My sewing machine is going to the Maintenance Spa (A Common Thread, Portland, Oregon), so I am at loose ends. Literally. When I first constructed this zipper bag, I wanted shoe laces, but used what I had. I felt proud as I heard Tim Gunn’s words “make it work” in my head. It didn’t. Work that is. So now, the bag features shoelaces to cinch up the sides. After shopping, let the ties loose and the bag expands. Magic!
Carol Webb demonstrated her UnBlock Of the Month August 10th, at the Mountain Meadow Quilt Guild. First we cut, then we sewed, and at no time did we stop to think. This is my block.
July 9th I woke up with an idea for a Skinny Scarf. I made one using shot cottons and shot silks and absolutely loved it. It’s a Love/Hate thing- others either love it or hate it. Pat Pease requested a Skinny Scarf with the seams on the outside, washed and dried so it ravels to the utmost possible. I made a few more- they need to be turned right side out. Project Runway here we come!
The Owl Zipper bag is in the hands of Kari Hicks, recent college graduate who is doing an internship at a law firm before going off to law school herself in the fall of 2011. She loves her zipper bag and I love it that she loves it! Congratulations, Kari.
And finally, this is my great-niece Sydney Smith, who is a pretty great niece! I designed this ballerina skirt for her two years ago, with a way for it to keep fitting her into the future. It worked! She loves her skirt and again, I love it that she loves it.
This is the start of The Extra Quilt for our Color Cascade special exhibit. We need the additional quilt as a kind of poster to bring people down our aisle to see our quilts. I volunteered to make it, using the 20 colors of the individual quilts in the collection. My Method of Operating is usually ‘take on too much and then scramble‘ to get things finished. Not this time- I’m starting early. I hope to finish this quilt soon…keep a lookout for it.
For the challenge, nineteen people created twenty quilts, each a different color. With a few simple rules, we could do just about anything we wanted as along as 1) the quilt “reads” as our color from 10 feet away, 2) it finished at 18″ by 40″ with a facing, and 3) nothing stuck out from the edges.
We are excited to announce that our collection of quilts will be included in the special exhibits of the 2010 Pacific International Quilt Festival in Santa Clara, California. It’s my favorite quilt conference for a lot of reasons. It has all the bells and whistles of larger events but is affordable and just plain do-able.
As October gets closer, I hope to have more Sneak Peeks of the quilts in the Color Cascade exhibit. In the meantime, check out PIQF!
Our Mountain Meadow Quilt Guild, in collaboration with The Village Mall at Sunriver, holds an outdoor quilt show every August. The women of MMQG hold workshops to learn about and make items for the annual fundraiser bazaar held at the outdoor show. In exchange for the free workshop, an item must be donated to the sale.
I took the table runner workshop offered by Pat Pease and Sheila Finzer, who each presented their approach to string piecing. Using all scraps (except for the 1/8 yard I bought for the binding on side one) I made this reversible table runner to donate. I had to break out my 2nd book to read up on my reversible double French fold binding technique, but it was like riding a bicycle (it all came back to me- not that it was hard and I fell!).
I brought a tub o’ strips to share. I shouted with glee as people took masses of strips for their table runners, so how did I come home with more strips than my original pile? Turns out rascal Pat dumped her tub o’ strips into my pile!!
Fish like David? Well, check out the little piece of trout fabric- it’s the last bit of this fabric I had!
My sewing room looks like a tornado roared through it. I started the day with 5 projects in various stages: the Krista Quilt; underwater coral reef; table runner; and two zipper totes. Hours later, only 4 projects litter the tables and walls.
This tote is grocery bag size, with ties on the sides to cinch it in along the top. I rustled through my fabrics and supplies to find everything without having to shop. Of course, I had plenty of zippers, but I had to find zippers (in the right colors) under 10″ long. That took some searching. Then I had to find matching thread for all the zippers…
But now, the first Zipper Tote is done. And as fellow quilter Kathy says, “done is good”.
I found this mystery item at The Big Sale in Medford, buried on the kitchen gadget table, on sale for 12 1/2 cents. Hey, it was half-price day.
I photographed it against a placemat, to show off the stainless steel sheet with holes in it.
On the back a sticker said “Made in Korea”, so this must be a finished item, not an orphaned part of something else.
I don’t usually buy things “on speculation”, but I just had to speculate about this.What is it? Who owned it before me? How old is it? What will I do with it? When will I put it in a garage sale?
June 13: UFO! Unidentified Found Object, that is.
I returned to the Medford area with Pat so we could go to the reception for the “Art and Science” mixed media art show at Southern Oregon University in which she has a quilt. On Day 1, we went to Grants Pass with April Hill (mother-in-law). First stop, the Grants Pass Museum of Art to see “‘Transformations ‘09, an exhibit by members of the Studio Art Quilt Association. Next door we browsed the Grants Pass Arts and Fair Trade shop, where we all found something to buy. Before leaving Grants Pass, we stopped at the Textile Connection, which had the most beautiful fabrics from around the world. Pat had to buy a few chunks of the hand-dyed hand-woven hemp, which looks a bit like burlap but is beautifully soft and wonderful.
Pat did all the driving, thank you Pat. We had to go to Fabric of Vision in Ashland, again. And again. Then we learned about the Big Sale, a warehouse garage sale at half-price because it was the last day. Pat found a brand new dish towel for 50 cents- look for a tote bag in the future. I found something too, but will save it for later. Dinner at Bambu (southeast Asian food), in Medford, with Pat, April and Bob Hill (in-laws).
But all good things must come to an end, and finally it was time to go home. We couldn’t stop talking about the pieces in the Art and Science exhibit: paintings, drawings, sculptures, digital prints, 3D printed objects, and a quilt!
I’m turning squares into circles. It’s a Saturday thing. Next comes the bias tape, for bias covered curves (instead of piecing the curve)!
May 29: Straw Into Gold
I originally thought I’d play around in the No Planning Zone for a few days, but of course, it always takes longer than we think. If we knew how much time and trouble was in front of us, would we embark on new adventures?
I tried dark blue sashing strips, but I didn’t like it. The blue is too dark and looks like the bars of a jail cell. My beautiful blocks look like they are serving time behind bars!
I had two fabrics leftover from the $3 scrap bag, so I tried them. I love the way my Circling the Square blocks have been set free. I’m estimating the quilt will measure 45″ by 65″ with these blocks- I think I should call it quits here. Besides, the $3 scrap bag is just about empty.
I needed too much concentration to work on the free motion sea creatures and I am still looking for a quarter-circle template to work on a quilt for my friend Krista, so I started this adventure with a $3 bag of scraps purchased at the Stitching Post. I’m raiding my Tub ‘O Strips, a big plastic container filled with every leftover strip and scrap I used to toss out. There is no planning ahead. I’ll tell you why I like planning ahead. One, I explore and play and try out things in my mind. I’m very visual and this works for me. Two, I don’t like to get boxed into a corner. If I think things through first, I can avoid dead ends. Three, it’s how my mind works, so of course, it seems “right” to me. Or should I say it seems “left” to me- left brained that is. I did run into a dead end while trying to make the outer round of blocks for this quilt. The first were too big- just out of scale (no photo). I cut them into smaller units. These looked too busy. Actually, they looked like the fabrics were held in place at gunpoint. They did not want to be there (see photo). When Pat called to say she was making those scrappy string pieced blocks I taught in a workshop a few years ago, I remembered that this thought had crossed my mind before I started constructing the more complicated blocks. Maybe I wanted to try something new; maybe I didn’t think it through enough since I’m in the No Planning Zone. Maybe I should try these blocks- I did and I love them (see Saturday Circles, May 22). Message to Krista: I’m just going to make my own template with cardboard and get going on your quilt! And: I have an idea to share with you after I get the blocks zigzagged!
The traditional version of this block is called “Bright Hopes” (Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns by Barbara Brackman, AQS, 1993). The first strip starts with a “half-seam”, and then continues around the center square, with all squares and strips cut accurately.
I also start with a half-seam, but I used rough-cut centers with irregular leftover strips pulled from my Tub ‘O Strips. This is a really fun block to make: it’s spontaneous, quick, and easy. It’s addictive, so beware.
A few years ago I named my version of this block “Circling the Square”, for the way the block keeps growing as more strips get added. I love these blocks!
May 22: Circling the Square
