House Construction Finished

The main building work on the centre house block for Lynette Anderson's My Country House is now complete:

However, as with many contractors, some of the finish work still needs to be done!

After I finished the bricks and the gingerbread, I had to redesign the windows and door to fit into the new smaller space. The new windows are 1" square, and I decided it would be easiest to reverse applique them in. I used a ruler to draw the windows and door right on the fabric, and then thoroughly basted the blue fabric to the back:

On the front I cut open and appliqued one window at a time:

Lake view!

The door was also reverse applique, but I have no progress photos. After I cut away the yellow fabric from the whole arch, I tucked the red door fabric between the yellow and the blue. This left the blue transom window above the door free, and I just appliqued it all down. It was tricky, which is why there are no photos, but I am very pleased with the outcome:

There will be a gold doorknob satin stitched in the centre of the red circle. The white crosses in the windows are back stitched with four strands of embroidery floss. The original design has embroidered flowers in the transom window, but I like it the way it is, so I will skip that.

Any readers who are also making this project will notice that I ignored the instructions and sewed together the whole block before appliquing the chimneys (and the door). This was by design! My plan was to open up the seam just by each chimney and tuck the seam allowance inside. Then I wouldn't have to worry about placement beforehand.

The chimneys are 1/2" square, and I basted everything well before the final stitching:

With the applique finished, I just have to take out the basting, go back to the machine and re-sew the roof seam.

I did the same thing for the door, so the grass seam will also have to be re-sewn. But, the trees still have to be added and tucked under the grass, so for now that is just hand basted closed. The trees are next!

Warm Flimsy

Here's the finished flimsy for my mostly flannel log cabin quilt, It's Warm Inside:

Wait, wasn't this quilt supposed to be finished with a quilt as you go technique? Why is it now a flimsy?

Well, it turns out that for people with severe dust allergies, like me, quilt as you go is a terrible process. I managed to cut the batting for six individual blocks...

... and I felt like I had run a marathon. As you can see I gamely basted them together, but I couldn't bring myself to cut any more batting.

The idea for this quilt as you go design is a couple of years old now, and was conceived for my old sewing machine. I realized that my new sturdy machine would be able to handle the full size flannel quilt. So, I unbasted the squares and sewed the whole top together.

I know that border fabric looks a little busy...

...but try to imagine a bright red binding on the finished quilt. It will bring it all into focus.

I am amazed, actually, at how much the narrow white cotton sashing lifts and brightens the whole quilt. It feels much more cheerful and fresh.

And it's an appropriate finish for today, which has been the coldest day in Toronto this year, and probably for several other years as well. At 7:00 am it was -28 Celsius outside (-18 Fahrenheit), and the north wind was shaking the house. That's unusually cold for Toronto! But, with the cold we also have brilliant sunshine, and it is indeed warm inside.

Is it Valentine's Already?

I guess it's time again to trot out my neverending redwork project, Sweet Hearts. I did manage some work on it after Valentine's Day last year. I finished up the first of the couples:

...and made a fair bit of progress on the second couple:

You can see there is a lot of fine detail left on the second couple. This year I have accepted that there will have to be a lot of back stitching, and less stem stitch than I would prefer, in order to finish all those details. My issue with the back stitch is that it does shadow through the fabric more. The hearts in the first picture are back stitched, and you can see the white centres of the hearts are a little darker than the surrounding fabric. It is more obvious in real life!

But, this year I've been relaxing a lot more about things than I have in the past. If it can't be helped, then it can't be helped. So, shadowy back stitch it will be!

Here's the over all progress to date:

There are only two now that have no stitching at all. I'm embarrassed to say that a couple of the pieces are starting to yellow! Hopefully a good wash at the end will even things out. The final layout will have sashing, so that should minimize any aging on the fabric as well.

I'm still quite enthused about my final plan for these, so progress may be slow, but it will continue!

My Country House

3/4 scale -- 13.5" centre block

The new 2015 Block of the Month at The Quilt Show is Lynette Anderson's "My Country House." You can click here to see the whole quilt.

When the quilt was first revealed in late 2014 I was very tempted, but I decided that I already had enough similar projects on the go. Did I really need another? On December 31 I decided that I did. If I reduced it to 3/4 scale, it would make a nice wallhanging. BUT, I decided that I was not going to spend more than one week per month on it, so I would still have time for everything else.

That plan has failed completely, as you can see.

Regular readers know that I always like to give my projects a local flavour. A very typical 19th century brick building here in Southern Ontario is either red bricks with yellow bricks in the corners, or yellow bricks with red bricks in the corners. The library up in Uxbridge is a good example:

Most of the old farmhouses are mainly red with yellow corners, but for design purposes I thought red edges would read better. I made a template for the bricks with 1/4 inch graph paper:

I marked the bricks with erasable pencil:

My plan was to quickly work up the sides with some long legged blanket stitch to represent the bricks. But the fabrics were just too heavy to make neat blanket stitches. Plus the 1/2 inch "legs" were too long. So I have been satin stitching the bricks. For three days already.

I made a similar template with the graph paper for the white gingerbread across the eaves, but I guess I didn't take a picture. The gingerbread is stitched first with blanket stitch half pinwheels, and then I went back and put a Colonial knot at the end of each "spoke."

I know there is a loose thread there, which is driving me nuts. I will see if I can tighten it up without doing it over again.

I lost eight days to flu this month, so I have only spent about five days so far on this project. But there is a lot still to go -- windows and door, chimneys, trees, sheep, funny blue chicken, and the postage stamp border!

But -- don't laugh too hard -- I really believe I can catch up over the next few months!

(Actually, I think I can work ahead, because the piecing is all pretty straightforward. Time will tell!)

Last BFF Stitchery

Best Friends Forever, Month 8 motif

Woo hoo!! Insert happy dance here:

...if you sexy, then flaunt it!

23.5 of the Best Friends Forever stitcheries are done, but only 22 will go in the quilt. I might make a mini or two out of the leftovers, but, not any time soon!

Next up, the English paper pieced setting, then some applique for the finishing touches. Maybe another year!

New Approach

When I started blogging just over three years ago, I had a lot to say about stitching, and the creative process in general. It irritates me no end when people say that they are not creative, when really, everyone is creative. Creativity is just the courage to try new combinations of things we already know, and a whole lot of practice and persistence.

Best Friends Forever, Month 8 motif

I also believe that there is a lot of benefit in a cross-disciplinary approach, and that no matter how committed you are to one craft, you will improve your skill by trying something different.

So, covertly or overtly, that's what I've been trying to demonstrate with this blog, and it will continue to be my practice. Going forward, though, my plan is to talk about it less, and to just let the work stand on its own. I'm hoping that the reader experience will be more like the serene swan floating across the water, and less about all the frantic paddling going on underneath!

Best Friends Forever, Month 6 motif

There's no doubt that writing less will be a challenge, but I am thinking of it like a meditation practice -- if you are always thinking about how to meditate and analyzing what you're doing, then you're not doing it.

So that's the plan, and we'll see how it goes. I am still always happy to answer questions and discuss details in the comments. But for now, let's just enjoy the view!

Fresh, shiny new thread

2014 Year in Review

I was going to do this after Christmas, but yesterday I noticed that the new moon and the winter solstice coincide this year, so now is the time to put the old year to bed, and then make Christmas the celebration of new beginnings that it is meant to be.

So I'm back! Last year Toronto fibre artist Kit Lang did a wonderful post reviewing her projects and learnings from the past year. I believe that improvement, whether you are an artist or an artisan, requires regular reflection and adjustments, so I decided then that I would do something similar this year. Here are the highlights of what I've learned in 2014.

I'd been stressing about UFOs for years, and last January's resolution was to cut them all loose. Clean slate, start over.

Well, it was easy to say, hard to do. All my old projects crept back on the list.

My final thought is that it's like gardening -- cutting away the dead wood makes the whole plant healthier, but over pruning can be equally bad. The trick is balance,

In May I got a new sewing machine, the Brother Nouvelle 1500s high speed, single stitch machine. What a difference it's made!

I've never thought that it's reasonable to spend thousands of dollars on fancy gadgets for a hobby, but I can feel my opinion changing on that. I'm finding that better equipment gives a better result, and makes the process a lot more enjoyable as well.

Also in May, I was able to get this project, It's Warm Inside, from start to finish in about 3 weeks. That was the fastest I've ever done anything quilty! It broke down some mental barriers for me about starting and finishing in a timely manner.

Why was this one so easy to finish?
1. I had all the materials ready to go.
2. It was just 16 blocks, so there was no time to get bored.
3. I planned and cut the whole quilt before I started to sew. Then I wasn't slowed down by decision making during construction.

No, it's still not quilted, but I count it as a success nevertheless!

Mod Trips

Finishing those 16 log cabin blocks empowered me to get back to these Scrappy Trips blocks that I'd started in 2013. You could say they were a UFO whose time had finally come!

I applied what I'd learned. Rather than choosing, ironing and cutting fabrics for the blocks one at a time, I chose and cut everything for the rest of the quilt in one go. This streamlined the process, and it helped me make better choices, because I could see how everything worked together.

Even still, it was a grind to get the 25 blocks done. I think my threshold is around 20 blocks!

On the other hand, the two pillow covers I made from the leftovers were really fun. I think I liked the puzzle of how to fit them all together. That's something I plan to do again!

Over the summer I also put myself on a schedule to finish my "forever project," Texas Star. The schedule was easy, just six stars per week, and it worked.

I had to put my other forever project, Trick or Treat baskets, on hold while I finished Texas Star. Then, as I was finishing up Mod Trips above, I came to a big realization. It's not enough for a project to be interesting, I also need to have an emotional connection with it. Mod Trips is nice enough, and I'm happy it's done, but it's all intellectual.

And the baskets will be the same thing, too much head, not enough heart. I like the grey colour scheme and the fabrics intellectually, but I don't love them. I may start it again down the road in different fabrics, but this version is definitely dead.

Although it's nowhere near finished, this new project Jacks and Cats was still an important lesson. I learned that it is good to have a big stash.

I hear the groans! Over a year ago I resolved to only buy fabric for specific projects, and to stop buying just for stash. But I've changed my mind.

What I've found is that when inspiration strikes, it is very helpful to be ready to go. I bought the magazine and started this project on the same day. The whole thing flowed together beautifully, and it was super fun to be able to ride that initial wave of inspiration. For me, I think that's the best way to work.

Yes, I'm a little worried that now the brakes are off the shopping cart, but actually, I've bought less fabric recently.

Ink Week Finale

November's lesson was about the importance of the blogging community. Really, it should be whole separate post, but I'll just keep going here.

I am so appreciative of all you, bloggers, readers, and commenters, for the support, encouragement and inspiration you provide!!

My project Down in the Garden, had been languishing with just a few of these herb pots done, when I noticed that Kaaren at The Painted Quilt had started it too. She encouraged me to get back to it, and crucially, added my blog to her blog list.

That's so important, because I can see the traffic coming in from her blog, and it's very motivating. It is very helpful to borrow someone else's confidence when your own is flagging! It gave me the encouragement I needed to just go for it with Ink Week.

Then Mary Corbet recommended the series, and sent a huge spike in traffic my way. But, right between parts 3 and 4, a family emergency briefly knocked things askew. Once again, it was knowing that people were watching and waiting for the rest of the series that got me back on track and helped me to finish. And I'm so happy I did, because it turned out even better than I'd hoped!

So, when I say that I appreciate you all, it's not empty words. I really mean it! You make me better. Thank you!