The Wiz

After days and weeks and months of hand quilting, it is a real feeling of satisfaction to finally take the quilt off the frame and spend a few quiet evenings hand sewing the binding around the edge. It makes such a tidy and beautiful finish to what has been raw fabric and batting edges. The binding is a relatively quick task -- it takes only a handful of hours, all told -- and is, to me, really the cherry on top. Just look at how lovely that red edging is, and how it sets off the sandy backing... *sighs with satisfaction and pets it again*

If you've forgotten in the ensuing months what the completed quilt top looks like, see it (sadly a bit blurry) here.
I mentioned, at one point, that I was trying to make the quilting look like stormy winds and tornadoes. Well, I quickly gave up on the tornado idea, since the one I attempted was pretty wobbly and awkward, but I think that I really got the hang of the swirly windy lines (and even managed some nice smooth curves) by the end. Hopefully you can make out the windy quilting lines in this photo, to see what I mean. (Click it to see it larger, if you can't.) As someone who generally plans things out to the Nth degree, it was a very freeing exercise in creativity, to just go with the flow and let the lines fall where they may. I think it ended up looking pretty good, and certainly will do the job of keeping my HLM warm through a chilly spring.

After Years of Anticipation

I know you're probably all waiting to see how I have dressed up Miss Bennet for her inaugural project, but sadly, I am still waiting for a boat shuttle, some bobbins, and a sley hook, before I can get started. (Fear not, they are on the way.) Instead, I have occupied myself with some quilting, finally bringing the Wiz quilt back from obscurity and making some good progress on it. I have also dug out an old pattern from Knitty and started it.

Clapotis is a knitting blog classic.
There are over 10 000 of them on Ravelry. Seriously. Ten thousand. When I was still a wee beginner at knitting, I wanted to make this so bad, but the price of the Lion & Lamb it calls for was just too steep, yet that yarn is so beautiful that I couldn't bear to knit the pattern in anything less. Enter Blue Moon Fiber Arts. They have a yarn called Luscious Single Silk that is pretty similar to the Lion & Lamb. When I saw the colours in my Rockin' Sock Club skein, I knew I wanted to use it for Clapotis, so I ordered some of the Luscious Single Silk in that colourway.

I am nearly done the increase rows and ready to start the straight knitting. And loving every damn minute.

Words.

Alas, I don't have a photo for you today, and I know how boring it is to read long posts without photos. I promise to get you a pic of my sweet Hallowe'en costume, asap, to make up for it, okay? Okay.

I have actually reached the one-quarter mark on making little tiny hexagons, which is great. I feel like I'm making some real progress on it. That leaves me with... let's see... just under 2000 to go. Hmm... I think I felt better before I'd calculated that.

I also sat down to start the handquilting on the Wiz quilt. I decided to do it freehand, which is a new experience for me. With the other quilts I've done, I've always followed some element of the design with the quilting (i.e. either outlining hexagons for the One Block Wonder quilts, or following around the berries for the whole cloth quilt.) With this one, I thought I would try some sort of freehand design, something that suggests storms and tornadoes. I have learned a few things from this: someone who doesn't consider herself an artist perhaps shouldn't freehand quilt an image without sketching it on first, somehow. Or at least not do it upside down. Also, I've learned that straight lines are a lot easier to freehand than smooth curves are. Luckily, I have learned long ago not to be a perfectionist.

Making Stuff, Baking Breakfast

My days off-work were once again very productive, but I don't have much to show you for it. I finished my Hallowe'en costume and I think it looks awesome, if I do say so myself. There's one more element that I may or may not add to it. It would make the costume better, but it would mean another trip to the fabric store, and lots more fabric... I still have a few days to decide.

I also made another handful of hexagons -- they are going fairly quickly for now, but once I start another project (and believe me, they're lining up to be next) they'll probably fall into the background again. That's sort of how I intended this project to be: something to putter away on whenever I feel like it. If I pushed myself to finish it in a hurry, I might go crazy with the magnitude, and besides, I like the portability of it at this stage. I can grab some paper hexagons and fabric squares and take them with me. It's a good way to people-watch in the coffee house, while nursing a mochaccino.

I also basted the layers of the Wiz together this afternoon, so once I have room to set up my quilting frame, I will start quilting it.


The only thing I have to show for my days off is this beautiful apple pie. That's crust from scratch, people, with McIntosh apples and demerara sugar inside. Yum. I had some for breakfast this morning. Mmm, nothing like having some healthy fruit for breakfast...

A Very Productive Week

Well, the day after that last post, I got the Wiz quilt top put together. There were a few adjustments I had to make in the final moments -- the pattern has a couple of problems that I won't go into. In the end, it all worked out and looks good. Only took a couple of days, since it's much easier than it looks at first glance. My HLM seems happy with it. (That's him behind the quilt top, holding it up. Doesn't he look happy?) Once I get some batting, I will get this one on the frame and start quilting it. After that's finished, maybe I'll finally get around to quilting the Fresh Squeezed quilt.

I also made a pillowcase the other day, and the pants for my Hallowe'en costume... I spent some time trying to get little projects out of the way and to reorganize my craft space (read: kitchen table and most of the space around it.) I was finding that the disorganization of my many projects was frustrating me to the point that I didn't want to go over there for craftiness. I had to sort through the chaos and discard some things, and organize others. What I really need is a space of my own, a room to set up a table and ironing board with ample shelves and a design wall, etc etc. But then, what crafter doesn't dream of that?

Because I was avoiding my craft space, I had to find some way to be productive and crafty while on my sofa. Normally this would be knitting, but in the last few days I really found my groove with making these:

They are little paper hexagons with fabric sewn onto them. It is a process known as English Paper Piecing, where interlocking shapes are made of paper and used as templates. Basically you just fold a seam allowance around the edge and tack the fabric in place with a simple basting stitch. Then you sew the pieces to each other by hand, one by one, and eventually remove the papers. Of course when I saw this technique, I didn't dream of doing something small, like a wall hanging. Immediately I had to make a full sized quilt. And while I didn't intend to choose hexagons quite this small (about an inch and a half across) somehow I didn't have the sense to choose something larger. I have made 360 of them so far (not all in the last couple of days, mind you -- this has been on my back burner for a while already.) That's like a tenth of what I will ultimately need.

You might say that I'm crazy. Perhaps it's all a plan: in conversation with my HLM the other day, I realized that life in a Mental Hospital is really ideal for me -- the free meals, time to watch tv and do puzzles, and all the crafting I want. Where do I find the men in white coats??

Sewing up a Storm

Things here are moving along at breakneck speed now... I finished the quilting on the little whole-cloth quilt, and added a border to it. When I chose that border fabric, I didn't really think about what the polka dots would do -- thankfully they behaved and lined up pretty nicely around the perimeter of the blankie. I also tried a rounded corner for the first time, and I really like it. You can even see some of the backing fabric in the photo -- a second berry fabric from the same fabric line.


Since I set that aside, I cut out a bunch of pieces for a Wizard of Oz quilt (using fabric made by a company called Quilting Treasures, if you care to find some.) The pattern is pretty simple, and free, if you search out there in the interwebs, but I actually bought it as a kit off ebay, since I'm lazy and didn't want to find a shop that still had yardage of all the fabrics I needed. What can I say, my HLM is a big fan of the film, and I aim to please. It isn't going to be large, but certainly big enough for a lap quilt. It will keep him warm and make him smile, two of my best jobs.

My creative urge is really strong lately -- I'm starting to think of work as a nuisance, since it takes me away from the things I am inspired to be doing. If only I could afford to do those things without the money I get from that nuisance, hm? Fortunately sewing gives quick gratification when I only have a few hours. In fact, those fabrics pictured above are almost completely sewn into a quilt top already. There has been a lack of knitting lately, partly because I have been so inspired to quilt, and partly, I think, because it gives slower progress than sewing does. In any case, I have been racking up projects that haven't even made it into my sidebar before they're finished. And I like that.

Inspiring charity project for the day:
Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative

Make a mini quilt (no bigger than 9" by 12") or buy one in their monthly auction. Another way that a little effort by crafters can have a big effect in the world.