A Push In The Right Direction

I finally had a free weekend at the same time as a local day sewing retreat, and finally took advantage of it. It's not as much work to pack when you're only going for one day, and are close enough to home to retrieve forgotten items. But what to bring? The first idea was to bring several new projects to cut out, but decided to work on something already in progress instead. I tracked down my project list, crossed off a few finished things, and pulled out the box with the Ocean Waves swap blocks from a couple of years back.

No notes in the box on the status...hmm....pulled out and counted the finished blocks - 21. The quilt as designed is supposed to have 36 main blocks and 52 border blocks. Measured the backing fabric, and realized that the top could be larger if there is enough background fabric for the blocks. The background fabric for the original 36 blocks plus the border blocks had been cut out long ago, and the extra was still in the box. There were only enough Thangles foundations for four more blocks (each block has 10 half-square triangles), and realized that is probably why I had stopped.

At the retreat I cut out all the dark fabrics for the remaining blocks, and completed 4 Ocean Wave blocks and 4 partial blocks, using all the foundations. I also stitched up the remaining border blocks, which didn't need foundations. Then I made a list of what pieces and how many of each would be needed to add another row - 6 ocean wave blocks and 4 more 5" border blocks. After measuring carefully, there was enough fabric, so I cut the background pieces for another row of blocks. I ran out of time before cutting the necessary dark pieces for the blocks.

I really miss having a fabric/quilt store close by, as sadly the six in my area have closed. The closest store is 20-30 minutes away, depending on construction detours and trains. The Thangles site has a list of stores that carry them, and a quilt store about 40 minutes south caught my eye, as we were heading that direction to search for outdoor furniture, so we stopped by, and I was ready to roll again. I finished the partially finished blocks at home that afternoon, and cut the remaining dark pieces for the blocks and border .

I'm so glad that I revisited this project. It was a good project for a retreat, as the sub-pieces of each block needed pressing, so I had to walk frequently to the ironing board, and didn't get tense from sitting too long. The foundations give me precise half-square triangles, and are fun to sew. Now that all the pieces are ready to sew, I can keep my momentum going by doing a block or two in a short amount of time.

Retreat Report

My American Sewing Guild retreat was three weeks ago: three days of sewing, with someone else doing the cooking, no housework and no dogs to walk. A bit overwhelming when trying to decide what to pack. At past retreats, I've been productive, but didn't feel at all creative. I also need to pace myself and not do the same motions for too long, so I either kept projects small or worked on them in segments.

There were a variety of projects:

Assembly of the purple baskets quilt. The pieced blocks were sewn to the setting blocks, but my printout of the border blocks template didn't include the finished size (and they are an odd size), so their trimming and assembly still needs to be done. This is the only project worked on and still unfinished since the retreat.

Slow, boring careful piecing on the two mystery quilts. I'm making two versions of the same quilt, and got through most of the piecing and ironing. The last pieces were done at home. Here they are waiting to be pressed and clipped apart - always remind me of flags at this stage.

A shoebox of fabrics for a charity quilt. At some point I had cut out squares to make a Disappearing 9-Patch quilt, but when assembling them at the retreat, I was short two pieces. 11 blocks were completed at the retreat, and the final block, top assembly and border added the following weekend.

Fabrics & pattern for little knot bags for knitting projects - two knot bags were finished, and one given away at the retreat.

A reversible shopping tote - one finished, with modifications including inside pockets cut from the fabric left between the handles, and boxed bottom corners.

The roosters wallhanging that has been a PIM (project in mind) for over a year. The piecing and appliqué were done at the retreat, and the quilting and binding the following weekend.

The two apron projects stayed in their bags, but I am pleased with what did get accomplished. I felt both productive and creative, and had fun too.

Perspective

Fabric can look so cute when shown in a small swatch on a monitor, especially when on sale, and described with a favorite color (purple) for the print. No mention was made of the yellow uneven blotches in the background. It looks pre-stained.

Sometimes when working on a quilt project, especially a “use only stash” project, my focus gets fuzzy. The end result needs to be more than just using up fabric in the stash, but creating a pleasing result by meeting the challenge of using only stash fabric in a creative way. The purple baskets quilt in progress needed some light to medium fabrics for setting the on-point blocks, and I was trying to convince myself that the blotchy bargain fabric would work well. It was actually too busy for the scrappy pieced baskets, and after considering it for over two weeks, I brought some of the blocks with the fabric in questions, along with a soft solid lavender alternate, to my quilt group for feedback.

The original pattern shows the crib-sized quilt with strong, dark colors for the setting triangles, which looked jarring against the light background of the featured blocks, and I brought the pattern along to explain my dilemma. It was fun to hear the responses - 7 opinions for the soft solid, one vote for the blotchy print. Everyone agreed that the blotchy print would be fine for the backing.

I knew that the soft lavender solid looked better, but didn't listen to or didn't trust my inner artist voice. It was a relief to hear most of the input from other quilters agreed with my instinct. Some projects just go together without any pauses, and this one needed a push. I'll hopefully post the finished top by the end of the weekend.

Pattern by Request

This little quilt was a UFO for way too long. It was quilted, trimmed, and sat waiting for binding. It was photographed in various stages by several customers who saw it and liked the pattern. The fabric was purchased online, and it was not a brand-name fabric. The quality is OK, not as nice as Moda for example.

It’s a super easy pattern – it was made from pre-cut strips that were cut 2 ½” wide (sorry I don’t remember how many strips.) You can make this with any size strips – they don’t have to be the same width, but the effect will be a bit different if they vary. Stay tuned for future stash-busting versions!

• Sew strips of one each light and dark together (or light and medium, or medium and dark).
• Press towards the darkest fabric.
• Use a triangle ruler and cut triangles – mark the size with masking tape at the base so they are a consistent size, making sure the triangle is level at the bottom edge. If you like you can move the ruler up so the ¼” tip is cut off—I just put my point at the top of the strip set. You will alternate cutting one with a dark base, light top and the next light base, dark top.
• Use two dark base and two light base triangles for each square. The seams will end up going alternate directions where the strip sets come together.

My blocks finished at just over 7”, and the quilt is about 64 x 56”. If you used three strips per block, you’d get larger blocks. I had very little fabric leftover, though a couple of the blocks are different color combinations.

The Lists

My husband was horrified when I told him that my Unfinished Project List (sewing only) had 58 items on it. He relaxed a bit when I further explained that some of these projects are just ideas – PIM or Projects in Mind. This is the smallest category – 7 items.

The PIG category – Projects In a Grocery sack (usually plastic shoeboxes or Ziploc bags) are projects a bit further along but not yet started. These are usually a bundle or scraps of fabrics with a pattern or notes on what they will become. This is the largest group - 35 items.

The actual UFO or Unfinished Object category includes projects either started (or repurposed), set aside for thought, or just waiting for motivation and decisions to finish. There are 16 items on the list, and one more quilt binding in progress on a quilt that hadn’t made it to the list.

Ravelry is where my knitting projects are listed. There are only three current projects, and a few that are designated as “hibernating”. That’s a good description for projects that I’m not actively working on or even thinking about. My queue of patterns that I would like to make recently got a clean-up, and a few projects to be started in the near future moved to the top. They also have a favorites list, where patterns for future reference are listed.

The lists are helpful to keep track of things and also to prioritize them. My sewing list also has a location for the projects—the only downside to my nice cabinets is that they tend to hide things. With the sewing project list sitting on the table top, there is a visual reminder of what is there before I try to start something new.

Of course there are projects that never make it to the list, as every project that I start doesn’t get added, and many times are finished in a short duration. Projects with deadlines naturally move up in priority, and so I’m trying to group certain projects to have a finish date, such as making charity quilt tops to be done and delivered before the next Project Linus work party at a local store.

Down to the Wire

Just the gift wrapping was last-minute. Usually I don’t even do the wrapping, but we switched things up this year. One year I was finishing the binding on a quilt on the way to the Christmas Eve party. Yes, there were two quilts finished on Wednesday the 23rd. But it was a realization last week that one top was finished, the other was partially assembled, and with an empty quilt machine, I had decided that they were good gifts for two 4-year old great-nephews.

Making seven knitted gifts was very doable. Four were machine knit scarves. One skein of a subtle color changing mohair blend with just a hint of silver glint was knitted in stockinette, two skeins of kid mohair/silk blend with a simple pattern made by skipping some needles made a generous scarf from each, and one long striped scarf from two colors worked up very nicely by changing colors on alternate sides, and using a crochet hook to attach the carried yarn to the edge. The two cowls were made on circular needles with different patterns, and the lacy scarf had been started early enough—even after deciding to order a second skein of yarn.

And now back to regularly scheduled projects – plus some. I committed to making 10 squares for charity by January 1st, and knocked off 2 ½ squares in one evening, using double crochet. There is a large lace knitted shawl that needs to become my go-to project when I can work from the chart without interruption. A few new bundles of fabric are sitting and waiting to become new quilts (from fabric gifted to me, sorted into donation, projects and an up-for-grabs bag to bring to the next meeting.)

It’s curtains

The kitchen was repainted this summer, and the curtains must have been held together by cobwebs. The eyelet lace fabric was in no shape to go back up. So the kitchen has been free of curtains for several months. That is, one curtain and six valances. The curtains on the driveway side of the kitchen hadn’t lasted through the labs’ puppy hood, and it still is not practical to replace them.

Last weekend was time to get sewing. The large curtain was finished first and hung up, and the valances hung up as they were finished. I used a scrap of bias binding for the hem on the large curtain, and made binding for the rest from scrap muslin and my trusty Clover binding tool, as it made a nicer, flatter hem. The lining is stitched at the sides and the main fabric folds around the edges, and twill tape makes the casing at the top. I stuck to a simple gathered casing and dropped the original idea of box pleats. They're quite different, but they work with all the wood and tile in our kitchen, definitely an upgrade.

Christmas stockings were mailed off, and placemats for Meals on Wheels delivered, so of course I was twitching to start another stash reduction project. I was of course gifted more stash two weeks ago—what goes around comes around. It has been sorted for donation (largest pieces), two charity quilt bundles (fabrics for top & back for both), bags (3 finished) and giveaway. The new project is another Heartstrings quilt, this time using the pages from the small yellow pages that isn’t needed, in a rectangular shape that will make diamonds. I’ve sorted and cut navy strips for the centers, and blue, white, cream, red and gray fabrics for the rest of the strips.

Knitting and spinning have been happening two, one Christmas cowl is complete (done by hand), and a striped scarf knitted by machine just needs the ends woven in and blocking. 440 yards of stockinette in less than three hours, which included moving the machine carriage from side to side and crocheting in the trailing yarns over color changes. Also a airy scarf from two skeins of Rowan Kidsilk Haze done by machine in just over an hour. Two bobbins of the auction fiber are spun, and DH made me a new, heavier Lazy Kate so when I’m plying the eventual three bobbins the Kate won’t be pulling across the floor.