For 2012

Don't you love this? Have you met Kelli from Seriously, I Think It Needs More Stitches? I love her sensibility and I love her resolution for 2012. And here it is! I think I may have to add this to my sidebar!

Sash!

 

The whole issue of sashing involves the overlook of the quilt. For something soft and melty, no sashing. But I love the drama that sashing gives this quilt. Also, I think the sashing makes the weaving effect very obvious, and that's an effect I like. I've taken the advice of my Left-Handed Blogging friend and split of the pairs of batiks. I also listened to my sister-in-law who suggested grouping my blocks according to Roy G. Biv. One reason I love batiks is that it's hard to nail down their specific color, and that's the one thing that makes this kind of sorting difficult. Luckily the black batik I want to use for the sashing is still en route, so I have some time to work on the layout and play with the colors!

To Sash - Or Not To Sash

I could go on and on about the 6.5" x 8.5" block dimensions and how adding a 1.5" strip of black to each block would make them 8.5" s 8.5" and how I have 80 blocks so far and how I need to use my EQ software to figure out sizes with and without sashing and setting these blocks ad infinitium ad nauseum. But these two tentative layouts speak for themselves. Just need to decide which look I want to go for...

Here's to 2012!

Dryer-Sheet Applique: A Tutorial

I love the generosity that exists among quilters.  Being a self-taught quilter, I know how to do what I do thanks in large part to tutorials and illustrations in books.  So in a spirit of reciprocity, here's a little tutorial on the dryer-sheet applique method.  This method can be used for a variety of shapes, but I'm working with circles here.

Place a used dryer sheet on the right side of the fabrics (here a scrap from two fabrics), pin to stabilize, and draw the circle.  I used a CD.

Cut all the way around, and sew a scant 1/4" seam all the way around the outer edge.

The back side of your fabric should look something like this.

Pinch the dryer sheet away from the fabric and cut a slit in it, 2" long or so.

Reach in through the slit and turn it inside-out so that the right side of the fabric is now on the outside.

Use a poking tool of some kind and press so that your circle lies flat.

And you get some nice little circles, ready to be appliqued onto your fabric.  The dryer sheet is thin, and a nice zigzag stitch is easy to do!

Thanks to Sue Ryan who demonstrated this method last July at the Chicago Modern Quilt Guild.  And here's to whittling that fabric stash down in 2012!

Batik Beautiliciousness

These are just the blocks so far. Not the setting. I am loving how this is taking shape. What a great way to end 2011 and start 2012!

This Quilter's Dilemma

My main dilemma - and it's such a good one - is choosing the quilt I want to do next.  I've been going through my design notebook, looking at the "Inspiration" folder on my computer, and assessing my fabric stash.  I bought a bolt of a light bone Moda, thinking I want to do something light.  But for this time of year, dark is calling to me.  So are my batiks - in fact, they are clamoring to be used. I'll save that bolt of bone for the summer. 

So here are all my batiks.  Now what to do with them.  What I love most about these fabrics is their coloring changes depending on what a fabric is paired or teamed with.  And some of these pieces are small.  Whatever I do has to be scrappy, unlike the quilt I did for my nephew Nathan, highly planned with only 3 batiks. 

These blocks are 6.5"x 8.5", made from 2.5" strips cut at 4.5" and 6.5".  So far I'm doing 4 blocks from each pair of fabrics.  As I get further into the project, I'm hoping to set these blocks directly next to one another.  But I'm also thinking that I could use something dark, a black perhaps, to square off each block and create a woven effect.  And of course now that I'm searching for an example of what I want I can't find it. 

For half a day I did consider doing something with dots, big ones, made from my scrap table and dryer sheets, the dryer-sheet applique method.  I will do this project at some point - it does have possibilities.  And this leads into the biggest dilemma:  fabric.  I have too much.  So what do I do?  I buy more.  Seriously, there are some fabulous on-lines sales.  Then I become more determined than ever to use scraps, which is where I'm starting with my batik project.  Using the smallest bits first.  What fun dilemmas!

Therapeutic Sewing

Monday was a phone day with my mother's medical people.  You know the drill:  you call, leave a message, wait for the office to call back.  I'm not complaining, just stating.  Tuesday was hanging out with my parents, which means driving around and listening to accordion music and having the same conversation with my mother again and again.   My poor mom just cannot grasp where she lives or who she lives with.  Or what day it is.  Or how old she is.  Or that my father doesn't drive anymore.  Or that she doesn't cook.

Wednesday I went to the studio, ostensibly to do some putting away, cleaning, sorting, and organizing.  But I got distracted by these three green materials and the duffel bag pattern that I've made once.  I decided to kind of wing this pattern and inadvertently made this duffel 27" wide instead of 21" wide.  But it still works nicely.

The studio may still be messy.  But I feel better.  

The Quiltmaker's Gift

If this book is one you haven't read, then get a copy somewhere.  It's beautifully illustrated and is the essence of the quilter's soul. 

I've been living this book the past few days, giving away the bags and totes I've been making - to my doctor, to my parents' doctor, to our dentist, to my yoga instructor.

What a luxury to give away what I make.  

The Lowly T-Shirt, Part 3

What do you do with those pesky t-shirts and medals after you've run a marathon - or a half-marathon? That was the problem Chandra (my own personal physical therapist) and her family had after all of them finished the half-marathon on Oak Brook last September. So I suggested a wall hanging, and here it is. I'm very impressed that Chandra did the 13.1 mile run/walk. She's someone who definitely practices what she preaches!

Not Much Gained...

My foray into "retail" was successful enough - I sold 2 Amazing Red Scrappy totes, 3 Amazing Technicolor Dream Totes, and 3 shopping bags.  But I don't think I'll do anything like this again.  Well, not anytime soon

Being at a church was a nice, safe venue. And the other vendors were all nice people, too. The bonus of the day was hanging out with my sister-in-law. I need to send the church 10% of my profits - $25.00.

It was nice today to be able to restore some sort of order to the studio and work on a few things which I've been wanting to get to. And whip up just one more Mors bag. This one is for my dentist who is also a violinist.

This bag is one that John is giving to a woman at our bank who's been extremely helpful to us in the past year. 

My brother Doug and I were driving to a family funeral in Indiana years ago, perhaps the one for Judy White, my cousin Bill's lovely wife who died way too young. And I remember we had a long, extensive conversation about the profit motive. We come from a family where profit wasn't part of the work equation. Of course my father worked, but he was paid for his piano tuning and he was paid union scale for his accordion jobs. My years of teaching? Of course I made money, but none of it was profit-oriented. So to sell my work for profit - it's just something I'm not comfortable with. Pricing my pieces was difficult. But once I did arrive at what I thought was a fair price, friend Rich Seidelman made this wonderful graphic which I had with me yesterday. 

I value what I do.  But I like giving it away much more than I like selling it.