For a change of pace...

I've been busy playing gardener for the past couple weeks.

And I'm not sure I'm ready to give up quilting for roses just yet.

Or ever.

Buyer beware...

For those of you who have ever been tempted to snap up some of Joann's adorable bundles of fat eighths, I have two words for you: Don't and Bother.

I bought two bundles, eight cuts in each, this spring, intending to use them for my Quilts for Kids project. I don't typically buy fabric other than Kona at Joann's any more, but these prepackaged tone-on-tones were so darn cute they were hard to resist! Once I opened them up and started cutting, though, I realized that there was no way in hell this stuff would hold up to even one trip through a hospital laundry. We're talking flimsy. Cheap, cheap, cheap!

Anybody remember the gauze craze of the mid-70's? Those $3 plaid lighter-than-air shirts that lasted three washes before the seams started falling apart? That's what this fabric reminds me of. Well, maybe it's a little thicker, but not by much.

I paid $5.99 each -- high even by Joann standards -- for, essentially, two yards of $1.99 fabric. I'm still trying to scrub the word "sucker" off my forehead.

So this turned into a "live and learn" project. Purchased totally on impulse, I didn't pay attention to the fabric itself until it was too late; my choices were a) throw it all away or b) forge ahead. I don't like to waste anything (above all, fabric!), so I kept on going.

It's another UFO checked off my to-do list, and I can find satisfaction in that -- and I really do like the color combination, which is what I fell for in the first place. I just wish the fabric had been better!

Before binding

What few pieces were left over went into the backing:

I used Mountain Mist polyester batting and as a result, it weighs next to nothing. I'm not kidding -- I put it on the kitchen scale, and the entire 50" x 43"quilt (minus the binding) weighs 12 ounces! Given the amount of quilting I put into it, I'm guessing at least an ounce of that can be attributed to thread.

I love Joann -- in fact, she and I have had an extremely long, unhealthy relationship that will no doubt continue for years to come -- but her quilting fabrics (Kona solids aside) are definitely not quilt shop quality, and you really have to be careful with your selections if you want to create a quilt that will last.

I don't expect that this one will.

Big sigh of relief...

Anybody remember this project? It was going to be a very special present for someone's 16th Christmas.

Then I got hung up on border choices, and questioned the durability of the fabric I'd chosen for it, then Thanksgiving and cookie baking got in the way, and some shiny new bright sock monkey fabric showed up on my doorstep, and...well, it obviously didn't take all that much for me to throw the thing into the pile of unfinished projects and buy my nephew an iPod instead.

Fast-forward almost two years to last month, when the question arose of how a favorite aunt and godmother, while unemployed and of meager resources, should commemmorate an event as big as high school graduation. If I were working on a regular basis I'd probably get him something over the top, but that ain't happening at the moment. Since I got laid off, I've pretty much stuck to the rule of giving only handmade gifts, so why deviate for this occasion? And because I didn't really start getting into quilting until this boy had grown beyond the size of my production limits, he's never received a quilt from Aunt Kate. It was high time he did.

"Checkerboard Squares" came off the UFO pile and went on my "Spring to Finish" list in hopes of getting it done with plenty of time to spare. And what did I do? I put it off. I did everything BUT work on this quilt. I got an impressive number things (for me, anyway) checked off my to-do list, but the top sat, untouched, until it could no longer be ignored.

This past Monday (nothing like waiting 'til the last minute) I pulled out my original inner border choices and ditched them all for a navy-on-navy print found in my stash (which, incidentally, was there in the first place when I bought all the alternatives, zheesh); the nine-patches for the outer border (which I originally wasn't going to use, but he's grown quite a bit since he was 16) were all done but not sewn together. The pattern called for yet another outer border, an idea jettisoned very quickly because it would have exceeded the width of available space on my kitchen floor.

I started waffling again, this time about the backing:  I'd purchased some flannel way back when, but now it seemed too heavy, and not the right color...indecision threatened to derail the process again, but I couldn't afford a trip to the Apple Store this time around. I shrugged off the doubts and went with the grey-blue plaid flannel for the backing and ironed it all together with fusible batting to save time by not pinning.

In retrospect, I probably should have used something lighter weight, but oh well.

Archie looks for the seam in the back and can't find it!

Fueled by caffeine and dark chocolate for three days, I quilted, though it was more like wrestling -- honestly, I don't know how y'all who quilt big quilts on little machines do it!  I've never quilted anything this big before, and I think I need a lesson on maneuvering all that fabric evenly through the neck of the machine without having the results look like I was impaired. This time I was actually trying for once to quilt straight lines, but between the bulk and the weight of the sandwich (and despite support in front and behind), there are places where my talents might be questioned, even by a teenage boy.

But it's folksy, right? It's supposed to be a little rustic...right?

Just work with me here, folks.

At this point, it is what it is. I tied the last threads off Wednesday night, and currently it's flying through Memphis (gotta love FedEx) on its way to arrive just in time for tomorrow's celebration. Don't get me wrong, it's a very handsome quilt, and I'm proud of it -- I just wish the quilting had gone a little more smoothly. I expect it will suffer a great deal of abuse over the coming years, anyway, that will render all my transgressions moot, and provide enough comfort and warmth to compensate for any crooked quilting.

Besides, the way I see it, it completely reflects the personality of its creator:  down-to-earth, a little wonky, flawed in several places -- but at the same time, all warm and cuddly...and full of cat hair.

This week's tools of the trade...

Just a short post to say that I am paying dearly for my procrastination.

I really should know better by now...

Ahoy there!

Another finish:  two new pillows for the cottage to match the new sofa.

These were a lot of fun to make, and fast -- the ship (I used Thangles, love them!), would have been done even more quickly if I hadn't gotten carried away with the quilting. I couldn't get a good shot of my favorite part -- waves quilted into the "water" under the hull.

And my second favorite part? Piping! Prepackaged from Joann's, there's just enough for and 18" pillow. It makes a world of difference!

Again, these are a result of my avoidance of another project, but I'm not arguing with my productivity at this point -- I'm just clearning my plate to dig in. I hope.

Another finish...

My Kaffe & Kona Zig-Zag is complete, yet another product of my procrastination on what I really should be doing.

When I was picking these fabrics out I had a Bento Box pattern in mind for them, but on the walk home I changed my mind. I loathe triangles, but have always wanted to do a zig-zag quilt -- Amanda Jean's tutorial solved the problem. True to my compulsion to tweak and shrink almost every pattern I use, I only used six stripe colors (instead of nine), so it's smaller than hers.

Before binding

This color combination took me WAY out of my Comfort Zone -- I used Kona Ash for my background, which instantly had a calming effect on all the prints; even that purple polka dot seems less lively. Usually my quilts are bright enough to keep most children awake, but I can see this one as a great napping blankie.

Archie models the binding and backing

Though the binding (Kona Coal) framed it very well and the backing (Dotty) brightened it up a bit, I'm still kind of on the fence with this one. I loved these prints in combination, but so much gray kind of sucked the life out of them a bit too much for my taste.

I have enough prints left over, I think, to do another one of these. Maybe I'll see how they look with white?

If you can't beat 'em...

In case you haven't heard, Amy is hosting a Blogger's Quilt Festival.



 
I'm entering "Jelly Pops," the quilt I made last summer. I found the "Fresh" jelly roll at my all-time favorite quilt shop, The Ice House, on vacation in northern Michigan -- it was too bright and happy to pass up (that, and I think it may have actually had my name on it. I think the clerks do that every summer just to keep me coming back).

I experimented with a couple different wacky, complicated blocks before I decided to Just. Go. Simple.

I have made Overthinking an art form. Sometimes I have the ability to check myself, most of the time not.

Anyway, the jelly roll quickly became this, which is one of my favorite pictures:

After finishing the top back home, I knew I had to have the butterfly print for the backing. The combination of those oranges and yellows with the scrolly blue just put me over the moon, and the orange binding just made it all pop. One more trip Up North to plug money into Michigan's economy, and I got to here...

...which is where it remained for quilte a long time. It took a while to get that binding on --  I'm not very fast at hand sewing, and as you all know have a limited attention span. Then there were all those loose threads to tie up, which took another few months to attack.

Eventually, it was done. I took it down to my friend Ellen's last week to take pictures in her courtyard. She has better light than anywhere at my house, not to mention cooler furniture.

I'm pretty proud of this quilt, mostly because somewhere along the way I decided to scrape the rust off my tech writing skills and record the construction process. It's harder than it sounds, folks -- pattern writing involves wrangling every stray step most of us do intuitively into coherent, accurate instructions. I didn't realize how much of the piecing process is just in my head until I sat down to write, or and how many assumptions I made about measuring until after I sent it out to a few willing guinea pigs volunteers. I got some great feedback and pictures of some beautiful finished products, so I know that in spite of some flawed measurements, the instructions actually worked. Hooray!

The pattern tweaks are still on my To-Do list (surprise, surprise), but I hope to revisit them soon. Thanks for all those who helped in its production! Thanks also to Ellen's husband Ed, who stole away from watching Blackhawk hockey highlights so I could get a picture of the entire quilt.