Quilting is a witness to life

This morning I woke up to dreams about my quilting and realize that much of my work is a witness to what I believe; that rewards of my work are realized in direct proportion to the effort exerted.  There are a lot of people who still comment in ways that let me know they do not see great value in the work of fabric arts...or any art for that matter.

In my family, working with fabric arts skipped a generation. After WWII, women's work changed drastically, and the attention of their role in the nation left the home and eventually moved from the factories into corporations. As a result, most members of my generation (and not just in my family) did not learn the fabric arts in their homes as children, then as adults, they shopped with a more critical handle on their pocketbooks, AND were able to exchange their purchases when the color was wrong or threads came loose.

I finished another quilt last night as one of my PayItForward gifts. I made the quilt top with scraps that others had given me. It was an early-made top and not something I might do now. The pattern is called "Brick by Brick" and this was the third such one I assembled. 

Its surprises me that people like these random block quilts and that they say it reminds them of quilts their Grandmothers made. Certainly this style is not found in any store.

I put the back together by scrapping flannel pieces I had on hand as well.
And to continue with that method, I even scrapped the binding so that everything about it was coordinated.

This is a true utility quilt, made the way that I imagine quilts from a time gone by. I read somewhere that women made them as fast as they could to keep their family warm and as beautiful as they could to make their own hearts sing with joy.

The recipient of this quilt is in mourning over the loss of both parents last year. I don't know her. She was nominated for my seasonal PIF. All the time I worked on it, felt like I was sending her loving and healing energy. May it be so.

Love in a Quilt

Songs and stories have been written about love, and its different for each of us with each relationship we have. No matter how we try to analyze it, or simply think about it, love comes when it does and the most important thing we can do, is accept it.

This is most likely the last of my pink quilts. I gathered everything in my stash that remotely coordinated or was a shade of pink to make several quilts and tote bags. 

This is the last of the projects and it surprises me that there are still scraps of pink here and there.

This quilt is made up of those 5" squares, and arranged in a very random order. Quilting is done on diagonal lines and then stitched in the ditch around the borders.

I learned that the 5" squares often come in a pack called Charm Squares. Fabric manufacturers package them to promote their fabric lines, and usually there is only one fabric per square.

When a quilt is put together using a fabric more than once its called "charming", so this quilt is charming.

I ordered a flannel for the back and found this very yummy chocolate with hearts print on sale. Then I realized that many of the charm squares on front had hearts too. 

I decided to add a label to this quilt, placing it so the quilting would show on the front in a solid square. It worked perfectly in so many ways.

My Granddaughter CC is simply amazing. She is the youngest of three, so has learned to hold her own. When she was old enough to speak and strong-willed enough too, she put her hands on her hips and shouted to the family that her name was CC and not Elise, already choosing her own identity. I could write volumes about her and tell you all the ways I love her. And perhaps every Granny feels the same about all her Grandchildren.

Love is easy when I think of it, especially when I remain open-hearted. And being open-hearted is a choice that requires a certain healing of one's own heart.  It is risky to love anyone because life has a way of changing things, and people don't always love you back the way you want or need. 

No matter. They do get to chose whom or what they love. How I see it being open-hearted is for me. Its what I do to walk in this world.

I will send a sheet of the Shout Color Catcher with this quilt, and feel a little bit more OK if the reds fade to pink. Pink. I am so done with it.

Mystery Quilt-Week #2

I am enjoying the challenges of the Mystery Quilt I joined last week. Every Sunday Darlee from http://quiltsamplerjournal.blogspot.com/2014/01/about-appliques.html posts a new step for those of us who signed up for it.

The other Mystery Quilt projects I have worked with were on weekend retreats, and also pushed me beyond what my skills were.

This one is for appliques, and Darlee suggests machine applique, which is a good way for me to learn, and yet, she also supports the more advanced quilters to do hand work.

My first mystery quilt took me a year to complete. I called it "Blue Ice" and gave it to Mother who lives in residential care. Her bedroom is blue and she loved it. The challenge was that the pattern missed a step, which took me so long to figure out. 

The next mystery quilt I made went to my Godson Ken, and I LOVED how it turned out with how it looked like a 3-D. These fabrics were batiks and were stunning.

The third one is still a work in progress (WIP) and is going to my #2 Granddaughter Baylee for her graduation and have posted here earlier. I plan to buy the backing for it when I go to the quilt show at the end of the month.

I have to say that doing mystery quilts works a lot better for me than when I did the first one. I realize that I want to buy fabrics I like and then simply follow the directions trusting in my own choices.

The appeal in doing them is all about being committed to trying something new, but also having the safety of working with someone who is training and willing to answer questions if I get stuck.
Change is hard for most of us. I love trying new things and sometimes need this sort of project to help me grow beyond my comfort in order to learn.

The part about the mystery quilt that is hardest for me is that I don't have that final vision and get scared what I am doing will not turn out. Am I a confident beginner? Yes. I am also a newer intermediate. Right on that border, still questioning my choices, still struggling with this and that. However, I am quilting every day. How I got here is still a mystery.

Not So Pretty Pink

I cannot believe how the reds continue to go pink!

This is the Shout sheet out of the washer. Its just mystifying me at this point. Of course, I just washed the entire laundry bag with reds pieces for the next quilt, and the Shout sheet did its thing. I don't know if that meant it would keep it away from the whites that I plan to use in the quilt or not.

I have not regained one ounce of my peace of mind.

Bleeding Reds

I lost my peace of mind today.

It isn't something I can go out and get, but is the result of something I do and keep doing that provides me with a sense of calm. For me, it goes beyond my thoughts or mind, and enters my body and my soul.

When one of my earliest quilts needed washing, I put it in using cold, the right gentle wash, and know that I pre-washed the fabrics before piecing. Yet, the red on the back bled onto only one of the white fabrics on the front. 

Pink. Yes, it turned that one fabric pink. And it makes me crazy to look at it. I really loved it as a black and white.

Oh sure, it made cherry blossoms, one could say. It is a dull pink.

However, I have two quilts (WIP) that I have been scrap cutting that have reds in them.  And I pre-washed every fabric, especially the reds before cutting.

This morning, however, I took one of the projects out of its box and pulled the reds from their baggies. I had to see if they were really color fast so spent an hour doing what I thought would work to remove unfixed dye.

However, I learned that I made a mistake and have to rinse the fabrics I soaked in vinegar because it will eat the fabric!

So much for what I thought I knew. Back they go to rinse out the residual vinegar. 

Horrors!!! After three rinses, the water was still turning pink. Evidently the vinegar reacted on the fabric exactly the opposite of what I thought. It has an acid in it! So of course, it was already 'eating' its way through. I plan to rinse yet again before going forward.  And I thought red was going to be the only issue. Blues can do the same thing! 

This ended up being a great lesson about fabrics and dyes, about setting fixed dyes and removing unfixed dyes. I had no idea there was a difference. 

SHOUT puts out a color catcher product that goes in the washer but doesn't say what is in it. I took all the pieces, put them into a laundry bag and put it into the washing machine with a Shout catcher. I read about a variety of products and know that I have to do some more research to see what works. Some are for pre-washing fabric, some for the first time a quilt gets washed. I know I need to get a better handle on fabric dyes before committing to any of them.

I'm attending a quilt show the end of the month and plan to visit as many vendors as I can to see what they suggest. 

I know that some people do not pre-wash their fabrics and maybe I have gone to excess over this.

However, before this happened, I planned to make quilts using a red-white-blue theme and now am not sure I want to do it before solving this color issue.

Shipping Day

Wait a minute! Isn't joy doing what we want?

Two packages are going out later this afternoon. Of course the fundraiser quilt and bag go to my Daughter-In-Law, and the second shipment is the January Doll Quilt Swap to my partner Lee in Salem, NH. 

We are invited to give sneak peeks on the Doll Quilt swap page. This is the back with the binding showing, plus the label. I didn't check photos for clarity before wrapping the quilt for shipping so this is a bit blurry. However, the front picture I took of it is clear & as soon as Lee gets it, I will add to the tab above for finishes.

I was discouraged in attaching labels to my quilts by my loving and lovely Sister-In-Law who told me she liked having the option of showing both sides rather than feeling like one was 'less-than' the other. I took to writing the name of the quilt and date on a light square anywhere on it. I do not like the look of labels myself, yet understand why they are important. Some of my quilts will get them, most not.

And yes, after a minute of consideration, joy is doing what I want. That means if making quilts with or without labels is in an option each time, then each time, I will do what I want.

Economics of Quilting

I finished the Market Tote Bag for the Pink Purse Fundraiser. All that pink. One more project to go with it to finish up the birthday quilt for Granddaughter CC and I can go onto other colors.

Its unrealistic for me to think I will like everything I create. Real life is experiencing every kind of emotion & experience, and I think that is true with quilting. Somethings I work on will make me smile, and somethings I am less fond of will make others smile. I do like this tote. 

Here is the link: http://www.joann.com/on/demandware.static/Sites-JoAnn-Site/Sites-joann-project-catalog/-/images/hi-res/project/pdf/P488285.pdf

The pic above is the front, and this one is the back. However, that is from my perspective. Whomever bids on this at the auction will use it in whatever way they chose for as long as it holds together.

JoAnn's pattern just has a simple inside seam that leaves the edges raw. I reinforced it with a zig-zag, but even that may not last.

You can buy a tote bag for a few bucks in the grocery store that are made of some sort of pressed plastic coming off a factory press. People get used to those kinds of products and have less appreciation (in some cases) for a home-made product. And I face it, cotton is not plastic and will not withstand carrying heavy objects for too long.

I like how the tote turned out, but wouldn't carry it.

Thank goodness we are able to chose what we like, as well as people we like. Humans are made up of all these wonderful differences and personalities living in cities and towns, neighborhoods and communities. Each of us unique in body, mind and spirit. 

What breaks us down is exactly our differences and preferences, so the level of conformity that takes over forms our choices and how we are able to fit in.

It wouldn't  surprise me if the bag earned more money at the fundraiser than the quilt does.  The pink I found for the back & last front border is not the bubble-gum pink usually used. AND the scrap quilting on the front was done in rectangles rather than the squares. Its personal preference again. I am surprised at how folks like the scrappy quilts even more than the ones that take so much more work.

I am probably just being too picky. It is what it is and if someone wants a homemade quilt, they will have this opportunity to bid on one and get it for a lot less than if they went to a store that sells them.  Again, we are able to buy quilts made in a factory overseas for a lot less money than they are worth to make here.  

If you add another zero to the cost of the materials used in creating a quilt, you have a marketable value. That means if I spend $30 on materials, the project ends up being valued at $300. You can still purchase good fabric between $10-15 a yard, and for a twin size quilt, you will need 8-10 yards, plus batting and thread. In other words, each quilt that size easily costs about $150 just to start it, making its end value at $1500 or more!

I used to be able to buy a spool of cotton thread for 29 cents. Thread is running $3-6 a spool for common cotton. Then, for tools, you need a rotary cutter and blades, pins & needles, scissors, a cutting mat and rulers, all of which wear out or need replacing. 

Its no wonder that quilters make scrap quilts using as much of every yard that is purchased, including batting scraps. Yes, it matters that scraps would contribute to the landfills, and yes, it matters that the cost of things are rising all the time.

We can take a lot of free online classes and download free patterns. It means being quite mindful of the work, the end results and our concentrated efforts.

I enjoyed the resulting tote, and if I hear what it sold for at the auction will report that here.