Random update

I'd love to post a pic of Cathedral, but I forgot to take a good one. So that will have to happen tomorrow.

But I didn't want too long to pass without posting, or I'd forget entirely!  Four tops made (well, will be done when the applique work is done on Cathedral)!

4 more to go: My parents' 60th anniversary quilt, Ballet Folklorico, and the other two. Currently the two I will be working on are tentatively called Fiesta Ware and Dungeon. They are two entirely different kinds of quilts.

Dungeon will be (hopefully) one of our patterns for sale, once I get the test one done and measure fabrics and such.  The secret quilt (that I cannot show yet) will be another one. We are starting to gear up towards a goal of eventually being able to sell patterns and make some of our own hand-dyed fabric.

But right now I am trying to concentrate on getting ready for the Renaissance Festival. Yup. I have sewing to do for it, lessons to prep, a character to pull back together, and all while doing all the other things I want to do.

Like submitting to more agents. I got another rejection the other day for one of my fantasy novels. Onward to the next agent!

Oh, and trying to get a book on quilting done - I have 5 of the 11 projects planned out, am making the test version of one of them, working on the patterns for 2 more, and pondering what to do for 6 of them. I should really make a couple of them smaller patterns: mini-quilts, throws, or pillows. Or something. *makes notes*

It's a long road to get most of this done, but it will happen.

Not going to lie, it's a little stressful. Between faire, sewing, planning, writing, and work, I really just want to go home and sleep! (but I am trying not to do that... I need to get used to getting up and moving until late). Lists are my friends... and I stick out my tongue at stress. I will get it done. Really.

1. Patterns to develop
2. Tops to complete in 2018
3. Books to find agents for in 2018
4. Sewing for faire 2018
5. Books to write (both fiction and non-fiction)
6. Daily chores
7. Weekly chores
8. Big chores (house-type stuff)
9. Weaving projects (!)

Cathedral of Quilting

Yesterday I posted about Alison Glass' pattern Cathedral. So far I am AMAZED by this pattern. As I mentioned, I don't usually do other people's patterns, and when I do, I make changes. I've done that with Cathedral, but only a little.

This is one of those quilts that I believe is all about fabric choice.

Here is my fabric, all cut out and laid out. To me it does look like a cathedral rose window. The pieces are just laid out right now, on a dark gray. I think I am going to go with a true black instead - it should make those pieces pop even more.

I wasn't too sure about this one initially. I've been hoarding the fabric for a while, and was looking for "just the right quilt." By the time I was halfway through cutting out, I was glad I had, and impressed. When I laid out the entire thing on my table, I was floored.

People talk about things so beautiful that they make you cry - this darned near did, and it's just laid out roughly! I may well be sobbing all the way through the quilting process!!

I've sized the blocks for the next quilt top - the Ruby Anniversary Quilt, and should be picking fabric soon! *ahhhhhhhhh* I will be trying it as a quilt-as-you-go so I can do it all on my own without fighting my machine during quilting. And I can see progress. If I do a block a day for oh... 49 days... I will be done! *thud*

A Beautiful Quilt!!

 

As promised, the back of the quilt top finished this weekend! (Technically, the back of the quilt. It was a quilt-as-you-go). It's not terribly exciting, is it? But when you see the front, hopefully you will be as happy with it as I am!

This morning I woke up with a brain that felt carbonated - fully alive and popping full of ideas. I have a page covered in chicken scratch notes that will hopefully make sense later in the day! I certainly have things to research and look at/for!



We spent a couple of hours in the studio again last night, and good googily moogily did I get some stuff done!

For the second time in my quilting life, I am making someone else's design! (It's exciting, I know). I am making Alison Glass' Cathedral.

But because it's me, I am not doing exactly what they have here. I am not doing a color wheel. Color wheels don't excite me. But I had, in my stash, the PERFECT fabric for this design.

I'd even stashed it away for making a rose window-like quilt someday, and then never gotten around to it. So, I dragged it out and it was indeed, perfect. It gave me the shivers!

One of Robert Hoffman's discontinued fabrics: Florentine. I am thrilled at how it's coming, and I am only half-way done with the applique pieces. I cannot wait to see the whole top come together. I can't stop staring at it.  :)

As soon as I get it done, I will post pics, of course - even if everything isn't appliqued down yet! (Hopefully I will finish the applique bits tonight, because I wanna see it all!!

I've also thought about doing this in Iron Man colors and calling it Holy Arc Reactor.  :) Just because I can! Because I am a geek at heart (I'm sure that's a great shock!)

Tonight, then, is working on Cathedral and planning more patterns!

Monday

This weekend was a good one in the studio and in general.

Saturday was partially devoted to estate sales. We hit a couple, and came home with stuff from a quilter's estate sale. In the afternoon we worked in the studio, and got stuff done. Sunday was almost a repeat, except that instead of estate sales, we drove out to Canton and walked First Monday Trade Days. I got an alpaca scarf in gray (so soft!), and the roomie got a couple of small things. That's quite the change from buying sewing machines, which is usually what happens!

One of my favorite places at First Monday is a shop that sells 'vintage' linens (scarves, tea towels, doilies, and all sorts of stuff). One of the best things about them is they have a massive collection of prom and wedding dresses that they sell for $10.00 each. Yup! I've used one to make a test version of a future Ren Faire character - instead of expensive fabric, I got a fancy dress for $10.00. Can't beat that!

That's me in the purple hat - can you tell we have fun? (That is not from this past weekend). I love rummaging through their textiles! And yes, we picked up the mess we made!

I have finished top number three, but I am not permitted to show it just yet. As soon as I am allowed, I will post pics. I like it more than I thought I would, in all honesty. It's not my colors, but the overall effect is pretty much what I wanted. (That's three down, for those who are counting! Five more to go!)

I am shifting around my tops to make, because I was reminded of a date I have to meet this year.  :) My parents' ruby anniversary. 60 years in June. I know the quilt I want to make them. It's just making it. It will jump to the top of the list so I can make it and get quilting on it!

After that, four more: two new ones (sigh), and then Ballet Folklorico and Goth Cathedral Window. Ever-shifting quilting list, that's for sure!

Designing new patterns that might actually make sense to other people now... that's one reason I can't show pics of the newest completed top. Plus, I promised. :) We're going to write out the patterns and then see if one of the people we know can make a quilt out of it. Yay beta test quilters!

Tonight, if there is time after groceries and laundry and dinner, I'll head back out to the studio and maybe take a picture of the back of the new top.  :) Just 'cause! And work on the parental quilt pattern.

This weekend starts the prep for the local Renaissance Festival. Since I teach History out there, my sewing time will be limited for a while. Not to mention the fact that since I gained weight, I have to make a new bodice. Boo! But I am going to do what I can. I am 3/5th of the way through my tops, and 1/5th through quilting for the year. That's not bad for the beginning of February!

Does diversity include geeks?

Quilters are a diverse lot, and I love that.

But there are days when I look at other blogs and think "Oh, lords, I don't look anything like that. No one will care about my little blog. I am not bright and cheerful and colorful and... and.. and...."

But I am not other quilters. I am me.

We go into LQS X and get weird looks, as though we don't belong. I am usually in weekend gear of geek t-shirt and jeans and a hoodie. We get ignored. We get raised eyebrows. We are thrilled when we find a store that looks past the clothing to see the quilters beneath. We have been asked "You've quilted for that long?" and heard "Oh, you really are a quilter!" more than once. People have talked a lot recently about embracing diversity in quilting - modern, traditional, art, primitive, men who quilt, younger people who quilt, quilters of color. All of that is FABULOUS.

Does that diversity extend to geeks? I don't really know. It doesn't feel like it to me. It feels like if you are making a geek-themed quilt, it ranks up there with crude piecing and messy quilting - something that we know is out there, but we don't TALK about it.

I don't know if it works the other way. If geeks don't embrace quilting. But I am a geeky quilter. I see the good and bad in both sides of the aisle.

Geeky Quilts. For a reason.
Because I am a geek. Because I like geeky things. Comics, movies, certain television shows. Books. Y'know, the stuff that gets labeled "Geek" this or "Nerd" that. Mythbusters. LotR. The Avengers (well, some of them. Some of them annoy me).

Oh, and Day of the Dead. That's a thing, too. And Halloween. And Godzilla. And renaissance festivals.

Looking at this, I know there are other quilters out there who enjoy at least some of the same things. We are, after all, a diverse lot.

If I can be a guiding arc reactor light to someone else who likes the geek-based life, that's fabulous. If I can introduce a geek to quilting, that's amazing. I don't think of myself as a role model, but people keep telling me otherwise.  :)

So I'm going to keep going with my geeky quilts.

Made for my sister. The fabric is actually a very pale blue that looks like the shine from the arc reactor.
 

State of the Studio Address (aka How're Projects Going?)

I am going to try to do a SoSA (State of the Studio Address) once a month, just for a little catch-up, for those who have missed me.

So, for this SoSA...

1. I've decided to try to piece 8 quilt tops this year.  As of now, I have 2 done.  The View From Godzilla's Mouth top and the Hawkeye Minimalist Logo top are both done. The color on the pic isn't QUITE right... it's more purple than that. Still need to get a good camera! But that puts me a quarter of the way through my quilt tops for the year. From here on out they get WAY more complicated/time-consuming.


2. I am going to try to quilt 5 quilts this year. We shall  see. As of now, I have 0 done. Clipper Ship is pinned and prepped, just have to do it. The View from Godzilla's Mouth shouldn't take too long. We shall see. The Hawkeye Minimalist Logo will take a while, because it wound up bigger than I'd first planned, and the template is a little small. But it will be amazing when it's done, so there's that.
After that... I'll have two more to do. Right now those two are Crazy Diamonds and maybe Ninja. We'll see on that last one. I would say Ballet Folklorico, but that one is pretty much quilt as you go, so....


3. If I don't get them all done, I will not be that hard on myself. This is supposed to be fun! (Oh, and this is just MY quilts. This doesn't count quilts for other people. That's a whole other list.  :) )


4. I will start posting tutorials and free patterns. Because I have plans, and it's time to get working on them.


This past weekend we spent the day in the studio - working on quilts and other projects. I re-did my directions for headscarves - more on that later. I also tried a new purse pattern. It worked, but it was... ugly. So... back to the drawing board on that! I think there was a piece that I didn't consider, so I will attack it again once I've taken another look at the paper version.

Yeah, I start with paper versions of bags. It works as a rough draft for me, and lets me see how things need to go together. Usually. *shrug*

It was a wonderful Sunday in the studio. It was a nice day, partly cloudy and warm-ish. Then we had rain. Then we had hail. Then it was partly cloudy again. Oh, Texas.... *sigh* It's like a dog that's just not smart enough to discipline - you try, but it doesn't get what the problem is. (Please note, I love animals, and by discipline I am NOT talking injuring of any sort). On the other hand, there was a tornado in East Texas, so we missed that part of the crazy!

Shay

Organization

 

January always seems to be the month that people say "I am going to get organized!!" Whether they do or not is debatable. I am focusing on STAYING organized. The photo above is (blurry) picture of my quilt prep organization. I have five stacks of these: they are technically ornament holders without the dividers. Each holds a project: fabric, pattern or sketch, any ideas I have for quilting, and sometimes thread. I have one for each quilting project. It keeps them tidy, out of the way, and I don't worry about using the fabric for other things! (<- Most important thing, right there!).

The labels are just file labels, and I peel them off when I am done and re-use the box. They also serve as a display stand for my design board when I am not using it. (Double duty!)

I like this - it works for me, obviously, and it allows me to see what projects I am planning. Right now they vary from "Clothing" (which currently holds pattern and fabric for vests and a light jacket), "Kits," which has small wool kits from Las Colchas, in San Antonio (go there, buy things! I love that store!!) to a box for Two Fabric Bargello quilts, Large Hex Garden, and lots of others.

Of course, there are always projects that sneak up on me, that never get a box. I have one that I want to do tonight, as a matter of fact: The Minimalist Hawkeye logo. It shouldn't be hard (aka, "how hard can it be?" - the catchphrase of my old college gaming group). I hope to have the top done by tomorrow, and then I can set it aside with the others to be quilted.

Tops waiting to be quilted don't go back into boxes; instead, they get rolled up with any templates, designs, sketches and such until such time as I get to them. I try not to pin until I am ready to work on them - we have a finite number of pins, after all!

How do other people stay organized? How do you store projects to be done/in progress? How do you store your stash, for that matter? Ours is on shelves, with fat quarters separated out. Scraps smaller than a fat quarter get sorted into one of three tubs.

(And yes, I was a gamer. All sorts of Tabletop RPGs... from DC Heroes to Star Frontier to D&D. Still remember most of my characters, too!). I miss some of my characters.... *sigh*

Purses and quilts and getting things done!

I love Fizzgig. He is one of my spirit animals (from Dark Crystal, if you don't remember/have never seen it). He sums up what my attitude is about a lot of things. Maybe I should make a Dark Crystal quilt one of these days... stained glass-looking, with Skeksis and Fizzgig and the gelflings, and landstriders, and all the lovely that was Thra.  I can see it in my mind, almost a movie-poster in detail and such. I may have to start drawing this out. It would take me a while, but it might just be worth it. *Makes note* *Looks at quilt design list and sighs*

As an aside, I watched a special on the making of Dark Crystal, and it was this special that got me interested in stilts. I wanted (and still want) to be able to move on stilts like a landstrider. It seems somehow freeing.

 

ANYWAY... When I wasn't feeling Fizzgig-ish this weekend, I managed to get some things done! (Oooohhh..... aaaahhhhh).

 

Number One - Saturday. I wanted to make a more structured purse than I usually do, so I turned to a pattern I found at one of my LQS.  When I got into it, I decided I didn't care for the pattern - it seemed unnecessarily complex. Since I tend to streamline things (aka, I'm a little lazy), I made some modifications.  I tossed more than half the pattern pieces, shortened the strap (I'm short), and made a few other minor changes. It went together pretty quickly after that! The pattern called for upholstery weight fabric, but I wanted to use quilting cotton, so I put a layer of polyester batting between and moved on with life. I don't use polyester batting for anything else these days, certainly not in quilts, so I use it where I can to get rid of it. It worked out rather well - enough so that I may have to make another one. And figure out how to make more of the handles... I want to have them in nicer woods - mesquite, cherry, and so on. I think it would bring out details in some of the fabrics I want to use. The purse is completely washable - just have to take the wooden handles out first. Overall, I like it!

 

Project Two - Sunday. I finally found the fabric I wanted for this - the background building fabric. I had some, lost it, looked forever, found this, and then promptly found the original. Isn't that how it goes? *shrug*  The prairie points are in a glow-in-the-dark fabric, because why not? This one isn't huge, and not QUITE done... I still have to quilt it. But, here it is: The View from Godzilla's Mouth. The quilting will be other kaiju - Mothra, Gidorah, maybe Jet Jaguar... in glow in the dark thread. Because I can, and why not??

 

I also managed to get my project boxes re-organized and re-arranged, so I can actually find the projects I want to work on this year. Currently, my goal for tops this year is 8, including View from Godzilla's Mouth. So I have finished one already! *cheers myself*

 

Tonight I will try to take pictures of my project boxes. I am pleased with them. Organization makes me happy.

Turning to Aim at 2018

 

This is the final weekend of the calendar year. 2017 was meant to be (for me) the year of finishing things. Looking back, I've done reasonably well.


In 2018, I will do even better. I currently have at least 6 quilts that have completed tops, but need to be quilted. My goal is to complete them in 2018. I have another 4 tops that are in progress - I intend to finish those as well - if quilting happens on them, I've learned to make more time.  :)


I also have a book to write.
A rug to make.
A series of cross-stitch patterns to figure out.
And whatever else turns up.

So really, this will be the year of Channeling Hawkeye. He's a mortal man, no superpowers (just mechanical alterations made, depending on which version of Hawkeye we're talking about). He's just a normal guy. Who plays with superheroes and supervillains, and keeps up with them.

I will be adding one to the tally of tops to make: the symbol up top - the minimalist Hawkeye look. I will put it on my bed when I am done to remind myself that I'm not super, but I can be mighty.

Maybe that should be a more common goal. Be the mightiest you that you can be.

Scrappy-dappy-do? (aka, what am I doing??)

Yes, this mess is what I am doing these days... between work stress, sickness all through the house, Christmas blahs, anxiety over gift-giving, this is an innocuous craft. If you can't tell - and you probably cannot - I am plying fabric to make a rag rug. It is similar to braiding fabric strips for rag rugs, but I am learning to ply - like you do for yarn. I hope it will help me when I finally get the spinning bug again.

There is no plan, no pattern for the rug this will wind up being. It will probably be oval-ish, and stitched by hand unless Frank (the mid-arm) will stitch it. Need to check that.

It seems to be an excellent way of using up scrap fabric. Right now I am plowing through pre-cuts from jelly rolls. If the rug isn't big enough when I am done, I will have PLENTY of scraps to cut up, and the rule is simple: once it hits the scrap bin, anyone can use it.

In some ways, I cannot wait for the holidays to be over. Not that I don't wind up enjoying them - I am not claiming that. But... I am looking forward to a slight reduction in stress and anxiety, and being able to apply myself to Ballet Folklorico and other quilts.

I want to turn this pic into a quilt. It's my pic, so why not? It is the inner roof of the Japanese Tea Pagoda (?) at the Sunken Gardens in San Antonio, Texas. If you get the chance to go, you should. It is beautiful, and a wonderful way to re-purpose an old quarry.

When I looked up at this, it cried out to be made into a quilt. So, it's on the list.

And, of course, there are the geek-themed quilts that I want to make. Some for others, some for me, some just because I want to make them.

Like this one - this is going to be the theme for the upcoming year (which for me will start on the winter solstice, because I can). It will be detailed and time consuming, but so be it. I also have the Hulk quilt planned out, another Iron Man quilt planned out, and am currently mulling over a Wonder Woman quilt. Although if I start there, I will wind up adding Hawkgirl (why is she a GIRL???) - probably the bombshell version, but you never know.

Part of me also wants to do a whole-cloth quilt... maybe I could use the poster to the right for that?

But first, I am going to continue the process of finishing UFOs: Clipper Ship, Fabric Homicide, and Crazy Diamonds. Those come first for quilting.
For those that read this, I have a question....

If we started making geek-themed batiks, what themes would you like to see?? (oooh, we could make batik shirts....)

S

Holidays... ugh. Crafting blues

I will start this off by saying that I am not really a holiday person. I like them in theory, but in reality they stress me out - I know I am not alone in this. It's the television showing Christmas movies that all end like a fairy tale, it's the songs everywhere EVERYWHERE, it's the ads trying to sell cars for Christmas in a Winter Wonderland that isn't real. Nothing about Christmas feels real any more.

Yes, I head 'home' for the holidays. Except it's not really home anymore - I've spent more time away than I did there. I'm in Texas - snow and cold weather and all that is right off the menu. There's so much worry in my head about getting the right gifts for the right people, the hope that they won't hate them, etc. etc. etc. It sends me into a tailspin on top of the usual anxiety and depression. So. I have lists upon lists upon lists of things that need to get done before I can drive to Christmas and spend time with the family.

Do not mistake me for someone who hates holidays. I don't, and I refuse to take the enjoyment away from those who do. There is a certain nostalgia, sure, for the probably-false memories of anticipation and simpler times - things seen through a cloudy lens, showing me what I want to see. When my grandparents were alive and we would go there for Christmas, or (since my parents were teachers), we would take a trip somewhere - the whole family. When the whole family was more than 6 people in total. I remember those with fondness because they were experiences. I have no clue what gifts I was given.

But this is not an anti-holiday screed. This is the crafter in me wishing for some of those "simpler times" ornaments - I have some that my parents hand-painted on precut wood forms. I have plastic canvas ones that my grandmother made, as well as clothes-pin reindeer. I have 60's felt ornaments, with most of their sequins still left. The small stockings that my great aunt made and stuffed with poly-fill and glued little pieces of plastic holly to. Things that are not 'retro'. Things that even hipsters look at with disdain.

Those are the things that I miss. The hand-made aspect of Christmas, that added to the anticipation and the festivity. The things that, in my 20's, I said "I don't want those. They are soooo 'crafty,' with air quotes around the "crafty" like it was an insult - reminiscent of slate blue wooden cut out geese wearing hats, and ducks with signs around their necks - that country crafty style. I still don't want the ducks or the geese. But the ornaments... yeah... I'd like to have some of those.

Lifesaver Yarn Elves on the tree.
Plastic canvas 'boxes' that held Hershey's Kisses.
Tiny crocheted wreaths.

I want simple. I don't want a house lit up so brightly it can be seen from space. I just want...  I don't know.

So of course, what is my crafter's brain working on? Not Christmas, that's for sure! Rag rugs, a knitting loom scarf in a pattern I've not done, my next quilt for piecing (Ballet Folklorico), and my next quilt for quilting (Clipper Ship).

I am so unfocused I feel as though nothing will be accomplished. I know it will - it just takes list upon list to get organized and pointed in the right direction. I know that this time of year carries stress. It always has - just like it does for a lot of other people.

My list for tonight includes:
1. Update the big chalkboard list of major things to do
2. Clean the upstairs
3. Find a goose recipe, because I want to try goose for Christmas
4. Cut strips of 2.5" fabric from scraps
5. Finish the folded ornament I did start
6. add seam allowance to Ballet Folklorico pieces and run some color tests
7. Dinner
8. Wash dishes
9. Make sure roomie doesn't fall over (she's been sick, and is still off-kilter)
10. Work on scarf
11. Research history
12. Shower and bed.

I just don't know if I can manage it all.

Do others experience this? What do you do when it happens? I'm single, and more inclined to holidays than the roomie really, which says something....

Oh, and I have 4 stories going.

*thud*

How do I slow down???