UFO # 2

Last weekend I finished binding the Heartstrings Quilt. I really enjoyed this quilt - it was easy, used up lots of scraps, and it has great visual impact. I got the idea of putting the red half inch strips on either side of the brown strip in each block from Melva whose quilt blocks were photographed on Mary's Heartstrings blog.

The hardest part of this quilt has been photographing it, as it keeps raining. Or it is dark when I get home from work. Here are some not such great shots outside:

Susan Caldwell picked a good thread color because it looks light on the dark fabrics and dark on the light fabrics:

Given that this is such a geometrical quilt, I wanted sort of a geometrical quilting pattern. I picked a baptist fan variation panto that provided a curved counterpoint to the straight line strip piecing:

Unfortunately, I don't remember what the pantograph is called. But the above photo is a shot of the back.

I had originally planned to give this quilt away; I envisioned it as a man's quilt. But now that I have it done, I can't give it up. It is full of my former projects - there are scraps of dresses I made for me and my mother, scraps from skirts, and shirts, and quilts, usually given to others. Maybe it is because it is my first real scrap quilt, but I just can't let it go. So I'm keeping it, and I have named it "A Man's Heartstrings". It is a substantial weight quilt, due to the muslin foundation of the squares, and it has been keeping me warm every night since I got this done. After reading the Selfish Seamstress blog, I'm trying not to feel guilty about keeping it. : )

Parting Shot: Look what I knitted at my first lesson!

After the very first stitch, it all came back to me, and I just knitted away as if it hadn't been 38 years since I had picked up a knitting needle. How could this be, I wondered? "Muscle memory," said Laura, our fab instructor and knitter extraordinaire. Next week we get to learn to purl!

It's Hip To Knit!

My friend Eileen has worn me down; she has convinced me to learn how to knit. I am rather suspicious of all of this. Maybe she wants me to share in the joys of knitting. Maybe she wants me to join her and Loy as they knit through Scotland and other exotic locales like Doylestown, PA. Maybe she is just tired of knitting me sweaters. And maybe, here's a thought, she wants me to start knitting for her. "Learning by doing" is Eileen's motto. Hmm, I think I am onto something.

Regardless of evil motives, I'll have my first lesson next week at The Yarn Lounge. I learned to knit in first grade, but I can't say I've done much since I was seven years old. It'll all come back to me, right?

As I declared 2010 the year of the UFO, I finished this quilt for my Prayer Sister Donna this weekend. All it needed was the binding and label:

I can honestly say I didn't finish it a minute before I needed it, as I bought the pattern almost three years ago. Here's a shot of Susan Caldwell's machine quilting - she did an all over floral design:

I pieced the binding from the sashing fabrics which included the striped fabric and the tone-on-tone green fabric.

I won't show the label; I have the most inelegant labels in the whole quilting world. I would love to be one of those quilters who showed as much care in the label as with the quilt, but by the time I get to the label, I have so moved on. They end up being scrawled with a permanent marker on a scrap of muslin. I'm just happy there's a label on it.

It's amazing how quilting seems to change a quilt top. Now that it is done, I think this is a sweet little quilt that I really like. It seems so 1920's to me, and it is currently draped over the end of my bed. I better get this to Donna soon before it ends up on my bed permanently.

Parting Thought: The Richmond Esty Street Team is sponsoring a Craft Swap on Sunday, Janaury 31, 2010 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. You can read about it here. I see this an excellent opportunity to donate fabric, quilting books, and notions that I'll never use and someone else might value. And I'll meet other crafters here in Richmond! My friend April Scott will be there - join us!

UFOs - Friend or Foe?

I'm back from my parent's house in Alabama, where we had a very nice Christmas. Christmas, incidentally, is still going on! Christmas is not a day; it is a season. It lasts twelve days. (Hence, "The Twelve Days of Christmas".) The first day of Christmas is December 25th, and the twelfth day is the Feast of the Epiphany, on January 6th, where the visit of the Magi is celebrated. Thus, my decorations stay up until after sunset of the 6th of January!

I took a few photos of downtown Cotton Creek, AL. This is facing north: This is a shot facing east:

You can see that it is a hotbed of activity. Our traffic light blinks yellow in one direction and red in the other; we aren't big enough to warrant a green light. Here is the gas station where the truckers, hunters, and loggers stop for breakfast and dinner (i.e. lunch):

Here is a shot facing west, and the crazy man with the hat on his head, dressed in shorts with no shoes, is my 73 year old father:

It was about 38 degrees when these photos were taken. Daddy believes walking in chilly weather with no shoes makes him eccentric, but I told him only rich people can be eccentric; as it is, he is merely crazy:

A typical local barn:

One of the laurel oaks that must be a hundred years old:

The only other store in Cotton Creek whose owner is my second cousin once removed (I think):

The church, whose steeple has been blown off by lightning more times than I can count:

This pretty much says it all:

Finally, this is my parent's house. It is the white one:

It was built by my great, great grandfather, Warren Payne, in 1918. It's a typical old house, with no central heat or air conditioning, or anything much modern. Several, but not all of the rooms, have gas heaters that you light with a match and pray that you don't blow yourself up or burn the house down. I don't touch them. I like sleeping in a house built by one of my ancestors; it feels friendly and very right, but I will note that my mother comes to visit me frequently in VA. I think she likes staying in a modern home with central heat and no mice!

Of course, today is that time of year when folks start thinking about resolutions. I don't make resolutions, but I do make "goals". My sewing goals last year were three:

1. Make myself a quilt for my bed;

2. Make a heartstrings quilt; and

3. Make a double wedding ring quilt.

I did all three and had a great time doing them all. The double wedding ring is only pieced, not quilted, but I count it as done, given that I'm not doing the quilting!

So, of course, I have been thinking of what my goals for 2010 should be. One of my goals is to visit my friends more. A friend died very recently and I attended the memorial service today. Given that people that I know, who are my age, are dying, has brought home the fact that nothing is more important than friends and the time to visit them is now. So I plan to inflict my presence on the following:

1. One visit will be to Susan and Ron. Their kids are now teenagers and they must be weary of them, so maybe my visit would be welcome, or at least tolerated. I swear that Susan's Beef Wellington recipe is no inducement. No, really.

2. A visit southward to Mark and Cynthia. They have 2 year old twins and don't go anywhere these days. I believe they would love a visit from an adult from the outside.

3. Another visit southward to George and Pam whom I haven't seen in ten years. It's time to remedy that.

4. A visit northward to Laura and Dan. You get a couple of glasses of wine in Laura and you can get her to tell the squirrel story. No better entertainment than that.

5. Nearby to Laura and Dan, a visit to Laurie and Marty, the wonderful parents of my godson. I need to visit so he remembers what I look like. Maybe I should take him, like, a gift or something.
6. And of course, another visit to Glen and Tammy!

So beware, dearest friends, I am coming, and I like to eat!

Sewingwise, I have decided that 2010 is the year of the UFO. It is my sincere goal to finish some of the quilty UFOs hanging around. I think UFO's are like unfinished homework, they just drag down on your creativity. I'll discuss my list in a separate post, but my own rules for finishing UFOs are:

1. If you give the UFO away, unfinished, for someone else to finish or use in anyway they see fit, that counts as finished.

2. If you finish the UFO as something other than intended, for example, an unfinished quilt becomes a finished wall hanging, it counts as finished.

3. If you get the courage to just throw it away, it counts as finished. You have made a decision upon it and you no longer need to take action. I doubt I would ever do this, however, but we will see.

All of this applies to quilting projects only, and I am free to continue to start and stop as many garment projects as I wish. They don't take near as long, and frankly, I like wearing the clothes. Speaking of which, over Christmas I did show Melanie at the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe my tunic that I made from fabric from her shop - a lot of fun! I also bought from her some fabric to make some curtains for Mother's kitchen. After 25 years, Daddy finally "got around" to painting the kitchen. I used a white fabric with cherries on it by Robert Kaufman called "Confections". I thought it looked very "county kitchen".

I hope you and yours are having a wonderful holiday season. What are your goals for 2010???? Do UFOs make you crazy, or do you peacefully co-exist?

Big Snow!

We've gotten so much snow that our neighborhood snowplow guy is using a CAT bulldozer to clear the streets!

My back deck: Of course, this means that my flight to Cotton Creek, Alabama has been SO cancelled. I won't get home until late, late tomorrow, at best. I would estimate that 10 to 12 inches have fallen so far, with about 6 more forecast for today and tonight. But I am happy for this "rest" day, although I don't know how much rest will be involved. If I want to leave the house tomorrow, there is going to have to be a heap of shoveling of the drive.

I haven't decided whether there will be sewing today, or what kind: work on bindings or start something new?? Don't know, but I love having the time on hand to decide!

Parting Shot: My neighbor is getting the jump on the shoveling. Think I could talk him to coming over to my house????

The Liverpool Tunic

I was in Cotton Creek, Alabama last week, unexpectedly, due to some surgery my mother had; she's recovering nicely, and we are all very grateful. But while I was there, I did visit a great quilt shop I have blogged about before, the Front Porch Quilt Shoppe located on highway 231 in Ozark, Alabama. Melanie has so many bolts of fabric, and lots of samples that just make you want to sew. I browsed quite a bit there and came across Amy Bulter's new pattern, called "The Liverpool". I bought it on the spot and when I came home I made it up in Amy Bulter's fabric called "Daisy Chain": Here is my "model" shot:

Here's Amy's pattern:

I'm amused that after ranting about the uselessness of tunics here, I was overcome by the cuteness of this pattern photo and was possessed to make it. The pattern wasn't cheap ($ 15), but it comes in multiple sizes, with multiple lengths. You can make a shirt, the tunic, a short dress, and long dress. And there are four different sleeve lengths: short, elbow length, three-quarters, and long sleeves. Given the options and the price, I actually traced out the version I wanted to make: the three quarters sleeves with the tunic length. For the first time, I used regular tissue paper for the tracing since I was in Cotton Creek and that is what I had on hand. It worked well. I used blue painters tape to tape the original pattern pieces to my parents' hundred year old table, and then I taped the tissue paper over it. All this taping made sure nothing moved when I was tracing - you can get away with not taping for smaller pattern pieces, but for the large ones, go ahead and tape.

When I got back to Virginia, I cut out the pattern and began sewing, nearly right away. The instructions were thorough, and deliberately so. I wouldn't recommend this pattern to a rank beginner though, unless she had a class or a teacher to help her through it. I got to try several new things on this project; for example, this is the first collar I have ever made that had a collar stand. Also, this is the first shirt I have made with a separate cut placket for the buttonholes and buttons. And these sleeves are first I have ever put in flat (with the exception of some men's shirts I have made). Finally, these are the first covered buttons I have ever made. Here is a close up of the shirt which shows the colors more true:

I will say that my first collar with a collar stand will not win any awards for construction - I need more practice to make it look neater. The instructions on the collar and stand were maddenly vague: instead of identifying an upper collar or undercollar, or upper stand or inner stand, the instructions talked about "the first collar". Well, which is the "first collar"? I couldn't figure out which collar and stand should be interfaced from the instructions, and which shouldn't, and I got the stand backwards (the inner stand ended up interfaced, when the outer should have been, in my opinion).

The other area where the instructions could have been better was the construction of the cuffs and the button loops. Some illustrations would have been helpful; I have no idea if I did them correctly, and just did what I thought would work.

If you make this pattern, be advised there are two mistakes: 1) in Step 11 A you should press your seam allowance towards the cuff, not the sleeve, and 2) in Step 15, you should make your buttonholes on the right placket and put the buttons on the left placket.

On the upside, I LOVED putting in the sleeves in flat before you sew up the side seams. Much, much easier, and I will be doing that from now on. This technique may make me lose my dislike of sleeves!

I didn't know until I bought the pattern that there were ties in the back. Here is a photo:

The ties are really just a design feature; they have no effect on fit. The tunic is nicely shaped with six darts in the front and two darts in the back. In my opinion the ties are too long and heavy; next time I make this, I will probably shorten them by about five inches. Also, the three-quarter length sleeves seem very long on me. I've never seen myself as having short arms, but I think the three-quarter length should be about 2 inches shorter.

I was surprised that the fit was somewhat snug in the bust. The tunic fit fine in the waist and hips (you can see that I am wearing it over jeans), but it is a tad tight in the bust. I don't usually have this problem! My body measurements are those indicated for the small size - I wondered if I made my bust darts too generous. I don't think so, but next time I make it, I'll alter the bust area a bit to make it less tight. (I added a snap between the first and second button, just to make sure nothing comes apart at an inopportune moment.) I am excited to make this again as the short dress version with the elbow length sleeves as a summer dress, possible in a forties era print . . . My mind is boggling at the possibilties!

How Do You Solve A Sewing Problem Like Maria??

Maria came over to sew today and we had the best time. Maria doesn't have a lot of sewing experience, but she can run a sewing machine and isn't intimidated by it. She decided she wanted to make her mother some placemats for Christmas after seeing mine I made from "The New Handmade" by Cassie Barden. She wanted these placemats to be Christmas-y, but also be appropriate to use after Christmas was long gone. We choose a scenic winter print and a snowflake fabric for the front:

And we went with a red for the back: While this is technically a print of a poinsetta, the red and gold fabric can be used year round, and Maria's mother LOVES red. She can just flip the placemats over when winter is gone and use the red side. Maria did a great job and I believe her mother will love them.

Maria's mother is Italian. Really Italian. She is a fascinating woman. She was arrested at the age of 16 on the steps of her church, accused of assisting the French Resistance during WWII. She was guilty of exactly what she was accused of: she translated for the French Resistance since she spoke Italian, French, and German. She convinced the arresting authorities that she really didn't know German, so instead of being summarily shot, she was sent to a concentration labor camp in Germany for three years. She was liberated on Easter Sunday, 1945. She's well into her eighties now, and whenever Maria brings her mother to Mass, the Italian nuns from the nearby convent crowd her wheelchair like she is a rock star, all speaking rapid Italian, all joyful to see her.

Parting Shot: I think Maria liked her quilt!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving; I certainly did. I traveled to Arlington, VA to spend Thanksgiving with my friends with whom I spend every Thanksgiving. Not only are they wonderful people (and one of their kids is my godson), but two of the brothers are professional chefs. And their mother isn't bad either. No, really, I go for the fellowship - but yeah, the food is outstanding.

This year the dessert table was a sumptous as the meal. For dessert we had: chocolate cake, chocolate pie, pumpkin cake, pumpkin pie, pineapple upside down cake, and the best in my estimation: a cheesecake made by chef Thor (yes, his name is Thor, and he is the godfather to my godson). He made this heavenly cheesecake with a chocolate chip cookie crust, and topped it with raspberries. It was so good, I nearly ripped the refrigerator door off this afternoon trying to get to the leftovers.

One of Thor's sisters sews and has an etsy shop. Her name is April Scott and her shop is here. If you have a young daughter or granddaughter, check it out; she makes the cutest dresses ever. And I'm all about the dresses!

Tomorrow I get to see one of my friends and Prayer Sisters, Maria. She's coming over to sew, or learn to sew and I am going to be able to give her this: It only took me nearly three years to get it done! I last wrote about this little quilt here, and I had Susan Caldwell do some custom quilting on it, since Maria has had to wait so long. Here is some of Susan's custom work:

Here's what she did with the border:

I hope Maria likes it; I know she loves the colors, but she hasn't seen it complete.

I also hope everyone gets to sew this weekend! I prefer to spend time with the Bernina than go to any sale . . .