Working Day and Night

I got the scraps on my design wall fused down. Here's a taste. I'm not ready to show the whole thing yet.


I've also been crocheting scarves like crazy. I can't show them here since they are gifts. But if you want to peek at a few of them check me out on Ravelry. I'm citygirlq.

Safe and happy holidays everyone!

Separation Anxiety

It has been a while since I posted. But not because I haven't been busy.

I'm hand quilting the quilt I swore I wouldn't hand quilt.

I finished piecing the Olympic quilt.

Which left me with lots of delicious scraps to play with.

And I've done a lot of crocheting.

Mostly I've been dealing the work/life stuff that causes me to neglect my blog. I always manage to find time for a creative life. Just not the time to talk about it.

Hello, my name is...

I'm making some calling cards. Not that I ever go anywhere or meet anyone. But I was thinking about things like artistic voice and communicating a point a view. Something like a business card or calling card has to communicate everything you want someone else to know about you and where you're coming from in a very small format. So I decided to try making some. They are pretty much like ATC's but 2 by 31/2. And there is text on the other side. I was thinking of attaching them to projects.

Work on everything else has stalled. Mostly because I just can't get to it. But I can work on these little cards here and there and feel like I'm accomplishing something. I'm crocheting baby blankets too. Lots of people seem to be having babies these days. I don't know if they will be girls or boys. But I figured I'd make a few in different colors and get ahead of the curve for a change.

I'm hoping to get back to the other projects soon. The cityscape and the olympic quilt were moving along really well. But I just haven't been able to get to them. I think someone is slipping me decaf.

One Thing Leads to Another

My quilting olympics is going very well. Of course, I don't have funky, totally unfair tie-breaking rules to deal with. If two people get the same score they should share the medal or do a tie-breaking back flip or something.

Anyway, I've managed to do some needleturn every night since the olympics started. And I'm getting better at those outside points. I think I've figured out a way to turn the corner that works for me, and they aren't coming out lumpy or weird anymore. It has also given me a chance to experiment with different threads for applique. I'm loving the silk. I like it so much, I want to try quilting with silk thread. And I just happen to have some old silk remnants that would be perfect for such an experiment. I will never have to worry about running out of things to do as long as one project leads to another.

On an unrelated note, why oh why did the current issue of Craft magazine have to be about weaving? This is the kind of temptation I don't need. Now, when no one is looking, I sneak peaks at looms online. Somebody stop me. I actually had a loom when I was kid. My grandparents gave me a plastic table top loom and I would make squares of fabric. It was fun. I never turned them into anything. But when you are a kid people let you just make stuff without it having to be anything. Maybe that's what grabbed my attention. It takes me back to when process was more important than outcome. I wonder if my mom still has that loom?

Let the Games Begin - But Give Me a Minute First

The Olympics are about to start and I am woefully unprepared with hand projects to work on during my must-see events. I'm a little bit of a summer olympic nut. It's weird if you know me because I'm not much of a sports fan. But I get into the Olympics. I must watch gymnastics, diving, swimming, and track and field. Maybe some tennis and basketball. And some bicycling. And maybe some synchronized swimming. You get the picture.

But I've been preoccupied with other things and neglected to get my hand work together. It's not that I don't have hand projects. There are a few projects waiting to be pieced or quilted. But I don't have the right batting, or the right thread, or a clue about how to quilt something. I might have to pick up a UFO.

I have done some quilting on the cityscape. I have most of the wig shop quilted. Sorry, no pictures. I'm too lazy to get the camera out plus there are loose threads all over the top. There's a project right there. Schnoobie said there are no wig stores in her town and it made be laugh because there was one on every block in the neighborhood where I grew up. Seriously. They are like Starbucks. They didn't just sell hair and wigs you know. You could get jewelry, clothes, toys - pretty much anything made in China - in those places.

Which brings us back the Olympics. In addition to not preparing any hand work projects, I just realized that we are also out of ice cream. We are so unprepared.

5 Days of Solitude (Almost)

The vacation is coming along nicely, thank you very much. Apart from the telemarketers and the ants that are trying to eat our relatively new air conditioner, it has been ideal. I even gave up worrying about the germs that were threatening to put the whole household out of commission.

I spent the last few days working on a city scape. It's like a landscape but for city girls. I've been wanting to do something like this for a while now - but who has the time? So it was like my own self-directed art quilt camp. And I have been learning a lot.

All of the piecing, fusing and zig-zag stitching is done. And I'm pretty happy with the outcome so far. Naturally there are flaws, but they have taught me valuable lessons, so I choose to look at them as learning opportunities. I'm moving on to the quilting next. Hopefully the ants won't carry us away in the night.

Proof Of Life

I’ve been a big slacker about keeping things updated around here. And since Kyra was nice enough to give me a shout out on her blog, people have been stopping by. I kind of feel the way I do when I have visitors and realize that I haven’t dusted in a while. It happens to me more than you’d expect.

I have managed to get bits and pieces of things done in between everything else. But I’m not going to show you the whole picture because nothing is at the showing it to people stage. But I think I need to show some proof of creative life.

The water quilt top is done and I’ve dreamed about how to quilt it. I even have backing fabric. But not the right thread. Who has time for quilting anyway?

I pulled a bunch of scraps out of my scrap bin. From time to time, I get to piece them together. I have no idea where this is going. I’m just sewing stuff together.

I’m drafting a pattern for a quilt. It is based on stuff from my sketchbook. I get a minute here and there to ink the pattern.

I’m making favors for a birthday party. There is extreme danger for me anytime I go near the scrapbook section. There is so much in there for quilting and journaling. Forget about actually making scrapbooks. So far, I’ve managed to keep it to what I need for the project.

So at least I’ve managed to do a little bit of something every day. I’ve taken enough piano lessons and art classes to know that you have to practice everyday – even if you only get a few minutes. Everything doesn’t have to be a masterpiece. You just have to keep working.

Progress Through Guilt

I'm making progress. Slowly but surely. Here's what I've been up to.

I figured out what was missing from that improv quilt. I reconstructed the circles and lines I deconstructed in the other blocks and voila - a new block. Now I just have to figure out the quilting. It's always something.

I've also made progress on the coffee quilt. Actually, it is pretty much done. But I don't have the right fabric to bind it. Like I said, it's always something.

I was approaching the other UFO, the blue quilt, in the same way I approached the coffee quilt. That is, stop piecing and see what I could make with what I had. But I didn't seem to have enough blocks to make something out of what I had. So I pieced some more. It's still not working. Did I mention, it's always something?

I've also picked up my crochet hook. I have all this yarn in my sewing room and it has been sending me on a guilt trip. Every time I go in there, "So you're making stuff out of your fabric stash again. I guess we're not good enough to be stuff." And, "We were here before some of that fabric. Sorry, we're not as much fun." That kind of thing. Yarn can be so whiny sometimes. So I'm also busy converting the yarn into scarves and hats and other such things so it will get off my case. It's looking at me right now. I'd better go.

Stitched Myself Into A Corner

So I decided to to a little improvisational quilting. Like jazz, but with cotton and thread. Because sometimes you just have to play with your materials to see what will happen.

I made these blocks. And I wasn't entirely sure where to go next. Did this ever happen to Ella Fitzgerald? Did she ever start scatting and it just got away from her?

I felt like they wanted to do this.

Now what? Heck if I know. So I cut up some more fabric and came up with this.

I like the x blocks. But, as the kids say, I'm not feeling this design. I think they might want to be in their own quilt. I've taken enough art classes to know that the eye needs a place to rest and this thing probably needs a color to unify the blocks, yadda, yadda, yadda. I'm just going to leave the blocks on the design wall and see what else they have to say. But if they start singing "A-tisket, A-tasket," I'm leaving.

Why Is There A Tissue On This Quilt?

Because there's a spider on it. Ewww!

I am aware of the fact that I made the spider. But still, I didn't think it would be so creepy looking.

It's giving me the willies.

Buzz Buzz

I've been a busy bee this week. Working, running errands, cooking, doing the laundry, running around after my son. Nothing out of the ordinary, but it feels like it has been more hectic than usual. I think I'm longing for a change of scenery, so I'm rushing through the days. I'm feeling pulled again by my quilting. I know I promised that I would work in my sketch books on days I couldn't get to the quilting. I haven't been doing that because I've been crocheting. But I've got ideas buzzing around, and frankly, I would be better off if I got them down on paper. After all, I wouldn't just sit there and do nothing if the ideas were actual bees. Actually, I probably would. I don't make sudden moves around bees. But I would be way more attentive to them than I have been to my creative life these days.

I painted the tea dyed fabric for the back of the bad luck quilts. I was going for an old, wrinkled, rusty, patina stained look. Like beaten, leathery paper. And I'm pretty happy to say I achieved that. I dampened the cloth and then scrunched it. Then I took a cotton ball and pounced on light green and dark green textile paint. Then I used a wet makeup sponge to brush on copper Lumiere paint. I finished by dripping on green Lumiere paint and going over the drips with a cotton ball. I'm especially happy with how they look creased and wrinkled even though they are not. That's what I was hoping would happen when I wrinkled the fabric before painting. Every now and then, things work out the way you expected.

On the baby blanket front, I finally finished the bobble panel and I'm on to the yummy diamond panel. I love crocheting cables. It is one of the simple joys in my life. If you are keeping count, that is 5 panels down and 4 to go.

Likes Shiny Objects Too

I did some tea dyeing. I haven't done any fabric dyeing all year because of the drought here in Georgia. But tea dyeing doesn't use that much water. I was contemplating the backs for my bad luck quilts. I'm planning to write what the quilt is about on the back. Whenever you see a book of spells or legends or whatever in movies and on TV, it is on that funky, old timey brown paper. I thought that would be a good look for the back of the quilts. And I figured tea dyeing would be the perfect way to achieve the look.

I used cranberry tea, blueberry tea and regular orange and black pekoe tea.

My son stole my spoon and wouldn't give it back, so I let him stir the fabric.

I'm pretty happy with how it came out. You can't tell from the picture. But it is kind of brownish pink. I think it will be a good base for adding some paint and some lettering.

On baby blanket news, I have another panel done. I heart cable stitches. I rewarded myself for finishing the bobble panel by doing a cable panel. Now I have to do the second bobble panel. But at least I have another cable panel to look forward to. And then I get to do popcorn stitches. Whoo hoo. It doesn't take much to make me happy.

It's January 20th Already!!!

I haven't been doing much quilting because I've been working on the baby blanket. I have sort of a deadline now, and for some reason, January is slipping away quickly. Holy smokes, it's already the 20th! I have two panels done and I'm working on the third. It has 9 panels all together. This one is referred to as the bobble panel.

I don't find it as interesting to work as popcorn stitches or cables, so I'm anxious to get it done so I can move on to the more fun panels. Are you wondering why I'm crocheting a baby blanket instead of quilting one? I've been crocheting since I was about 8 or 9 years old. I've given away almost everything I've crocheted. I do have a few crochet pieces that I've kept, but that is just a big, flat way for me to store yarn. I often pull these pieces apart and make them into something else if I find an interesting pattern or stitch I want to try. When I was laid off a few years ago, I spent a lot of time unraveling and crocheting blankets in between looking for a job. Lynn Krawczyk recently posted a list of 10 reason why it is good to crochet when you have a head cold and I realized that a lot of those are the same reasons I crocheted when I was unemployed. Being laid off is a lot like being sick except you can't spend the day hopped up on cold medicine. What was the question again? Oh yeah, I crochet baby blankets as gifts because I've been making them a lot longer than I've been quilting. It's kind of my thing now. If Martha Stewart showed up at your dinner party with a liter of Coke, you'd be like, "What's up with that?" It's the same thing with me and crocheted baby blankets. And it's fast and fun. Not a lot of people crochet, so it also makes a unique gift.

I did get a little bit of sewing done this week. I did some needle turn applique on one of my bad luck quilts. Can you tell which superstition this one will be about?

I love needle turn applique. It makes me feel like anything is possible.

When You Assume...You Make a Blanket Out of Panels

I don't think I've been doing anything interesting to report on lately. I've just been doing what I do. I finished another background for my New Year's Resolution quilts. These are pretty much going to be applique quilts, and I've been putting the backgrounds together. I haven't decided how to bind the quilts. Whether they will be self bound like a pillow case or if I will apply binding. This is kind of a crucial decision because I can't do any quilting in the meantime. I only have one more background to put together, so I better make a decision soon.

I've also been working on a baby blanket. I know it looks like a scarf. But it is a fisherman's sweater pattern that is worked in panels which are then sewn together. Believe me, I didn't know that when I picked the pattern. I didn't bother to read it before I started working on it. I just assumed it was worked as one piece. I actually had the yarn tied on when I looked at the pattern and realized it was worked in panels. Now I have to pay attention to things like the gauge - which I never do. It's a blanket, who cares? I just crochet them until they are blanket sized. But now all of the panels will need to be the same size, so I'm actually going to have to pay attention to what I'm doing. Not to mention the sewing at the end. Yes, I'm that lazy. I actually thought about picking a different pattern, but I really like this one so I'm forging ahead.

That's it. See, I told you.

Just Say No

I cleaned my sewing studio. I use air quotes when I say "cleaned". Maybe tidy would be a better word? Let's just say it is somewhere below Martha Stewart and somewhere above Oscar the Grouch. Things are pretty much put away. Scraps have been stored or thrown out. There is space to work. That's all I'm looking for. I don't really have any interest in doing any more cleaning than that. I'd rather be sewing.

Here is my work area. It is pretty much a desk where I do my drafting, cutting, and machine work. I keep my beads and embellishments on the desk too. I keep scraps under the desk in bins sorted by color. There is also a big rubbermaid tub of yarn under the desk. The cats love it under there. It scares me a little.

Here's my stash. It is sorted by color. I also have a cube for fat quarters, novelty prints, batting, PFD fabric, and plaids. I even have a cube for extra special, too awesome to cut fabric. The rest of the cubes are holding fabric for projects. Once I pull fabric from my stash, I keep it separated from the rest of the stash until the project has the binding on. That way, I have fabric if I decide to make extra blocks, sashes or whatever. There is a tapestry that hangs over the whole thing to protect it from sunlight.

This week I've also started making the backgrounds for the bad luck quilts. I've put two together and I'm hand piecing the third. It is a baby block design and I love hand piecing those y-seams. I was at JoAnns today to buy yarn to crochet a baby afgan that I will be making as a gift. I was walking around with 5 skeins of yarn thinking it would be nice to have a cute bag to tuck the yarn into. Of course they didn't have any so I thought, "Why don't I make one". Five words that are like crack to a crafter. So now I am also making a quilted bag. At least it keeps me off the streets.

Don't Rain On My Parade

I finished the quilting on my "El Segundo" quilt today. I remarked to my husband that if I managed to get the binding on before the end of the year, I will have completed all of the projects I started this year. He then proceeded to say, "What about that quilt on the chair in the bedroom?"

Are you kidding me? First of all, I started that quilt two years ago. So it doesn't count towards my list of accomplishments for this year. As I've said before, my list - my logic. Second of all, who throws a UFO in a quilters face when they are bragging? That's a good way to get stuck with a pin mister. Don't talk about the size of my stash. Don't ask about all the magazines and books. And don't mention the UFO's. Seriously. That's like talking about fight club.

I was actually looking at said quilt today. It is a really big quilt and there is not that much quilting left to do. It's all hand quilted. And since the weather has cooled, it would be nice to have it spread over me while I work on it. I was in the process of quilting it when I got pregnant. I stopped working on it because I would get drowsy and fall asleep mid stitch. I couldn't do anything for long stretches of time back then. I pretty much slept through my first trimester. By the time I got back into quilting, I had other projects to work on. So I think I will go ahead and finish this one up after I put the binding on "El Segundo". In the meantime, I think we're going to have to rent "Fight Club" again.

Another One Down, One Left to Go

I finished the top for the "Weeping" quilt. It is quite traditional looking isn't it? I finally decided to send it out to be quilted. I thought for a minute that I might try tackling the quilting - but why stress myself when someone else could have more fun with it. I'm warming to the idea. I have to admit that I'm intrigued by the idea of someone else working on it. This is my interpretation of an idea. Now, someone else will add their interpretation to it. Sometimes, you benefit from giving up control and letting someone else take the lead. Sometimes.

As I suspected, I'm starting to feel the creative juices flow again. For one thing, the sun came out and the weather warmed up. And I only have one more quilt left to work on before my slate is clean. I know that there are actually five quilts on the WIP list. I'm only counting the "El Segundo" quilt because it is the only one left that I started this year. My list, my logic.

I'm Looking California but I'm Feeling Minnesota

I finished piecing the blocks for the "weeping" quilt. What the heck was I thinking? I will probably send this one out to be quilted. It is way too big for me to machine quilt, and I don't have the next 48 years to hand quilt it. Besides, I think those wide open spaces of purple are begging for lots of swirly quilting.

I feel like I've been doing chores lately instead of creative work. Doing the curved piecing felt like grunt work. Basting the "El Segundo" quilt really is grunt work. Have I added basting to the list of tasks for an apprentice? I actually thought I was going to finally quilt the fruit and vegetable quilt. But I was not feeling that quilt at all. It has been sitting around for 3 years waiting to be quilted. I finally figured out that I've outgrown it and it is time to let it go. So I'm going to turn it into book covers. But even that feels like a chore to be over and done with.

I'm thinking it's the weather. It's too cold and dark. That, and the stupid holiday commercials. I want to throw something at that guy searching for gift for his wife at Lowes. But I'm going to keep working. A little bit of light is getting through. And I'm pretty sure that if I cross these last few projects off my WIP list, my creative mojo will return.

Waiting for My Food Network Contract

I'm getting ready for Thanksgiving. I'm getting excited because I get to cook a big meal. Here's my menu:
1. Pomegranate sangria - which I already messed up by accidentally using sherry instead of brandy. Oh well.
2. Turkey - of course.
3. Dressing - I stuff the turkey with herbs instead of stuffing, so technically it is dressing.
4. Whipped sweet potatoes
5. Baked macaroni and cheese
6. Greens - my first time making greens
7. Cornbread - already done. I can tell you're impressed.
8. 7Up cake -which I will also make tonight
9. Gravy
10. Cranberry sauce - The only thing not from scratch but I added it so this list will go to ten.

I've also got more curved piecing to do on the "weeping" quilt. Since I do all my curved piecing by hand, I should be able to fit it in while the cake bakes. I'd like to see Rachel Ray cook and sew at the same time!

But Are You Funky Enough?

Look what happened when I turned my back for one second while winding a bobbin. Say what you will about hand piecing. I've never had this happen with a needle and thread.

I finished the "El Segundo" quilt top. I'm a little concerned that it looks poorly constructed. My intention was for it to look a little wonky. Squares are not supposed to be quite square and points are not supposed to quite match up. I wanted it to be a little askew, like you've been dancing all night. The problem is that if you don't make it funky enough, it just looks like you were drunk while you were cutting and sewing and people don't get it. Now I'm trying to think of a way to quilt it so that the viewer knows it supposed to look like that. Oh well. You are not a great artist unless you're misunderstood, right?