Back on track

The days getting lighter and finishing a small project seems to have helped, and I'm back on track, quilting my Sunflower quilt again. I had the day off from work today and spent my morning quilting. I have five big blocks and the borders left to quilt, so I'm getting there...
I'm not making any bold statements about how much I will do during the weekend or anything - I usually end up putting a spoke in my own wheels somehow whenever I do that. So let's just say that it is all about enjoying the process and not about finishing - OK ? At least that's what I tell myself whenever I stray from my plans ;-)

This afternoon my sister and I went on a shopping spree. I bought some great cups and mugs, all black with these stripy saucers that almost make you dizzy looking at them. They didn't have small plates to go with these, only dinner plates (!) but I saw some nice white plates with black flowers at IKEA on my last visit (which I didn't buy then, because they didn't have cups to go with them).

Some lovely roses also made their way into my cart along with some scented candles. The pizza is almost ready and the wine bottle is open, so we're all set for a lovely evening here.

Energized

So I promised to tell you more about this fabric collage thingy, didn't I ? Well, I've finished it, so it's time for show and tell!

I used the red piece for covers, and the purple and green pieces were made into two pockets each. The covers were lined with fabric paper and the six pieces were bound together with perle cotton, using a stab stitch. Some eylets, buttons and strips of torn fabric and it all ended up as a little book.

I got the idea from Belinda Spiwak's fabric book in Cloth Paper Scissors (jan/feb issue) , but I made mine a little larger (5 x 5") to make it roomy enough.
So what is it for? Well, even if making it was half the fun it does have a function - it is a place to store all those coils of cable neccessary to charge batteries and connect in this cyber world of ours. So I might just remember to bring them along on my next trip... More pictures here.
And another good thing - working on this little quick gratification project has left me all energized and ready to tackle the remaining quilting on my Sunflower quilt - or could it have something to do with February drawing to a close...?

Frayed edges

This is where my layering of scraps has taken me so far. All the different sized pieces were layered onto pieces of felt and have been quilted down with wavy lines, ragged ends showing. I really like the texture of this - I seem to be very taken with texture and the feel of textiles lately.

I started out as a traditional quilter, and I suppose part of me still is, as I constantly feel the need to explain that, yes, I do know how to sew. I do know that you are supposed to hide raw edges inside neat seams, quilt and embroider neatly and bind off with a double fold binding with perfectly mitered corners. But I choose not to. OK? Some of the time, anyway. I will still make "proper quilts", but I also want to explore other paths and work more freely.

Now I don't know why I'm going on about this here to you, because this is where I find people who actually understand and feel the same way. The thing is, in "The Real World" - among fellow quilters that I actually meet at guild meetings and in shops and classes, I increasingly find that I have to explain myself and justify what I'm doing and why. "But what is it for?" people invariably ask when I show something new and exiting I'm working on. "Where are you going to keep it?" is another one. "Isn't it going to fray?" is what I'm expecting to hear when it comes to this project. Because I have actually got answers for the other two this time.

So what if it frays? - I really hope it does! I'll use it until it falls apart and then I might make another one! I still have to fight an urge to finish off things too neatly when I'm trying to tear myself away from The Rules of Quilting, but still, it is very liberating and I'm getting better at it. So what is it for? Wait and see, I will tell you :-) Although I know you totally understand the need for frayed edges too!

Having fun again

Amazing...

...how the rise in temperature outside....

... gets my creative juices flowing!

More inspiration from France

I got hold of the spring issue of Marie Claire yesterday, and it is full of inspiration. Just look at that fabric covered (I think) chair on the cover. And the knitted veg - radishes on the cover, but also cauliflower, tomatoes and carrots. Now if only I were able to read a french knitting pattern!

And look at the details in this picture - a picture printed on fabric with added embroidery and some of the clothes are done in appliqué - reminds me of those postcards people used to send home from holidays in Spain when I was a kid, with those wonderful flamenco dresses appliquéd on.

And there is a wonderfully bright quilt. I love the effect of those yo-yos scattered all over.

And there are aprons, wonderful aprons with cupcakes and ruffles, and this pretty little thing with triangles along the edge which reminds me of bunting. Quite the festive little thing, isn't it?

Clever ways with ties as well. I particularly like this simple little bag with a pretty tie used to, well to tie it together, I suppose. It is threaded through big eyelets around the edge, which is another thing I can't seem to get enough of lately. If only I could find those big ones somewhere...

Well, all this inspiration seems to be working, I can't wait for the weekend and some serious stitching time. The fact that the outside temperature is rising might have something to do with it as well, I suppose - I wasn't made for cold weather ;-)

It looks kind of pretty though, doesn't it?

The view from my balcony last night. It was really a jolt to the system to go out there to take that picture though - it was so cold! But a warm duvet and my copy of "Where women create" was waiting for me in my bed, and one of the first things I read was how such a jolt to the system before you go to your creative place can really wake your muse. What with the quiet time I've been enjoying the last week and all the fresh inspiration I've soaked up, my mind is brimming with ideas of things I want to make. But first I'll just make (yet) another attempt to get my workspace sorted. There must be goblins or something around, making a mess whenever I look the other way...
The magazine is providing me with lots of ideas about how to organize my space though, and I'm feeling really fired up, so I'd better strike while the iron is hot. I'm off to my craft corner. It is certainly too cold to venture outside today - apart from getting the occasional jolt to the system, that is!

Lovely inspiration

Look what the postman brought! A lot of inspiring magazines! I'm taking advantage of the snowy season and using it to gather my forces. My creative forces that is. So what if I'm not quite up to making stuff at the moment, at least I can gather ideas and get all geared up for a rise in temperature that will hopefully make my sewing area a tempting place to be again. What can be better than to get inspired by other people's craft rooms and blogging endeavours, so I can start shaking things up around here.

I'm enjoying some quiet time watching DVDs and doing some hand stitching. You might have spotted this in the background from time to time - I have been working on it for ages it seems, to the utter bafflement of my quilting friends... Why sit and stitch parallel lines on a piece of batting sandwiched between two layers of fabric? Well, it seemed a good idea at the time - I have been increasingly fascinated by texture lately, and just wanted to try my hand at making something simple where creating texture was the whole point.

And the good thing about the last couple of quiet evenings is that it is finished. I have quilted it with a deep turquoise silk thread in big uneven stitches. I just used a 1/4" quilter's tape to guide my stitch line, and stitched happily along, creating slightly wavy lines all across. It looks a bit primitive and simple, but I like it. I have a tablecloth in the same deep turquoise, and I'm planning to use this as a table topper. If I had been more fastidious, I would have centered the motifs on the fabric and all, but I just used the whole length of fabric that I had, and it turned out the way it did. Kind of an experiment really. And I'm fine with that.

And then there was cake

Another way to fight the February Funk: Make a cake and invite a friend over for a stitch'n'bitch session. The cake is a chocolate fudge recipe from the latest Ideal Home Magazine, but with apricot marmalade and whipped cream instead of the fudgy filling. Delicious!

Some ham-and-cheese muffins provided sustenance before we tucked into the cake. And hours of chatting, knitting, hand-stitching, looking through magazines and books and sharing inspiration, reminiscing and laughing gave sustenance of it's own kind and made for a lovely afternoon.

And, if the last couple of posts have left you thinking that I'm in the midst of a deep depression: it isn't quite that bad, and I am in fact managing to get a little work done, albeit slowly slowly. The zigzag top is almost complete, more pictures soon. Or not. It's not a time for making promises about progress, but I will get there ;-) And in the meantime I'm soaking up inspiration from all those books and magazines, sketching and taking notes for future projects. So maybe taking things slowly for a while isn't such a bad thing after all.

February as an excuse...

A cold and dreary February morning is the perfect excuse for indulging in a warm and comforting Latte.

Not quite according to plan...

Here I was tucking my camera into my bag before I left for work. The icy streets told me that taking the bus would be a good idea, so no photos on my way to work. And then a friend gave me a lift home, making me forget all about my photo plans until I came home. This blurry shot of my honeysuckle plant will have to do. It is a small promise of spring, after all, with it's tentative little green shoots, but it was too dark to get a good shot by the time I got home. The lack of proper daylight is, when I come to think of it, one of the reasons why February feels so dreary. I might have to pop out during my lunch break to snap some pics.

I'm sure there are birds in the trees, for instance. Like these sweeties on a paper napkin I snagged from my mum's last Sunday. So pretty - I wish I could have some fabric with this pattern! I might find some kind of craft project to use them in, though. Any ideas?

February Funk

I should start this blog with a picture of a dreary day or something, to illustrate what I'm on about. But I won't. Amanda at SouleMama was writing about February Funk today and I know just what she's talking about. It doesn't make sense, February being the shortest month and all, but it really gets me down. It might be something about the happy glow of Christmas having faded into nothing and of being plunged back into everyday life again, knowing that winter has only just begun, but I just don't seem to be able to gather the energy to do anything creative. Spring just seems so far away, the days are busy at work, and I only want to huddle under a quilt in my favourite chair when I get home and read and snooze. I keep fighting it, though, and I do manage to get a few things done, but it is apparently not a time for any major effort on my part.

Maybe that is the way it should be. Maybe I just need to take time out to relax and let my imagination run around on it's own and let some ideas stew for a while before I actually do something about them. I think I'll do just that and not beat up on myself for being lazy. But poor February, it isn't all bad, so this year I'll follow Amanda's example and make an effort to find the positive aspects of this month. Starting tomorrow I'll be carrying my camera to work and try to find something positive to document every day.

The pictures are of the little "Art piece" I tried my hand at, combining fabric paper and quilted fabric, a way back. I added some more layers, a bit of embroidery, some buttons and beads.
I think it is done now.

Zigzagging

It is such a sunny day that I really shouldn't be cooped up indoors, but I just had to have a look at my zigzag strips before I venture outside. I just draped them all over the back of the sofa, and the sun is shining in through the window, so the strips in the middle look more faded then they actually are. But it is looking good. Quite good. Only I'm not quite sure about the second strip on the left.
I'm thinking that these two fabrics need a new friend. They are both quite busy florals, and might need a calming influence in between them. The aqua one has apricot coloured berries, and the geranium has red flowers with some lighter ones veering towards apricot, so I thought maybe that was the direction I needed to take, but I have auditioned the only apricot one I've got (my stash is rather limited in that area, it seems) and no, I don't think so! I don't want to add more green than I have already, and red would clash with the hot pink a few strips off, so I might have to have a little think here.
Maybe it's a good thing that the sun is shining, a walk in the sun might clear my head :-)

We have lift-off!

After much dithering the zigzag-quilt is finally on it's way to becoming a reality. My quilt group had a sew-along this weekend. We spent a few hours yesterday learning a new technique (more about that later) and the rest of the time we just worked on whatever we wanted. So last night after I came home I cut all my triangles. And today I could just sit down and sew to my heart's content. And I did. I have actually stitched almost all the triangles into strips. I just have to find one extra fabric to go with the geranium one on the right, but I think I need to put it all up on the wall before I decide. I was going to add some more fuchsia/pink too, but didn't find one in my stash I could use, so I just went with what I have. Once I get it up on the wall I'll see if I need to unpick a row to insert some more pink somewhere.
I have had lots of positive feedback here after posting my choice of fabric, but it seems my friends IRL are a bit more hesitant: I got lots of remarks along the vein: "Oh, my you are brave, aren't you?" But that's OK - I like it!
Some practical information: I cut my strips 5" wide and used the 45 degree line on my ruler to cut triangles so the long edge is cut on the straight of grain. That way there is less risk of stretching the strips when stitching them together than if I were to cut squares diagonally and get the long edge of the triangles on the bias. It's looking good so far.

Autumn window finished!

Autumn window finished!
Originally uploaded by crafty mathea

- and up on the wall. The window frame of this quiltlet consists of three layers: two pieces of fabric with batting between, and is heavily quilted. I then cut away the four window pane squares and added a water soluble stabilizer before I put the branches (knitting wool) and the leaves (cut from a leaf fabric) in place and stitched them down. A branch found on last Sunday's hike serves as a hanger. More pictures of the process here.

Autumn window revisited

The thing about tidying up is that you tend to unearth something you'd almost forgotten about. Remember this? There it was in a heap of unfinished objects, covered in fabric leaves stuck down with pins all over the place - so that's why my pin tin was almost empty!
After quilting all the sunflower blocks this morning, I went back to this and started stitching the leaves on. An do you know: it didn't really take all that long! I've also added some thin branches and twigs to fill in the open areas, and then some random green curls, because once I wash away the stabilizer (the white background) there needs to be something to hold the open areas together.
I think I'll add some small stitched leaves as well, but that will have to wait until tomorrow - my sewing machine and my back both deserve a rest. Hm, wonder what happens once I dunk it in the sink? We'll see tomorrow. I only hope I can get it to lie flat, and I will have to come up with some kind of hanging device. A traditional sleeve won't do on this one as the stitching is so dense on the frame that it will be agony to try to hand stitch it to the back.
Maybe I could use a branch to hang it from?

Early bird

Tidying up after the holiday season gave me the opportunity to change the wall decorations around a bit, so right now this little quilt graces the wall in my hallway. This must have been the first quilt pattern I ever bought, way back when I was starting out on this quilted road... I bought the pattern from Quilts and Comforts, and I should give credit where credit is due, but I'm afraid I don't know who the pattern is by, having thrown it out after I finished the quilt.
Anyway, when I got the pattern I realized that it was going to be a huge quilt. We are talking ceiling to floor height here - no way was I going to make a chicken quilt that big ! Back in those days I was a firm believer in sticking to the pattern as closely as possible and spent ages trying to find the fabrics used in the original, but eventually the pattern was just stowed away. Then, a couple of years ago a friend was hosting a stitch along just before Easter and everybody seemed to be planning on stitching chickens of some sort, so I got the pattern out again. Instead of using the pattern sheet, I took a photocopy of the picture on the front, traced it and enlarged it 200%, which made the size just perfect for a little wall quilt.The point of all this? Nothing really, except that I'm not feeling like an early bird in any way at the moment. The cold weather and long days at work makes me want to follow that little green worm's example - scuttle out at the corner and go into hibernation... ;-)

Will I, won't I?

Do or don't, zig or zag?

Who am I kidding, we know I will, right? Nine days in a row thinking about that zigzag quilt, there is really nothing for it, I have to make one! I have been sorting through fabrics, adding and subtracting for days now, and I think I have come up with the right blend. The first one was a bit heavy on the green on one side and on teal on the other, but this one seems more balanced colourwise - to me at least. So I'll start cutting fabric, once I work out how big I want those triangles to be. I was thinking 7 or 8" at first, but I did the math (I'm such an old fuddy-duddy...), and realized that wouldn't give me enough triangles to make an impact, so I'm down to 6 1/2 or 6". I am leaning towards 6 1/2 (the bigger the better), but I have a 6" ruler, so cutting 6" squares would make the job easier for me...

Yes I know - get on with it! If I used less time worrying about these things I'd get more done. I really need to tear myself away from all the rules and rulers and wing it more. But I'll just make the zigzag first! There, I've said it - new quilt on the way!

It's very pink, isn't it?

I finished the rose quilt at last. I have had serious misgivings about this one, but told myself to get over it - it's just a small quilt after all. My sister wanted me to make this for her after finding a pattern for a lap quilt in this pattern and these rose fabrics. However, she only wanted a small wall quilt. I've been thinking that the pattern and fabrics would have worked better together in a big quilt. Whatever. It is finished now, and it actually looks better when you get it up on the wall than I thought it would. Let's hope she likes it.
And having finished this I can justify starting a new one, can't I? I just can't get that zigzag quilt out of my head, although I have kept myself in check so far this weekend...

Carried away...

All evidence of the holiday season has been packed up and sent out the door and now it's back to normal. Or what accounts for normal here... The first week back at work was a long and dreary one, but I expect to be back in normal work mode by next week. With all the meetings scheduled, I'd better...
But let that rest for now - it's weekend and time to play ;-) Not having to climb over those empty Christmas decoration boxes to get to my sewing machine and fabric stash is enough to inspire me to sew. I have just a little bit left on the rosy quilt before it's all done, and I'll do some more quilting on the sunflower one today, I think. But of course I can't get that zigzag one out of my head. I even had to pull some fabric out for an audition before I went to work on Friday morning. My sleepy brain had it all wrong, though, and as soon as I got home I saw the error of my ways and put those fabrics back where they belonged. But even so, they gave me some new ideas to play around with, so it should come as no surprise if I start a new quilt during the weekend! Can't wait!

All good things come to an end

-and tomorrow it's back to work after an extended holiday season. So far I haven't been able to talk myself into it being OK, but I suppose getting back into a routine is good for you or something... Right now I'm feeling that there is a lot to say for not having to wear a watch, sleeping in and being able to decide that the weather is too awful so I'll stay in - I sometimes feel that what I'd be if given a choice was a bear during the winter and a teacher during the summer... (But then, how much crafting does a bear get to do?)
I'll stop grumbling now - going to work also means meeting up with my colleagues again, and getting back to that interesting workproject again, of course, and the workdays usually fly by and then it's meeting up with friends, guild meetings starting up again and all. Good stuff.

The rose quilt is coming to an end too, so to speak - I have just added the binding, and now I'll settle down in my cosy corner and watch a few episodes of LOST (I got season 4 on DVD for Xmas) while doing the hand-stitching.