WIP Wednesday: 18th August

Many moons ago, there was a regular WIP Wednesday post by...I don't remember whom. Possibly Lee from Freshly Pieced.

It kept me going, kept me accountable, and I quite enjoyed it. Admittedly, it started during a period of my life when I had more time to do quilting, and wasn't so squished in with everything else going on: gardening, writing, keeping house, activism. But it was good to post things and have people see what I was doing, and see what they were doing in return.

I'm going to try doing that again. I've got a little tag on my wfh computer, that says: Monday - gardening, Wednesday - quilting, Friday - cooking. The visual reminder will help me remember to post. That's the theory, anyway.

So the main thing I'm working on right now is the kitchen curtains. The ones that I've been planning to complete for, oh, around 7 years now. I made curtains for the study, for my bedroom, for the dining room, and for one set of lounge room windows (with the other yet to be completed). Now it's time to do the kitchen. But not just curtains; I want blinds - ones that sit close to the window frame and which can be lifted to various levels to allow a little bit of sun or a full flood of it.

For it, I'm using the Robert Kaufman linen blend range in navy, and the Reece Scannell shot cotton series that I've had lying around for a decade or so. I've used it in the Plain Jane Passacaglia, and in some of the other pieced curtains, so it's time to use more of it for the kitchen:

For pattern, I've chosen the Power Of Three. It's one of those designs that look stunning, but are really quite fiddly when you're trying to put all the pieces together. And there's a lot of measuring of bits and pieces, trying to use as much of the fabric as possible. But that just adds more fiddlyness.

I'm thinking that this pattern is probably best with all the pieces pre-cut before starting, and then done a few blocks at a time rather than all at once. The small squares are pretty dainty (the small block fits in the palm of my hand) and doing it chain-piecing would probably be less mentally tiring. Then again, everything is mentally tiring lately.

I hope to have some decent progress by next Wednesday. Until then, as the ladies of the Pantsuit Politics podcast like to say: have the best week available to you.

the backings project

I have a new longarm quilter in my local area. She's very fast (turnaround time one week) and very quick (about half of what my previous longarmer was offering). And considering I can afford it right now, and I have a ridiculous backlog of quilt tops, I am getting quilts done.

I have already handed in The Friendship Supernova and 3:10 to Mendocino, and will be handing over the penny patches:

And the scarlet split squares. There are two others, but I'm not sure that I have pics of them.

And that's only around half the quilt tops I still have tucked away all over my quilting room... Also: I have Roman blinds planned for the kitchen window - the kind that you pull up and down with a cord. I really should try to get those done during this lockdown...

Swarm II

So, six years ago I made the quilt Swarm. And it was hugely popular and very much beloved by my instafolk. It got accepted to Quiltcon and I sent it there for display, but rather than bring it home for my collection, I sent it to friends in the US who had hosted me many times before.

I probably should have checked that they wanted it first. And they're too polite to give it back if they don't like it. (In that way that 'polite' means 'refusing a gift is uncharitable and one Does Not Do That'. Very southern.) Also, we're not on speaking terms right now: I think she believes I'm stupid for 'living in lockdown (ie. "fear")' and I think she's headed for 'everyone who isn't on my political side is wrong, and moreover, anti-American' territory, if not already there.

So Swarm is more or less lost to me. Which means I should really put together a Swarm II. I had plans for one about four years ago, for my spiritual mentor at the time who loved purples and lavenders, and who I was going to make something for. We kind of lost touch - I think she might have been going through some deconstruction, and her husband was dealing with an autoimmune disease and, well, we didn't get around to meeting up and just lost touch.

I have found better ways to do the Swarm Quilt, although it's still going to be a very piece-y quilt. I just need to write them out and put them together. I say this a lot.

Lockdown Looking Forward

Welp, Sydney is in lockdown and has been for four weeks.

It's likely to go quite a bit longer - if we're out before the end of September, I'll be pretty surprised. I could post about why, but that's not for this blog.

So, let's look at what I'm going to do quilting-wise during lockdown.

get together backings for:

• my church friends quilts: the Rooftop Penny Patches: Yv, Me, Ca, Lo, Ru
• 3:10 to mendocino
• Valley of Kings
• De La Luna Penny Patch
• scarlet split squares
• ...among others

Yeesh, I have a lot of quilt tops!

Otherwise:

• finish column 4 of Handsewing project: the restless hands of Sel
• finish mum's handbag
• finish another scrap postage stamp
• finish The Floor Is Lava
• get the pieces cut up and sorted for the Plaidish Quilt

I might even try to wrestle the monstrosity of Break Free Or Build Upon through my quilting machine. Or maybe save that for a group sewing day when there's space and time.

At some point I really want to do another Swarm. I have a post about it and everything.

I've already sewn 2 stars for the Restless Hands, put together a Postage Stamp Quilt, edged a number of handkerchiefs, finished a couple of masks, and sorted through one box of scraps. So that's not terrible.

golly look at the time

I'm so sorry for not posting more often here. Quilting and sewing often takes a backseat to everything else in my life right now: working, writing, gardening, householding, hockey, eating out, and finally...quilting.

I have finished my quilt for the 2021 Quilt show! It's bound and everything! Now I just need to make a label and sew on the hanging sleeve and we are FINISHED BABY!

It's a good design, I really like what I came up with and how I've done it. And, yes, I should do a pattern with it. I say this a lot, but never actually do, don't I?

And then, the rest of the year is SCRAP QUILTS:
1. Postage Stamp quilts (as many as can be made from strips
2. The Quilt Is Lava
3. Plaidish quilts

I'd like to actually finish these (binding and everything) for giving to church friends. It means some very intentional quilting and management of time. But... I did the 2021 Quilt Show Quilt in three months (entered the quilt as a sketch and a pile of fabric back in March, finished by June) so...I can do it. It's just...a bit of effort...

Can be done, though. Really. It can. And I can do it. Don't mind me, I'm just talking myself into it all.... :D

interweave

Several people have lately come asking me for the pattern for the Intulawoven quilt.

It's in the book Crazy For Scraps by Sally Schneider, published by That Patchwork Place publishing.

The book version uses 2.5" finished HSTs, while I used 4.5" finished HSTs (from a 5" charm square). It's also more scrappy so it may take the eye a moment to see the pattern of the interweaving ribbons. I did the rainbow colourwash through the quilt deliberately.

Page 60, Interweave

It's possible that Schneider has put out several books on scrappy quilts in the last dozen years, so this one may not be the 'current' one. Which is why I photographed the ISBN details:

apologies for the terrrible light!

So here's a question for y'all...

Patterns and buying them.

Many's the time when I spotted a pattern that I particularly liked, and then saw that someone had made a pattern and was trying to get people to pay for it. Which, I have no objection to. When effort has gone into the design, then, sure, monetary recompense should be a given.

What I'm thinking of, though, is that often I have sufficient quilting and design skills to work out how to do something without actually requiring a pattern for it. Like, if a quilt design is basically full of HSTs, then I can easily put together a bunch of them in the correct colour groupings, work out the layout, and sew it together. I don't need the pattern for that level.

Some people do, and I'm not saying that's bad. I'm saying that I have the mental energy to try to work out how to do something that I perceive as pretty simple, and if I think it's that simple then I'm not willing to pay money for it.

And then, on the other end of the spectrum is the kind of skill and knowledge and design that one pays for.

I made this quilt a number of years ago, working out the pattern by looking at the design.

It's not difficult - it's in fact very simple. But a lot of people would look at this and think the pattern was complicated.

And then there are some designs that you just pay for, because the effort to work it out? Way more than the time is worth!

That's the Technicolour Galaxy, it was a Block-of-the-Month quilt back in 2014-2015 or around then, and it's a showstopper all the time. I still have a spare pattern for it (there were some pieces that could be only be used once unless you wanted to get complicated about printing on more stabiliser) which I plan to use...someday.

For some intriguing anecdata, I've quilted with women older than me, and I've quilted with women younger than me. By and large (and this is a very broad generalisation) the older women get grumpy about paying money for quilt designs, while younger women tend to emphasis the importance of paying for everything from block designs to quilt patterns. It's worth noting that the older women are accustomed to thinking of their quilting as a 'hobby' and not something that makes money, while the younger women are trying to either make a living off this, or add to their income.

On a semi-related note, I once had a bunch of people chide me in instagram comments for not crediting the pattern-maker for a mini-quilt that I made. Several tagged the pattern-maker, or added the tag of the pattern-maker's name for the design. Not one of them apologised when I noted that it was a design that I saw in the background of the tag on a Marti Mitchell template and worked out how to make using a hexagon cutting template.

Yes, that kind of 'working things out' is how I roll.

No, it wasn't this quilt! I paid for the pattern for this one!

Do I think design and process work should be appreciated and paid for? Yes. But if I don't think the effor that's gone into the design and process work done by the person asking me to pay for it is worth what they're asking, then I'll work out the pattern myself. Exactly how complicated it needs to be before I'll pay for it? Well, some of that is up to the design, some of it depends on my state of mind.

Where's your line drawn between paying someone for their design-and-process work vs. working it out yourself? Do you have such a line?

Finish Along 2021 Q1

Four things for the Finish Along 2021.

Pretty Tote Bag

For mum's birthday, out of Art Theory fabric by Alison Glass

Scrappy Log Cabins

Because I have too many scraps and I need to use some, although I'm preferring other people's ideas for scraps than a log cabin. Oh well, this one will be smallish and simple.

Zippered Box Pouches

For gifts, maybe later this year. I should just make a bunch of these at every quarter and then there'll be gifts aplenty come Christmas!

Sicily Slip Dress

Learning cutting and sewing on the bias. One toile (just the top), one dress - hopefully in time for stepbrother's wedding (in two weeks). That's going to be an interesting job...

quilts for Q1 2021

Man, what a year!

WIPS for 2021
1. The Quilt Is Lava
2. Bard of Scrappy
3. Red-purple log cabin
4. Art Theory Shoulderbag for Mum
5. Break Free or Build Upon?

There are almost certainly more of them. Actually doing them, on the other hand? That's difficult.

NEW WORK

Interconnected
Intended for the Sydney Quilt Show 2020, but going to be on the menu for 2021. Needs designing cutting, piecing, quilting.

A Plaid-ish quilt
Plaid-ish quilt looks good, hopefully in Cotton+Steel. Have the pieces sitting aside, need to cut and arrange.

A Power of Three quilt.
I was thinking maybe from Heather Ross Mendocino, since I still have a lot of that and want to use up the scraps where possible, and this has the option for squares as small as 1.5"

Another Nameless Tula Neptune quilt
Perhaps? Same style and everything? I still have fabric left over from that.

Any Scrappy
I have so many scraps, just need to use them. (I say this every year.)

Missing links and pattern pieces...

One of the most frustrating things about the internet is the issue of missing links. Websites come and websites go, but the links to them remain the same. So a link that worked five years ago doesn't work anymore, because the site is no longer there and neither are the downloads.

I've been looking for New York Beauty blocks, and they're surprisingly hard to find after the original free 10 ones. I was hoping to find more free NYB blocks, but these days the blocks are either sold or missing.

Oh well. It's not like I'm going to make a NYB quilt anytime soon. Way too many other quilts to make...assuming their links still work.

My most recent sewing work has been the making of a boxy pouch for my SIL-to-be for Christmas. But before that there was a Secret Santa swap, and a banner for the US Inauguration next year.

Pretty Tote Bag

The bag is unhelpfully called 'Pretty Tote Bag' and is free, but the site is entirely in Korean, which I don't read. However, the video is perfectly cromulent for instruction and the bag is indeed pretty!

Inauguration Banner

I'm mildly displeased with the vertical spacing on this. Not at all even! Ah well. I made it so she can hang it in her window, from one of those horizontal flagpole things that they do outside US houses, or put it on a crosspole in a march, like a standard bearer!

Star curtain

Oh, and this curtain section to hang up in the window for Christmas!

You can't see the 'vanes' of the star from this photograph, but it looks quite spectactular in person.

I keep on dreaming of making a full nativity diorama, with wise men, shepherds, and the holy family... It's a lot of piecing work, so the chances are probably 'never'.

Other than that, I'm trying to sew a dress for a couple of weddings in January. Assuming that we manage to get our current COVID cases (3 new today) under control... I'm not really liking our chances...

quilts to make

Scrappy quilts by the busload:

Hidden Spools (requires a square cutting ruler, I think)

Salt Air Lattice Quilt - great for strong patterns and colours

Libs Elliot: La Fin Du Monde, and The Oncoming Storm.

Pathways (layer cake and jelly roll combo)
PLAN: Tula Pink Neptune of which I have a layer cake and jelly roll

Cosy Posy - triangles! But a little wasteful on the fabrics, so not a precious set

Penny Patch Rooftop Gardens - FINISHED!

It's been a while, and my attempt at Midweek Modsquad sadly died after a couple of weeks. There's been too much and not enough going on for me.

I have a new job with a client in Canberra. I'm working from home, it's...not too bad right now. But I still haven't really felt the push to do much sewing. Creativity has felt beyond me, what I could manage was mostly tasks.

However, I have finally managed to finish what originally began as the "c4quilts" - that is, a set of four quilts that were going to be for a quartet of cousins. The fabrics would be from the same line, the theme would be different for each, and the result would be something that was individual to each cousin, while still being connected.

It didn't work. Or, more correctly, I didn't end up liking it for the cousins in question. But I'd started cutting it all up and...well, I figured I'd just continue on.

They're more busy than I like: too much movement in the fabric, too much movement in the blocks.

I think this pattern does best when used with very small prints, 'reads as solids', and plain old solids/neutrals. Large, bright patterns don't really work very well. I should have left the bigger prints for the large squares.

Well, we live and learn.

However, I'm quite happy with the results, even if they're not quite what I envisioned. These will just be quilted with a stipple and...honestly, I'll probably just give them away to any friends who want them.

Final note: We've lived at this house for five years and it only just occurred to me to use the long stretch of the driveway fence as a quilt hanger!

Midweek Mod Squad [Restless Hands, Penny Patch]

Another week, another Midweek Sydney Mod Squad update!


Restless Hands Of Sel

Today, with the loosening of restrictions around visitors, I went around to a friend's place - leebee81 on Instagram - and we did some handsewing. I got five blocks sorted, cut, and glue-basted while there. Now they're all ready for stitching together, which I'll do during various meetings over the next couple of weeks...


And then I laid it out to see how it looked in the overall quilt colouring:


Penny Patch On The Roof

This week, I finished off sewing together the last of the Penny Patch On The Roof. They were originally to be for my cousins, but I decided on a different design for them instead. Which I still have to execute, preferably before the end of the year.

Layout in daylight:

Finished top by electric light:

Still don't have any idea what I'm going to do with these four quilts, but I'm sure I'll work something out...

I could gift them to my bible study group members this year? There are five 'households' who are regulars: J&N, D&D, R&K, A(&S), and L. If I do one more, then maybe I can gift one to each? Hm. I still have the fabric for one more...

Of course, that means I should make some for the group I had a couple of years ago: M, L, J, B, R, Y - most of whom are actually closer friends - but they'd have to be nice, simple ones that I can get done before the end of the year, not too complicated...

(Hm. I could maybe do Plaidish Quilts for them? Mix and mingle my scraps? Oy. Better start cutting!)


Soroptimist's Annual Raffle Quilt

My mother is at me to make the quilt for her group, which needs to be done by September, although she'll need pictures before then. I was thinking a plaidish quilt might work for that, too. Need to work out the palette/fabric collection, though...

-

If you'd like to check out the tag on instagram, there should be a neat selection of work by the Sydney Mod Squad members!

Midweek Syd Mod Squad

It's a Wednesday which means we're looking at a Midweek Syd ModSquad post! And I actually got things done this time!


Restless Hands of Sel

I had all the stars for Column 2 finished by Saturday night.
Now I just have to sew them into a full column so they don't get lost, and then I can start on picking and cutting out Column 3 fabric.

The actual sewing of the pieces goes together pretty fast, it's the organising and sticking fabric onto the templates that takes time and is tricksy to do. Especially when the pieces are pretty small...



Penny Patch On The Roof

Started on the four-patches for the quilt:
And the 'penny patch' blocks:
18 patch blocks to make, then 12 solid blocks, assemble and ta-da!


The other ladies from the Sydney Mod Squad will also be posting their #midweeksydmodsquad progress:
@natasharenstead
@pennypoppleton
@quilting_bushgirl
@pinkyquilts
@leebee81
@skyberries

2020 QAL Q2 Plans and Finishes

So, Q1 didn't exactly go as I planned, and Q2 has kind of been screwed up by a sudden rush of coronavirus sewing.

But making lists helps me parse what's really important in my sewing, mostly because I decide whether or not I really do want to sew that after all when I look at the lists. :)

Finished

Of my Q1 finish list I managed four things! FOUR! That rarely happens!

1. I finally made mum's laptop sleeve.

2. I finally sewed up the hem on B2's dress.

4. I completed my Sydney Mod Squad quilt blocks for the 2020 quilt.

5. I decided on a quilt (well, two actually) for the 2020 Sydney Quilt Show: my Break Free Or Build Upon quilt, and a new one that I'm calling Interconnected.

Of course, deciding is not finishing (or, let's be real, even starting).

--

Planned to finish

1. Penny Patch: On The Roof
I've already done two of these, just got to do the 2nd two. They were originally the quilts for the C4 cousins, but I don't think the patterns really suit them anymore. I don't know what I'm going to do with them, but I might as well finishg the tops.

2. The Quilt Is Lava
This was going to be the raffle quilt for my mother's charity group last year before I changed my mind and made something a little less boldly modern. Again, I don't know what it's going to be used for, but I need to use up scraps and stuff and this is the project I've chosen.

3. Break Free Or Build Upon
Just needs quilting!

I slso have the 2020 UFO challenge which looks a little nuts:
- mum's laptop case
- c4 quilts 1+2
- c4 quilts 3+4
- penny patch on the roof
- 3:10 to Mendocino
- stars of avo
- the quilt is lava
- dancing starts
- 50 stars of blue (might make it 49 stars, or need to work out what else to do with this)


Planned to start

1. Interconnected
Intended for the Sydney Quilt Show. Will probably have a permaculture theme to it. Needs cutting, piecing, quilting.

I should probably start that ASAP.

2. A Plaid-ish quilt in Cotton+Steel.

3. A Power of Three quilt. I was thinking maybe from Heather Ross Mendocino, since I still have a lot of that and want to use up the scraps where possible, and this has the option for squares as small as 1.5"

4. A shoulderbag for mum. Although I gave her the laptop case, she actually wanted a particular fabric that was very pretty but I couldn't bring myself to make the laptop case from it, because laptops are only a couple of years, right, while a bag can last much longer...

I decided on the Clydebank Tote by Sew Sweetness. Just gotta patch the fabric together because the print she wanted isn't large enough...

Hoo boy. Never let it be said I don't aim high.

Midweek Mod Squad

It's still Wednesday in the Americas and Europe right now, yeah?

Penny Patch On The Roof #3 is done!



Penny Patch On The Roof #4 is still in pieces all over the cutting table, and I desperately don't want to do it. *sigh*


It's mostly a question of JUST DOING IT. So difficult right now when I'm in the middle of Life, The State of The World, And Everythhing.

But the restless Hands Of Sel blocks are coming along nicely. Apparently if you sew in Zoom meetings, it helps both the meeting and the sewing go pretty fast...


And one of the first 'tricksy' ones: Star 15, which is many small pieces and not quite as dramatic as I wanted it to be. I have to remember to pick distinctive colours for blocks.


I have the binding for the Sydney Mod Squad Group Quilt. Need to contact the woman putting it all together about how wide she wants the binding. (I have her binding maker, too, which is why I got the binding fabric.)


And I'd better start on my 2nd quilt for the Sydney Quilt Show. No, I haven't even begun putting it together. I know. Struggling a lot lately.

How's your stuff going?