Category: Quilting

The Year of the Quilt

In 2022 I finished zero quilts.  I managed to piece together blocks I had made the previous year (or did I make them in 2020? I can’t remember…) to complete the pieced top of my green Magic Boxes quilt, and I finished the top of the Nine Sisters quilt BFF commissioned, along with pinning the quilt sandwich and some of the actual quilting… but that’s it. (To be fair, I made about a dozen bags, and several sets of hot pads as gifts, but they were quick and dirty projects that only took an hour or two to make, as that’s all my attention span would allow for. There were also some family medical matters to deal with October, November, and December of last year, along with the typical holiday stuff, so even while I felt better those last three months, I did not have much time to myself.)

THIS YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT.

I was off for about two weeks around Christmas. I was able to sort and organize my craft room (okay, maybe just the fabric parts? but this is still a noteworthy accomplishment) and I feel like I have more of a mental handle on allowing myself to make the time to do what I enjoy.

My plans for this year:

  • Finish BFF’s quilt – IT IS ALMOST COMPLETE. I am literally sewing on the binding, and then I have another 45ish minutes of quilting to do.
  • Keep up with the Sewcialites 2 quilt – I am only two weeks behind, and all the fabric has been gathered, ironed, and planned out for blocks – catching up will be easy. This is going to be a gift for my mom, so I’m hoping it finishes up in time for it to be a Christmas present. (I think I might pay to have this one long-armed, since it’s. Complex.)
  • Do a temperature quilt -This one is going to be super simple, since it’s going to require a lot of focus to keep up with. I have a little over half the fabric purchased (all the purples, blues, greens, and yellows so I can get started right now) and will purchase the rest next payday.  I’m using 1/2 yards of Kona solids purchased from JoAnns, because that seems to be the easiest way to manage the unknowns in the future. I’m still not sure of the pattern, so I’m going to keep track of the low/high temperatures until I decide.
  • Finish my aunt’s quilt – I’m doing another green Magic Boxes quilt (but with different batiks this time, okay?) and I have four strip sets sewn…. and that’s it.  I need to finish this by October so I can give it to her as a birthday gift.
  • Make some more progress on the Kinship sampler quilt. I already have half the blocks done (badly, hahahahahahaalsdkjfalsdfkja, fml, but done is better than perfect) so if I can do another twenty five blocks this year (and maybe fix some of the more fucked up ones) I will be satisfied.
  • Start Becky’s quilt – Basic plans are to go with the Tea Time pattern using an orange Kaffe jellyroll. (Apparently depression doesn’t keep me from buying fabric, because I already have the jelly roll and border fabric purchased.)
  • Start planning Aunt Mom’s quilt – Basic plans are to go with four small JoAnn jellyrolls and do a Trip Around the World quilt, but I need to get THE PERFECT jellyrolls.
  • Start planning a crazy quilt for my cousin  – She was part of some kind of quilt block exchange a few years ago, where everyone made ten or so state-themed blocks and then mixed/matched/traded so everyone involved had one block for each US state. She loved the quilt because it was light and large, but it’s starting to fall apart, and she’s sad. So I need to find an interesting and suitable replacement.

I’m psyched, and will be satisfied if I can manage half of this.  🙃

Quilt samplers are not for me…

So I made it to block 30 on the Fusion Sampler quilt (though I have about 60 blocks done – I jumped around a bit because of color/lack of space to keep that many fat quarters flat and neat) before some major depression hit and I was unable to do much of anything until about a week ago.

It was the kind of depression that makes everything feel pointless and hopeless. Every single task was next to impossible. My hobbies felt like joyless, thankless work.  I think the reason I was able to get out of bed was because of my dog – because how can anyone say no to that little face? Not sure any one thing triggered it. Not sure any one thing is making me feel better at the moment. Just actively trying to reconnect with the things that used to/should make me happy and not stress about things out of my control.

Which was not the Fusion Sampler quilt.

I want to stress that this pattern is magnificent and beautiful and so wonderfully put together. I regret nothing, except the fact that I’m apparently not in the right headspace to be able to do something that intricate. (I’m also currently lacking dedicated sewing space, and setting up a table, gathering my tools, etc. takes up about half of the time I set aside to sew every day, which is a bummer.) Someday I’m going to pick it back up again and finish it.

For now, I’m forcing myself to do simple things. Currently working on a small quilt for Ruby (I’m currently hand-stitching the binding) and the Rail Fence poppy jelly roll quilt I started about a year ago.  I got frustrated after only four blocks and sat it aside.  I was not experienced enough to know that a) you don trim jelly rolls like that and b) as long as simple blocks like this are the same size, it doesn’t really matter that the size isn’t perfect. (This particular quilt has been pinned, and will be machine quilted over this long weekend over many a strawberry margarita.)

Here’s to getting something done and possibly enjoying it along the way.

The Kinship Quilt Along…

It’s officially day two of this quilt along, though I’ve been working a bit ahead for a few days (like, 28?) to try and get some cutting done. While I don’t mind cutting anymore, it’s not my favorite thing so getting some completed beforehand makes things feel more doable.

I have a few days of blocks completed, in case Life Happens. Otherwise, my goal is going to be seven blocks a week.

I can confidently say after cutting about twenty-five of these blocks. that fussy cutting is definitely not my cup of tea. It’s… okay? I can do it. But It Feels Like A Lot.

Additionally, making a bunch of different blocks for a quilt is probably also not my cup of tea. XD At least maybe not this many in this kind of time frame? Maybe it’s the time of year, and when I sit down to work on this I just keep dreaming of being in my garden–should I haul my stuff outside and cut there?

My background noise for this project is Star Wars. I thought I’d watch just the movies, and after blowing through the original three (IV, V, VI) I decided watching everything, from the very beginning of the story, was probably a more appropriate goal. Thus far, I’ve watched Episode I and Episode II (I hate Anakin), the animated Clone Wars movie (I strongly dislike Anakin), and am now slogging through the Clone Wars series (Still strongly dislike Anakin).  I say slogging because ug. Was it made for kids? I don’t know, and neither does the show. We get lessons on life and friendship, and then someone gets murdered without any follow-up, explanation, or consequences, so. (I’m surprised by how much I also dislike Obi Wan? Because while Anakin is showing signs of being evil, he still gets shit done. Yes, he just stabbed someone, but do you really need to scold him Obi? He just saved your life.)

I’m told season 3 is where it picks up. That’s only 50ish episodes in, which is comparable to the investment required for Gintama, so I’m sticking it out. (Regardless, I’m sticking it out, because I feel like I have to.)

So I joined a quilt along…

I’m a little nervous about this, but I’m going to give it a shot!

I typically need projects that come together quickly. I get bored with persnickety things because ug. It feels like so much work. I’m trying to get over that, because there are some incredibly beautiful quilts that I want to make that require more than some basic slicing and dicing of jelly roll strips.

The more I quilt, the more I enjoy all the parts of quilting. When I first started out, I really disliked cutting (which is kind of a vital part of it). I just wanted to sew!  But the more I did it, the more I liked it.  So I’m hoping this quilt sparks more of that kind of joy.  It was built for fussy cutting, and I’m going to try a few blocks of that, but I think that still might be one step beyond my persnicket-level.  We shall see.

Currently gathering fabric and planning some colors. In the next two weeks I hope to get some blocks cut before the event starts, because quilting on summer weekdays can be hard for me.  I’m going to take the host’s advice and shoot for seven blocks a week, instead of one block a day… Though I’m going to try to get a bit ahead so I can still share one block a day. That seems so much more manageable for me!

Additional information: https://www.gnomeangel.com/100days100blocks-event-information/

Holiday Cheer – A Quilt for my BFF

I made this quilt for my bff of 29 years. She is only one of three people that I’m willing to use/work with pink for. 😉

Pattern

Holiday Cheer, by Cozy Quilt Designs

Fabric

  • Meadow Lane, by Sara Davies (Riley Blake Jelly Roll* purchased from Jordan Fabrics)
  • Nickel Gray, Bella Solids (Moda yardage purchased from Jo-Ann Fabric)
  • Pink viney batik (Brand unknown, purchased from Sewing Solutions)
  • Purple/gray fitted sheet for backing, 400 thread count cotton sateen (purchased from Ross)
  • 100% cotton batting

Fun Facts

  • Pieced and quilted on my Baby Lock Zeal
  • This is the first quilt where I didn’t do a square quilting pattern. (Okay, to be fair, it’s a diamond design – so yeah, technically still squares. But they were deliberate squares and not just a result of me stitching straight across the quilt from edge to edge!) I had to mark straight lines over the solid gray areas to keep my lines straight. It was weird having to secure my stitches – I’ve always just stitched right off the edges.
  • The french binding was created using hand-cut bias strips from the pink viney batik. It was stitched to the front by machine, and hand sewn on the back.

Background Noise

  • This was part of my Marvel Movie Rewatch:
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 1
    • Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2
    • Captain America, Civil War
  • Star Trek Voyager (season 5 and 6)
  • Babylon 5 (season 3)

Time Frame

  • January 9, 2021 – Started piecing
  • February 2, 2021 – Finished piecing
  • February 3, 2021 – Hiatus – machine being serviced
  • February 12, 2021 – Hiatus – back injury
  • Feb 24 – Prepped backing
  • Feb 28 – Pin basted
  • Feb 28 – Started quilting
  • March 4 – Complete!

 

Sheep Poop

I recently bought a wool pressing mat, because my small (hard) tabletop ironing board is on the way out, and the (soft) pressing mat I bought is so flexible and limp that it doesn’t let me press without wrinkles.  The information sheet says it’s New Zealand wool, and the company is based out of Oregon. (I try to buy local, I try to buy American, but especially so in instances like this because in my experience, most fabric/fiber that comes from China smells like musty kerosene.) It looks to be really high quality. No complaints there.

I read somewhere that you couldn’t use steam on wool mats.  That sounded bogus, so I did some more reading. Apparently steam isn’t recommended because it will go through the mat. That’s extra problematic for me, since I often work on a plastic tabletop.  But, I thought, I could use my soft pressing mat to protect the table, and use the wool pressing mat to actually iron on.

Problem solved!!

Except.

The wool pressing mat has a really awful smell when it gets damp.

Like, hot manure awful smell.

Which is bad enough on it’s own, but I am allergic to sheep manure. I don’t know that I’m actually allergic to my mat, but my head has been totally stuffed up since last evening.

I checked reviews to see if it was an issue for anyone else. It is, but it apparently goes away on its own.  I’m hoping so. Because I really, really, really love this mat, otherwise.

I wonder if Fabreeze would help or make it worse?

Using sheets for quilt backings

There’s this stigma about using a sheet as a quilt backing. Like using one makes you less of a quilter.

Why?

Because it’s not pieced? Because you didn’t spend an outrageous amount of money on fabric? Because you didn’t have to go through the agony of searching for a mostly full bolt of fabric? (Is this a problem for other people? We don’t have a lot of places to buy fabric in my area, and the pandemic has caused some shortages and slim pickings on nice fabric at our local JoAnn.)

Nothing against those who want to piece the back, or use a super fun fabric, or whatever. I’m not saying I think there’s anything wrong with doing that. But using sheets can also be a good solution. It saves you time (no piecing), money (way less expensive) and you can get super high quality fabric.

Maybe it’s because when people hear that you used a sheet, they think you used an old sheet. A used sheet. The kind that are 80% polyester at Dollar General and get fuzzbally after one night of use, that live in the back of your linen closet waiting for when you need a drop cloth or a quick car seat cover for your dog.

I agree that using that kind of sheet is super icky.

But I’m a sheet snob.  When I use a sheet, it’s new, 100% cotton, with a thread count of 300 or greater. These are sheet sets that would sell for $90+ at a department store, but that go for $30 or $40 at Ross or TJ Maxx. I also open the package as much as I can and feel the sheets to make sure they’re super soft. (And I’m not afraid to return them if I get them home and HATE how they feel.) If I get a king size set, I can use the flat sheet (for king size quilts) AND fitted sheets (for twin/throw size quilts), and I can save the pillow cases to embroider on.

Win win win, right?