UFOs and Grands

A mixed bag once again this post.  After I showed the High Cotton quilt top finish a couple of weeks ago, I'm sorry to say it remains a top. Backing fabric I'd chosen had some unacceptable flaws and a small hole so I'm at a stall until I choose something else from stash.  

In my desire to keep the UFOs moving, I turned to my Hoosier cabinet and picked Cocoa Baskets, from McCall's Quilting Sept/Oct 2010.  That's right, this project could start first grade this year!  

Luscious greens and dark reds and a couple of browns were selected for this sort of primitive designed row quilt by Sarah Maxwell and Dolores Smith (Homestead Hearth Quilts) who used black, tobacco, and dark browns.  I did make a change to the pattern as I prefer the Churn Dash block I made here rather than the Shoo-Fly type.  I also am making fewer blocks for a smaller quilt.  The project hit UFO status when I could not decide how to finish the appliqued basket quilts and ran out of background fabrics. Having just reorganized my fabric, it was easy to choose from the Repro drawer.  

These three new basket blocks will get brown buttonhole stitching like I quickly decided on for their 6 year old siblings; another three are in the wings ready to be fused to backgrounds for the total of 12 basket blocks I need.   A few more 9 patches and Churn Dashes and assembly can begin. 

This morning after breakfast I'll be spending a few hours with this little grandson while his Dada takes big brother to the beach.

 Here Hunter is inspecting Auntie Erica's fingernails a couple of weeks ago on Father's Day.

And looking like a little Tough in his cutoff shorts and serious face while Great-Auntie Kathy holds him (the spit bubble offsets that, lol).  He is now giggling at big brother and is a smiley boy most often.  Both boys have sort of hazel eyes, not quite brown.  I lightened up this pic to try to show that. Their Mama was hoping one boy would get their dad's blue eyes, but nope!

Big Brother Cove giving thumbs up on the family's recent trip to visit friends in SanFran.  The monkey-covered headphones are pretty funny.  Hunter is pleasing his parents by sleeping through the night since before he was four months old, and Cove is now potty-training like a champ at 2 years 4 months.  We are so lucky to see them often and treasure these times.

Design Wall Monday--and some sewing room KonMari

Off my design wall is my version of "High Cotton", from Kim Diehl's Simple Comforts book series.  A completed top is such a wonderful stage to get to!

I did manage to make things a little more difficult for myself in the assembly.  Apparently early in the block-making portion (2 years ago!), although the book instructions said to press the away from the center row, I had decided to press the seams in one direction.  But I forgot about that on later blocks and pressed as directed.  Then when I put together the block rows, I re-pressed every other block's seams towards the center for nesting purposes.  However, on the alternate rows, which are turned to make the chains zig-zag, I had to press the single errant seam back away from the center.  I think I had to re-press 90% of the blocks!   But in the end all the seams nested and the chains came together nicely.  My aim was to copy Kim's unique use of brights and zingers with the quieter repros.  What do you think?

See More Design Walls on Judy's Patchwork Times. 

There was also more KonMari-ing in the sewing room--thread was the next subcategory.  I'd already been through my machine sewing thread in a previous sewing room reorganization but there were dozens of these in various places that needed to be gone through:

All of these vintage wooden thread spools!  This is an amalgamation of my Grandma's and my mother-in-law's sewing stuff.  I ran into a giant snag in this effort as the collection probably really resides in the "Sentimental" or keepsake category, which is the last and hardest category in KonMari Method.  I dilly-dallied looking up the thread company information and age of the spools, sorting them into manufacturer and by size.  I was also distracted by vintage promotional sewing kits I found in my mother-in-law's stuff.  Another rabbit hole!

 I wonder if the Perma-Kurl Beauty Shop still exists in Oakland, NE, my MIL's hometown?

This was a famous old casino and is now the site of Harrah's casino (I think).  I don't know if my MIL actually visited the casino, as it appears she picked up this promotional giveaway item in Omaha, NE, where she lived and worked before moving to California in the late 1940's.  There is a Facebook page for the Wagon Wheel Saloon and I saw a photo of memorials to the owners listed on the back.

 I'm pretty sure no one mends hosiery anymore!

My intention with the wooden spools all along was to use them decoratively and I had fun choosing as many as I liked to fill this thread holder.  the bottom row is full of Belding Corticelli silk thread and silk buttonhole twist bobbins, love them! Some of the rack's spindles are broken but that's not bothering me at the moment, I can always get another rack.

Hunter's Quilt Finish

Time goes fast--I meant to post about grandson Hunter's quilt finish a week ago.  I did complete the quilt on the deadline, his 3 month mark, and took it over to DD Elaine so he could be posed on it for photos.

 Here is the little charmer inspecting the quilting and blocks, from Mama's lap.  

What a little flirt, with that half smile! Hunter is growing well and getting so much personality.  He loves to watch his brother Cove, but his best smiles are saved for his Mama.

 It was hard to get a good photo of the quilting, but you can see where concentric partial circles from opposite corners I stitched overlapped  in the center.  I was happy at how my idea worked out.  It was not too painful, using the guides provided that slide into the back of my walking foot.  I did use a little piece of tape on the guide bar to avoid having to continuously remeasure the 2" width I was going for.  The bars are not fixed and can be pushed in when shifting fabric under the foot and needle.  Spray basting is key to this method!

I used the monkey print for a one-piece backing, and a solid black for the binding.  Again, this pattern is Adam's Rib, from Fons and Porter magazine.  It was an easy block and I can see myself making this again in a different colorway.  So glad Hunter now has a quilt from his Mimi, made with much love.

Tuesday's Orts

Tuesday's Orts--an occasional collection of bits and bobs of events and thoughts that land here. 

• KonMari * of the fabric and scraps has been exhausting and liberating.  It is intense, this category-centric method of purging, but once each category (or sub-category!) is complete, it is a great weight lifted.   The hard part is discovering how MUCH of one thing you actually own! (*The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo)

My re-purposed tall chest holds fabric pieces that are about a fat quarter size and smaller. Look, there's some empty space! 

I thought I was through with this drawer but nearly immediately afterward I opened another bin and found some extremely yummy sample cuts of CW repros a guild member had gifted me, so now that drawer is pretty full.  Marie Kondo likes things arranged light to dark in drawers.  I did that within each color but generally they are ROY G BIV ordered.

And it is a very messy process--I sorted and chose what sparked joy, and discarded a LOT.  This photo is after I went through all the project boxes in the Hoosier and was going through folded fabric.  All the bags under the sewing desk are going OUT.  Multiple sub-categories of this hobby are yet to be worked through before any kind of "after" reveal.

• Of course I couldn't do this task alone.  I was closely supervised by the Quilt Inspector, Mini, who spent most of her time trying to stuff herself into whatever box I just emptied..some of which were far too small for her 12 lb body!  She likes these California Pizza Kitchen catering trays I brought home from an office luncheon a few years ago.

•  Occasionally I still do cross-stitch, which I love.  A finish in the embroidery department was delivered to DD Erica's recently.  

It's a subversive saying, so I had to mark out that part of my photo!  My addition to the pattern I purchased here on Etsy were the dead bees at the bottom.  I struggled a bit with a clean finish on the back, mostly because my design wasn't exactly centered on my Aida cloth, so there was not much to work with at the top of the finished embroidery.  Eventually I did get it gathered and secure.

I had bought a piece of inexpensive felt and traced and cut a circle to cover the back, which turned out as too big.  So then I trimmed it and it was too small.  Naturally this occurred late at night when there were no stores open.  I rummaged around in my stash and found a roll of wool felt pieces just the right size.  A more expensive backing but it gives a good finish! 

• Traffic Rant:  Again with the bicyclists!  There is a new law that states all cars must stay at least three feet away when passing a bicyclist.  That's fine, I wouldn't want to be closer, but the oblivious bicyclist who is riding three feet from the road's edge pushes drivers into oncoming traffic on a two lane road.  Dangerous on the hilly streets around here.
• I've been at my current scribe job a year now, and full-time for the past four months.  My doctor boss has been on a vacation cruise for 10 days and it has been wonderful to have this time off.  Tomorrow it is back to work, but a short week.  Gotta love that.

Design Wall Monday--May 30, 2016

On this Memorial Day Monday, my design floor holds a quilt for ME.  High Cotton is a Kim Diehl pattern in her Simple Comforts book series, and I started making the blocks over two years ago.  These project boxes have to be emptied sometime...

Many of these prints are from a fat quarter tower of Bonnie Blue Basics I bought years ago at the International Quilt Festival in Long Beach. I sure miss that show and hope it returns to SoCal again someday. 

First run layout.  I didn't like the light block in the lower right.  I had extras for just this happenstance.  Can you spot the "Oops" block?

Amazing that I pieced and ironed this block without noticing the chain break!

Final layout (uh-oh--I see another oops block--lower right navy block is turned wrong! Must remember that).  I pieced several rows and then dug into the KonMari tidying of the sewing/quilting category, starting WITH the project boxes in my Hoosier cabinet.  I certainly feel the constant weight of unfinished projects and unused fabric and excess stuff has been stifling my desire to get in here and sew! Lately I finished three quilts and that has helped ease the block.  I bought the second KonMari method book (Spark Joy, by Marie Kondo) and it has a lot more detail plus illustrations about the category sorting method and choosing what you love.  I happen to enjoy anecdotal stories too so her writing style is pleasing to me.  Sorting by category works!

See more design walls on Judy's Patchwork Times. 

Design Wall Monday--May 23, 2016

On my design floor today are blocks for a quilt for our second grandson, Hunter, who will be 3 months old next week.  I know, I know, but better late than never, right? I did get the curtains made for his room... 

DD Elaine wanted black and white prints and I bought a bunch at Superbuzzy.  I love that store!  It has a great online presence for Japanese designer fabrics and modern prints and solids, and is very fun to poke around in. A few prints from my stash dresser were added to round out the selection.  

Loved this monkey print and it will be the backing as well.  I found this quilt pattern on Pinterest, it is called Adam's Rib, from Fons and Porter.  The crib size called for 10 fat quarters.  I did note that there are errors in the cutting directions, as it called for cutting the same number of strips as for the next size up.  I only needed to cut ONE strip, not 5, for the center squares, and only TWO strips, not 5, for the smaller squares and rectangle.  I discovered this during the second fat quarter cutting so was able to avoid having a ton of extra pieces cut.  One thing about Fons and Porter--they do not include pressing directions.  I figured out from my test block which would work best so I can nest the seams when I sew the rows together, but I do prefer to have pressing directions in patterns!

 Completed blocks.

 Love that white block that appears between the prints. 

Since this picture I've sewn four of the rows together. the gray looking block is a black print on white. I want this quilt done before Hunter's 3 month photo shoot next week.  His mama has been posing him on a handmade quilt--but not one made by his Mimi!  

See more design walls on Judy's Patchwork Times.

Continuing the KonMari

I started the KonMari tidying method last year (from Marie Kondo's book "The Life Changing Magic of  Tidying Up"), where one sorts by category and not room, selecting what to keep by the criteria of "sparking joy", rather than what to eliminate.  I am currently wading deep in the "komono" portion of the ordered sorting, after completing Clothing, Books, and Papers.  This is a "miscellaneous" category and there is a LOT of miscellaneous around here!  I have done linens, CDs and DVDs, office and stationery supplies, my kitchen, and lot of craft items. Each time I switch out seasonal decor, I've chosen my favorites and given away the rest.  I'm happy to say my drawers and closet are still "sparking joy", and I've not filled up empty spaces. 

 My long sleeve shirt drawer is sporting new liner paper since this picture and I've added ONE shirt since September. Yay me! I was stuck on fabric/sewing/quilting as it is HUGE in my house and decided to move on to decor items.  I have a lot of those too as I like to change things around frequently. 

Candles/candleholders before:

It was surprising to see how many of these items there were.  That is the magic of sorting by category--you gather every single item of the category and truly see the amount you have!

Seems wrought iron is a bit of a theme, no?

 Who needs 4 candle snuffers?  I kept two and DD Erica will get another.

 These are going to the thrift store except some that went to the trash. 

50% purged.  I actually added nearly all the tapers to the giveaway pile after this picture.  Handling each item really taught me that I prefer pillar candles over tapers.  After returning some favorite candle holders to their usual spots, the remainder fit into my sideboard and I have an empty bin under the stairs where the tapers used to live.  Even the potpourri that lived in the bin was re-homed in the sideboard.  Love that.  I've now sorted through other decorative items including trays, statuary, vases, wall decor, display stands, and other knick knacks but have yet to decide where many of these will live.  That is a hazard of this type of purging---waiting until the end to assign everything a home.  But it feels great to let things go that I wasn't using and/or no longer felt any joy from.  Next is art/paintings/prints and I have a lot of those too.  Having some time off this week will help!