Rose Petals

Thanks to everyone for your kind comments about the Rose quilt that I blogged about yesterday: http://textiletraveler.blogspot.com/2011/08/roses-not-on-my-table.html

A couple of people asked this: how do you get the curved/wavy outside edges on the roses? Unfortunately, I didn’t take pics of the process as I went, so I’ve reconstructed the steps in (very primitive) drawings to try to illustrate the process. It’s harder to explain how I did it than to actually do it, btw.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I used a typical crazy-quilt type block. I started in the center with the pink or red fabric for the rose, then kept moving out until I switched to green and completed the block. At that point, I had a 5-sided “rose” that I wasn’t crazy about because the edges were straight:



To add a wavy edge to the rose, do the following:

1) With the block right side up, lay a piece of “rose-colored” fabric right-side-down against the block, along one edge of the rose
2) Stitch the fabric down to the block along the straight edge of the rose
3) Flip the stitched-down fabric back and press



4) Trim the stitched-down fabric so that’s wavy.
5) Sew the next piece of rose-colored fabric down along the next edge, flip, and press
6) Continue to add pieces to each of the 5 sides of the rose

7) Once all the rose-colored pieces have been stitched down, pressed open, and trimmed, sew the edges down to the block with matching thread. I used a zig-zag stitch.

I hope that helps! There’s probably a simpler way to do this, but this method worked for me :-)

Roses (Not) on My Table

A while back there was a discussion on the Quiltart list about using scraps to make quilts. I’m a compulsive scrap saver, and sometimes when I’m too nervous to cut into that gorgeous fabric I bought, or when I’m not really sure what kind of quilt I want to make, it’s easier for me to start playing around with stitching scraps together.
These blocks were made in crazy-quilt fashion. I initially moved right from the red & pink of the roses into the green, but the flowers looked too blocky. I ended up stitching another layer of pink or red to the edge of each flower, then flipping it open, trimming it into a curvy shape, and stitching down the edges. I like the softer, curvy edge of the flowers better than the original “crazy-quilt” block.



I quilted each block as I went, then put them together using Fiona’s Quilt as You Go (QAYG) tutorial. I love putting quilts together this way, because I don’t have to wrestle a large one under the needle of my small machine, but I’m still having some problems with the stitching. My walking foot a,nd feed dogs don’t really “grip” the multiple layers of fabric well and move them through the machine at an even rate, so any of the stitching that shows can look very uneven. I had a lot of this bad stitching showing on the back, and unfortunately it was white thread against a pink background, so I ended up painting the thread to match the fabric. You can still see the stitching, but you have to look more closely now :-)





Not bad for a bunch of scraps, dont’cha think?

AchOOO

The bad news is that I finally had to take to my bed after 3 days of this cold. I thought I might get off lightly, but it dragged me down after all.

The good news is that I’m not feeling too bad, so I’m using this opportunity when I’m forced to “be still” to catch up on things like my blog.

I’ve mentioned a couple of times lately what a tough time I’m having getting anything done art- or craft-wise, so I signed up a few weeks ago for Quilt U’s Log Cabin class. Here are some log cabin blocks I’ve created:

The one above is a “traditional” log cabin. Here’s a “courthouse steps” version:

And a “curved” log cabin block (where the dark strips are wider than the light strips; this results in a curved or wavy look when they are pieced together):

I’ve been playing around in Photoshop Elements with these blocks, trying to decide how I want to piece them together.  Here’s one idea for the blocks I have currently:

Right now I have 16 blocks that are 10-1/2” square, so I’m actually thinking I’ll make some more blocks for a larger quilt. We’ll see how I feel once the cold abates a little.

I’m also taking Elizabeth Barton’s Quilt U class, Working in Series. I’ve dug my design journal out—something I’ve neglected a while—and started working methodically through some ideas. It feels good to slow down and take things step-by-step. I don’t have anything to share yet, but I will soon.

Take care everyone, and try to stay healthy! Oh, and if you’re Central Texas, where we’ve had 64 days over 100 degrees so far this year, try to stay cool!

The Haul from the Dye Bucket

Every time I run across David Taylor’s work, I’m inspired to dye fabric. Not because he dyes fabric—he doesn’t, as far as I know—but because the hand-dyed fabric he uses in his work is so beautiful.

I guess some part of me thinks that if I only had the right fabric, I could create something fabulous.

So, here’s the latest haul from the dye bucket:



Not enough to really inspire me yet, but it’s a start!

I hope you're all having a lovely Memorial Day weekend!

Any Excuse!

It had been a little over a year since I had a hospital stay, so I guess it was time.

I called my doctor Monday morning because my blood sugar was crazy high all weekend (500-over 600). She told me to go the ER, and of course they admitted me.

Turns out my poor, tired pancreas may have finally given out. After the pancreatitis three years ago, the doctors were surprised that it was still producing insulin, so this wasn’t unexpected.

The good news is that Type 1 Diabetes treatment has come a long way, and with the improvements in monitoring and medications, it seems like it’s possible to live well with this disease as long as it’s managed well.

The other good news is that I had an excuse to create a new bag to carry around my test kit, my insulin, my log, etc.:

This was a piece of “leftover” fabric I created by adhering scraps to batting, adding a layer of sheer fabric, and quilting with lovely heavy thread. My bags are still somewhat rudimentary since I’m still trying to get the hang of zippers, but it will work just fine, I think!

Zippety Doo Dah!

So, as I was getting ready for the yoga retreat, I went to pack my little art-supply kit. You know, that ugly plastic box that all the pencils and things rattle around in.

What I really need, I thought, is a lovely little fabric bag for my art supplies. You know, the kind with a zip . . . zip . . . zippppppperrrrr (that's me shuddering). I've never put a zipper into ANYTHING, and I've never understood how to put a zipper in.

How does a zipper foot work? How do you get the zipper the right size? Why does the foot have to be skinny? Oh, I've read all about putting zippers in, numerous times. But I've just never really understood the concept.

This time, though, I decided that I just needed to jump right in and create a bag and put the darned zipper in. I started with some painted fabric I've had forever, layered it on batting, and free-motion quilted it.

Then, I just rolled the rectangle over so that the two long edges were touching. I put one long edge right sides together with the zipper and pinned it. I got out the zipper foot for my Husqvarna Viking machine (which doesn't actually look like any zipper foot I've ever seen)

and put it onto my machine. I spent about 30 minutes trying to figure out how to sew with the foot, and finally took it off and just put a regular foot on (with a channel underneath for the zipper teeth). I stitched one side of the zipper to the long edge of the rectangle, then realized that somehow I had sewn the zipper on upside-down, backwards, and inside-out (or something). I ripped the seam out, started over, and managed to sew it correctly this time. Then I sewed the other side, turned the tube inside-out (and unzipped the zipper half-way, stitched up the sides, and trimmed the zipper.

Voila! A zippered bag! Not the most perfect zippered bag, but zippered nonetheless! I happily went to transfer my art supplies into the bag and realized that it was too small. I had measured for the length of the pencils, but didn't measure the size of my little watercolor pan set. Back to the drawing board. . . .

This time I started with  a small UFO that has been driving me crazy for a very long time; sadly, my photos are SO disorganized that I couldn't find a before pic. At any rate, I used this UFO to create a larger bag; this time, I made sure that everything, including my small sketchbook, would fit. Here are both bags together:

Hurray! Two zippered bags. I feel like a whole new world has opened up to me, and I can't wait to make more!