Tattoo Quilt

I just finished this quilt top from a kit I bought at the Honey Bee Quilt Store a few weeks ago. I justified the purchase when I realized I’m probably going to have to miss the Houston quilt show this year :-(

I saw a completed “tattoo” quilt in the store, and thought it was really cute. When I realized there was a kit, I had to snatch it up. This quilt is made from a pattern called “Perfect Ten” by Swirly Girls Design, because it uses 10 fqs. It went together much more quickly than I thought it would.

I need to buy backing fabric for this one, and it may be a while until I have time to FMQ it, but I think it will be adorable!

Weekly Square #30

Here is last week’s (9/13-9/19) 6X6” weekly journal square:

And, the bare bones of a new quilt I’ve started:

This one is from a quilt kit I bought at the Honey Bee Quilt Store a few weeks ago. I justified the purchase when I realized I’m probably going to have to miss the Houston quilt show this year :-(

I saw a completed “tattoo” quilt in the store, and thought it was really cute. When I realized there was a kit, I had to snatch it up. This quilt is made from a pattern called “Perfect Ten” by Swirly Girls Design, because it uses 10 fqs. It’s been fairly easy to put together, and I should have the top finished in the next couple of days (depending on how much I energy I have!).

Stay tuned to see the finished quilt!

Is This Not the Best Idea Ever?

I’ve been writing in my 10-year journal this morning. This has to be the most amazing invention ever, even if you’re not into journaling.

Each day of the year has it’s own page, and a small (4-line) space for each year. Mine runs from 2005-2015, so today I can see what I wrote last year on April 27, and in 2007, 2006, and 2005.

If I’m REALLY in a writing mood, I can continue my thoughts or ideas in expansion pages in the back.

It’s amazing the memories it triggers, even if only the friends we had dinner with, the funny thing the grandbaby said, or what I was working on (last year on this day I went to the fabric store for backing fabric for a quilt I was making; the year before that, my daughter and grandson came for dinner; the year before THAT, we were in Las Vegas!).

Plus, occasionally I run across a really great idea I jotted down that I had completely forgotten about, and that might have been lost forever if I hadn’t written about it on that day.

Every year, I use a different color for my journal entries. My 10-year journal is started to look pretty colorful! I can only imagine that, as time moves on, it will be even more fun to review one day over ten years to see how my life has shifted, moved, or stayed the same.

I think whoever thought of this idea is brilliant! The journal is available on Amazon, if you’re interested in recording your own memories over 10 years. I bought one for each of my children, and for several friends. They make wonderful gifts!

I just had a thought—I think I’ll get a couple for my grandbabies who are 8 and 9. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if they had a record of their teenage years to keep throughout their lives? Hmmm . . . off to Amazon!

New Toys

My hardware-store haul from yesterday:

Rubber plumber’s gasket for carving stamps (see Cynthia St. Charles’ article in the current issue of Quilting Arts for more info).

Waterseal to seal the wood for the stamp bases (I bought the wood as well, but didn’t take a picture of it):

Double-sided tape to attach the gasket to the wood, and duct tape to assemble my thermofax screens:

Foam weather stripping to attach to a backing for more stamps:

Plastic washers to sew onto the back of small art and journal quilts for hanging:

And finally, some acrylic caulk for . . . well, I don’t know yet, but I’ll let you know when I do!

Road Trip

I've had a little touch of the January, no-sun blues, and since it was so beautiful yesterday my sweetie decided to take me on a little road trip. We had breakfast at El Rincon (which has the best migas around), then headed to Salado, which is just about 30 miles north of us. I took the camera and got a few interesting pics of things I liked: the back of an old building (I love the juxtaposition of the solid stone with the frail stairs, and of the inviting white door and wreath with the bars that say "keep out"); a closeup of the lion's head knocker on the door of the old building; a decorated door that leads to nowhere; more doors, this time replacing the pickets in a fence (hmm, am I sensing a theme here?).

We wandered and shopped and oohed and aahed, and of course, had to stop by Bird in The Hand, because they carry Brian Andreas's Story People art and his fabulous books.

I picked up some mulberry paper and printed tissue paper at the scrapbooking store to play with in collages.

And then, since no trip to Salado is complete without a stop by The Sewing Basket, Salado's quilt store, we popped in "just to look" and maybe fondle a fat quarter or two. The people at The Sewing Basket are always so nice, and so of course an hour later and quite a bit money poorer, I came out with all this beautiful fabric. I've been looking for something like this for a while: shabby-chicish, girly, soft, old-fashioned. I want to make a rag quilt, something soft and fluffy that just makes me feel good.

It was a lovely, relaxing day; my sweetie always knows how to make me feel better!

Atlanta Finds

Ok, I didn't really find these so much as listen to other people's advice. At any rate, I was in a conference in Atlanta over the last few days, and I was hoping to have a few minutes to slip away for "fun stuff."

That didn't exactly happen, but I did have a little extra time before heading back to the airport, so I went by Fiber on a Whim. What a great place! Jan was very nice and I wish I had visited before I ordered all the supplies for my upcoming class, Elements in Fabric at Quilt University. I bought some Golden quinacridone paints, which I've only read about and never actually SEEN in person, some ExtravOrganza that I've been wanting to play with, and a really great book about painting on fabric, Skydyes by Mickey Lawler. The book has a lot of information about fabric paints, how to mix and use them, and how to create beautiful painted skyscapes on fabric.

Afterwards, I headed over to Nicholas Kniel. Now, when people said I should visit a "ribbon" shop, it wasn't high on my priority list, but since it was next door to Beadazzles, I popped in. I was amazed. The shop itself is a work of art, and the ribbon, velvet birds and leaves, feathers, and glass glitter are stunning. Nicholas was fun to talk to, and is incredibly passionate about ribbons and embellishments. I bought some beautiful feathers and some German glass glitter.

Next door was Beadazzles. I don't buy a lot of beads, since I have tons and don't use them that often. I was, however, wondering what the best thread and needles were for sewing beads to quilts, so I asked. The shop owner or clerk (not sure which), asked a group of women who were working on beautiful beaded jewelry pieces what they advised. One very nice woman gave me her suggestions for both beading thread and needles; she seemed apologetic, as if she were being bossy, but I was thrilled to have her advice.

Friendly Natives

After my drawing class this morning (which was fun; we drew hands and feet. Either my foot is very ugly or my drawing is--or both), I stopped by The Quilt Store on Anderson Ln. in Austin. Everyone was very nice and offered assistance. They have a wonderful array of fabrics, and tons of fat quarters and 1/2 yards. I bought a lot of 1/2 yards of batiks to play with. I'll definitely go back! They've restored my faith in quilt shops.

Unfriendly Natives

I visited a quilt shop for the first time yesterday. Well, not the first time ever--last year at this time we were in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and a charming little quilt shop in a charming little square beckoned to me. From outside, the fabric colors looked like candy, and I couldn't resist stepping inside to run my hand across the bolts of cloth. I was enchanted by the beautiful mix of colors in the bundles of fat quarters; at the time, I had no idea why these little squares of fabric were mixed and bundled together, but I loved them.

Several months ago, we were having lunch in Salado, and my DP pointed out that the quilt shop next door might have that mini-iron I needed for melting crayons and chunks of wax. The quilts on display were amazing, and once again, I tried desperately to think of something I could with these beautiful pieces of cloth--something, of course, that didn't require sewing.

I guess I should say that this was the first time I visited a quilt shop since I've been quilting. We had been to Reunion Ranch in Georgetown for my DP's company picnic, and heading back, she exclaimed, "hey, it's a quilt shop!" Not that she has any interest in things crafty--in fact, her standard response when I just "drop by" Michael's or Jo Ann's or Hobby Lobby for that one that thing I desperately need is, "I'll wait in the car. Take your time." But, as I've written here before, she's incredibly supportive and never complains that I'm spending us into destitution with my hobbies.

So I whipped into a service station, fed a couple of quarters into the air/water machine, and proceeded to wash my feet. We had been gifted with a huge thunderstorm at Reunion Ranch during the picnic. Yes, I know "gifted" seems like a bizarre word to use, but typically it's in the mid- to upper-90s at this time, and we dread the picnic because we know we'll sweat buckets and come close to passing out from heat exhaustion. This year, we ended up huddled together--all 300 or so of us--on the covered pavillion, shivering as the temperature dropped into the low 70s. It was wonderful. Slogging through the mud to get back to the car was less wonderful, and we rinsed out sandaled feet with bottled water well enough to drive home.

A visit to a guilt shop, though, required more care. After my feet and shoes were spotless, I brushed my hair, since it had curled up in the rain and was alternately stringy and springy. I checked my mascara to make sure it hadn't run. I felt like I was getting ready for a date. We turned around and headed to the quilt shop. The minute I stepped into the shop, I was magically rendered invisible. Women were chatting at the cutting table about fabrics and quilt guilds and piecing. I was lost for a while in amazement at all the beautiful material. Before, it had just been pretty stuff; now, my mind was whirling, imaging various patterns and colors in finished quilts. I wandered and fondled and occasionally glanced up to offer a perky smile to the shop staff, but they were always busy greeting someone who had just walked through the door.

I thought at first maybe they all knew each other; Georgetown is fairly small and has always seemed like a friendly place. We drive the 20 minutes from Round Rock every couple of weeks to visit the shops or eat at Monument Cafe. But that didn't seem to be the case.

I wished I had some of my UFOs with me, because I was certain I would find the exact thing I needed here to turn them into lovely, finished quilts. I picked up a beautiful bundle of fat quarters and shivered a little at the price, but thought about all the amazing things I could with them. At that moment, I glanced up and saw one of the shop's staff in her perky little apron eyeing me. She turned away to greet a woman who had just walked in. I put the bundle back and left.

I'm still baffled by this treatment. Even coming from a rained-out picnic and wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and sandles, I'm pretty sure I don't look destitute, nor like a shoplifter. I wonder if I somehow offended them by allowing my 7-year old, 1/2-Hispanic grandson to accompany me into the store, after gentle reminders not to touch anything. He took one look around, didn't see anything that interested him, and headed back to the car to wait with his Mimi. I wonder if they sensed that I'm a lesbian and that the beloved waiting for me wasn't a DH, but a DP. But most people assume I'm straight, so I really didn't think that was it. I wondered if there was some secret sign I was supposed to have flashed to let them know that I was a fledgling quilter. Mostly, I wondered why I felt snubbed. The only thing I'm certain about is that I won't go back, and that this shop won't be helping divest me of my disposable income for the next several years.

I'm headed this morning to a drawing class I've signed up for. It's in the opposite direction from Round Rock--south to Austin rather than north to Georgetown. I think I'll stop by a different quilt shop on the way home, and see if the natives there are any friendlier.

Notes for the Survival Guide

I'm still working on my grandson's quilt. I didn't get much done on it this weekend with Mother's Day and all, but I've learned some valuable lessons. I now know that I can't trust basting spray to hold my sandwich together until I get some stabilizing lines sewn. I "stitched in the ditch" between the sashing rows and I think the sandwich shifted so that the backing fabric was off. As a result, the quilt ended up slightly wonky. I also know it's VERY difficult to tear out quilting stitches, so after giving it an honest effort, I just left the lines they way they were. I'm hoping that my grandson doesn't notice. Of course, that will be difficult, since I'll obsessively point out this major flaw to anyone who comes NEAR the quilt.

The second thing I learned is that, if my tension for free-motion quilting is fine, but my stitches suddenly start acting out-of-control (the bobbin thread showing on the top, for example), NOT to tighten the tension. That is, apparently, what's been causing the needles to break, and it doesn't resolve the problem. Instead, what actually seems to work is to rethread the machine, and take the bobbin out and put it back in (thank you, Sandra, for the suggestion to back off the tension when I was breaking needles left & right!).

Finally, I learned that I don't really like all this nice, patterned, geometric quilting. I had much more fun with the first quilt I made, which was more free-form. That's what I'm going back to with the next project.

We were out this weekend and I happened to check at Harbor Freight for an airbrush compressor. Sure enough, they had one on sale. I bought my airbrush months ago to paint glass, but I never got around to learning to use it. Plus, the idea of hooking it up to the monster compressor that I use for my sandblaster was too frightening, so the airbrush has been resting on the top shelf of the closet until I could get a small compressor. This particular model can be used in either single-action or dual-action mode. Single-action means that pressing the button releases both air and paint; dual-action requires pushing down for air, sliding back for paint (sort of a rub-your-tummy-pat-your-head trick).

At this point, I wish I had just been brave enough to buy the dual-action, instead of thinking, "well, if I'm completely uncoordinated, I'll just stick with single-action mode." I'm managing single-action just fine (and it's a LOT of fun!), but switching over to double-action on the brush is tricky and involves spinning a little wheel back and forth, and I can't quite figure out whether I'm doing it wrong or whether the brush is not working correctly. It came with a video tape (fortunately, we still have a VCR!) so I'll have to rewatch it and practice changing the brush from single-action to dual-action. Anyway, I brushed a scrap piece of fabric I had lying around, and I love effects and the way you can gradiate the color from very light to very dark.

A Stake in the Ground

One day I managed to drag my DP to the fabric store with me. I don't remember quite how this came about; we were probably on our way somewhere else when I casually mentioned that I just needed to run in and grab a darning foot.

I had discovered this interesting show called "Uncommon Threads," and had taken to recording it while I was at work. One day a woman demonstrated "free-motion quilting" on a piece. Now, this would shock quilters, I'm sure, but I had no idea that such a technique existed. I finally managed to figure out what "feed dogs" were (the name is not as intuitive as you might think), and promptly went to my machine to figure out how to "drop" them. After searching carefully all over the machine, I determined there was no way to drop these things, so it was time to get the manual out. I learned that I was correct; the dogs couldn't be dropped, but my very basic Singer machine had come with a plate to cover them. So THAT'S what that little plastic piece was. I slid it on and proceeded to attempt free-motion quilting with no success and huge hunks of thread tangled all over the fabric. This terrain requires more exploration, I thought. My first discovery was that I would need something akin to a "darning foot" to help keep the fabric from popping up too high while I whirled it around under the needle. Hence the trip to the fabric store.

At the store, I asked the woman in the sewing machine section about a darning foot. We started chatting about free-motion quilting, and she convinced me that I would probably struggle with my machine forever since it wasn't really meant for free-motion quilting. Now, whether this is true or not I'll probably never know. I'm sure some people manage to free-motion quilt just fine with a basic Singer machine. But she was obviously an experienced saleswoman and very good at her job, because soon my DP was suggesting that I needed a snazzy new Husqvarna Viking with pre-programmed decorative stitches and feed dogs that actually dropped and several other features that seemed quite handy.

"No no!" I protested weakly. "I don't NEED a new machine! I don't know that I even want to learn to quilt!" I'm sure the manic gleam in my eye and the drool coursing my chin had nothing to do with the decision, but DP insisted that we buy a new machine because she really wanted me to make her a quilt.

I was excited about the new machine, but I was also terrified. There was no turning back now.

Supplies for the Journey

All the quilting-class descriptions I read indicated that learning how to rotary cut was the first order of business, so I ordered a rotary cutter and mat online. But my impatience got the best of me, so I took a trip to the new Jo Ann Fabrics in Austin, where, wonder of wonders, rotary cutters and mats were on sale 40% off. I bought one of each, along with rulers in various sizes. I wasn't sure what size rulers to get, but I had seen someone online using a 6-1/2" square, so I grabbed one of those.

I bought thread in various colors. I still wasn't certain what type to buy; I loved the variegated threads, but they were rayon. I had read that "real quilters" used only cotton thread. I had started taping the show "Simply Quilting," even though watching it was much like watching the Spanish channel in that I didn't understand about 90% of what they were doing or talking about. Snippets ended up sticking in my brain ("I use only cotton thread" being one of them), though I could never be quite sure I had heard or translated correctly. I also picked up a few yards of white cotton fabric to paint. After my experience with the acrylic paints stiffening the fabric, I investigated fabric paints, and bought several Jacquard sets.

I really wanted to take a quilting class, but it turns out that the quilting shops in Austin must not place a high priority on classes, since they're treated in a somewhat haphazard way. The most complete class I could find--$100, but worth it, I thought, since the class would take me through the entire process of creating a simple quilt--was already in progress, and the store couldn't tell me when a new class would start (I finally gave up calling them every few days as they suggested, since I was sure they began rolling their eyes and whispering "It's that crazy, desperate, wanna-be quilter on the phone again"). I decided I would start practicing rotary cutting. I began by cutting the fabric on the right side--the wrong side, as it turns out. I couldn't understand the logic of cutting the fabric from the left, but I followed the online instructions anyway. At some point it began to make perfect sense why you cut from the left side, since you can see your measurements through the ruler this way. I also discovered that I really needed a larger ruler: 24x6" seemed the way to go, so I headed back to Jo Ann's.

I continued painting fabrics, but I wasn't terribly happy with the Jacquard paints. They seemed to wash out after drying, and I found myself having to re-apply them several times to get the colors I wanted. I was thumbing through an old issue of Quilting Arts, a magazine I love and had been buying for a while--purely for "inspiration" for my other art projects, of course--and saw a reference to Setacolor. I found these at Michael's, and bought a starter pack of 6 colors. I immediately loved the vibrancy of the colors (although they washed out slightly upon drying too, but not as much as the Jacquards, it seemed to me). The added bonus was that you could put objects (leaves, cutouts, etc.) on top of the painted fabric, set it in the sun to dry, and end up with lighter patches where the objects blocked the sunlight. I was having a blast painting the fabrics, and I experimented with using stickers in the shape of leaves, flowers, and various shapes to block the sunlight on some pieces. The edges curled up on some of the stickers, but for the most part, they worked well. I had some alphabet stickers and one day pressed some of those onto a piece of painted fabric to spell out my DP's name.

I did figure out eventually that I love both the Setacolor paints and the Jacquard Dyna-Flow, which feels and acts more like a dye than a paint. Someday I may actually try some dyes, but for now I'm trying to use up all the paints I've purchased.

Once again, the stacks of painted fabric were growing, and it was time to figure out what to do with them.

Off the Map: The Quilt Store

Another one of Bautista's techniques that I wanted to try was "crayon melting." Claudine Hellmuth uses this technique in some of her collage books, too, and it generally requires a small quilting iron.

One day DP and I took a trip to Salado, a little town about 50 miles north of Austin. We try to make it up to Salado every few months to wander the galleries, visit the lovely little shops, and have lunch. We stopped to eat at a little cafe we hadn't yet tried, and I happened to notice a quilting store next door. "I'll bet they have a little quilting iron," I said, so we headed over after lunch.

The minute we walked in the door, I was enchanted with the quilts hanging in the entrance. One was labeled a "watercolor" quilt--I had no idea what that meant, but the urge to reach out and stroke it was irresistble. I quickly found the iron, but then wandered around like a kid in a candy store, eyeing the vibrant colors and patterns and textures of the fabric. I was considering the fact that my sewing machine was already set up in the formal dining room, a room that had largely been wasted space up to now. I was also casting about for an excuse to buy some of these beautiful fabrics. I finally sighed and said, "I may have to take a quilting class." I thought DP would roll her eyes and gently remind of the hundreds (ok, maybe thousands) of dollars worth of glass, kilns, and supplies collecting dust in my workshop; or the tons of art supplies filling my craft room from shelved floor to ceiling. Instead, to my surprise, she said, "I love quilts. That would be awesome." It just goes to show that 11 years of living with someone doesn't mean you know them all that well.

By the way, I did use the mini-iron to melt crayons, which is fun and can lend some interesting surprises to paper and collages. At the same time, having stepped mentally into that brilliant landscape of fabrics, I couldn't quite force myself to leave.