Sous-Stitcher

I'm doing the prep work for a project. I guess that makes me a sous-stitcher (ya know, like a sous-chef in the kitchen!) The hand-dyed floss is beautiful, and I love the variations apparent in the finished work. However, look closely at the label. See the two scary words? You can almost hear the knell of doom: "not colorfast." Do not ask for whom the bell tolls, baby, it tolls for thee. (John Donne gets the credit for that line--but I added the baby part.)
Some of you know exactly what that means: something so beautiful could just ruin the thing it's creating. So it's time to wash. And blot. And hang to dry. And (eventually) wind it on a card so it won't tangle while it's waiting to be stitched. All so I can sew this: Okay.

CSI: Quilt Group

Well, I delayed getting in the car as much as I could, but I did get to the meeting.

Today at Prayer Quilt Ministry--I swear, we need a better name than that!--we had some beautiful quilts hanging around. The first three were made by other quilters. These are just a few of 'em:

In the Navy
I think Valerie made this one

This cool quilt whose name I don't know but Sharon made it

Valerie's Flannel Quilt
Lost in the Fabric Jungle

This one I did make, but 4 years ago. My style has changed in the interim, as you may notice. Kimlee brought it back for repairs on little splits that came about from use. Now it's faded and soft from regular washing. It's the Velveteen Rabbit of the quilt world: it's missing an eye and has had all its fur loved off... but it's REAL. Kimlee also knows how much we love to nibble during our meetings and brought in this sweet little cupcake tree. Aren't the roses beautiful? But look at the top. Hmm. Something seems wrong. There's no frosting rose! And a decided tongue print left behind. Valerie, our beloved leader was CSI: Quilt Group all by herself. She spotted that, spun around, and pointed a finger at me! How did she know? Must be DNA evidence...

Gotta Owie

I suppose I should share this: I was in a MINOR car accident last Friday. The damage, as you can see, was minimal. My tail light cover was broken and there's a skid along the fender. But the psychic damage was considerable. I'm having nightmares and driving anxiety. This woouldn't be a problem if I lived in an area with great public transportation, but San Diego kinda sucks in that arena. San Diegans drive... a lot! Drive the kid to school, to the gym, to the grocery store... even my church is 22 miles away! Don't even ask how far away my stitchery stores and quilt shops are.
This is rough, but I think I'll get through it. DH says that exercise will really help with the anxiety. He's probably right. (Irritatingly, he usually is.) However, when I'm anxious, I just want to hide out in my studio.
...Which means I have gotten some sewing done:

Presenting Sturbridge Village (almost done)

Valentine Finish!

All done! This pattern from Blackbird Designs (originally titled "A Valentine Message") just zipped right along. I wanted to try and substitute another color for the tweeded flower outlines, but nothing looked just right and now I'm glad that I followed the pattern.
The only difficulty I ran into was in creating the letters in the word "Memory" to look like they belonged there in the first place. I think I did okay. I researched Blackbird Designs' alphabets online.
And I got back to work on Sturbridge Village. I hope it gets done soon. I'm a little weary of it. I'd planned to work on my DD's Asian quilt today... oh, well. Maybe I can finish the back tomorrow. After my pedicure. After I get the oil change.

Heart's Progress

You think I spent a little time on this? Just maybe? I have to say I'm really enjoying this sweet project. It calls for only 3 threads colors, but they're overdyed, so have quite a bit of variation. I don't have enough of the "flax" color, so I'll probably get stuck before my order comes in. Boo.

I wanted to point out in the above picture that I've solved the crumpled, folded, mutilated fabric problem. I wound the fabric onto a large knitting needle. Of course, this won't help the vast numbers of projects in progress, but one finger in the dyke saved Haarlem...I've been watching season 3 of Lost while stitching away. It's on my iPod: I've been setting it right on my pattern so I can look back and forth. Modern technology meets old-fashioned girl!

Special outing: we went to Cirque du Soleil: Corteo today--some wonderful stuff!

A Valentine Mystery

I just couldn't help myself when I hit my stash on Tuesday. I wanted something small to work on with my scouts, so I pulled out this little Valentine I snagged when Stitchcraft closed its doors. (sad face) The fabric is pink dahlia jobelan and requires really good lighting. But it's gorgeous. You'll notice that the pattern says "A Valentine Message." I'd like to take out the word "message" and replace it with another word or two. Any ideas? "A Valentine Memory"? "A Valentine for You"? And then there's this Independence Day sampler. It's from an old magazine--musta been about 1986. It's kinda elegant except for the 2 teddy bears flanking the heart at the bottom. I'm not sure if I'll get back to work on it or not. We'll see.

I still haven't named that quilt from my last entry. Argh!

Currently on the iPod: "Sentimental Journey" sung by Doris Day

Reading: Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, Draco Tavern by Larry Niven

Happy Kitty Firetail

"How lucky we are as quilters to have found that special something that we love to do." Nadine Ruggles, Driven to Quilt podcast.

Once I find a pattern I like, it's hard for me to abandon it. I want to play with it, improve it, experiment with color, and ultimately share it with others. That is so true with Disappearing Nine-Patch! Not only is it easy, it's so versatile. I chose to make this top with 6" squares instead of strips, so I could scrap it up. Of course it took longer that way, but I'm okay with that. I only had bits of this scissor fabric and I used every 6" square I could make! (So there's no more left; don't go looking!) Check out the Happy Kitty Firetail fabric I used for the outer border. There's just enough left for the back. I think it's a great way to use up a (ahem!) challenging fabric.I can't quite figure out a name for it, though. It harkens back to the early 60's, I think: Doris Day and Tupperware, kitchens of the future and hostess aprons. It also makes me think of Jordan almonds.

Last night I had so much fun! I got together with old improv buddies in an alumni night. I laughed so hard--we admired new babies and babies under construction--we joked around about each other's misfortunes: the blind dog who loves to run, the dog with boxing gloves, the self-composting redwood fence--we sang about the lack of good chocolate (always a crisis)--and talked for hours about things I only peripherally understood. I loved every minute!

Sleeping with the Fishes

That's the unofficial title of this quilt. The official title is "Swimming in Circles." To the right are the three main fabrics. There's also a mottled dark teal I used for the inner border. This is another Disappearing Nine-Patch pattern. I was going through my fabrics and found a few that wanted to be used. This poppy-red fabric screamed to be let out. Then the circles (which I purchsed in Columbus) wanted to play, too. The fish fabric has been sitting out, catching my eye for so long. Since both had the poppy color, how could I say no? When I was done, there was enough yardage left in the poppy to make the back. Stashbuster Alert! I used up all of these fabrics for this quilt--a total of five yards. I also dug into the scrap bin to put some stuff together for the back. If I finish that, I'll show ya!

Step by Step

Seaming the 6" panels together
Making the Nine-Patch Units
Cutting Up into Quarters (trickier than it looks)
Flipping the Quarters
Making the Block

Symptoms of Something Scary

How sick am I? Well, I just folded all the clean rags and put them away. That seems pretty weird. Normally, they just get stuffed into the rag drawer or a box in the garage. It made my husband laugh when he went to get a rag. Of course, ruffling through them to find the right size kind of ensured that the folding was a moot point.I pulled out the Oriental Lanterns quilt and finished the medallion. It's so long (90") I have to scrap (ha-ha!) my original border plans and just put a simple 2.5" border around. Then I'll add some more Asian fan fabric to the sides to widen it. My DD has a twin bed so this will look just peachy!

Things to Do While You're Sick

1. Balance the checkbook
2. Eat crackers
3. Put away the Christmas decor--s-l-o-w-l-y
4. Take a walk. A short walk
5. Finish up cross-stitch projects, even if you're not mad about them anymore
6. Wait for someone to come home and make soup
7. Finish reading books that you began a while ago and don't really remember how they went but don't want to start over
8. Leave messages on friends' answering machines

If this is my checklist, I can say with certainty that I've done it all. While it's nice not being expected to cook, being barred from the kitchen for fear of spreading germs is a little weird.
As you can see, I've finished--and hung!--my country heart project. It's not really my style, but it's up high enough that it looks nice without taking over.

And Sturbridge is moving right along. Excluding the very simple border, I can say that I've finished 2/3 of the piece. That is, I've completed 4 of the 6 pages in the pattern. And I'm not stoppin'! In fact, when I finish this, I'm heading back to it. I really like the church. I had to substitute in another color when I didn't like ecru, but I managed. It reminds me of the serenity I felt when last I entered that little church. It may be part of a museum now, but it's still a good place to pray!