Command Decisions

As you may or may not know, designing and sewing a quilt on the fly cannot be done without certain essential design elements in place. It is extremely difficult to just start sewing and watch the fabric evolve underneath your presser foot.

You may recall from a previous post that "the vague plan for Rambo Bright is crumbs, stars, and other improv blocks; possibly set on point; then bordered by some Nate blocks a la Malka." This plan is more than enough to start sewing when most of your plan consists of "winging it."

The plan was refined further when I put two and two together.....literally.

You see the block on the left? In yesterday's post that block was the biggest one in the pile. I needed a way to tame the size. Also at the back of my mind was my next design hurdle that I hoped to conquer in this quilt: setting blocks on point. How do I solve both problems? Slap a ruler on it and cut it. The star on the right? I needed to add some size.

This gives me a size reference for calculating how many blocks I need for the finished quilt size I desire. It tells me that I need to figure out setting triangles. It presents the problem of alternate setting blocks: to be or not to be?

The block on the left (below) was boring until I added a river of red. This is the result of another decision I made: To mix up the warm and cool spectrums in order to put more life into the work.

I made the most marvelous find in my scrap bag - a rainbow strip set from the Punk's baby quilt (7 years ago). You'll see it figure into a lot of blocks.

Do I sash? Do I use plain and/or pieced alternate blocks? Do I just squish all the blocks together and let it be a really huge hit of jumbly colour (thus the working name of Rambo Bright)?

What would you do for this set?

PS No ruler was used in the making of these blocks, save for the final squaring up. (Even chaos needs to be contained.) The places where you see matching seamlines? That's all done by guess and by golly. I guess everybody has a talent and I'm tooting my own horn!

Art Show

I've made quite a creative journey these past few months. I've tried new techniques, jumped waaaaay outside my comfort zone, and found myself in love with "winging it." I plan to do a lot more sewing by the seat of my pants in the future. I have two quilts in my head that are still in preliminary design stages - still just ideas and scribblings in my handy and beloved design book. If you look closely, you can see Mr. Grey, the patron moose of my design life. His home is on top of my current pencil, and he needs a new pencil soon.

Projects in the works include finishing the binding on the Pop Culture Sampler.... I must confess with hung head and *almost* ashamed countenance that I hand sewed most of the binding on while watching Twilight last night. In my defense, it was mindless movie for mindless work. (I loved the part in the movie when Bella and Edward are lying in a field of blue flowers - I actually yelled at Edward to get up quick! before the caterpillars consume your entire face! And then I realized that those were his eyebrows. Silly me! Honest mistake!)

Also up next is machine sewing the binding onto the denim quilt for my Punk. She needed something that would not only hold up next to denim, but also take a lot of her abuse. Rosa, at my favorite quilt shop, said to do batiks because they are more tightly woven. I couldn't agree more. She knows my tastes very well, and picked out this awesome fabric on her first try. She cuts, and I pay. It's a good relationship.

Tomorrow I have a stack of flannelette that needs cutting into. Pictures to come.

And now to show off some of my art. I've seen a lot of quilty blogs that lack in the production category. I do not lack. In fact, I could not even find all of the item that I've sewn in the past couple of months, because I give away a lot of pieces. A lot. My friends benefit greatly. Many people suggest sewing stuff to sell - "You should get a booth at the Farmer's Market!" "I love your stuff - where can I buy it?" "You really should turn this talent into a business."

I say, "Nay, nay."

I know it hurts to hear the truth, but at this stage in my life sewing for money is not an option. There are a few reasons; Commissions stunt creativity; being told what to do makes me not want to do it; I don't want to prostitute my hobby for cash; many items I make are not within the monetary realm of the recipients - they are meant as gifts; I am not confident that people would pony up the appropriate cash if I told them how much time went into them (even if I only charged current minimum wage); I'd rather make stuff that I love than to please some other human's esthetic style - then it is a bigger gift when I give it away.

So here are some of my creations. Love them or hate them as you will - comment if you have any strong opinions. I am not in love with everything, either, but I am in love with the process. The process makes the art worthwhile. The dream makes the work easier. The translation from Head to Fabric is what fires my imagination.

This piece is something I dreamed up in my favorite location - the space between sleep and awake. It is also a design that was conceived while I was in Kelowna this summer.

These fans were drafted and sewn all in one day, and quilted the next. Their purpose is to look pretty on the wall by my studio space.

Behold my Half-Square Triangle Experiment:

This was an *actual* pattern that I found at the Moda Bake Shop. It's hanging over the Pixie's bed.

These were my very first two "mug rugs." Such a popular little project, so of course I jumped on the train. The Pixie claimed that pumpkin before I even had binding on it, and the one on the right I named, "The Birds of Fall." Get it? I kill me.

This is something that I'm not happy with. It was originally a challenge project - get a grab bag from the store and make a cohesive piece using all the fabrics. I made a doll quilt so that I don't have to see it often. I hate the colours. But the Pixie, who breathes and dreams in pink, loves it.

A scrap project, just because. It was useful for learning raw edge applique, free motion quilting, and how flannelette behaves under duress. It is called "Out of Fat Air: Circle Sampler."

The "Floating Fruit" trivit. Very dirty. Also, the Punk's hand. Very sneaky.

My original "wing it" art work. When inspiration hits, yo gotta run with it. You should see the back of this "Red vs. Blue" wall hanging. I wrote all over it - all the lessons I learned while bringing my idea to life. If you flip it over you can read the multiple reasons for using the best thread you can afford, the right size needle, a clean sewing machine, etc.

Also pictured above is the reason why I am accepting donations for a new camera. And why all the techno geeks could pretty please recommend and/or send me a link to a free/cheap photoshopping program that will work on my little laptop.