Finally, Laura's Quilt is Done

At least the top is. This will be set aside for a couple of weeks while I figure out how to quilt it. This quilt is an adaptation from Kaffe Fasset's "Sunlight in the Forest" found in his book, "Quilts in Sweden". When I asked Laura for fabric selections, her eyes always seemed to return to the bright, vivid, floral patterns for which Kaffe is so famous. After weeks of deliberating, I finally decided that I couldn't decide which of his fabrics best represent her and so I chose a pattern that featured almost all of them. These colors hinted at the gypsy spirit I first saw in Laura when we met in college so many years ago.

While our lives diverged after graduation as we both travelled and then settled thousands of miles apart, ours was the kind of friendship that immediately rekindled once we found each other again via Facebook 4 years ago. It was as if we continued a conversation we left off just a few minutes before. A friendship I am truly grateful for.

I Can Almost See It Finished

It's been another busy weekend in the sewing room. I almost have the borders completed for Laura's quilt. For the corner blocks, I plan to make a smaller  version of the New York Beauty block with the scraps. Soon it will be ready to decide how to quilt it. This morning I was perusing other quilters' blogs and came across a posting where the claim was made to have just "whipped this top together this weekend". Exactly how does one whip a quilt? Am I exceptionally slow, or are they fibbing a little bit? I just want anyone reading here to know that it takes time for me to make things. I neither whip nor throw a top,  nor do I "quilt in a day". Why would I want to hurry through a process that I find so pleasing? With the exception of foundation piecing. I hate that process, but love the results.

Enough with the ranting. It's quite possible that some people like to rush through things and have the skill set to pull it off. Who am I to judge? For me, I like the slower pace when I can breathe through my thoughts, sometimes pour my prayers into the squares, circles and triangles I am piecing together as I think about the person who will be receiving the final project. Currently I'm thinking of hand quilting this by using the thicker pearl cotton thread and more of a folk art stitch, 5-6 stitches per inch, rather than the more traditional, 10-12 stitches per inch. I figured that I can still keep this quilt  functional by keeping my quilting lines 1/2" apart. But I don't know if the looser stitches would hold up as well over time.  Any suggestions from the readers?

 I also had the joy to work on a garden star block for my block swap exchange partner. I enjoy block swaps because it gives me a chance to try out new colors and patterns. I liked these colors so much, I made one for myself. These aren't colors I would normally choose for myself, but by the time I was finished, I felt happy.  These colors together emit (if that is possible) a joyous, simple feeling. I believe I will go back and get a little more of the background fabric from Cloth and Bobbin in Narberth, PA and make something a little bigger.

I'm almost embarrassed to post the pictures here, they're so out of focus. I think it's time to admit my camera doesn't work so well and have my daughter teach me how to use hers. Perhaps my eye exam tomorrow will also help.

Slowing Down the Piecing

This last week has been very busy for me in the sewing room, and I finally decided to stop and take pictures of what I've been working on, even though nothing is even near being finished. The first set of pictures show a couple of blocks from the Orange Peel Class I took recently at the Cloth and Bobbin. I chose Teal and Grey as my colors and sewed enough to audition color schemes before I piece them together. The "teeth" are scrappy and the two choices I have are to go with a toned down center, or to make the quilt completely scrappy and random looking. 

First the more unified approach,

 

 Then the scrappy look,

 At the moment I am leaning toward limiting the color of the block centers to the light grey tones to give this quilt a very quiet, peaceful mood. I'll have to keep piecing a few more and do a mock up.  Foundation piecing is slow going for me, but I love the intricacy in the designs when I am done.

After I spent a few days on the Orange Peel blocks, I thought about using similar foundation piecing on Laura's quilt for the borders.  So I drafted a block and sewed up a few pieces to audition before I went much further. I think I like it.  It kind of looks like a fence going around the garden.

Tying Up Loose Ends

It's nearing the end of April and it's time to hurry and get in the mail all of my block swap and round robin obligations. I spent Saturday morning turning out all kinds of sewing for the different quilters in my cyber circle and had fun doing it.  Here are a couple of sneak peeks going out to random people, who I won't identify here to keep things somewhat a mystery.

Sunday was the final class for the Orange Peel Block.  I do look forward to  completing it, but it'll have to wait a short while because I'm missing working on Laura's quilt. So back on the design wall that went, and I think I will draft a border using the Orange Peel with some of the center scraps.  I'll keep all posted.

We Represent the Lollipop Kids

Tomorrow will be the first performance for the Wizard of Oz. Here are 3 of the "Lollipop Kids" aprons I sewed for the play. One of the parents spent the day during dress rehearsal on Sunday taking these fantastic photos.

© Michael Leslie Photography | All Rights Reserved | 610.667.0950

Don't they look adorable?

And here are 3 of the 19 Flying Monkey Vests with Wings I made.

Don't let those impish grins fool you.  They were terrors! I've been afraid of flying monkeys ever since I saw the Wizard of Oz on TV for the first time in the 60's.

And here are the tired and forlorn Talking Trees from the magical forest. You can tell by their eyes it was a very long day.

And finally the costumes are all complete.  Now, back to quilting!

I delayed posting for several days the picture of my design wall.  I was hoping I would have enough self control to keep it a secret until it was sewn and quilted.  But. . . I ain't got it in me.  I've always been a bit impetuous.  So,  here is a picture of my design wall.  The quilt isn't quite done yet.  I haven't decided on the borders.

My Color Therapy

Sometimes when I come home from work, I still have a burst of energy left after I finish the dishes to spend some time in the sewing room. This has been a good week for me as I had extra energy on a couple of nights.  The other night I was finally able to begin the preliminary steps on a quilt I am making for a certain beautiful woman who resides in Dublin.  She loves floral fabrics in vibrant colors!  A perfect opportunity to use Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  I love that guy. How does he sleep at night with all those colors whirling about his brain?

But the first steps to beauty are usually the mundane ones. Preparing the fabric. Ironing and trimming loose ends are the Zen moments in quilting. Not the most exciting, but it is the last time you will see a yard of fabric in its entire pattern before you start slicing into it. For those reasons I enjoy the step of turning this, 

 Into this.

Next, the slicing begins.