast.

But I have a baby in mind for this one. And, here's the kicker: If you caught that bit above about hoop and needles, I'm going to hand-quilt the thing. It'll essentially be my first hand-quilted project; though I have hand-quilted small quilt squares ages ago. However, I'll finish the squares by machine piecing them. I wavered about that. How authentic is a quilt that is hand-quilted but machine pieced?

Maybe I'll be the only one to know. Aaaahh. I bet a savvy quilter can tell.

Anyway, so I finished up the machine piecing late Saturday. Then I stopped. I've misplaced the instructions that accompanied the kit, so I'll be quilting by the seat of my pants on this one. And, I thought giving it a rest would allow time for me to contemplate the finer points of adding its borders. There's a thin border to apply to its edges, and then a second, thicker border to apply to that thin border.

Then we make the quilt sammich. I bought fabric for the backing sometime ago. As I recall (I must dig it out of my fabric piles) it complements the fabric in the quilt. Why else would I buy it? Then there's basting, but I'm not so sure I'll do that. Then the quilting itself.

Michael James says that my original plan for quilting is unimaginative. My great idea was simply quilting within the outlines of each piece. I believe my quilt top is some type of geese pattern. A Flying Geese pattern? I actually really like it's simplicity and geometric possibilities. I may make another one of these, but this time I'll pick my own fabric, though I absolutely loved the fabric in this kit.

So now I'm trying to decide what else there is to do. What quilt pattern would look best? I actually have the first edition of this book. It's handy. The pages are glossy and in black and white and showcase all sorts of funky seventies-era quilts. Yet, his instruction and techniques are sound.

The thing I hate most about making a quilt is cutting out the pieces. If I could buy pre-cut pieces, then sewing them up and getting the project on its feet would take no time at all. Also Saturday night I browsed through several of my quilting books and found several patterns that I may want to attempt some day. One was an appliqué of cherries. And I love Log Cabin and Courthouse Steps, but I've had trying experiences with Log Cabin. Despite how much I love, love, love it, I'm not certain I have the ovaries to try it again.