Not All Dirt and Rocks

September 18, 2013 Elizabeth E.9 Comments

The quilting community is priceless–I see it on blogs, on Instagram, in quilt shops, and in smaller groups that gather together. And in my case, this week, the comments I received about my frustration with my quilting buoyed me up and gave me lots to think about.

The first thing I did was buy a couple of more tools to help me. Both Amie and Pip, in their comments, steered me back to Leah Day’s FMQ site, and then to Diane Gaudynski’s blog, where I learned tons of things by reading through all of her posts (loved the one about *batting*). One of the things I learned was continuing education is invaluable, as new tools (above), ideas and techniques are always evolving and I Need To Keep Up. Practice is mandatory, other commenters reminded me, and to not despair that my quilting is not like that of the long-armers. I loved the quote that Dot sent over, and also this one by Ursula La Guin:

If you see a whole thing, it seems that it’s always beautiful. Planets, lives… But up close a world’s all dirt and rocks. And day to day, life’s a hard job, you get tired, you lose the pattern.

And I guess I should add that quilting seems to be best looked at as a “whole thing.” I am thankful for those who read my blog, reminding me not to focus on the dirt and rocks, but to keep the vision–to not lose the pattern.

One of the little miracles this week was teaching my Lollypop Treat class at Bluebird Quilts & Gallery. I had six great and enthusiastic students (one was camera shy), shown here the second week, bringing back in their own Lollypop Treat blocks. Each is so different and so wonderful, and I had such a great time. A couple of them became readers of this blog, so to them I say–thanks for joining in the adventure!

The owner, Janet, saw my Tote and thought it would make a great class, so she picked out some fall-themed fabrics, with a fun pop of Halloween for the lining. It’s an evening class, just one day, on October 22, from 6-8:30 p.m. if you’d care to join us. (You can reach the shop by calling (909) 514-0333.)

This is the tote that I made–I’ve been using it as my purse and I’m really liking it, even though it’s probably not what you’d see in the fashion magazines. But I need a purse that I can throw stuff in, and that has pockets, and that I can set on the floor if needed. I also love my higher-end leather purses, but in truth, that’s not always the kind of life I lead. And this suits me.

May you have a good week, working on the Dirt and Rocks, but keeping an eye on the bigger whole.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Lee’s Freshly Pieced blog.

Quilts

Quilting. . . and a Sticky Question

September 15, 2013 Elizabeth E.13 Comments

It begins here. I printed off a picture of my quilt, then took a fine-point sharpie to “quilt” in the designs I thought I would do.

Then this happens. Over and over, on each row. For every hour quilting, I spent half an hour unpicking. Wrong color thread. Wrong pattern. Wrong shape. Wrong style.

Finally, things start working.

I admit it. The last row got stippled, as I was pretty tired and my shoulders hurt from quilting.

I put it up on the pin wall, but something’s not working.

I pin up different centers–hard to see on this small picture, but I know it’s the center. I call in my resident quilt expert. “Looks nice,” he says, in the same tone of voice as when he answers the question “Does this make me look fat?” I know now what is wrong, but I am loathe to admit it. I turn out the light and go to bed.

In the morning, I pick up my seam ripper. Unpicking dense quilting gives you a chance to think. A lot. Here comes the sticky question, but first the set-up. I own a good-quality Viking/Husqvarna sewing machine, but it was purchased before we all started quilting so much on our quilts, even though it is called the Quilt Designer. After three tries, I finally found the foot that works for me, the tension, the everything to allow me to quilt on my machine. But my quilting doesn’t look like Judi Madsen’s on The Green Fairy, or on other blogs that I haunt. And I know why: my domestic sewing machine, without a stitch regulator, cannot compare to what a long-arm can do. Or even a baby long-arm. It’s just me and the thread, me and the pedal, my hands moving supposedly in sync with the speed of the machine.

But it’s not enough anymore, is it?

What was wrong with the middle was my quilting. The shape of the fern, the stitches that hover near even, but occasionally veer into very small or a bit-too-big, the whatever–it was just wrong. Free-Motion Quilting — the REAL free-motion quilting, has its warts, showing the artisan behind the tool. But that’s not what we are after anymore, is it? We want perfection: no bobbles, no wobbles.

So after three hours of unpicking, I am back here. And the reality of where our industry is heading today is that if I want a quilt that I feel I can enter in a show, or display wherever, I’ll have to step up on the quilting front, because no matter how you look at it, the ones with the bigger, more extensive machines with stitch regulators will always have it over me on my little domestic machine. Because of the limitations of my tools, I don’t know if I can make it right.

But I’ll try.

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Note: You may occasionally see ads here placed by my blogging software. They place ads so I can blog for free. It’s an okay trade-off.

Quilts

From Baskets to a Museum–more quilts in Utah

September 13, 2013September 10, 2013 Elizabeth E.1 Comment

While visiting relatives in Utah, just before I tucked into the new semester of teaching (which would explain why I have been AWOL for a couple of weeks), my husband and I headed to Salt Lake City’s newest museum: The Natural History Museum, high up above the University of Utah. It is a gorgeous museum, complete with artifacts, history and dinosaur bones.

But I was more interested in the woven baskets in the Native People’s exhibit. I guess I’m fascinated by color and pattern, in all forms.

Which is why I found this piece of art, in the Millcreek Library so fascinating. That library, where my sister-in-law Annie works, has a Senior Citizen’s center, a gym, a cafeteria and of course, art.

This appears to make of some sort of plasticized material–almost like a thin linoleum, cut and sewn in quilt patterns. I loved it.

I had brought up my Polaroid Quilt to show my mother, and my dad held up his finger as if to signal a pause and came back carrying this: a genuine, bonafide Polaroid camera. Of course, there’s not any film to be found for it anymore, but I thought it deserved a picture with the quilt.

On the way home, we headed to the Springville Art Museum, which hosts a quilt show every August. I snapped a lot of photos, but here are just some of them. This one is titled Juxtaposition and is by Marilyn Landry Toone, and was inspired by her daughter’s choice of fabrics from her “fabric stash of 40-plus years.”

I’ve Had the Blues is made by Jacque Thompson and quilted by Kim Peterson, and was made “entirely out of scraps using one-inch strips.”

Detail of the beautiful quilting.

Kristen Roylance’s quilt Posy Patch was made using a modified disappearing 4-patch block, and was quilted by Molly Kohler. The dimensional flowers were charming.

I snapped this one without noting who made or quilted it–it’s really beautiful and detailed.

“Look, honey,” I said to my husband. “A Dear Jane quilt!” “Dear what?” he said. The title of this one is Dear Jane Invites Hannah for a Dutch Treat, and is made and quilted by Shirley Olsen. It was a masterpiece and earned an Award of Excellance from the judges.

Marion McClellan’s Bottle Cap Bangles is a fun use of hexagrams and fussy-cut fabric. She also quilted her piece.

This quilt, Zinnia Basket, was made and quilted by Patti Jacobs, from a Kim Diehl pattern. Apparently she used to think that quilters were nuts to “spend time doing hand appliqué when you could sew the pieces on with the sewing machine,” but now is a dedicated lover of appliqué.

I really liked the border.

Kaye Evans quilt, Just One Weed, is named for the dandelion hexagon in the middle of the quilt. It was quilted by Sue McCarty.

The quilt display was merged with a display of giant critters made out of auto body parts, springs, doodads and whatevers.

I liked Tim Little’s Camera Bug the best.

My husband knows just what to do at a quilt show: become like a camera bug and start taking photos. Many of these photos are his–he’s a delight, but was probably relieved that there was no vendor mall here.

Ladies of the Sea was made by Karin Lee Crawford and quilted by Judy Madsen. It was a pattern from Sue Garmen depicting famous rigged sailing vessels from around the world.

Detail. I have to assume that the quilter is really Judi Madsen, of Green Fairy fame, but I could be wrong. It was gorgeous in both the making and the quilting.

And to finish up this little quilt show, a Log Cabin quilt. Megan Christensen made the quilt, but didn’t identify the quilter. The title is A Good Use of Scraps, inspiring us all to get going on our scrap baskets!

Quilts

Totes (Like I Need Another One)

September 10, 2013October 3, 2013 Elizabeth E.12 Comments

My mother used to have a stack of boxes back beside the freezer in the garage. They were mailing boxes, gift boxes, boxes to put your pet turtle in, and boxes that were there because, well, they were boxes.

So this idea, that I just need a place to put more stuff, maybe runs along the lines of the imagined box mountain of my childhood. (I can hear Mom saying, “There weren’t that many boxes.”)

And not only do I have to another another tote or two (what else will I do with that beautiful Keiko Goke fabric?), I have to have pockets inside my totes, to. . . hold more stuff. Enough pockets of the right shape and size, one with a zipper, put me in Tote Bag Heaven.

This pattern was Pleated Tote, from Ellen Lucket Baker, found *here.* I made it exactly as she recommended. Still not keen about the fusible batting on the inside. It makes the tote too bulky, too stiff, not tote-y enough (I like mine loose and foldable). So maybe this is more of a purse-like bag?

This next tote is floppy, roomy, perfect for a grocery store tote.

The genesis came when I visited Cool Cottons in Portland earlier this year, and saw their bag in the front window. I tried to purchase the fabric, but they were all out of it. So I saw some at a quilt show I went to–it’s a sturdy lightweight cotton canvas, titled “Farmer’s Market,” made by Alexander Henry.

I was able to make two totes out of one yard of fabric. Simple things–just a rectangle with longish straps, no pockets, boxed corners to made them easier to put groceries in.

While the Keiko Goke can now join the growing stash of totes in my closet, these two are relegated to the car, to use while grocery shopping. I had intended to include the Goke tote as part of my WIP list, but I persevered and finished it up today.

It’s one of the items on my Finish-A-Long list, so I’m happy to be actually getting stuff done. School started and it always takes a while to recover from all that distraction and get back to the quilting.

But I am in progress on this Facets quilt, designed by Anne Deister, getting it pinned to the backing today.

And the next installment of my Amish With A Twist Two arrived this week, so I’ve plenty to keep me busy. And now we begin the dodging through the school semester, pushing out tasks on weeks of low-to-no grading, dancing around those weeks where papers come in and there are stacks of things to grade and to prep for.

Linking up to Lee’s Freshly Pieced Works in Progress Wednesday.