Do Not Sew This

It wasn't a crisis, but it stopped me from posting for a week. My computer randomly stopped giving me previews of pictures and I had no idea where to find and post my projects without seeing them. Husband was away at work for six days and he is my computer whisperer. He fixed the problem late last night and the result is you getting to see my crazy fabric workings from the past week.

Remember that bottle of Mod Podge I had purchased? I didn't feel like sewing this week (needed fresh mojo), so I went nuts with some 'Podging.

First was the Pixie's night table, of course. Then I moved on to cover her switchplate in fabric.

I also did mine, using a picture cut from a magazine.

And then I did a little math when I was sorting through my desktop, looking for inspiration. Mod Podge plus fabric plus canvass plus paint equals.....

I loved that result so much that I whipped out my crumb stash and an even larger canvass. This is the reason you should save even tiny bits of scraps. The result is one of my favorite pieces of art, ever. My Husband thinks that I'd fit in well in Mexico because of my love of bright colours and chaos.

Here it is again, in place on my wall next to some flowers that have been there forever, just waiting for some companion wall art.

I also knitted a few more mini-mittens and a dish cloth based on a pattern that I didn't have, but it worked out well anyways. I can post more pictures later (now that I have the settings on the computer fixed). This last shot is the wall over my dresser. It's starting to look lovely.

You see? Even if you don't sew, playing with fabric is still fun....because it's all about fabric, right?

Wait until you see what else I've been doing with crumbs!!

Top!

Presenting the Rambo Bright flimsy!

 I love it. I hope the bride and groom love it too.

 The quilt top is 91" square. The groom is 6'4." It might fit him.

 Although I refuse to apologize for poor pictures (I blame the camera), I will absolutely not post pictures of the completed quilt unless I can find a lighting solution that will work for my pathetic camera. I'm still accepting donations for a new photographic device.

What else should I say about this quilt top? So many things went well: the math worked out, the colour distribution is pleasant yet jumbled, and it is scrappy and huge - exactly the way I designed it.

There shall never be a pattern written up for this quilt - I couldn't if I tried hard. T & H are getting a thoroughly unique item.

The Push

I've been working hard to get Rambo Bright together, and get it over to Cathy Tomm for quilting. I've been pushing myself pretty hard, and my body feels it in a big way today. When I'm done writing this post, I am jumping into a hot bath and then taking Sunday the way it's meant to be - a day of rest.

Yesterday, I put un-sashing on every alternate block. Way back when I was working out the pattern for the quilt top, I decided that I would corral some of the chaos with a bit of neutral to rest the eye. I chose a mottled grey because this couple has a bit of a darker personality than white would allow.

The centers of the alternate blocks are only 6.5" square, while the block A's are 9.5". This won't give me much "sashing" to equalize the sizes, but it should work to contain the colour and give each construction seam at least one on-grain side. After trimming, I had this pile:

Here is a shot of all the quilt blocks gathered in one place. There are 49 block A and 36 block B. If you calculate that, it will give you an area of, well, more than my husband or I can calculate this early on a Sunday morning.

63.75 square feet! And that's not including the setting triangles!! This will be my very first quilt set on point. I did all the math for the setting pieces a year ago when I drafted the pattern, so all I did was trust my math and cut. All of the proper elements are in place and tomorrow I should be able to find some floor space and decide on a layout. Here's a teaser:

Aaaand I'm loving the grey! It seems to be the perfect sized speed bump for all that colour - just slowing the eye enough to notice block differentiations. It's not enough to overpower, and not enough to make it bland (as if anything could make all that colour bland). I also noticed that, should I not be able to find the space to lay it out, I could just randomly pick blocks to sew together and it will still look great.

I am going to love this!!! So will the Bride and Groom, crazy artists that they are.

Hey, Bride!

Dear Bride and Groom,

This is the last block I've created for your quilt. It might be a fail, or it could be homespun genius. Do I keep it in the lineup or ditch it and make a new one?

Good Work

I spent a day cutting.

I cut setting triangles for Rambo Bright, strips for block B frames, and I filled up my leaders and enders box with basics. The fabric on the left is pressed and ready to be cut into more B strips.

I created two new blocks for Rambo Bright. The race is on to see if I can complete this top in a week or so. The block on the left is mostly my Pixie's design, helped out by a little extra piecing to bring it up to size.

Another Jacob's Ladder block has emerged from leader-and-ender zone.

Remember this journal cover? I never did like the fit. The book slid around inside.

So I did some research and remade the cover.

This shot shows the practice piecing I *had* to do. I need the technique for a few future Rambo Bright blocks, and we all know that practice makes perfect.

Not shown is my extreme desire to piece some blocks today. Also not shown is the hairball that was coughed up on my sewing machine chair. I washed the chair, and it has been drying for a few hours.

Instead of piecing, I did something I've never done before: I pressed and sorted through ALL my scraps. I sorted into categories, instead of colour:

a) "Crumbs" went into the jar, destined to be transferred to their holding bag, waiting for a tiny piecing or ticker tape project.

b) Small pieces were stacked (more or less) and returned to my cutting table to be puzzled through and emerge as Rambo Bright blocks.

c) Medium sized pieces and d) pieced units are also on the chopping block.

e) Large pieces are now sitting on the bottom of the bin, along with

f) Strips, and

g) flannelette strips and h) flannelette pieces.

I may be brave enough now to put a towel on my chair and get some piecing done!

How to Fail With Style: Tutorial

I wanted to post this tute yesterday, but I got distracted by the Creative Stitches and Crafting Alive Show. My darling Husband stayed awake over 24 hours so that he could watch the kids for me, and then he gave me a hundred dollars to spend. I have the most perfect Husband. I forgot to take pictures at the show, but I scored big time for my stash. I can now say that my stash is no longer pathetic.

Here's what I came home with:
- 25 fat quarters
- 4 fat 1/8's
- a huge spool of Aurifil for piecing
- a tiny bundle of black and white "sweet sixteenth's"

That is a total of 35 new fabrics! And since I can't resist, 20 of these fabrics have already been chopped up to add to my Jacob's Ladder. The cupcakes and b&w bundle are joining the collection of fabrics for the Pixie's new quilt. The plan has evolved from "black and white and pink" to "black and white and pink with emphasis on cupcakes." If it turns out well, I might write a pattern!

Now for the Feature Presentation: How To Fail With Style.

I wanted to use some old quilting hoops to frame wall art, and I pieced some hst's to fit one of my hoops. Here's what I did with it. Watch for the fail.

1. Prepare backing and batting. Spray baste quilt top to batting only.

2.Trace the hoop with a water soluble marker.

3. Measure hoop height, and add seam allowance. Use an easier-to-see marker to draw this line outside of the hoop tracing. I used the holes in my seam gauge to do this step.

4. Pin lace, right sides together, along the seam line you just drew.

When you get the the join, just turn back the cut ends and pin close together.

5. Baste the lace to the top/batting sandwich. Sew all the way around. Leave and/or replace the pins in the lace. You need it pinned out of the way for the next steps.

6. Place the backing face down on top.

Pin well all the way around. Mark a place to leave open for turning.

7. Turn the whole unit over so that the batting is on top, backing on bottom. Sew together, following the previous basting line, or just a hair inside of it. Leave an opening for turning, back stitching at the seam ends.

8. Cut around the stitching line.

9. Turn very carefully because there are still lots of pins holding the lace out of the way! Tug the lace gently to pull out the seam allowance, and press from both sides. The edges will be quite thick. If you can think of a good way to prevent this, do tell! Pin the opening closed and give it a quick hand stitch closed (not pictured). Pin baste the layers of your mini quilt. It will now be layered in the right order. Quilt as desired.

10. Fail alert! I quilted in such a way as to have the quilting disappear under the hoop frame. Before I was finished quilting, I was impatient to see how the finished product might look so I put it in the hoop.  See the fail?

Look closer: I did not account for thickness of quilt sandwich or thickness of wooden hoop. Way back in step 3, I should have added 3/4" instead of 1/4" for seam allowance. Hoop height PLUS 3/4" would have given me a full inch and a half outside of the frame line. Remember to do this if you use this hoop frame idea.

11. Plan B. I added more quilting. I ditched the frame. I hung the completed art on the wall between the girls' rooms because they were fighting about whose room it should go in.

I still love it, mistakes and all. This blog is all about the process, and I intend to keep it real and not edit out mistakes. I'm certainly not a perfect quilter. I love to break the rules. The quilt police haven't found me yet!

This lace and hoop frame idea would be great to use for dressing up nurseries (for the baby who already has a plethora of quilts), it would make lovely easy holiday decor - for any holiday. I might make a round quilt with a pieced wreath and hang it for Christmas. If you use the idea without the frame it would make lovely table runners, you can add heat-resistant batting for fancy potholders and trivits. You could trace any wierd shape you like before "bagging" the quilt...to the limits of your imagination.

Coming up this week: much cutting. Much piecing. And much, much rushing.

A very talented local quilter has agreed to collaborate with me to get Rambo Bright finished before Thanksgiving. I need to bring it to my brother and his wife; It's already past the promised date!

It is also still in pieces! This will be a lot of work....watch for updates.

Shopping Day

And therefore not a sewing day!

Here is how my HST's turned out with a little improv piecing to help the size. I can't wait to see this piece quilted and finished.

My leaders-and-enders project became one new Jacob's Ladder block. I love this picture because it's the first time I took a picture with true colour. I found a nice spot by a sunny window! Magic.

There will be little to no sewing today. The Punk has three doctor's appointments: It might be a very long day.

This

These are the squares I had cut out for a QAL.

I can't bring myself to follow someone else's quilting directives when there are so many good ideas of my own crowding my brain. So I turned the squares into HST's that look like this:

Now my sewing machine looks like this (and the cigar box has Jacob's Ladder pieces to use as leaders and enders):

And this is my very first bottle of Mod Podge. I'm proud of me.

Reveal

The quilting is finished. The binding is on. The quilt has been posted to my Punk's wall to brighten up her playspace.

Do the edges look a little wavy from where you're sitting? Because they are. They really, really are. And I don't care.

I took a few pictures of the quilting while I had a sunbeam this morning.

I haven't counted how many fmq designs I came up with. I may catalogue them in my design book for future reference.

I feel a little like a quilting genius today.

I ended up using one or two of Leah Day's designs.

I'm certain that one or two of Malka's techniques ended up somewhere in the mix.

I may have even ventured into the realm of McTavishing.

This was a lot of work!

And what does my Punk think about her new wall decor? She doesn't even notice a difference. I guess I can't expect her to; but I think the room echos less - and for sure there's more colour in there!

Moving right along to WIPs that require my attention...

...Starting with another trip to my chiropractor because I woke up with an owie neck this morning!