Tuesday Twister

When I first bought the big Twister template, I pulled out 10" holiday fabric squares and put together a simple lap quilt. Again, the template came with a pattern that was more of a loose suggestion rather than a real pattern. The thing is, that it is meant to be relatively random.

Just like anything in life, I have learned lessons along the way.

As I have used it more, I see that random is only good if it is planned to look random. With this template, I learned that larger prints don't work well, and that planned layout is more creative sometimes than the random look. This one was random, and I wish that I had sorted colors. Squares before they are template-cut look different. Maybe I am being too fussy, and this WAS an earlier project.

The other thing I got done were two mug rugs meant for two of the elders in my family. Again, this is a matter of layout to get the chevron design. I'll get them mailed this week.

Patriotic Mug Rug

There are fewer elders in my family as time goes on, and they probably want to downsize even more than I do. Yet, I know how pleasant it is to receive happy mail. As I thought about it, I decided to make a few mug rugs for those Aunties who still live in their homes. And I thought about how I could do them before leaving on my trip to MN a week from tomorrow. 

I found this simple pattern that I could convert from the traditional red/green for holidays to a red-white-blue patriotic theme at 
http://www.freshlypieced.com/2011/09/strip-pieced-zig-zag-mug-rug.html

Quilting on a diagonal isn't as easy as one thinks. The first one I made isn't perfect, and will go to the give-away table in the clubhouse. Someone will like it, not even noticing the mistakes, and I will do better with the other two I cut out, and want to just do them without looking for mistakes. (Pictures of mine to follow)

Back & Front

There is an old saying that boats are safe in the harbor, but that is not what boats are made for. Quilting is a risk when you cut into fabric and piece it together. You can think it will work out, but that doesn't mean it will.

I finished Jake's quilt and really love how both sides turned out. Again, this was made in my early days of quilting, so I think I lucked out that the back turned out as good as it did. The small border on the back was successful and the binding works for both sides.

I was scrap quilting from the git-go, and this back was pieced with leftovers from the top borders. I wanted to make this quilt as masculine as possible, but the Grandson is still a boy, so who knows how long this quilt will last or if he even cares about them. I can just imagine him rolling his eyes when he opens the package...saying, "Oh jee...another quilt. Thanks Granny," as he whips it back in the box and goes onto the next gift to open.

The top is pretty standard for how I have been making the Bird Quilts. The only differences are the fabric choices, and of course, while they each get 15 state bird/flower blocks, with a Cali block as one of them, the other 14 are random choices. Well, not so random actually. I did work to select them so they would coordinate with the quilt fabrics. 

There is one more to do & I have an appointment to baste on Tuesday.

Binding

I got the binding machine stitched, and half of the quilt is clipped waiting for the final step of hand sewing. For whatever reason, this time the binding made me think of the phrase, "the ties that bind". Clearly, from all the references that can be found for it, it seems to represent or speak to the connection people have to each other.

This quilt is turning out to be lovely, both front and back. I lucked out in the measuring that I did so long ago before I knew what I was doing. There is a sweet, sweet border on the back that is in perfect alignment this time (some are not so easy to do). And the colors are striking.

Ties that bind between people can work out both ways too. Sometimes its a perfect fit and we are lucky. Sometimes ties can hold us to someone who is not right for us. We go along to get along. Even after we think a tie or bond or link is undone, a part of it stays.

I have heard that when you do hand work on a quilt of any nature, to work with thread no longer than 18" so that if it breaks or comes undone, that it doesn't mean the entire quilt ravels. Its almost like having Plan B in effect.Thing is, if the quilt goes to someone else and comes undone, they may not have skills to fix it.

That is how it is with our relationships. Just because one person gets healthy doesn't mean the others will. So when they meet again, they pick up the dysfunction as if it hadn't been healed, or anyone in it was evolved. I don't believe we have to stay in dysfunction any more than I believe I have to tolerate a mis-created seam. We get to choose what is in our life and on our quilts. 

Binding. A day or two on this one and another Bird Quilt will be completed.

Whew, No Wrinkles

I could not put off machine quilting the next Bird Quilt. I like using that Serpentine stitch on the machine as a better way to do Stitch-in-the-Ditch. There is actual agony for me when I put something off. Instead of forgetting and releasing and putting it behind, its all I can think about.

This one goes to my Grandson Jake. Summer colors for a Summer Solstice birth, and yet, black and white to go with everything. You have to look mighty close to see the stitches along the sashing. Thread is an orange like the cornerstones and soon-to-be-binding.

I feel so good about the way these stitches are looking. I had taken for granted that they would all be easy. So many things can get in the way of a success story that may or may not have anything to do with the leading lady or quilter. I must say that I am a little cautious and as soon as a seam is finished, I put the quilt on my pressing board to look for wrinkles on the backside. 

It made me think about relationships in my life that have wrinkles of a sort. The easy ones are the kind of people you might not see for a very long time, and then just rush into conversation as if it was just yesterday. And others. The wrinkles. Well, they are just hard.

Trained / Untrained

The title above comes from the movie MAN ON FIRE. The storyline is that he (Denzel Washington) is hired as a bodyguard for a young grrrl (Dakota Fanning) in Mexico where statistics say that countless people are kidnapped, held for ransom and sometimes killed. As they spend more time together, he attends her swimming meets and helps her respond to the shock of the start-gun-sound. He uses this phrase of 'trained/untrained' to help her see the value in training. (You Tube has several viewing options, though the film has violence that some may not enjoy.) It is a tearjerker and one I have seen many times.

As a quilter, I realize the importance of getting good guidance; living in this small town, I find that it is not readily available. I get a lot online.

This morning, I found a link to a group of tutorials from SewVeryEasy. In this one, the speaker shows how thread is put on a spool and how it comes off on the machine. The product is called THE THREAD DIRECTOR. I had NO idea that thread twists if it comes off counter to how it lays on the spool! I was just putting it on the machine and trusting to my luck with it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMh0AwDAZyo

I cannot say that I want to purchase all the tools, because, in this case, I don't use specialty threads though I have some in my stash for 'some day'. And I know that I am not in the 'hunt/gather' stage of my life, so I want to get along with what I have first.

Thing is, knowledge is power. Knowledge has always been powerful for me, and what I don't know often bites me. I am going to spend a little more time with this tutorial series as part of my self-education before going on with more quilting projects.

The Right Stuff

I did like the movie. However, what I mean is that having the right gear for any activity is vital to its success. 

Strong masking tape may leave glue on fabric, but it will be on the backside of the backing against the table. No wrinkles! This is the back of the wallhanging with the sleeve (for the rod) folded over at the top to get pressed and joined. No wrinkles! And as I basted, there was actually a tighter feel to it all. Lesson learned.

Originally, I bought the blue painters' tape for securing the backs to the tables. And it worked. Then, with the last one, they must have changed the product because this time it lifted off almost right away. I read the print on the tape and it said it was good for three hours, so should have worked. It didn't.

This masking tape was almost hard to peel off the roll the glue was so strong. At this point, all that I wanted was for it to work. And it does.

Now, I am hand sewing binding on one of the quilts and this wall hanging, so that will take several days.