Twinkle, twinkle

Here's a little quilt some friends and I put together. Its recipient loves to take nighttime walks and so we chose a theme of "Nighttime Creatures". We approached it in the way we had the others. Everyone submitted a block and the scraps of the fabrics they used. I assembled the quilt, using the scraps in the borders, and quilted it.

The inner border has the words to "Twinkle, twinkle little star" quilted in it. The outer borders are quilted in stars and leaves.

A few of the blocks:

We've tested it. It has baby pleasing powers. 

How I like to use my iron

Splice

A quilt for a new mama friend.

The best I have for a wide shot. It's Oregon, the lighting is terrible until July. And then we go nuts and hang the quilts outside.

This quilt was born of a failed project that I had cut into pieces in disgust. Doesn't Bonnie Hunter say if you don't like a fabric, use a smaller piece? I figure maybe that applies to patchwork too. When my friend declared grey one of her favorite colors I immediately thought of the languishing little strips, and the quilt started assembling itself.

I started by putting strips on the wall. My process relies heavily on having a design wall. I don't know how much I spent on this old tablecloth and the thumbtacks that hold it up, but I have certainly gotten my money's worth.

I quilted the pebble ribbons first and filled in with the wavy lines afterward.

I recall reading one quilter's perspective that a quilt should hold something of interest at three distances: across the room, nearby and in your face. I think of that advice often when I'm working on a piece, and particularly when planning the quilting. What is there to discover up close? In this case, I left some quilted words of encouragement. 

This is my first quilt since the baby was born. It came together in just over a week. I had motivation, but still, wow. Something has shifted. Several somethings in fact.

As I stitched I was thinking a lot about my work as a quilter, as an artist. Thinking about how I keep poking at the same things over and over. Shapes in negative space. Strips. Things sewn, cut, and then sewn again. A bit of light, movement, sparkle. This quilt really brought to the forefront of my mind that I have a visual vocabulary. I have something I do. I have a process, a method, a style. 

It feels good to see this pattern. I can respect it, and let it work. Love it and let it grow into the Next Thing. I can be kinder to myself, see that I just have to make my art in my way, and not worry about how it fits in with anything else. So that's my meditation right now. To just keep making the quilts, to do the work without the worry. Easier said than done, for sure. But worth it to keep trying.

Safe Asset

Here's a little iPad pouch for my grandma. She's so cool. She's a great quilter to know. Grandma was telling me about shot cottons five years ago. About sewing with selvages ten years ago. Also, she has an iPad! This totally tickles me.

Grandma loves Kaffe Fassett's fabric. Made-two-quilts-out-of-just-his-fabric loves it. So I had to use some in this project. Thanks for sharing your fabric with me, grandma!

Orange is my new favorite color. If only I'd had orange thread when I went to quilt this.

P.S. Today my post title doubles as a public service announcement. Kaffe Fassett rhymes with safe asset. So if you've been calling him Coffee or Calf or Cough, you can stop now. Safe asset. Just like grandma's iPad.

The best kind of distraction

Hi Mama!

Can I use the brush?

Can I sew with you? Let's make a scarf!

Put to good use

I enjoyed the stabilizer I reviewed in my last post so much I wanted to try it on something without batting. This time I photocopied some ginkgo leaves and embroidered some kitchen towels*. Love!

I did one denser than the other. I like the denser one better.

When I do free motion stitching on something that doesn't have batting, I find I need something on the backside so the stitches won't make the fabric pucker. I use a wash away stabilizer called Paper Solvy. I just cut the size I need from a sheet of paper, so one pack goes a long way.

Now the towels are being used in a happy new home. I love to see something I've made getting used. So much better than waiting in a drawer or on a shelf until it goes out of style. 

*photocopied in the fall when leaves were around, but not stitched until the new year. That's the sort of timeline I'm on right now! You understand.

Experiment

Objective: To quantify frustrations encountered with using a commercially available, sticky backed wash away stabilizer.

Background: The author's previous experience with a similar sticky backed product resulted in skipped stitches and grumbling. The author hypothesized that all sticky backed stabilizers were a terrible idea for free motion stitching and were for those people with embroidery machines.

Methods: Using a home printer, leaves were photocopied onto one sheet of the stabilizer. Leaf shapes were cut out and removed from the paper backing, then affixed to a quilt sandwich. The author stitched along the outlines and veins of the leaves, going over each line twice or more in a loose, sketchy manner. Skipped stitches and grumbling events were recorded.

Outcomes: Much to the author's surprise, no skipped stitches were encountered. The only grumbling happened when the author's child began her own experiment involving a paper bag and some water. The author's child eventually enjoyed matching the stitched versions of the leaves with their originals.

Discussion: This Wash Away Stitch Stabilizer* can be used without skipped stitches. The author sincerely recommends this product to sewists who like to finish things in a good mood. This study should be repeated using better fabric now that the author knows it won't be a disaster.

*C&T sent me the sample, but they didn't ask me to review it. I just wanted to share my good experience because who knows when you'll need something like this?