awayuq

in search of the center

What I've been playing with. A few weeks ago I got a very generous fabric package gift and have been longing to use some of the new prints. Finally this weekend I took a few hours to cut some pieces and practice eight-pointed stars. I am hand-piecing these; for some reason I just feel like it.

What do you see in the picture above? Do you see eight points that meet in the middle? I hope so. I think that's what you would think you see if these stars were on a quilt lying on a bed and you were taking in the room at a glance.

But really, those points don't precisely meet.

This is one of the better ones. On some of them the center points are jigged just slightly to one side or the other, and the center isn't a point, more like a region. This bothers me. I feel as if I should be able to do this exactly: my hand stitches are small, I am patient and careful, I'm willing to practice.

Initially I tried following the instructions in Jinny Beyer's book on making quilts by hand. She tells you what direction to sew the seams, and puts four pieces together into two halves, then sews the halves together. My halves are great, but when they get sewn together the centers shift no matter how I try. After several like that, I tried sewing the pieces together one after the other in a big ring. That wasn't so bad, though not appreciably different. Then I tried sewing from an outside edge to the center point and back again, which joins three pieces. Then again, from the outside edge to the center and back out again with one thread, joining one more piece to each side, making a five-wedge piece. I sewed the last three wedges together in the same way as the first three, then inset that piece into the five-wedge one. (This is a rushed description I know). I like the symmetry of this method, but I can't honestly say that it significantly improved the center.

So I'm not sure what to do. Keep practicing, I guess. Meanwhile I am *loving* playing with this fabric and making up different colored stars. If I collect enough of them for, say, a lap quilt, I think I will make this the background

The colors are more subdued than I usually use and a bit more appropriate for fall.

Though I am not thinking about f*ll. Not at all. It's not time for autumn. There are still two more months of summer, right?

recent rosettes

35 completed out of 90+.

I'm getting anxious to join some rosettes together, in part so I can liberate some of the paper pieces instead of cutting more, in part to see how it looks, in part to begin figuring out how much path fabric I need. Because this is a scrap quilt, my original plan was to make all the rosettes first, then lay them out in a pleasingly random way, and then join them all together. If I lay out only a portion of them, will it still be possible to keep balance in the overall quilt? If, for instance, I worked with one quarter at a time, and made a pleasing arrangment, would it still look good when the four quarters are joined? I'm worried that it won't; that there is something about being able to see the whole picture that is critical when arranging scrap pieces. But I don't know. Anyone else have thoughts on this problem? How do you do it?

Meanwhile, progress is slow on the State of the Studio quilt, but I'm starting to understand what quilting adds. There is enough area quilted now that I can begin to tell what the final result will be. I tried to capture it in the picture, but it is subtle so I don't know if it comes through. Maybe you can see the texture in the lighter parts, such as the parallel (kind of) lines in the sashing.

The only things I am marking are the circles in the sashing joins and the occasional diagonal. The rest is done by eye and so far it seems to be working. I've been looking at a lot of quilts recently, on blogs, in magazines, on line, and there is some absolutely mind-boggling work out there. Often when I learn something new I get over-ambitious, and imagine myself becoming an expert in the field. (hah!) Modern quilts are truly inspiring, but I don't think I want to be an expert quilter. I don't mean that I wouldn't take the skills if they came with the wave of a wand--I mean that I don't want to make quilting the focus of my artistic expression. I want to make quilts, and I like using scraps of fabric I have around. I am getting more comfortable with the irregularity of my stitches. They may get better or they may not. I want to make quilts as well as I can, but they don't have to be perfect. This sounds too simple, but it actually takes a great load off my mind. There are too many other things in my life that need to be perfect, or close to. I want to make some quilts but I'd rather spend my perfecting energy on weaving or lace knitting.

Oh, the freedom of aiming for mediocrity. I enjoy the quilting stitch much more now.

Phew! that dress.

Huge sigh of relief. Now that the christening has come and gone, I can post pictures of the dress without fear of spoiling a surprise or somehow jinxing the creation. This was one of the most intense projects I've done in a long while, mostly because of the time pressure, but also because I've never done anything quite like it, so I was improvising most of the way! Of course I didn't want to tell anyone that before it was done. Two days of full time intense sewing, and then a bunch more handwork at my Mom's house. In case you ever want to do something like this, here's what I did, and my suggestions on what notto do:

First I cut rectangles slightly larger than the front yoke and sleeve pieces, and made the tucks and added the insertion. This is the front yoke piece. I did the insertion by stitching it down with very small stitches, then very carefully clipping the fabric behind, turning it back and stitching again. If I do this again, I won't use this technique with insertion this small; it is only 3/8 of an inch wide, leaving very little to turn back and stitch. Would work fine with something 3/4 inch or wider though. The sleeve pieces echo the front ornamentation

After the embellishment, I cut the yoke and sleeve pieces.

The back yoke is plain. the banded pieces on top of the sleeves are beading insertion sewed between entreduex for the cuffs. The same thing is at the bottom of the yoke.

I almost didn't order entreduex and that would have been a big mistake, even though I almost went crazy trying to zigzag into each hole. The entreduex adds daintiness and stability. I used it in all the major seams--yoke to skirt, sleeves to armholes, sleeves to cuffs, neck trim. It helps a lot. Do use entreduex.

I originally planned the skirt to echo the bodice, with tucks and rows of insertion

Not shown in this picture is the fact that I panicked when I read the pattern instructions. The pattern as written required a skirt more than 60 inches around! I had no idea so much fabric was needed for a baby dress! Take this as a lesson: procure the pattern first if at all possible, or order more fabric than you think you need. Three yards for a baby dress and slip, really. Improvisation... I decided she'd have to do with just one fabric width, luckily the batiste was 54" wide. I don't think anyone noticed a few inches less around. That wasn't the end of skirt troubles though. For some reason, the first batch of tucks turned out fine, but the second set--ugh! I couldn't believe my sewing was so uneven! I decided to rip them out. The lesson here is to make all your tucks in the same direction. I tried to do one set of four starting at the top and measuring down, then the second set making the bottom tuck first and measuring up. The number of ways in which this can go wrong would be boring to list--just trust me, make all your tucks from one direction.

Avoid ripping if at all possible. The batiste is so fine, this could have been a real disaster. At this juncture, I am almost at the end of day 1 of sewing, still pretty stressed, and though I knew I couldn't rest if I didn't do it right, I was scared that I'd tear the fabric with the seam ripper or make some other dreadful mistake impossible to undo. I was at this point when my sister in law called to see how it was going. I was a bit abstracted, but she is no fool!
"You're stressed, I can tell," she said.
"No, it's really fine," I replied. "It's going ok, really."
"If it's too much, I can totally buy something," she suggested.
"Oh no!" I exclaimed before I could stop myself. "Don't buy something now, after all this work!"
She was very nice about it and didn't push me or anything. Thank you sister in law for being so trusting and patient. I redid the tucks...

But the next morning I still wasn't happy with them. I have no pictures of this part. I was running out of fabric, but the tucks were really, really bothering me. Also the small insertion--remember I said how hard it was to trim between two rows of stitching 3/8" apart? And the beading didn't have entredeux, so it didn't match the yoke and sleeves. Middle of the second day, I decide to do the skirt over. I didn't have enough fabric to start from scratch, so I cut off the part of the skirt I'd embellished, and cut strips for the tucked portions. (Note to self: next time you cut something off, no need to slice right through the lace, it actually might have been saved for another project). After making larger, even tucks on the fabric strips, I joined the skirt together by sewing the original skirt bottom to insertion, then insertion to tucked fabric, to entredeux-edged beading, to another tucked strip, to another strip of insertion and finally to the original skirt top. Phew. Writing it out like this makes me realize what a disaster this could have been. It was a heads down, no room for error moment. Did I mention huge sigh of relief? (the skirt is slightly smaller at the bottom than at the top--don't tell! I don't think anyone will notice!)

After that, things went pretty smoothly. Skirt joined to bodice

starting to look like a garment. The sleeves were so cute!

and tiny! When all joined together, they made a real dress!

By this time I was out of white fabric, but luckily sister in law said it was ok to incorporate pink, so I made the slip out of pink batiste. It is very simple, just an A-line shape. I sewed the side seams with tiny french seams and then carefully packed dress, slip, and all extra fabric, lace and ribbons to take with me. I finished the handwork at my Mom's house in the days before the event. I put white lace and featherstitching on the bottom of the slip

and made tiny rolled hems around the top and armholes of the slip. I finished whipping lace onto the bottom hem of the dress and made buttonholes in the back yoke by hand. The dress turned out to be extremely difficult to photograph, partly because it is white, partly because it is so sheer. Here's the slip

and the dress over the slip

I used pink silk ribbon through the beading insertion on the skirt, sleeve cuffs, and at the bottom of the yoke. The back is plain (I couldn't think of a good way to handle the ribbon at the yoke closure, so I just skipped it).

Mom got an archival storage box and acid-free tissue paper to wrap the gown in. I love wrapping presents, especially when it's something I've made that I'm happy with. In the bottom of the box I put a letter to my neice telling her about the materials and about the dress (printed on acid-free paper). Then several layers of tissue, then the slip carefully folded, and finally the dress itself.

Ahh.

I was still on edge until sister in law opened the box, but the reaction was most gratifying. She loved it. (Or if she didn't, she did a **** good job of faking it). And, much to my delight, she noticed the details--the tucks, the delicate entreduex at the seams, the featherstitching on the slip. She was most appreciative. Here are the proud parents with the baby before the ceremony

and I got to hold her afterwards briefly. By that time she was pretty unhappy at being passed around and doused with various substances, but at least I have this record of me and her and the dress I made.

It's an odd feeling sometimes, to invest significant energy and time in a project and then send it out into the world. I think that my brother and sister in law have every intention of keeping the dress, but I also know that things can happen; once you give something away, there is no guarantee that it will be stored as you would store it, or valued as you would value it. Still I like to imagine that this dress will survive and that it will be rediscovered someday--maybe in twenty years, maybe in two hundred years--and that even if it is discovered by someone unrelated to me, they will look at it and know it was made with great love.

Welcome to the world Lily Jane, I am so glad I could make this dress for you.

Farmhouse Fabrics to the Rescue

After repeatedly trying to get in touch with the company from which I'd ordered supplies for the christening dress, I decided to play it safe and order from another vendor. Before ordering I called up Farmhouse Fabrics and explained the situation. The woman I talked to was very friendly and assured me that they could ship second day, and that she'd let me know how much the extra postage would be, since expedited rates are not listed on their website. Well, I went through their extensive collection of beautiful fabrics, laces (pages and pages!), ribbon and buttons and placed my order with a note asking for second-day delivery. The next afternoon, since I hadn't heard anything from them, I called again just to ask and the woman remembered me! She said oh yes, it went out yesterday second-day UPS, and the difference in postage was so negligible she didn't even charge me for the special shipping.

That's what I call customer service.

And the package arrived on time. I was so eager to start that I didn't take a picture of the supplies as they came--beautifully folded and tied with an extra piece of wide pink silk satin ribbon. Everything is of the highest quality. The batiste and ribbon

and the laces too

I sewed for two days straight.

Meanwhile, the other company finally sent an e-mail--a week and a half after I ordered--saying that they never shipped because my phone number didn't work. ?? Does every internet vendor you order from call you up? And even so, other people have been able to reach me during the time they were trying to call, so the phone story doesn't ring true. I will be checking my credit card receipts carefully to make sure the charge is removed.

Thankfully, with the help of Farmhouse Fabrics, I was able to create a nice christening gown. There is still handwork to do--hems and such, but I can take that with me. I won't see the baby until Friday so there is plenty of time. Phew. That was quite an episode. I learned a lot about heirloom sewing. I don't want to post pictures yet, because I am afraid of jinxing the whole thing... I promise photos of the finished product, assuming it passes muster with the parents and grandparents. I hope I hope I hope they like it...

squeals of delight!

A while ago I mentioned I was handpiecing some things and was scrounging around for background fabric. And, I was having trouble with quilting needles breaking. The generous and talented woman of Too Much Wool offered to send me some of her quilting needles. (If you haven't already, do check out her quilt gallery for gorgeous hand quilting). And then she offered, in the kindest possible way, to send me some white fabric for backgrounds. Insisting that really she wanted to get rid of some. I have a great weakness for fabric--how could I refuse an offer like that? And look what it turned into! There are at least 17 pieces of fabric in that box! All wonderful, quality quilting fabrics. Backgrounds and prints. I mentioned that I love blue and white and there are a good half dozen blue and white pieces!

I am overwhelmed by the generosity of this package. It is just what I need to perk me up after two days of intense baby sewing. I can't wait to get it home and spread all the prints out and dream and plan. Thank you thank you thank you!

watched pot syndrome

I am on tenterhooks. A week ago I ordered supplies for the christening dress. I have nowhere to get quality heirloom sewing goods around here, let alone patterns and so on. The website says they ship Priority Mail. Usually things get to my house pretty fast with priority service, even from, say, Alabama. (I'm near Boston and really, Alabama is nothing compared to New Mexico or Washington state or someplace like that). Anyway, since Thursday I have been hanging around the house hoping, hoping that the mailman would bring a package so that I can get started. It's not so much that I'm eager to start--though I am--but there is a definite deadline for this project. Every day that goes by makes me more and more nervous about being able to get quality work done in the allotted time. Admittedly when the request came the time frame was already tight, so I knew I'd be working under pressure. Every day without supplies makes it worse! I feel stuck--I can't do anything--I have no baby patterns, no fabric, not even any books to research techniques (I looked at the public library this afternoon--nada). Even once everything comes I am going to have to spend some time designing and making decisions, things I can't determine for sure until I see how the pattern is constructed and where embellishment is likely to be effective. Things like where should the tucks be, where should the insertion go, should I try some delicate embroidery? The christening is on August 6th, but I am leaving on the 31st! YIKES! Sorry to shout but that is the way I feel today--things that I should be doing are impossible to do, and I'm restless enough about it that I can't seem to settle on doing anything else. I continue to practice hand quilting. Calling it practice makes me feel better. It is less of a very solemn "I am making a quilt" and more of a shrug: "sure, I'm practicing". And every moment in my mind I'm worrying... should I overnight supplies from some other merchant? What if they don't get here for another few days? arghhhh!

please please Mr. Postman look and see...

Maybe it's just because I'm frustrated with the mail service and internet merchants, or maybe it's the ions in the air from the rain... lately I've been feeling a bit down about making things in general. I love creating things with fiber and thread and yarn and fabric. I love knitting and weaving and spinning and sewing--I love it all, crochet and tatting and braiding and patchwork. And I know I am capable of certain things, good things, things that are often only attempted by serious practicioners. I can make an orenberg shawl, or a woven coat, or a gauze scarf with complex patterning. I know that I can do good work and that I can improve over time. I would rather create something detailed and lovely than something quick and easy and chunky. But lately I confess I've been wondering, why do I choose so many pasttimes that take so much time? Partly I think the hand quilting knocked me for a loop. I had no idea it would take so long and that it would be so difficult. But there are plenty, oh so many other ideas I have that barely get off the ground because of lack of time. Usually I can blame this on other pressures. This month though my schedule allows me (so far) to spend up to several hours a day doing projects. And I've realized that I have a totally mistaken idea about what I can accomplish in a given amount of time. For instance, I had a notion that I could set a goal to complete one rosette of the Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt a day. At the end of the month, I'd be so much closer to having a whole quilt top! I often stitch while listening to stories on the iPod and finally one evening having gone through four half-hour old radio shows I understood that it takes me almost two hours to completely finish one rosette. That works out to a **** of a lot of hours in one quilt top. And it's not always possible to find that kind of time in a day.

If you are reading this I am sure you are no stranger to this feeling. Everyone has so much to do, whether they are taking care of family, volunteering, or working for an outside entity. We all have more ideas that there is time to implement. And then often, when something is finished, I think--what was that about? Why was it so important to make this additional thing? Aren't there enough things in the world? Why was it important to have not just a shawl, but a lace shawl, or not just a coat, but one with carefully crafted color gradations from top to bottom? Is this just another form of conspicuous consumption, couched in handmade terms? What's the point? And--is it really worth spending that much time?

wrinkly

I finished the baby quilt! In this case my sense of accomplishment emphasizes the "finished" part. As I mentioned before, I don't think this object is an example of my best work. But it was fun, and it was practice, and it will be durable. I loved taking the quilt out of the dryer and seeing it all textured and whole. For me the washing process makes things "real" and "done". I think this is especially true in the case of a quilt. It changes from being a sandwich of fabrics and batting to being an organic whole with an integral texture. The back has a whimsical print (label in upper right corner)

including turtles and people playing pipes.

I hope the mom and son like it!

screeching halt coming up

The thing about cutting is that once I start, I want to keep going. Over the weekend in one of those odd moments--you know, listening to Prairie Home Companion, waiting for the tea kettle to boil, relaxing after an early dinner--I decided to cut out some scraps for a test quilt block. Just for fun, to practice hand piecing, just because. I was feeling rather pleased with myself because I've been trying not to buy any new fabric, at least until all the existing fabric is off the floor of the studio, but many quilt blocks want solid backgrounds and I don't have large pieces of cotton solids lying around. But! I remembered an old set of sheets I was going to retire because they are worn in the middle. (Worn sheets make me feel old. As in, I am old enough to have been sleeping on these sheets long enough that they are worn out where I've lain on them night after night season after season. How odd). These sheets are solid cotton. Once they were pale yellow, then they were a barely discernible off white, now after bleaching they have a pink tinge. Fine with me. Two queen sized sheets is plenty of background fabric for practicing, if not indeed for a real quilt.* I meant to cut pieces for one block, but restraint was absent

I cut enough for four. Here they are in little piles of odd pieces. The finished block looks like this

Whoops is it a bit blurry, I'm sorry about that. It is called Nosegay, or sometimes I think Bride's Bouquet. In my mind I think of it in 1930's type prints, a kind of hope-chest pastel sort of quilt. My points are getting better; the center where seven pieces come together is almost exact. The pressing and trimming is a bit confusing; I feel as if I should shave some points off the diamonds where they come together, but I'm not sure exactly how to trim. I'm also a bit obsessive from time to time about even-ness, and pressing to one side has always bothered me. I'll have to experiment with some different seam pressing schemes.

Meanwhile, I'm still working on finishing projects. Here is the baby blanket mentioned in the last post

Saturday morning I quilted it on the machine, and this morning I added the binding. Now I just have to sew the binding down on the reverse side, add a label, wash, and ship. The quilting is not great; it's definitely utility quilt quality. For one thing, I didn't think ahead, so each stripe of patches has a different quilting pattern, as I tried to figure out the easiest way to manouver the fabric. In many places it is uneven and wobbly. Oh well--it's a baby quilt to be thrown in the washer, spewed upon, chewed, dragged to the playground, whatever. It's not mailed yet... if it turns out that I don't feel good enough about it to give it to the intended mother, I can always donate it to charity. Right? How good is good enough? Does the gesture really count when it comes to hand-made gifts? As a recipient, do you overlook the imperfections in a hand-made offering and use it as it was intended? Or tuck it away for long enough that you can quietly get rid of it? I guess it depends... I meant it to be a fun set of blues for a little baby boy, and I thought the patches would be fun to investigate as he grows older. There are fish in some blocks, and little clothes hanging on a line, and balloons and birds as well as dots and other patterns. I might as well give it I guess. I'll take a picture of the finished object and maybe you can help me decide.

I almost forgot--the screeching halt! My niece is getting baptized August 6th, and--(jumping up and down)--I was asked to make a gown for her! I am so thrilled! Needless to say, this project puts all others on hold. I have just ordered supplies and patterns, and once they come, it will be 100% baby sewing til it's done. The best I can do for a beautiful niece. I also get to be godmother! I am honored. Can't wait to start. Nothing like a deadline for turning out the product. If it comes to that--what the heck am I going to wear? Yikes!

*ps. I know old sheets are not recommended for quilting, because of their high thread count. Believe me, I have already experienced this in hand-piecing. And to make it worse, this particular sheet has different count in warp and weft. I am learning a lot about the differences in cotton plainweave. I'm not saying I'm really going to make a quilt with this old sheet, but it sure does come in handy for testing blocks. Until I can buy some nice white quilting cotton or stock up on some basics.

quilt saga, woe is me

Fun stuff first!

I had to go to a birthday party outside the city last weekend. I took a train out early because I had heard of a quilt store near the train stop. It turned out to be well worth the trip!

Fat quarter bundles hit me in the worst way. My fingers itch. I want to take them all home, even when I have nothing planned to do with them. I did have one project in mind though, and found some lively bright prints for a friend

This friend asked if I would make him a quilt. He has a whimsical sense of humor and once had a couch upholstered in cowboy fabric, so I don't think these jolly designs will be out of line. (If they are, here's your chance to say so, you know who you are!) I have a few others from stash to combine with them, and I'll probably try for a coordinating solid of some sort to add a little cohesion. At first I was thinking of a design from Nickel Quilts, but some of the fabrics have large-scale designs and I don't want to cut them small. Probably I'll improvise when it comes down to it.

However, before I start on that, I've set myself some goals for July. The big goal is "dimish the pile of fabric on the studio floor". To that end, so far this month I've completed a pair of pants and a skirt in red corduroy, and pants and a shirt out of cuddly pink velour fabric. Does that sound nasty? It's really nice velvety knit fabric. In the winter I like to come home and put on something warm and cozy and totally non-restricting. Hence the velour outfit--just a step up from a sweatsuit, but hey, sometimes that little difference is all it takes to lift a dark winter mood. (No pics of these completed projects since they are very basic). I'm so behind that I'm sewing a season ahead for the first time in my life! Next up is machine quilting a baby blanket I started last fall for a baby that was born in September. Is it still ok to send a baby blanket to an almost-1-year-old? Or should I gulp, apologize, and keep it for the next little boy that comes along? Either way, I want to get it done and off the floor where it has been sitting for months in the paper bag the batting came in.

Another goal is daily quilting practice. Foolishly, I did not realize how long hand quilting takes. Nor how difficult it is. If I don't keep to some goals for my State of the Studio quilt, it will never ever be done. Each morning I try to do a little bit. So tell me, is this normal?

This is the fourth needle I've broken on this quilt! Since the picture was taken yet another one snapped, for a grand total of five needles destroyed on this project. I've never broken a handsewing needle before in my life. Am I doing something wrong? The batting is warm & natural cotton--not specifically for hand quilting. Does it really make that much difference? I wish there were a hand quilting class somewhere near me, because I sure could use some tips. Luckily I have several packets of needles, so I am no danger of running out, but I still wonder...

and by the way, getting the imbedded half of the needle out of the quilt sandwich can be a royal pain. Even with a thimble.

this is only a test

A test of hand piecing skills. The colors are more or less unintentional--it was whatever was on top in the scrap drawer. I didn't realize that yellow was quite so bright. This block has a bunch of points to match in the center, inset pieces, and curved seams, all of which are supposed to be a bit tricky. It didn't go so badly for a first try. The points in the center are not exact but they are pretty close. Close enough that I don't think you'd be able to tell if you were looking at an entire quilt made of this pattern. I hate to tackle inset seams by machine, but by hand they aren't bad at all. The curved seams weren't bad either, and I didn't cut off any of the star points. Not sure what that wrinkle is in the upper right just outside the circle... have to go back and check it. I am pleased, after struggling with quilting through two layers and batting, that my handsewing stitches are respectably tiny. I feel I can hold my head up in that regard. Someday I will piece a quilt top entirely by hand, with lots of curved seams and stars and sharp points. Someday... maybe right after I finish this

24 done out of 80 or 90 needed.