Yesterday I was sitting and looking at Edward's quilt, which I had laid out with its border options, and thinking about my plans for quilting it. I've gone through several different plans over the year that it's been a UFO. Most of them involved some basic free-motion quilting. Recently though, I decided to back it with a flannel sheet so it would be warmer and hopefully more practical in their cold basement where they watch tv.
The flannel sheet, though, will make the quilt sandwich much bulkier, and I doubted my ability to free motion quilt it in my old machine with it's 7" throat. I decided to use the walking foot instead and quilt it in diamonds, which is a slightly industrial look that I quite like. Looking at the top, I felt pretty confident about fitting it in my machine.
But then I started to think about Sedona Star, which is projected to be 88" square. I really want some fairly elaborate machine quilting on it, I think it just calls for beautiful swirls and feathers. I was prepared to do the practice needed to bring my skills up to par, but looking at my machine today I think I will be expecting too much. A small quilt, sure, but not 88".
So, I have folded and decided to send it out for quilting when it's done. There is a really good long arm quilter whose work I've seen in shows west of the city. I will have to look into how much it might cost for her to really take her time and do a nice job.
This also means that putting myself in knots about doing the applique by hand is no longer necessary. I guess I will be reconsidering my approach this weekend!
Serious fun with quilting, stitching, and embroidery
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Auditioning Borders for Edward's Quilt
Two days ago I realized that I really, really want to finish something before I start Sedona Star. I think I have enough balls in the air! Edward's quilt was the closest to completion, so I've been making a big push on it.
The last time I had it out I was really stressed with it. The seams wouldn't line up, and I had to unpick a couple of times, which I hate. I literally had to shake off the tension every time I sewed a seam. It was nuts.
Since then though, I've been working on my nine patches, which have been going together so well, and they must have totally shifted my vibe. When I went back to Edward's quilt the problems had vanished. A friend of mine always says "a rising tide raises all boats." I think those nine patches have been worth gold to me!
So today I finished joining the centre blocks and started to think about the border. I'd already decided not to use my inspiration fabric because the wine-coloured circles will clash too much. I decided to use this batik with the large white kanji instead:
When I first laid it out it was so busy that it made me a little nauseous! It looks better with the red binding fabric over the edge, but I think it is still too much. Fortunately, I found a yard of this quieter fabric in my box too:
I think that will be much better. I also fiddled around with the red cornerstones. There are four different reds in the quilt, and I thought about putting one in each corner. But I definitely want to bind it in the red you see here, and I thought the red fabrics might clash more when they are right beside each other rather than scattered around the quilt. I did think that putting just this one fabric in all four corners would be nice:
This fabric has the characters for "peace" and "good fortune" and similar good wishes, which I thought would be a nice sentiment. I am still on the fence, because the two reds are a little off, although they are closer than they look in the photo once again. I do kind of think that the second option, where the corners and the binding all match, might be too perfect, if you know what I mean. We will see how it goes tomorrow. My plan is to have the top finished before I start my Sabbath at 6 pm!
The last time I had it out I was really stressed with it. The seams wouldn't line up, and I had to unpick a couple of times, which I hate. I literally had to shake off the tension every time I sewed a seam. It was nuts.
Since then though, I've been working on my nine patches, which have been going together so well, and they must have totally shifted my vibe. When I went back to Edward's quilt the problems had vanished. A friend of mine always says "a rising tide raises all boats." I think those nine patches have been worth gold to me!
So today I finished joining the centre blocks and started to think about the border. I'd already decided not to use my inspiration fabric because the wine-coloured circles will clash too much. I decided to use this batik with the large white kanji instead:
When I first laid it out it was so busy that it made me a little nauseous! It looks better with the red binding fabric over the edge, but I think it is still too much. Fortunately, I found a yard of this quieter fabric in my box too:
I think that will be much better. I also fiddled around with the red cornerstones. There are four different reds in the quilt, and I thought about putting one in each corner. But I definitely want to bind it in the red you see here, and I thought the red fabrics might clash more when they are right beside each other rather than scattered around the quilt. I did think that putting just this one fabric in all four corners would be nice:
This fabric has the characters for "peace" and "good fortune" and similar good wishes, which I thought would be a nice sentiment. I am still on the fence, because the two reds are a little off, although they are closer than they look in the photo once again. I do kind of think that the second option, where the corners and the binding all match, might be too perfect, if you know what I mean. We will see how it goes tomorrow. My plan is to have the top finished before I start my Sabbath at 6 pm!
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Kaffe Fassett Shot Cottons
Well, I have already hit the first bump in the road on Sedona Star. In the ring around the centre star I planned to use a dark and light purple. I ordered the fabrics, Kaffe Fassett shot cottons, from two different stores, which I now see was a mistake! You can't compare values in photos from one online shop to the values in photos from another. Here is what I ended up with:
When you see them in real life there is even less difference than in the photo. Somehow the photo makes the one on the left seem lighter, which is probably what happened to the website's photo too.
Anyway, it won't do, so I am going to try again and add a couple more purples to my next order. One way or another, I'm going to get enough contrast there to make the piecing worthwhile. But it means that I can't start that band, or all the little appliqued circles, until next month. Argh! But months 3, 4 and 5 will be pretty fast, with just the paper pieced stars, so I am counting on catching up then!
But I can do the middle star and the log cabin points, which will be in these fabrics:
Apologies for the grainy photo, but the colours are reasonably true. It has been very interesting to see the Kaffe Fassett shot cottons in person. They are quite lightweight and a somewhat loose weave. I was afraid they would ravel like mad in the wash, but they were pretty good. They do come out of the dryer, though, looking like those broomstick skirts that used to be popular!
They call them "shot" cottons because the warp and weft threads are different colours on some of them. The bottom fabric in the photo above looks like this up close:
The lengthwise warp threads here are lime green, and the crosswise weft threads are magenta. If you are a painter you know that red and green mix together to make brown. This fabric is called "ginger."
I like the way the weave gives some added dimension to the solid colours. I am a little disappointed that the top two yellows and the rust don't have the same contrast between warp and weft. I am concerned that the colours will be flat. I am also concerned that the fabrics themselves won't be flat - they are awfully wrinkly. Well, I will start with the log cabin points and see how it works out!
The black background fabric, by the way, is also part of the quilt. Five yards of it!
When you see them in real life there is even less difference than in the photo. Somehow the photo makes the one on the left seem lighter, which is probably what happened to the website's photo too.
Anyway, it won't do, so I am going to try again and add a couple more purples to my next order. One way or another, I'm going to get enough contrast there to make the piecing worthwhile. But it means that I can't start that band, or all the little appliqued circles, until next month. Argh! But months 3, 4 and 5 will be pretty fast, with just the paper pieced stars, so I am counting on catching up then!
But I can do the middle star and the log cabin points, which will be in these fabrics:
Apologies for the grainy photo, but the colours are reasonably true. It has been very interesting to see the Kaffe Fassett shot cottons in person. They are quite lightweight and a somewhat loose weave. I was afraid they would ravel like mad in the wash, but they were pretty good. They do come out of the dryer, though, looking like those broomstick skirts that used to be popular!
They call them "shot" cottons because the warp and weft threads are different colours on some of them. The bottom fabric in the photo above looks like this up close:
The lengthwise warp threads here are lime green, and the crosswise weft threads are magenta. If you are a painter you know that red and green mix together to make brown. This fabric is called "ginger."
I like the way the weave gives some added dimension to the solid colours. I am a little disappointed that the top two yellows and the rust don't have the same contrast between warp and weft. I am concerned that the colours will be flat. I am also concerned that the fabrics themselves won't be flat - they are awfully wrinkly. Well, I will start with the log cabin points and see how it works out!
The black background fabric, by the way, is also part of the quilt. Five yards of it!
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Celtic Spring
Well, I'm feeling much better now! I started a new project last night, which has proven to be the ideal thing, AND, my fabric finally arrived today! Tomorrow I will wash it and take photos for you. In the meantime, this is what I've been doing:
This is the project, Celtic Spring by Lavender & Lace:
And these are all the gorgeous threads:
This project has been just the ticket to get my energy flowing again! It is a dream to stitch. The fabric is 28 count Cashel linen in Willow Green stitched 2 over 2, and after the 18 count aida of my kittens and the 32 count linen of my Juin sampler, the stitches seem positively huge! Both my other counted thread projects became quite heavy to stitch as the threads built up. This one has hardly any resistance at all as you stitch through the fabric.
This is my first Lavender & Lace project. I could see right away that it would be nice to stitch, because the colours flow so logically from one to the next. There is no "confetti" that requires you to scatter the colours all over. I can often memorize several rows at once, e.g. "four rows of four," or "three rows of five." With the kittens piece I had to consult the chart with every row. I have a feeling this new piece is going to go very quickly! Yes, there will be three more seasons after this one... You can see them here.
As a rule, purple is not my most favourite colour. I never go into the fabric store and see a purple fabric that I "have to have." But I really am loving the beautiful purples in this project. When you see them in real life they are mouth watering!
This is the project, Celtic Spring by Lavender & Lace:
And these are all the gorgeous threads:
This project has been just the ticket to get my energy flowing again! It is a dream to stitch. The fabric is 28 count Cashel linen in Willow Green stitched 2 over 2, and after the 18 count aida of my kittens and the 32 count linen of my Juin sampler, the stitches seem positively huge! Both my other counted thread projects became quite heavy to stitch as the threads built up. This one has hardly any resistance at all as you stitch through the fabric.
This is my first Lavender & Lace project. I could see right away that it would be nice to stitch, because the colours flow so logically from one to the next. There is no "confetti" that requires you to scatter the colours all over. I can often memorize several rows at once, e.g. "four rows of four," or "three rows of five." With the kittens piece I had to consult the chart with every row. I have a feeling this new piece is going to go very quickly! Yes, there will be three more seasons after this one... You can see them here.
As a rule, purple is not my most favourite colour. I never go into the fabric store and see a purple fabric that I "have to have." But I really am loving the beautiful purples in this project. When you see them in real life they are mouth watering!
Monday, January 16, 2012
Still Waiting...
I am still waiting for my fabric for Sedona Star, and I have to say it is making me very grumpy! I placed my order with Glorious Color in early January, and I got it last week already. I placed my first order at eQuilter on December 26, and it has yet to arrive. I do know that it is on its way, but for whatever reason the mail from Colorado is a week slower than from anywhere else in the U.S.
I know very well that working on another project while I'm in this mood will just end in disaster, so I've been trying to find a way to lighten up. My Nordic Needle catalogue arrived today, which is usually a fun read. Today, though, I saw a lot of projects I'd like to start, but which I know I shouldn't start, so it's just more frustration.
As I write this, I think the only way to shift this mood will be to start a completely new project and get the energy flowing again. I think I'll go check out my stash.
I know very well that working on another project while I'm in this mood will just end in disaster, so I've been trying to find a way to lighten up. My Nordic Needle catalogue arrived today, which is usually a fun read. Today, though, I saw a lot of projects I'd like to start, but which I know I shouldn't start, so it's just more frustration.
As I write this, I think the only way to shift this mood will be to start a completely new project and get the energy flowing again. I think I'll go check out my stash.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Nine Patch Update
Here are a few more of my nine patch blocks done. I cut the fabric over a year ago, and it has been great rediscovering them as I sew. Three of the lights you see here are from a set of "conversationals", based on historic designs. They were 10" squares that I bought from Keepsake Quilting. They are now out of stock, which is too bad, because I would love some more!
When I've been sewing these nine patches it's been the first time that I've really consistently managed the direction the seams are pressed, so that subsequent rows will "lock" together. I am amazed at how much it helps! These blocks have been going together beautifully, even though my cutting was sometimes off. I didn't do this on Edward's quilt, and I am paying for it now, because it has been really challenging to get the seams to match. And on that quilt it's pretty important! I can feel that I am about to become quite fanatical about pressing!
Speaking of pressing, I am also quite devoted to my Clover pressing tool, the white plastic thing you see in the photo. I don't have room for an iron in my sewing area, but even if I did, I would prefer the Clover tool. It seems quite elegantly low tech to me! And the hard plastic doesn't distort your fabrics like a wooden tool would.
Although I'd love a huge quilting studio, I am also very impressed with many Japanese quilters that I've seen featured in magazines, who make huge complex quilts in tiny spaces and with minimal technology. I think many Japanese quilts have been made completely without electricity! I feel a lot of sympathy for such a simplified approach, although I will not be giving up my sewing machine any time soon!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Juin Sampler
I very nearly started a new project yesterday! Wouldn't that be just what I need. I was still in the hand sewing mood after my unplugged Sunday, but my yoyo project is on hold. I decided to use a different binding for the yoyo quilt - instead of Kaffe Fassett's red Kirman fabric I will use the orange. I think it will show up better. I want to make a few yoyos from it as well, so now I am waiting for fabric.
That is how UFOs happen, isn't it? You change gears and pick up something else, and lo! A new UFO. But, rather than the new English paper piecing project that I am really dying to start, I convinced myself to work on this instead:
This cross stitch and petit point kit is from Le Bonheur des Dames in France. If you look you will see they have a ton of tempting projects! This one is from a series of twelve monthly samplers. Although this is the first one I have started, the other eleven are in my stash!
This is a UFO that I began some time around 2003-4, but the fine stitching was just beyond me at that point. It is 32 count even weave. The cross stitch is over two threads, and the petit point over one. I picked it up again last year, during my Year of the UFO, and it was much easier. I've been working it on and off ever since. Now that it is my only counted thread project, I have a feeling it will go faster!
At least until my fabrics arrive...
That is how UFOs happen, isn't it? You change gears and pick up something else, and lo! A new UFO. But, rather than the new English paper piecing project that I am really dying to start, I convinced myself to work on this instead:
 |
| Juin Sampler |
This cross stitch and petit point kit is from Le Bonheur des Dames in France. If you look you will see they have a ton of tempting projects! This one is from a series of twelve monthly samplers. Although this is the first one I have started, the other eleven are in my stash!
This is a UFO that I began some time around 2003-4, but the fine stitching was just beyond me at that point. It is 32 count even weave. The cross stitch is over two threads, and the petit point over one. I picked it up again last year, during my Year of the UFO, and it was much easier. I've been working it on and off ever since. Now that it is my only counted thread project, I have a feeling it will go faster!
At least until my fabrics arrive...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
