Sunday, February 28, 2010

Quilts beget quilts

By May I will have a sewing room. This means Ned will have his stuff all moved out of there, but I choose to focus on the positive outcome. Yes, a sewing room. I currently sew at the dining room table; or, to put it more accurately, we dine at my sewing table. It is kind of nice to be close to the kitchen where I can keep on eye on something cooking while sneaking in a few minutes at the machine, but it's not so nice to have a constant sewing space (mess) in the living/dining room and is sometimes disruptive to either my sewing life or family life. A sewing room will be a most welcome development in our home. It will, of course, have to serve double duty as a "guest" room when kids come home, but a futon will easily smooth that little bump in the road. And, the futon becomes a queen-sized bed which needs a queen-sized quilt. Hmm... a dilemma right up my alley ...

While paging through the most recent Country Curtains catalog, I spotted a very simple large block quilt that called out to me "You can make this!" And, so I did. Well, kind of. The quilt in the catalog is primarily reds, which I set out to do -- without investing in any new fabric. First -- and wisely, for a change -- I checked my inventory for appropriate window treatment fabric. I have a nice blue ticking stripe that will work well. So, I'll make the same quilt as in the catalog, but change the primary color scheme to blue.

Out comes my blue fabrics box. Lo, and behold, there are two sets of charm squares. These are pre-cut 5" squares - one of each fabric in a design line, which is usually around 40 prints. At $5 - $8 a set, these are a great little way to buy lots of fabrics for minimal cost. (I know I bought them for my mother thinking that even if she doesn't actually make anything with them, she'll have fun playing with them. Too late. She's not getting these.) It didn't take long to sew the 5" squares together into to 4-Patch squares, which will finish to 9" squares. Even though each set was from a different fabric line, they were both predominately red, white or blue, so blend together well enough. Now, I'll have a blue striped window treatment with a red, white and blue quilt. I still want it primarily blue, however, since I seem to have more blues to work with. It didn't take long to cut enough blue and red 9" squares to piece together with the 4-Patch squares to make a queen sized quilt.

One of the blues was first used as background for a quilt I made for Mother's 80th birthday. That fabric was actually a print I had purchased to make a blouse for myself, but after searching in vain for the perfect background print for her quilt, I dyed the white and blue print with Rit tan dye to make it the exact off-white background I needed. Now the left overs are going into a quilt that is being made with little charm squares I had originally intended as another gift.

Changing my mind on gifts - or quilts - is nothing new. That 80th birthday quilt started out completely different than it ended up. I had tons of blue and white triangles cut that I never used. A year or two after that birthday quilt, I put those together into a quilt for myself. It is not bed-sized, but it is what I call a nap quilt -- the perfect size to have handy to pull on while reading or snoozing or just watching TV (another term for snoozing). That blue and white quilt usually finds itself on the back of a chair in the living room. Now, it will have a cousin in the sewing room.

This new quilt top went together very quickly. 9" squares make short work of a quilt. I started cutting last weekend and finished piecing it together during the week. It doesn't look anything like the red quilt in Country Curtains. The random placement of the 4-patch blocks along with the treasures from my stash make it a much patchier patchwork piece. It does use up lots of odds and ends and after it's quilted will be the perfect size to warm whoever sleeps on the futon in my sewing room. Of course, I now have smaller left overs of the reds and blues that will end up back in their respective boxes to wait for a new idea to be born. Pillowcase trim? Maybe.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Pondering possibilities

Lest you think all of my ideas are good ones, here is the story of the gold quilt. It's not a bad quilt, but it's not a great quilt either. It's one for which the jury will remain out for awhile yet.

I started this quilt a couple of years ago after making what I consider to be a great quilt in red and gold. If two colors make a good quilt, I reasoned, a monochrome quilt also holds some interesting possibilities. Looking at my supply on hand, which was heavy in gold-tones since I usually substitute gold tones for whites because I love the softening effect it has on other colors, I decided to make a solid gold quilt. I chose a design that depends on strongly defined seam lines, rather than a focal point like a star. And, I started cutting and cutting and piecing triangles. After piecing 3" right triangles for what seemed a reasonable time, I actually put them together to make some 12" blocks. Yuck. This was one bland block. Not in the mood to be bogged down in blandness, I put all the pieces in a shoe box and moved on to something else. That is the advantage of having multiple projects at hand; there is always something else to work on if one becomes overwhelming -- or disappointing.

Last week, on the way to Racine, the gold quilt moved forward in my mind through some unknown force of the quilting universe. What if it is quilted in metallic thread with all things gold that could come to mind? Free motion quilting in one continuous line of script would be very creative, not be mention lovely: silverthreadsandgoldenneedlesonstreetspavedofgold, etc. By Wednesday, that script was turning into a poem inspired by the poem on a pot I did for a poetry class once upon a time. And the very early hours of every day found me sewing pieces together with that creative fever of a sparkling new idea.

This morning, I started putting it together. It will be a 72" square of gold diamonds, intended to hang on the wall behind the spinning wheel. This shows 1/9th of the quilt -- a 24" square. The idea of the lines, rather than the color, creating the design, is evident. Still, the overwhelming tone of the quilt is not as exciting as it was in my mind. It is, politely put, boring. It is also not an appropriate slate for the golden poem running through my brain -- that requires something more linear than this design. Those notes will stay in my inspiration book for the right opportunity. No, this quilt isn't bad. It's just not great yet. And so, while I will finish piecing this 72-inch square today and maybe even tape it to the wall behind the spinning wheel to see how it looks, even though I know full well it won't provide the contrast necessary to show off the spokes of the wheel, it is already apparent that it may end up back in a box to be mulled and considered and imagined with different quilting designs or possible borders (would a red-piped deep gold binding bring it out of bland and into brilliant?). It may even visit a quilt shop or two to be auditioned against possible border fabrics. Or it may just be a plainish quilt draped over the back of chair ready to be pulled over whoever needs a bit of warmth. The neutral color palette would be a nice light summer look on a red chair and since most of our nap quilts are pretty wintery looking, that's not a bad possibility. It might even be a good one. I'll think about it.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Road Trips

Paul came in at lunch time Saturday and his quick sandwich somehow turned into a decision to drive to Racine to wish Rob a happy birthday. My first thought was to call Jeannine to ask if she minded a couple of spur of the moment interlopers (she was very gracious); my second was "Thank goodness I have Alyssa's new hat to work on." To me, there is nothing worse than four hours in the car with nothing to do. Sure, I could offer to drive, but really ...

Paul went out to feed hay and I packed my traveling knitting bag and we were ready to go within a reasonable window of time. Saturday was a bright, beautiful day and smooth traveling for working on a lovely little off-white alpaca hat. Alyssa loves cables. She often points out knitwear designs that make my head spin with the number of cables involved (she's never received on of those), but this little hat seemed just right. The best part was that by the time we hit Milwaukee on the way down (I decided it was time to stop knitting right around Mayfair Rd when I caught myself sticking the spare double point bamboo needle in my mouth between cables with the sharp little point actually pointing inward so I could potentially skewer myself into one big old kabob if Paul needed to stop quickly) I was at a spot where I knew I could complete the hat on the way home. And finish it I did ... about 40 miles from home. After snipping off the none-too-much excess yarn, I pulled my needles from my little pouch and remembered that I bought them on another road trip.

Paul and I went to Lincoln's home in Springfield, IL and onto Hannibal, MO to visit Mark Twain's home a few Octobers ago. A green and brown scarf for Evan was the project of the road for that trip. It was very close to being finished when we stopped to take a ride on a Mississippi River paddle wheeled boat. The day was so cold that I wore the scarf -- long tails of yarn, needles and all -- on the river boat. With the exception of the temperature, the ride was great. The subsequent tour of Hannibal was fun, too. The museum featured an exhibit of Norman Rockwell paintings -- the originals of so many Life magazine covers -- that were amazing in their detail. And, of course we stopped in Huck Finn's yarn shop and Tom Sawyer's quilt shop. OK, I don't remember what they were called, but I know Tom and Huck must have been accomplished in every needle art. At any rate, when I pulled my little needle case from my cute little pouch on Saturday, that road trip came flooding back.

For the non-compulsive, or maybe even less compulsive, it might seem silly to be able to track almost every trip by the project at hand. For me, it is second nature. I recently completed another project from that Springfield and Hannibal trip. In Tom (or Huck's) quilt shop, I bought a fat quarter (18" x 22") of fabric depicting the famous twosome whitewashing a fence, fishing and more. Just a few years later, it became part of a quilt with the leftovers from many other projects and a few fill-ins bought on another road trip with some good friends. It's pictured here with the cabled hat, Hannibal needle case and cute little felted wool sheep pouch from Jeannine. There is a beauty, at least in my mind, in the way all of these things came to mind and came together because of one spontaneous decision to take a little road trip on a beautiful winter day.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Sublime stitching

Mary called on a lovely day last fall to say that her neighbor was having a rummage sale with lots and lots of yarn. On the way home from Minneapolis when she called, I went the next day and was, frankly, disappointed. Sure, there was plenty of yarn, but most of it was acrylic blend worsted weight. Not something I was really interested in. Still, at a buck a ball, it was worth looking closely at the offerings and picking up a few interesting things.

One such interesting tidbit was a rather bright raspberry ball of Sublime. A very soft little ball I just could not resist. I could, I reasoned, work it into something else for a spot of color. Well, this week it became a hat. All on its own. The yarn was an absolute delight to work with (O.K., with a tendency to split a bit, it's not perfect, but it's darned close). A blend of merino, silk and cashmere, its name, Sublime, is an understatement; this yarn is beautiful. The little drop stitch hat pattern I used called for 120 yards. The Sublime label claimed the ball contained 127 yards. Should I know better than to cut it that close? Yes. But did I go ahead and start the hat anyway? Look at the picture (Matt's new scarf is the background). I started it and finished it. Not only that, the almost always dependable nose to fingertip measuring method showed I had approximately 7 yards of yarn left when I finished the hat. Remarkable!

The hat went together quickly and left me a little sorry that I didn't have more Sublime. But only a little. Katy will receive a new hat that will work with the scarf she received last fall -- or at the very least give her some tactile pleasure -- and I had the thrill of working with an unusually delightful yarn. Maybe that's plenty to ask of just one dollar. Besides, Alyssa is looking for an off-white hat and I have some lovely alpaca ...

Saturday, February 6, 2010

A perfect Saturday

Saturday mornings are wonderful in general. This one, in particular, was great. It's easy to get up early and linger over coffee when the get-to-work clock isn't ticking; the coffee even seems to taste better. Today a couple of hot cups at home were followed by a little more at breakfast with my Saturday morning Book Club. Such a treat to meet one a month (or so) with good friends who share a love of reading. We go out for a leisurely breakfast and catching up and book talk. The latter sometimes takes a back seat the the catching up, but that doesn't seem to bother any of us.

Our most recent book was Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl. This memoir of Ruth's time as the food critic for the New York Times was a good entertaining light read. It was exactly the type of book I needed (it was my turn to choose) when we last met. In addition to being entertaining, it includes a few excellent recipes. To celebrate book club day -- the highlight of my week -- our dinner tonight was made with Garlic and Sapphires recipes. We had Roasted Chicken with Garlic, Onion and Potatoes. Yum. Excellent and very easy. All that was needed in addition was a green salad and some good crusty bread. Dessert also came from the book. Last Minute Chocolate Cake was another very easy recipe with excellent results. This simple loaf cake is made with chocolate, coffee and Grand Marnier. Enjoying it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, as suggested, makes it one of life's simple thrills.

Book Club and good cooking were not the only thrills of this day. I also had the joy of spending an hour (O.K., it may have been closer to two hours) in the Cotton Thimble picking out the fabric for Kit and Violet's wedding quilt. Talk about exciting! When I suggested a quilt as a wedding present, they were both happy to take me up on the offer and agreed they'd like a flannel quilt. Since then, I've been patiently waiting for Cotton Thimble's February flannel sale; it's safe to say that this shop has one of the best selections of flannels anywhere. And did I buy flannel! The Cotton Thimble uses red Radio Flyer wagons to hold fabric bolts after cutting; the staff then pulls the wagons around the shop to restock the shelves. Today, after years of shopping there, was the first time I was ever offered a wagon to cart my fabric selections around the store. What a treat. Lining up the bolts again the wagon's wooden sides gave me a great view of my palette and allowed easy editing of my fabric selections. I started out by choosing a few neutral prints and plaids and then added deep brown plaids and stripes and soft blue prints and plaids and finally a beautiful large floral print that will tie together the earthy colors that Kit likes with the soft sky colors Violet prefers. I can't wait to cut into these beauties to try a block or two tomorrow. My perfect Saturday may very well be the beginning of a perfect weekend.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Bag Lady of Los Altos

My sister, Jane, lives in Los Altos, Ca. She loves to make beautiful bags. I have one that is especially fine ... a red number with yellow trim and beautiful raspberry shaped bead trim. I use it as my at home knitting bag, which means it sits next to my red chair brimming with work in progress. At the moment that includes a blue sock that needs the heel turned, a red sweater for Alyssa that has me hopelessly lost on the bust shaping, a completely finished scarf for Matt that is just waiting for Rob's to be knitted. (Here's a tip: If you've knitted long enough to have six inches of a scarf and you're still asking yourself if this is a cool color -- it's not. Rip it out before it becomes twelve inches of a crappy colored scarf.) And, until recently, my bag contained a knitted bag for Jane.
Like me, Jane loves to start new projects. Also like me, she sometimes loses enthusiasm before finishing them. Such is the case with her knitted bag. Jane mentioned a few weeks ago that she had resurrected a bag that was started some time back. When she pulled it out of her magic knitting stash, however, she did not pull any pattern or directions with it. It was just a nearly completed knitted bag with no clear map to an ending. So, I invited her to send it to me. It arrived with the needles intact, a ball of yard still attached and no note of any kind. After pondering it for a while, consulting a couple of books, knitting and unknitting it, I decided it should be a drawstring bag. Not just because it would be an easy finish, but because it would be cute and achievable with the amount of yarn included. I also decided to line it. That took more pondering and digging and then lo and behold a piece of apron fabric that I love, but never found the perfect mate for, jumped up to lining challenge. Jane may have used a lovely silk for the lining -- there's an amazing silk shop in Los Altos -- but this piece of cotton, I decided, would do just fine. It's bright and cheery -- perfect for a California spring when we're still stuck here in mid-winter dullsville. I was even lucky enough to be using a coordinating Fiesta Ware coffee mug when I found it. Kismet indeed.
After measuring the bag, cutting and sewing the lining, I stitched it in by hand and packed it up to send back to Jane just in time for her birthday. Clever, eh? She is getting the bag she made for her birthday gift. (Actually, I did tuck a little surprise inside the bag before sending it off.) And so, another birthday gift is finished courtesy of my apron obsession. Not only that, the leftover lining will make a perfect piece of patchwork for another little thrill I have in mind. But first, here is Jane's finished bag. It's not often that the bag lady of Los Altos is on the receiving end of one of her own creations. So glad I could be of help!