Someone once said that what comes from the heart touches the heart. I created a theme with my quilts for the year that said be the love you seek. In both cases, it is about creating from the heart, giving from the heart and receiving from the heart. While I cannot control what others do, it is still my responsibility to be true to these values.
I did get into the clubhouse and was able to baste the Peppermint Kisses, and the Heart of the Piano quilts.
My photos come from my phone. Everyone says these pics are so wonderful. Well, with my essential tremors, my hand shakes so much and I cannot see what is in the small screen.
I am just figuring out how to send them to my email and plan to go into AT&T again to see if there is a way to send them to the blog. Neither of these photos are clear, and some of the other ones I took might be. HOWEVER, following along with electronic challenges for the summer, the IMac is over-heating, locking up and a replacement has been ordered.
Now, for that replacement, I decided to order a SmartTV which means...something...what I am not sure. I think I can set it up as a WIFI to receive things I use like You Tube, Hulu, and Crackle. What I don't know is if it will work with Google to get the blog or emails, or Swap-bot to keep doing the swaps, or find the History Channel to watch The Vikings. What I know is that this has to be replaced even though it might sit on the desk as a back-up.
I am in a phase for personal growth and am here for the ride. Eeehah!
Due to miscommunication, I didn't get to the clubhouse and have an appointment on THURSDAY to baste. Getting right communication between people is like being able to work and wait for inner harmony. It is especially difficult in this era of electronics. We lose facial clues and seeing body language, relying only on what either we see or hear.
It has taken a lot of work for the Rainbow Baby back. Photos, at this stage just seem like a pile of fabric.
I had a huge bag of muslin scraps and cut uncounted 2.5" x 4.5" rectangles plus have 30 of the 4.5" by 12.5" pieces. I've used all the scraps now and do have a larger piece to cut more from if needed to finish the back. The next round was pulling out my scrappy squares to cut down the 6"-ers to 4.5" squares for the color families.
This particular 6" size isn't one usually called for in patterns, so there were a lot of choices to be had in it once they were trimmed. Right now, its a cut-as-you-go in order to use scraps.
The first round of piecing was to join a small muslin piece to a color. Then there is a pattern of three-together, what I have is pinned in threes and will be joined and pressed. Next, that part gets pinned with the larger muslin rectangles. Even though it is a beginner's pattern, there is a lot to do with it.
I really didn't know a lot about muslin and wasn't sure what to do with the small scraps I had, and so did some research. It gets its name from Mosul, Iraq, where it was first manufactured and was imported to Europe for much of the 17th- and early-18th centuries. It was heavily manufactured in Bangladesh as a handwoven material and to this day is made with varying weights and widths. It is surprising how many uses there are for it depending upon the weight and weave.
What I had was made for quilting and pieces were both unbleached or natural, and bleached to get more of a white (shows up in the photo). It all coordinates so I just cut and cut, pinned, pieced, unpinned and pressed. Up to now, I have not bought muslin myself and have a new respect for it as an addition to quilts where a white is needed in a pattern. Guess this is still a test.
In a continuing effort to use up remaining scraps in my closet bins, I know I need to plan ahead. There are still a lot of fabric options in my closets, yet, making the most of what I have that I can use for quilt backs could be a challenge.
The Fonz & Porter Quilty Fall 2016 (Scrappy Quilts) issue just hit the stands and came home with me.
It is exciting to find stash busting patterns that use easy squares/rectangles. Both concepts are what I want for my quilting work. I am most interested in making some up for BACKS that #1) use stash; and #2 are easy square/rectangle patterns.
For instance, this MN Wild quilt I am making in class uses a white tone-on-tone print with lots of scrap strips, and I had been thinking the back should be plain, so was going to go with just muslin. I used random muslin scraps, and am making this as a back to fit the front. This pattern is called Rainbow Baby. How easy it was to simply gather color families, and make those blocks. Of course, it will look different from the picture because my scraps are relatively random in the color groups.
Because the entire magazine is dedicated to scrap quilting, everything in it has a quilter shopping from her closet. I am quite sure there was a portion missing from the Rainbow Baby pattern, yet, I was able to figure it out. The line telling how many squares to make is missing so I looked at the picture and made an educated guess, all the while wondering if most patterns have this proofing error or if it is just me.
There is another quilt I know will work for either a top or back called Strawberries and Cream. It is made with reds and white, but I have a bag of blues I've gathered just crying out to be used in that pattern. WOOOT!!!!
I will baste the next two quilts on my list and take photos to show in my next blog. For today, sorting cutting to pattern sizes, and pinning the white to the color is enough.
I feel almost on hold waiting for my basting appointment at the clubhouse on Tuesday. I am taking in two projects.
Its like gaining personal freedom and being able to choose whenever I take the next step. One of the prices of freedom is being able to name our slavery. I know I dig my heels in when I am faced with being honest about this. I have deep habits and compulsions for doing what I do and resisting change.
I finished this scrappy holiday table runner for one of the FB14 who signed up saying they would like something for the holidays. This friend is also a quilter, and I was surprised she wanted a quilted item from me. When I found this table runner pattern, it seemed perfect. Scrappy and a little different. I was able to use some of my metal buttons for the flower centers.
Where this project comes in regarding freedom of choice and recognizing where I am held captive is in resisting the finish, resisting making anything that goes to a quilter who would SEE mistakes or anything 'less than perfect'. I will need to find a shipping box that the 3D poinsettias will fit into and do have enough time.
Let freedom ring for sure. Let all the things that hold us captive be healed as we take our next steps in protest of change.
Change is inevitable.
Except for vending machines.
All the cutting is completed for class on Saturday. Tomorrow, the 4th of July is a New Moon in Cancer, which brings to us all this sense of calmness and compassion. I feel that in the moment.
I put the various cut pieces in baggies to keep them clean and contained. And then put the baggies and folder with the pattern (and a copy) in a basket to take with me. Like all quilting classes, we bring our sewing machines and any supplies like rippers, scissors, thread on bobbins and a clean machine. I had calculated how much fabric needed for the background and got to the very end of it. The color strips came from my stash, and I did save extra pieces of fabric in case I need more. That part was an estimate or eyeballed. Most likely, there will be leftovers.
I've been thinking about a back for this and may resort to using a plain muslin. It is going to be intricate, and using anything too complex on the back would diminish the effect of the top.
Today, however, I need to spend time finishing the PurpleShep pillow for my Grandson so that it can get shipped to him on Tuesday when the PO opens. He is excited for it and texts me several times each day, probably when he first wakes up. I am glad for the electronic connection.
Sunglasses were not wanted on the PinkSheep Pillow when I first made it last week. Its in his hands now and a request for sunglasses came up. Measurements are 'about 3-4" wide. Wait. What? How will they get attached even if I can figure out how to make them? This is a Lego-like stuffed pillow, and who is going to sew the glasses ON??? I looked at the graphics again, and the lense parts each have a Lego-like design in them that I do not know how to replicate. Jeeze.
While it is exciting to think of using more of my stash and shopping from my closet, the process is as exhausting as shopping in a store, if not more so. Scrap quilting is adaptive and thought-provoking.
The one bin of uncut scraps is thinning out as they get used. Cut scraps, designated by sizes, get pulled for specific reasons. What I needed today is the equivalent of 12 brighter FQs. These stacks in the picture are my choices toward cutting for the class project, and if more is needed, then I will go into the cut container. I will 'eyeball' what I have in color against what I cut for the background. They are supposed to have a balance in the quilt.
It actually took me about 45 minutes just to sort and press my selections, and if I had simply gone into the fabric store, I might have gathered those 12 FQs in less than 15 minutes.
Cutting needs to be spot on because pieces are so thin at 1.25" and 1.75" with 1.5" squares for the centers. The pattern says this is a 6-hour project. Hmm. Would it be different if everything was new from the store?
When I walked into the fabric store, my intention was to buy the black and white fabric for the binding on the Wild Cats quilt. I did.
All I have left of the pink were these two very small strips. Talk about using what is in the closet! I wait for the batting now that the top is finished. I will look at putting the back together with what pieces are left. (What was she thinking? is still the question at hand.) Whew, whatever it was, I lucked out. Still. A very good example of writing those notes-to-self so that anyone can pick up any project and take it to completion.
Meanwhile I have an appointment at the clubhouse on Tuesday to baste the Peppermint Kisses.
Progress is flying for those FB14 projects too, and I will soon be done. My Grandson requested the PurpleShep pillow and I got the pieces cut and will machine quilt them onto white and hand stitch the white to a purple pillow form that I laced with Lavender flowers as a dream pillow.
My younger Son suggested that I make a quilt for his school friend who was always at our home when they were growing up.
At first I thought I would make a traditional Log Cabin, but when I walked into the fabric store, I found this quilt advertising a class for Saturday, July 9. Looking closely, it IS a Log Cabin variation. I ordered the MN Wild Hockey Team fabric for the border, and have plenty of scraps. The pattern came with the template, and I bought the background fabric. It measures 58" square with the border, so I plan to add extra blocks to make it rectangular and useful as a lap quilt.
Once I figure out how the back will work on Wild Cats, I can start cutting the pieces to get ready for class. I am super excited about this and can see that it will be a scrap-buster type of project. The pattern says it takes 6 hours. The class is 10-2 on a week from Saturday.
