Happy Birthday to You

I made this quilt for my friend D's 40th birthday--today!
It's been in the making at home for couple of months. In fact it spent more time on my design wall than under my sewing machine, since the main part of the quilt is made from 40 different squares of fabric each with some significance to my friend. Balancing out where all the different fabrics would best fit was quite a juggle. Apart from that, the hardest thing was not blogging about it as I went along. Particualrly when my friend is one of my regular readers and she made a few comments about my not blogging on some of the days when I was working on her quilt.

Now it's safely handed over. In fact, it's sitting on her lap as I type. So, happy birthday!

Team Work

Here is a shot from last night's class. It was a case of all hands on deck as we worked together to get the last three quilts basted: This red quilt belongs to Leigh. She chose to baste her quilt with needle and thread. We used doll needles--they are very long and very sharp. Meanwhile on the other table another group was pin-basting another quilt.

Happy Now!

On top of all the excitement of the final quilting class last night, we were also celebrating Harmony Week--saying no to racism and yes to tolerance and respect. Orange is the theme colour for Harmony Day, so there were orange lamingtons for supper.

Totally unexpected, and totally heart-warming for me, was the moment when I opened a tiny package wrapped in orange paper. One of the students gave it to me with a little note to say "thanks to my creative teacher". This is what I found inside:

. . . the sweetest little crystal heart, clear, with orange reflections. What can I say!

Tired, Excited, Details Tomorrow

I'm just home from the last evening of my Beginner Patchwork by Machine Class. All eight students were there again and I have high hopes of all of them finishing their quilts. All the tops are done and basted and we did practice binding tonight as well as finishing off the basting. I've promised to put up some step-by-step instructions for the binding. It won't be tonight!

Now I just need to wind down enough to get some sleep.

Sew With Me

Here's my big table as it looked at about 3.30 this afternoon:
I caught up with a couple of my quilting friends. V was working on her red applique flowers. M was collecting blue, yellow and black fabrics for a quilt and I was stitching the binding on a quilt. Add tea and coffee, chocolate, dates and cake and you have the recipe for a very happy few hours.

It was great letting M loose on my fabric collection. She only needed pieces a few inches across, but as varied as possible in those three colour ranges. V had already gone through her fabrics and came with three piles of squares already cut. I wasn't anywhere near as organised, so I put on the kettle and just brought a box or two at a time from my sewing room.

Of course we had to discuss most of the fabrics as they came out of the boxes:

• * where did it come from,
• * how much did it cost
• * who else has that fabric
• * what was it bought for,
• * what quilt had it been used for already,
• * what other projects might it be used in . . .
  

M went home with enough blue, yellow and black bits to do many more blocks, V finished her flowers and I got half way round my quilt binding, without getting bored. And my fabrics are tidier than they were when we started, though I can't really see that there's any less fabric there than there was. We'll have to do it again soon.

"C" is for "Cute Critters"

I had to go back to the haberdashery warehouse this week to buy the wadding for the class quilts. Just like last time, I prepared myself for the visit with a list and a steely resolve, but this time, a few little extras did sneak into my purchases. Who could resist these cute critters? Especially when they were lurking by the counter in a discount rack for only a dollar a bag: I think they will just have to keep my butterflies company--besides I do want to make the point that "quilting" doesn't just have to be about lots of fancy tiny little stitches. So there! $1 worth of cuteness added to my life.

"C" is for "Community"

Today's quilting task was to baste my "quilt sandwich": backing, batting and top. I don't have a space big enough to do it comfortably at home, so I went off to the Neighbourhood House. There's a big table in the middle of the computer lab which I had the use of for an hour or so. I got the quilt done, I also got some friendly comments and a chance to laugh with friends. At the end of the afternoon, I was tired, but satisfied with my efforts. That's got to be a good thing.

I haven't taken a picture, but really it looks the same as it did this morning, except thicker and with safety pins holding the layers together. The next task is quilting and I've found some cute buttons which I might add as well.

Quilt Top Done

Here it is:I put the borders on this morning. Next step is to buy batting and make the "quilt sandwich". I'm managing to stay one jump ahead of my students with this quilt. Two of them should have their borders on by this next lesson, so they'll be ready for the next step. The others won't be far behind.

My next decision is what fabric to use for the binding. Now that I can see the quilt with the borders on I'm thinking navy or a really dark purple.

There's Always Shopping

I didn't get any sewing done today, I went to Southbank Market and had a lovely day out.

A friend came over for coffee this afternoon and then I realised that today was the last day to use a $10 voucher I'd received in the mail for a local craft shop. So we whisked up to Essendon to spend my "free" money. V was more restrained than I was, but the marketing people should be patting themselves on the back.

I bought the hot pink fabric on the left to use for the back of my butterfly quilt--at $3 per metre I couldn't go wrong.

Butterfly Border

Here's a close up of the fabric I bought for the butterfly quilt border. It has spent the night draped over the ironing board, since my rack in the bathroom was full. As you can see, it hasn't had the benefit of an iron yet: I'm pretty pleased with it. It picks up the pink of the butterfly fabric, the blue of the alternate squares and even has that tiny bit of bright green which is also in the butterfly print. I'm toying with the idea of using the bright green for the binding--just a sliver around the edge. I'll see how I feel about it when I get there.

It's My Turn Now

I had a glorious hour at a local quilting shop at lunch time today. After seeing all 8 of my students well on the way to getting their quilt tops finished last night, I was ready to have look at something for myself. I struck it lucky at GJ's--not that all the staff aren't great in their own way, but it felt grand to have G herself pulling out fabrics and laying them out to see how they went with my quilts. I found three fabrics that work for my various projects and the results are now in the washing machine. Maybe I'll get to do some sewing tomorrow.

Quick Post

I've had my running shoes on to catch up on what I want to get done before this evening's class. So here's the quick piecing technique I mentioned the other day: This is the sashing and cornerstones. I've just fed them through the machine one after the other without stopping to tie off ends and restart. The machine just happily keeps stitching through the whole row. When they're all done I just snip the threads in between. That's it!

The application for quilting is pretty obvious, but you could use the same idea if you were sewing a few of anything, really. I've used this technique for the cuffs of t-shirts when I was making a few for a friend's daughters--three t-shirts by two cuffs per t-shirt, in they go one after another: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6!

Ah Ha!

I was just heading for bed, thinking over the fact that I've set myself up with two blogs, and the pro's and con's of that. I was thinking over the way this blog swings between quilting and dressmaking, while my other blog feels pretty steady despite all my other textile adventures--varied as they may be. It doesn't seem to worry me if it's spinning, weaving, dyeing, knitting or whatever on any given day. But for this blog I ask myself, is it ok to swing between two such different types of sewing . . . ?

Anyway, then the "ah ha" bit came in, because I realised that I do nearly all my sewing in this room--the sewing room, I call it--ah ha! Most of my other textile work is done in my big living space. And yes, in my big living space there's room for two looms, a spinning wheel, an armchair for knitting and crochet, a table for designing, a kitchen area for dyeing--I do also occasionally prepare food there--and so on. In this room, if there's a quilt on the go, my other sewing just has to stay in its box. And at the moment there are three quilts on the go. So, at least that's making a bit more sense to me. It seems as though I've lined up my blogs with my work patterns and the geography of my house.

I guess the next question is, how does it go for the reader with those different types of sewing popping up at different times?

Quilts on Speed

I've been a bit worried about my timetable for this quilt. I cut out the sashing for it last week, only to concede a few days later that it really wasn't what I wanted to use. So this week I needed to cut another set of sashing and get it sewn on ready for Wednesday's class.

Fortunately, I finally twigged last week that my rotary cutter was getting blunt. Like many things that gradually deteriorate, it had slipped my notice until it was a fair way gone. It took three attempts to buy a replacement blade--different brands are not interchangeable and one shop had sold out . . . that meant a couple of hours of frantic driving around on the afternoon before I had to teach, but today I used my new blade for the first time. Oh, the joy! It just zipped through the fabric and I had the sashing cut out in no time. Next step was pinning, and I've just done that while listening to my favourite breakfast radio. As for the stitching, I can just run these blocks through the machine one after another, pretty much without stopping for breath. That's as long as I pull the pins out before I come to them and keep everything facing the right way. So, I expect to be back on track by morning tea time. And V is coming for coffee. She's bringing a couple of quilts to show my beginner students.

Now I just need to implement my plan and keep a level head, so I don't crash into something unexpected at great speed.

Nightmares

It wasn't the quilt that kept me awake last night . . . but while I should have been sleeping, all sorts of things were going over and over in my mind. Eventually I got up and tried this idea: I think I'll go with it. Not that I'm scared of being too loud, but I think this combination puts the emphasis back on the butterflies, which after all are the feature. I can use the scary loud fabrics for something else. Watch this space for updates.

Having solved my butterfly quilt issues, I made myself a cup of hot milk, turned on the radio and had another go at sleeping. That wasn't nearly as successful. Somehow late night jazz didn't suit my mood and it was several hours still before I got any sleep. But when I got up this morning, the quilt arrangement greeted me in a bright and cheerful way. I'm still feeling the effects of bad night, but at least my quilt is happy!

The Polls are In, Out, or Uncertain . . .

Votes so far . . . blog and students combined:

• * a couple for the bright orange/yellow
• * several definitely against the bright orange/yellow
• * a couple for the pink and purple dots
• * a couple for the stripes -- including me when I went to do the cutting out this afternoon
• * a suggestion of navy from one of the students--actually it looked good to me
• * a suggestion of white, also from one of the students--definitely calming, though not my style, particularly for a kids' quilt--it worked, though
• * . . . and I'm guessing a few somewhat overwhelmed by all the brightness and too polite to say so!

. . . as for me, I'm just glad this is a fun, learn as you go quilt project, rather than one with any great expectations.

Or This? . . . Or This?

I don't have enough of the yellow-red fabric to get the sashing out of it. But it will give me the excuse to talk to the students about "fussy cutting" I think I might use the yellow for cornerstones and the pink-purple fabric on the right in the pic below for the sashing. At this stage I'm thinking of the blue squares as a resting place for the eyes in what will otherwise be quite a bright and busy quilt. Definitely a kids' quilt, this one.

Have I Created a Monster?

Lesson 3 of the Beginners Patchwork class at the Neighbourhood House is tomorrow evening. For two lessons I've been reasuring the students about their colour choices. I've suggested they only make one set of fabric choices at a time and let the quilt "speak to them" about what to do next. This is definitely my philosophy, for quilts in particular. I find that somehow the process of combining fabrics results in a phenomenon with a character of its own.

But, now I have to choose the sashing fabric for this butterfly quilt.

I didn't really plan to make this quilt. It started off because I wanted to demonstate the different steps in the process for the students as we went along, as well as having a demonstration of the finished product. I didn't think very hard when I chose the plain blue fabric to go with the cute butterflies, but at that stage I wasn't really thinking of it as a quilt. The students have surprised me by becoming quite attached to the butterfly fabric and they seem to expect to see it transformed into a quilt by the end of the course.


So, now I have to choose the sashing fabric for this butterfly quilt. I have pulled out dozens of fabrics and waited for the 9-patch block to speak to me. For a long time, all it seemed to be saying was, "NO": too bright, too dull, too red, not the right shade of blue, too busy, too plain . . .

I think I've maybe got as far as a "maybe", now:
I'm thinking of cutting this yellow-orange-red fabric to maximise the yellow and using the purple as a contrast for the corner-stones--those are the little squares that hold the whole thing together.

For now I'm using another favourite technique, wait and see. This involves leaving the uncertain choice in a place where I am likely to come across it throughout the day while I'm busy with something else. Sometimes seeing it like that, perhaps in passing or out of the corner of my eye, gives me a better answer than a process of insistent enquiry. Besides, the process of insistent enquiry is driving me mad! There, now I've given myself a technical excuse for what might otherwise be seen as procrastination.

"Knitting"

I just got this book back on Friday, "Knitting" by Anne Bartlett: I read it last year and loved it. Since then it's been doing the rounds of the Book Club and the Knitters Circle at the Neighbourhood House, which coincidentally have quite a big overlap in their membership. It arrived back in my pigeon hole last week. Now I wish I'd thought to keep a record of it's travels:)

I know it say, "knitting" and this is a sewing blog, but honestly, it's worth a read. And it speaks to some of the issues I raised last week about how we see ourselves and our craft. What's more it's Australian--set in Adelaide--and feels very homey to me . . . as if it's written by someone who appreciates my world.

By the way, I have been doing some sewing today. I need to finish the 9-patch blocks for the class quilt, so I can demonstrate the next steps on Wednesday.