May Update (And Some Sewing Too)

I haven't been posting as often as I'd like. But I've been doing a lot of traveling... Sadly, my father is not well, and lives in the UK, and, well... I don't. So I've been getting to know the ins and outs of international travel, and more importantly have been spending some quality time with my parents.

During my most recent visit, I carried with me a small sandwich of natural muslin and batting, and a bag of embroidery threads, just in case I had some moments of peaceful sitting, when I could work on a quiet project.

It came to me, one morning, what my project would be.

See, I made this quilt a few years ago, to celebrate my parents' 40th anniversary. At the root of the trunk are my parents' names embroidered in gold thread; each branch has the names of a sister and her husband; each hand-leaf is the actual outline of a grandchild's hand, embroidered with their name, and sewn on the "correct" branch! It was an epic project, took me 5 years from idea to completion (in my defense: I did give birth several times during those 5 years...)

This quilt hangs in my parents home, so I saw it daily during my visit, and one morning, sitting in the sunlight by my father's bed, I realised that we don't have my father's hand-print on it. I quickly traced around each of my parents' hands, and cut out their handprints to use as a pattern. I traced around the paper patterns using a regular pencil onto my muslin and got stitching.

Here's what I've got so far:

Close Up

 

Whole Piece

My parents asked what I was going to do with it. I admitted I didn't know - a wallhanging, perhaps? A pillow cover? My mother said, It should be the centre of a quilt. I think she wants one of her own :) since I just made one for Daddy who won't let it off his lap long enough to be washed! I enjoy the hand-stitching very, very much, and see this as the beginning of a long, treasured, slow-stitched process.

True story: on my flight back home, I sat next to 2 little kids who were pretty adorable (not mine :) and when I whipped out my hand-stitching, they demanded to be taught how I was doing it. On the scrappy edges of my sandwich, I taught a 10 year old girl and a 9 year old boy how to back-stitch. I explained how I traced hands onto muslin, and they are so excited to go home and make their own! Yay, passing sewing on to the next generation!

And, a finish! This will be a birthday gift for a colleague (shhh, don't tell).

The floral is from a piece of fabric I bought in Liberty's about, errm... 25 years ago! (Oh lordy! I ain't getting any younger!) I didn't photograph all the ways in which I messed this one up, but let's just say that I unstitched as much as I stitched... But she's finished now, and quite lovely.

Book Tuesday!

Historical fiction? Check.
Strong female protagonist? Check.
Coming of age story? Check.
Got quilting in it? Check.

I was jumping up and down with excitement when I discovered this in my local library (O Bala Cynwyd Library! How do I love thee?) and later again, when I bought my very own copy for numerous re-reads.

 

"These is My Words" (by Nancy E. Turner) tells the tale of a family heading out to Arizona territory in the late 1800's as narrated by Sarah Prine, a teenager when our story begins. This has a bit of a Little-House-All-Grown-Up feel to it, though "These is My Words" is grittier, scarier and more realistic than the Little House books, with descriptions of terrifying events, great despair and lots of gun slinging. But like "Little House," it maintains the same kind of wonder at the possibilities of new opportunity, and the hope of building a community together. We also get some romance, though to my great relief, the book doesn't end with church bells; we get to follow the couple through thick and thin, as two strong-willed characters forge a life together.

 

Why do I keep coming back to this book to curl up with? To start with, it's pretty easy to read: this is a diary of an ordinary woman made extraordinary by circumstance, and she is both full of great spirit and a wonderful story-teller. Secondly, I like the main characters! Sarah is fiesty and smart, her sister-in-law is kind and deeply religious, the men are sometimes strong, sometimes sweet. Laziness or shiftiness in anyone is not tolerated, an attitude I definitely appreciate! Thirdly, I really did enjoy learning about this time and place in history, and how the area developed and changed over the span of the book.

 

On a scale of 1 - 5 yards*, I give this book a 4 YARD RATING.

Awesome reading if you like this genre. Very satisfying.
If you try it, leave a comment and tell me what you thought!

*Of course yards. I'm a quilter. How else would I measure anything?

Wordless Log Cabins

Oh come on. Wordless? Me?

I have been thinking about the recipient of this quilt, and what they might think is interesting, and if the blocks are too dull, and wondering what fabric I could use for the negative space to make the blocks shine, until finally I had the most free-ing thought: I want this quilt! I would love to snuggle up with this, and feel fabrics silky and jeansy, flannely and velvety.

I reckon if I want it, someone else might like it too. I have to stop double-guessing every strip I place, and just get on with making something I'm proud of.


Linking up with Live a Colorful Life and Confessions of a Fabric Addict - go check them out!

Book Tuesday!

A long, looong time ago, back when I was barely 30 and had a brand spanking new sewing machine sitting on my dining room table, I decided to learn how to quilt.

I don't know where this thought emerged from, or why. Suffice it to say that back then I lived in the Bronx, within walking distance of a New York Public Library (be still my heart). I took out just about every book I could find on the subject, and thereby taught myself to quilt.

On the way to my first ever quilt - and by the way, it was a trip-around-the-world though I didn't know it yet, and the batting didn't reach all the way to the edges - I accidentally got a book out of the library that had every appearance of being helpful, but it wasn't, in any practical sense. It was called "Quilting Lessons".

I loved this book the first time I read it, and I have read it more times than I care to admit since then, and I'm still not bored.

Janet Berlo was, at the time of writing this book, a 40-something art historian who fell into a deep depression. As she entered her depression, she left her academic world - which had already become alien and threatening to her - and emmersed herself almost obsessively into the world of quilting. Over time, the quilting became a therapeutic tool for her emotional healing, providing the title of this book, her quilting lessons.

Well, Berlo is a writer by profession, so her brief essays are beautifully composed and tightly edited. My only critique is that she is a teeny tiny bit self-absorbed? A true mark of depression, as we know, but it can still be a bit wearying to wade through.

However, this is a true telling of healing from mental anguish, from her terse early words: "I was piecing for cover. I was quilting to save my life." to the final, healthier, pages of her book "...remembering always to make time to smell the sage or to bring groceries to the old ladies and talk with them quietly for a half hour. These acts of grace are fundamental to life's educational process too."

But this short book doesn't simply chart a journey through depression. Berlo explores the vital place of creative work in women's lives, the power of sisterhood, the process of creativity, and tells us many stories along the way about her travels, her family, her work - in other words, her life.

On a scale of 1 - 5 yards*, I give this book a 4 YARD RATING.

This is a great book if you're in the right mood: a blend of academic analysis and engaging story-telling is used to describe one woman's trip to hell and back via handwork. If you've read it before, or if you pick it up soon, tell us what you thought!


*Of course yards. I'm a quilter. How else would I measure anything?

Log Cabins; and, Am I Crazy?

But not in that order.

Firstly, let's explore the craziness.
What was the most insane sewing project you undertook? I mean, most-hours-invested-on-most-fruitless-project?

Here's mine.

In over a decade of sewing, I have not spent so much time on a project more likely to be lost, broken or forgotten. Because this was made for a 12 year old who is apt, well, let's just say, who is apt to lose, break and forget things. In fact, for your average 12 year old - or at least, for mine - if it is no longer actually in front of one's eyes at this very minute, it doesn't necessarily exist.

However. He very much loved this project, and bugged me to very much stop in the middle so he could very much have and hold it right this very second, until death (or simple forgetfulness) do them part. Naturally I ignored him. I finished the beading,

and then made the boy a pencil case he can be proud of. Until he forgets it exists.

 

 

Now, a log cabin update, for those dedicated readers who are waiting with bated breath...

 

 

I included the rulers in case you thought the wonkiness was due to odd camera angles. Not so. They are due to odd sewing angles.

 

And in honour of the whole process thing, some honest deconstructive happenings:

 

Also, some process-y thoughts: now that I have had a 24 hour break since I took these photos, I see them more clearly. 

 

They are dull as rocks. (Oops - did I say that out loud?) 

 

I LOVE them dearly, of course. They are my babies, after all. But I definitely need to inject some light into them. That single orange strip made the block glow a little. I have to find some more ways to achieve that.

 

I would like to pick your considerable brains: I plan on a great deal of negative space, and think a "natural" background would be best - I'm thinking something linenny? (Yes, it is a word. So there.) 

 

Wise readers, pray tell, what would make an awesome background to these blocks? What fabric have you used that had a textured look (like muslin or linen), felt soft and delicious, and was easy to sew and quilt through? Does such a thing even exist? Thank you in advance for your words of genius. I appreciate them muchly.

Book Tuesday!

Welcome to my first ever Book Tuesday! I am somewhat addicted to books, possibly as addicted to books as to fabric (don't tell my fabric, it could start a civil war.) So, starting today, Tuesdays will be my day to discuss books.

I bought this book because I liked the theme: two teenagers with cancer fall in love. I cannot pass up a good book about suffering and redemption (redemption being the key here, I hope you know that about me.) (You knew that, right?), and I LOVE good young adult fiction. And someone put them together into this neat little package for me; thank you, John Green!

Good young adult fiction is fantastic because:
1. the author has to be a great writer, otherwise said teenager will (rightly) give up on the book in about 30 seconds or less;

2. the themes tend to run along interesting, big picture issues, because that's what teenagers love to think about and discuss ad nauseam, if I remember correctly; and

3. I am a tired mother of several who also has a job outside of the home, and I appreciate a book that is a quick read. Generally speaking, no matter how complex a linguistic tone the young adult fiction writer sets, I won't have to squint to concentrate. Right?

Mr Green is a great writer, and his characters are believable and lovable and smart. Did I say smart? Green's 17 year olds have a more extensive vocabulary than, well... than anyone I know. And to be honest, I know quite a few people, and many of them went to Ivy League colleges. But for some reason, I found that our characters' super-stylised, uber-genius patterns of speech were delightful and not annoying. These teens are smart and funny; who doesn't want to read that? On account of having dealt with their own cancer for at least a year, they are also cool with the whole suffering and death thing, an interesting turnaround on the usual teen angst.

There is a plot line that runs along the lines of boy-meets-girl, but way, way better. It's not really "two teenagers with cancer fall in love," it's more, "two brilliant, sassy, funny, insightful, wise teenagers with cancer fall in love and teach us all how to live in an imperfect world with a great attitude." There are moments of pure beauty, and great disappointments, glimpses into suffering both through illness and out of it, and lots of eyerolling, too. (Theirs, not mine.)

On a scale of 1 - 5 yards*, I give this book a 5 YARD RATING.

Which means: compulsory viewing. Find it at your local bookstore, library or friend's bookcase. Beg, borrow or steal it. Whatever it takes. And tell me what you thought, especially if you disagree with me. I love me a good book debate.


*Of course yards. I'm a quilter. How else would I measure anything?

Improv! Plaid! Log Cabins!

A project I've been thinking about for a while has finally reached a Washed-And-Ironed status. A Ready-to-Roll moment. A Be-Still-My-Heart pile.

Of course I now have to introduce my friends the fabrics to each and every one of you...

First, we have..... the PLAIDS! (And the crowd went wild!)

I hand-picked these (hand-clicked? online shopping poses some linguistic issues here) for this very project. This quilt is for a special and plaid-y kinda guy. I'm not sure about the lowest one, it's a bit brown. But keeping my mind open.

Neeeext... the STASHLETS!

Some flannel from another project (Woolies, the best and thickest and yummiest flannel ever,) and this gorgeous blue cotton whose beauty defies being captured on camera, with fine, barely-there, fractured lines, mmmm.

Finally, the one, the only.... the UPCYCLEDS!

Yup, these were each once part of a garment... dark and light jeans (to go with the plaid, duh,) some soft, light linen from a shirt, and some wine-colour velvet, unexpectedly flowy.

And here they are, visiting with each other, becoming a family.

I am in love. Big love.

Gonna make me some bad log cabins. Watch this space.

Linking up with Live a Colorful Life and Confessions of a Fabric Addict !