all buttoned up.

The Dredges of February

I emptied out my camera today for the first time in a month. I am coming out of the tiny, messy cave of this month with a head full of resolve and pending action items. We have nowhere to go but up.

I have been missing some of my people-- they are doing their own cave dwelling this winter and we are all wrapped up in the business of living. In these days it's enough to make it through counting on minimal damage done (P.S. I am ready for Spring). Meanwhile, there are sweet, kind people who remind me that there is GREAT good in this world. And sometimes that good lands right on my doorstep when I need it the most.

Liberty Blues Napping Quilt

When I gave this to our neighbor she pulled it out and said, "Oh, it's warm! And it smells like dryer!". I told her it was because I am magical. Also, I had finished it that morning and the dryer had stopped unexpectedly while it was in there, so I had to stall her with tea while I restarted the dryer and then 20 minutes later excuse myself to go to the bathroom (wrap it) so I could give it to her.

Magic. Scrambling. Same diff.

I mostly finished this top two and a half years ago. The top hung in a closet waiting to be finished and really, waiting for the right person to give it to. Our neighbor and good friend is just that person. After she retired a few years ago, she filled up part of her free time making sure we are all doing all right. I return the favour by sending the boys over to *help* her with yard work. So, clearly, the least I could do is give this woman a quilt.

 

The 4" squares and binding are all Liberty Tana Lawn prints in blue. The white is a Kona cotton and both the blues on the front and the backing are Free Spirit voile. The blue toille print that borders the whole quilt is from Alexander Henry and is also cotton voile. It is on the small side-- 52" by 70". It's a good size for the couch or the end of the bed. The whole thing is silky and lovely. Clearly, it's too nice to stay in this house full of people. 

I've almost run out of quilt tops and works in progress to finish up. I put together some stuffed full scrap bags and I think that I'll put them up here on Tuesday. At least three of the bags are all vintage fabrics. And then I have to get sewing again so we will have stuff to talk about!

 

A Sunny Spot (Japanese Sewing Books, My Old Friends)

Shortly after the Baby Girl Announcement, Erin sent me a stack of Japanese girl/kid sewing books her girls had outrgrown. She is an excellent gifter. One of my favourites in the stack is A Sunny Spot (ISBN978-4-529-04894-1). The clothes are femine and unfussy. They are also pretty easy to sew but look otherwise, which is really the best. Sometimes clothes with clean lines are illogically complicated to sew.

I made "Camisole With Wide Strap" for my leggy 4 1/2 year old niece (pattern pictured directly above). She was not in the mood to be photographed. It is more of a dress than a tunic on her, but that will change pretty quickly. I love the pockets. I added a fabric tag in the back so she could easily figure out front from back, and then did a quick Anna Joyce style applique on the front (again, she was NOT IN THE MOOD). From tracing to finishing it was only a couple of hours of work. The lightweight cotton (ticking stripe) came from Bolt originally, but I've had it on my shelves for a while. It is the sort of fabric I'd like a room full of. 

And speaking of shelves-- they are overflowing with scraps. Is anyone into scrap bags/envelopes? I was thinking of listing a bunch on Big Cartel, along with some yardage of things that I don't think I'll use. I am horrible at parting with things like this, but something needs to be done. I may have to enlist reinforcements to talk me through it.

Feather Bed

I have a long list of quilts I want to make-- some from patterns in books or online, and some that I have yet to realize on paper. When I saw Anna Maria Horner's free Feather Quilt pattern for Field Study I put it at the top of the list. I had a stack of fat quarters from the Japanese company Hokkoh purchased at Quilt Market in Salt Lake almost two years ago just sitting there waiting. That saved me a boatload of time, since I tend to think a little too hard when matching fabric to a pattern. I originally wanted to applique the feathers across the quilt, but decided that this one was 1. probably going to see the inside of washing machine a lot thanks to three little people, and 2. I had not left myself enough time.

I split the stack into three different colour stories and made up 23 feathers. If you are thinking of doing this one (and I would support that notion), be prepared for the cutting and pressing to be the most time consuming part. You're cutting from templates on the bias and any number of things can go pear shaped if you don't pay attention. Once I started laying out feathers, I realized that I also wanted/needed a little more negative space, so I threw in some blank half blocks for balance. I quilted it using my Bernina and its BSR free motion function. I will tell you that there are a few glaring mistakes visible on the backside, where the flannel puckered and folded under hundreds of tiny stitches. This is in part to my sketchy time management, carelessness, and utter disdain for making quilt sandwiches. No matter how many times I sandwich those buggers together, I end up with lumps and bumps. Normally, I start quilting and then readjust my basting pins as I go. I neglected that step and paid for it. Any tips welcome. I usually tape the back to the floor, lay the batting on top, smooth, and then repeat for the top.

This is 64" by 64" ish and was a gift for Sharalee, who is also one of my sisters. It's backed with flannel from my shelves (I've started buying large amounts of flannel on clearance in order to afford to back my quilts with them) and the only think I bought specifically for this project is the Kona cotton for the background. I'm a good way down the list of people in my family that have handmade quilts from me, although, I think I should start going by household until we all stop breeding.

So, what say you? Do you have patterns on your list? Or do you have swatches waiting for the right pattern? I just bought 5 half yards of the newish Liberty Lifestyle cotton on sale at Sew, Mama, Sew and I'm trying to match dot com them into a new relationship with a quilt.

Comforter Style

For those of you who have purchased or sewn with Japanese double gauze, your eyes are probably popping and you're thinking "GIRL, YOU BOUGHT ALL THAT?!"

I'll stop you there and say, no, I didn't buy it, I STOLE IT. That makes it better, yes?

Mariko had a stack of half yards of Nani Iro Pocho and Fuwari Fuwari sitting on her shelf for years. I knew that she had planned to make a quilt out of them, but after watching the stack sit untouched on her shelves, taunting me, I finally took it down and told her I had a plan.

I had no such plan.

And so they sat on my shelf for a year and a half until one day I said, "enough!" and I cut into them with a half plan and a lot of good intention. The pattern is based on a throw project from Rashida Coleman's, "I Heart Patchwork". The squares are 9". I had wanted to tie it but I didn't want it to look fussy, so I opted for diagonal straight line quilting. The back is two lengths of double gauze sewn together, and I like it almost better than the front.

A few notes on working with double gauze:

• I didn't prewash because I wanted it to fluff up quite a bit in the dryer. Double gauze washes up almost like flannel and there's significant shrinkage due to a pretty loose weave.
• Because of that loose weave, piecing double gauze is best done on or against the grain. It frays and I had a monkey of a time trying to match those points due to stretching.
• It is so dang COZY, almost like a comforter. I stitched the binding on while putting T to sleep one night. I promptly fell asleep under it. I gave it to Mariko the next day because I knew I would want to keep it if I dragged it out. 

These projects bring me great joy. When I first started blogging (8 years ago?) I used to send surprise packages and swap beautiful things with people all over the world. It was fun and not always predicated on reciprocation. Making stuff and giving it away without occasion is so freeing and sweet. I need to fit more of that gift giving into my life again. Of course, if I can't find anything for Mariko for Christmas, I'm calling this her gift. So basically, I'm also covering my ass.

 

A Soft Ring (and a Ribbon Jar Gift Certificate!)

Like all good sewing momentum, you become transfixed with items Off The List and then head decidedly that direction (away from the list). I had help this time: Julie over at The Ribbon Jar, an online purveyor of beautiful ribbons, asked if I wanted to be a part of their Blog Hop, celebrating the revamping of their website. She sent me a packet of ribbon along with a bundle of my choosing (disclaimer: it was free to me). That said, it still took me far too long to make my decisions! They really have a lot of great stuff to choose from.

Picking a project to showcase some of what they sent didn't take me long (it's execution is another story). My plan was for a whole stack of taggy rings for Miss Grab-and-Chew, but I'm putting the other two or three on hold for Christmas. I used a free pattern for Baby Rings from Making it Fun (Kathy Miller's blog), scraps from my bin, and strips of Herringbone, Stitched French Cotton Ribbon, and both Red and Golden Wheat Grosgrain. The pattern is great. It's straight forward but does require some hand-stitching and attaching straight lines to curves. It's good practice if you've decided you're not good at either. To make stacking rings, I'm going to shrink the pattern slightly as I go.

Truly is happy to have something else to flick and tug at. She's at the age where it's helpful to have a small pile of toys next to the bed, in the car seat, in my bag, and in her basket in the living room. She has yet to force teeth out, but it's a near constant struggle and she will chew whatever she gets her hands on. I'm glad to be able to have another toy to be able to pop in the wash. The ribbon is beautiful, of course, and I couldn't help but colour coordinate when it came to picking out my own. I didn't own any velvet ribbon prior (the horror!) and I am a sucker for grosgrain, herringbone and twill of all kinds. It's almost time for gift bag season, after all.

The Ribbon Jar is offering one 25 dollar gift certificate to their online store to one commenter. Do you have a favourite type or colour ribbon at The Ribbon Jar? Let me know, and I'll randomly pick a name before Thanksgiving and you'll be on your way to owning it. You can see other participants and enter to win gift certificates here.

The Deep Breath Throw and a Kindle Query

This is the last of the 2011 quilt projects. It was probably the easiest (and scrappiest) of all of them, made from a pattern published by Weeks over at Craft Nectar a couple of years ago. It was a gift for my parents for Christmas, and besides the Kona (snow I think?) it was all made from bits I already had.

I have way too many bits.

This pattern had been on my list for a while and it's something I'm going to make again. Hopefully soon. (I included a envelope style slipcover to store the quilt in. I'm not sure how often it's going to get put away, but I think it's a nice storage solution for seasonally used blankets.)

In other news:

• I just ordered Weeks and Bill's new quilt magazine, Modern Quilts Illustrated. Very exciting. (I'll take all the excitement I can get).
• We are to the painting and flooring portion of our basement project. Which means that soon we'll be to the moving furniture and twirling around in fits of unadulterated joy portion of the project.
• Paul bought me a Kindle Fire last month and it's pretty flippin' neat. I've been using it to watch old/strange BBC comedies in the middle of the night (nursing) and to check out books from our library. I'm wanting to subscribe to a newspaper or some magazines, but I've read a lot of mixed reviews on this front and I'm not totally sure where to start. Any thoughts or recs?

A Numbers Game

The growing of our family can be measured in lots of collateral ways: loads of laundry, dirty dishes, toys, time it takes to leave the house, etc. The numbers seem to increase exponentially, which can be confusing or perfectly reasonable. For example: Quilts. I live with one child who has some sort of Princess and the Pea complex whereby he sleeps covered in no less than seven quilts all piled on top of him. If he feels like there is improper coverage he demands more, citing mysterious drafts. (He is not alone. The other one preferes a mass of "fuzzy blankets" to tangle himself up in, and has sequestered all the handmade crocheted blankets in the house.)

So to think that Truly might need one quilt or a single, small afghan in her life, would be betting against the odds. And of course, she won't need to worry. Her mother may have neglected the handmade, but thankfully her mother's people did not.

I use Grammie Karol's quilt to wrap up in while I'm nursing. And because she gave it to us at the beginning of December, the boys feel it is communal property. (Do you need your quilt top quilted? You know where to go.)

I'm guessing you've seen Truly's Liberty Quilt. LIBERTY. Gah.

I don't know if April is going to blog about this quilt on the Bolt blog (she should), so I'm going to. It is a beautiful variation on the Ohio star. And she pieced the back using some rainbow fabric I had given her ages ago (and loved but needed to part with), which made it even more awesome.

Then Carolyn's quilt arrived from Chicago! And Sam needed it.

I coveted Blair's granny squares, and then they showed up on my doorstep. If I keep throwing those sorts of thoughts out into the universe, I may never have to learn how to knit or crochet. Also, I may need to start thinking bigger (though not better, because there are few things better).

These gifts that have been given her by our friends, family and Paul's coworkers have moved me to misty eyes and in several cases, real, live tears. We have all felt very looked after.

***

We were expecting her sometime this week. Paul was all, "can you imagine if you were still pregnant??". I could. And I shuddered to think. There have been moments this week and last where I've nearly forgotten that I was very recently pregnant, and then received some sort of rude reminder from my body.

"Sit down. Have a glass of water. For the love of everything, don't carry that 40 pound three year-old down the stairs."

I'm working on it. Seeing as there are piles of quilts around for me to sink into, it shouldn't be that hard. 

Staving off the Restless Leg (Whole Cloth Quilting)

I imagine a whole lot of folks don't count whole cloth quilting as real quilting, but I assure you that as long as that sandwich is in place accompanied by stitches and ties-- it counts! Both of these throws are for good, wonderful friends; one of which I've known since college and the other I've come to know and love in the last six years. They are radically different sorts of people who's tastes are near opposite of each other. For the first, I used Melody Miller's Ruby Star Spring backed with plum coloured voile and for the second I used two voiles: gingham and black (all of which I purchased at Bolt). I wrote up the details on the first over at Bolt Neighborhood, including a quick how-to in case you're wondering if you still have time to put something like this together for gift giving (you do). The second was constructed in nearly the same way and I quilted it in scattered squares using the gingham as a guide.

(The construction is a bit besides the point, as these were both exercises in hand quilting and evening distractions. I used Pearl cotton and gold eye embroidery needles for the quilting. I pinned and hand bound the quilts first, so I skipped the hoop. This was probably a mistake. Incidentally, if you hand quilt, what sort of hoop (brand/size/type) do you use?)

The quilting started out a little rocky, but it was meditative and it took longer than I had thought it might-- which was just fine. As soon as I get to sit down at the end of the day, I generally get a wicked case of restless legs. With the accompanying heartburn, I imagine I look a bit like I'm having a semi-violent seizure trying to stretch without cramping while trying to get comfortable. It is super cute. Handily enough, the symptoms nearly disappear the minute I pick up a needle and thread and begin to sew. I like the print sides of these, but that Pearl cotton makes the solid sides sing a sweet little song. And they are for people that I love which is the most important thing.

I just got one of Alicia's ornament kits to see if I can continue this whole stitch-so-I-don't-twitch thing. I also plan on tackling my 20 year battle with crappy looking french knots. BIG PLANS.

Desk Sized Modern Crosses

I mentioned a while ago that I was going to try and sew quilts for friends this year. This is the third (the second was given prior to documenting) and is going in my Top Five Things I Like Right Now list. The list also includes the aforementioned flannel sheets, roasted almonds and my fruit guy. These are some of my all-time favourite prints all put together.

The pattern comes from Susan Beal's Modern Log Cabin Quilting, and is one I will be making again. The blocks. My version measure up approximately 40" by 52" which is about the size I thought might be appropriate for someone who needs something to cover up their legs when they are sitting at their desk all day. Paul works a desk job and he told me lots of people have small quilts they use when the A/C gets too crazy. Sometimes they even walk around with them wrapped around themselves like a towel. Maybe just on casual Fridays?

>

I used a mix of scraps for the crosses-- mostly Liberty Tana Lawn, a few Japanese prints, and some printed voile and lawn. The background is all Kona cotton in Snow. It is backed in one of my favorite voile prints from Anna Maria Horner (it feels like silk and I wish I had a bunch more) and bound in a stripe from Denyse Schmidt's Hope Valley line. I am so happy it is done!

We are celebrating the boys birthdays a little early this year as Grammie and Grandpa are in town this weekend. I'm pretty sure there will be mini bagels and Tah-Dah! A Bouncy House. We are about to get all jumpy up in here.