Process Notes

All six of the birthday placemats are quilted and trimmed to size AND their binding strips are cut.

Getting these bound and ready for action are one of my big goals for the coming week.

In other happy news, the waxed amaryllis continues to grow and has what appears to be a bud forming.

And the earlier of the two Christmas cactus is ready to bloom for a second time.

This is the 3-bulb amaryllis planter we bought locally that had so many incredible pink blooms.

It is getting ready to bloom for a second time which was totally unexpected.

And when the planter is turned around, it looks like the other two bulbs are also sending up new bud stems. 

What a delight.

* * *

Stay tuned for more quilt/fabric-related posts coming soon.   I've been able to spend more time in the studio now that the foot and the shoulder are feeling more like themselves (not 100% yet but definitely approaching 80%).

Part of this surge has been the ability to work on ideas that have been gestating for months (or longer) while I was on hiatus.  The rest of it is my own coping mechanism.

I started making quilts during the early stages of treatment for a long-term low-grade depression formerly called dysthymia or dysthymic disorder but now termed PDD (persistent depressive disorder).  The colors and process of making definitely helped me and, whenever I'm bombarded by anxiety, fear, sadness, deep frustration, and stress I turn to my fabrics and stitching for solace.

I've removed the Instagram app from my phone/tablet (I was only lurking, but even the lurking had become a problem what with the algorithms messing with my no-longer-controllable feed).  

The apps for my two national newspapers have been hidden on my phone/tablet so it takes more effort to find/open them and when I do (once a day) there is a firm time limit in place.  

I have several books waiting on my tablet once my mind calms enough to read them and, in the meantime, I have my hand stitching project(s) at the ready to keep my hands and mind focused on the moment in front of me.

This quote that lives in the sidebar says it all --

...we come to quilt making looking for a respite from one set of challenges by embracing a very different set ~ involving color, pattern, sensuality, skill, and order, in an ever-changing mixture. . . . The act of making patchwork quilts [has] provided an oasis of grace in my life. I [have] pitched my pieced tent in that oasis, finding shelter and warmth for my psyche... 

from Quilting to Save My Life by Janet Catherine Berlo, author of Quilting Lessons: Notes from the Scrap Bag of a Writer and Quilter

Quiltdivajulie

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"You have power over your mind, not outside events.  Realize this, and you will have strength."

Marcus Aurelius

Winter Solstice and Slow Stitching

My slow stitched waiting room journal is finished.

The twelve pages (three signatures) each feature No. 5 Perle cotton stitching.

I used a three-hole pamphlet stitch to secure the signatures into the book's original fabric cover (instead of machine stitching as it came to me from the maker).

By working on this a little at a time (no more than an hour), my hands didn't bother me too much for which I'm grateful.

I especially like that I was able to include some bits from the stash that have personal meaning, like this from a junior bridesmaid dress I wore when I was 13.

Some of the stitching is closer together.

Some of the pages feature completely random designs.

Others are more symmetrical.

Others feature scraps of fabric.

This page and the next had a piece of white lace across the double page spread.

I removed the white lace because (1) it looked too new, and (2) I wanted to emphasize the unbroken lines of vertical stitching.

The final page with subtle color differences that show best in sunlight.

And hooray for the fact that tomorrow and each day after will have a bit more daylight and that much less darkness.  

Quiltdivajulie

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"Winter reminds us that everyone and everything needs some quiet time."

Katrina Mayer

This, That, and More

The first thing I needed to do was to sew the rows together for Smaragdine since they were sitting on top of my sewing table and it was easier to just finish the top than put the parts away.

24" wide x 45" long

After the first of the year I'll quilt and finish this one to use on our dining room wall in March.

Here's a close up of the sewn-together 3" squares.

The pieced squares came from my abandoned Lancaster Diamonds project (click here to read more).

I also had the last batch of prepared strips for Dumpster Diving 12 - Confetti's next group of blocks laying on the sewing table.

Now they are sorted and clipped into groups of 14 strips to make the next nine blocks (and it is far easier to move those clipped groups out of the way than 126 already pressed strips).

There are 7 blocks on the design wall plus these next 9, meaning I still need to prepare enough additional 14" lengths to make the final 4 blocks for my needed total of 20.

Once both of those projects were cleared off the sewing table, I started pieced short strip sets (previously sorted) for our new January kitchen table quilt.

I think it took me longer to press these 20 slabs than it did to sew them together (not really, but sewing is much more fun than pressing).  

I need to prepare 64 slabs before I can start on the next step . . .

And outside the studio, I have finished the first two of twelve pages for my slow stitching aka waiting room project.

Each individual page will feature threads from the same group of neutral Perle cottons (no. 5) but the design will be different for each one.

This page features vertical rows of kantha-stytle stitching.

The second page involved more thread changes and multiple stitch orientations.  

I'm not sure how I'll approach the next page, but I'm thinking about some sort of circle or spiral design (maybe with a large vintage button in the center).

If you'd like to see other projects where I've done similar kinds of slow stitching, please click on that label at the end of this post.

* * *

Little Man is spending Saturday and Sunday with us - I'm hoping for some rock painting or watercolor fun this visit instead of starting another Camp Sefton quilt since there's already one design from a previous visit that is filed away for "someday". . . 

Quiltdivajulie

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"Organizing is what you do before you start something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up."

A.A. Milne

Welcome November

Our October/Halloween decor has been packed away for another year and the November/Thanksgiving decor is in place.

This basket belonged to DH's mother - she used it for a wastebasket but we fill it with fairy lights, colorful leaf picks and an assortment of pumpkins.

The two wool mini pillows were made by a member of a long ago quilt group - she did such beautiful work.

And yes, there are a number of owls mixed in.

I especially like the colors of this ceramic set.

My grandfather's buffet in our dining room . . .

And a glimpse of our newly set-up but not yet fluffed or embellished Thanksgiving tree in the foyer, almost ready to brighten our evenings after the end of Daylight Savings Time on Sunday.

* * *

In the studio - my Garden of Collage journal is indeed completed (photos pending).

I've also finished hand stitching the first of twelve "pages" in my slow stitch journal.

And one evening I sat and stitched the stack of 3" blocks and then the rows for Smaragdine, our March dining room wall quilt.  

Open enrollment research is on the list for next week, along with a lot of other errands -- while I really want to spend my time getting started on the FMQ of Inglenook.

Quiltdivajulie

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“It will all shake out. Meanwhile, I’m putting up more twinkle lights.”

Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) in the movie You've Got Mail

End of October Bits and Pieces

I had held off doing anything to the cover of my Flowers Magic Art Fest journal because I hadn't decided what to do.

And then I knew.

I have started making a journal cover to slip over the binder's cover.  

(click HERE for Wanda's journal cover tutorial)

This photo shows the unpressed slab loosely wrapped around the book's front cover.

And this is the back.  

(the jury is still out which orientation I'll end up using - I think that back might become the front . . . )

It won't take long to get the cover trimmed, quilted, and finished and; since the interior of the book is done aside from a couple of small items I want to add like the book's provenance, the whole thing might be done before the week is out.

For the record, I've named this journal A Garden of Collage (name inspired by a snippet cut from a magazine).

Elsewhere in the studio, Audrey has revealed the name of her QAL - Bramble Blooms.  

So I will use that name as the label for this quilt project here on the blog.

She also suggested we choose fabrics from our recent fabric pull to create the first quilt's center panel.

I've chosen these - none of them are large and some have gaps where sections were cut away, so I need to puzzle out a layout for that center rectangle.

And many months ago, I purchased this blank fabric book from Baumcat, a currently on-break Etsy seller - mostly because I wanted to see how she put it together.

Since then it has sat.

Now, with younger son doing twice-weekly PT for an inflamed rotator cuff (and my ensuing waiting time in their lovely lobby) I've pulled out this book along with four neutrals plus a soft pink No. 5 Perle cotton and have started using a kantha-style stitch to fill each of the pages.

I unstitched the three signatures from the cover and have found myself wondering if I'll end up making my own cover before the book is ultimately reassembled.  

If I had to guess at this moment, my answer would be absolutely YES.

* * *

Again this year we will be holding down the trick-or-treating candy station at elder son's house while he and Mommy take Little Man (a ninja this year) around their neighborhood.

We had our first frost/freeze last night with two more freezing nights on the horizon so the hordes of candy-hunters will likely be wearing coats over their costumes.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Don't bend; don't water it down; don't try to make it logical; don't edit your own soul according to the fashion.  Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly."

Franz Kafka 

The Pants

Just over two weeks ago when I picked up Little Man from kindergarten, he quickly showed me the ripped knee in his pants.

I made the pickup with barely ten minutes to spare (short notice + thirty-minute drive in 5:00 traffic) because Daddy wasn't feeling at all well (he's fine now).

And, once Little Man was fed and tucked in bed, and Daddy was steady on his feet again, the pants were sent home with me to "fix."

Okaaaaaay . . . there's no way to mend a threadbare blown-out knee without having it show, so why not make it really show?

I've not done much visible mending but this seemed like the perfect opportunity and, since the pants are already well-worn, I wasn't overly worried about long-term durability of the "repair."

After:  The torn knee stabilized with a layer of fabric under all the stitching.

And I stabilized the other knee stabilized as well.

When I sent this photo to Daddy, his immediate reply was "those are some cool pants!"

And when Little Man saw them, his first reaction was "Awesome!"

* * *

I've been fever-free for just over three days now (hooray!) and my stamina is slowly beginning to return.  The antibiotics are still working their magic (for another 5 days) and I'm doing better at pacing myself so I don't overdo.

Over the weekend I managed an hour in the studio - I'll share those results on Wednesday.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Art must be an expression of love or it is nothing."

Marc Chagall

Wu Wei - Last Finish for 2020

Wu Wei is finished.

You can read the introductory post for it HERE.

This block is near the top of the wall hanging.

This one is near the bottom.

This block is the one in the center.

Hand stitched Kantha-style straight-ish lines

 using several colors of Presencia Perle cottons.

Finished size 15.5" wide x 40.5" long

All three of the hand-stitched pieces are pinned on the

design/display wall at the entrance to my design studio.

(see first photo at the top of this post)

You can read about RAME by clicking HERE.

You can read about LEGACY by clicking HERE.

* * *

The process of stitching these 

was definitely calming and relaxing.

But at this point, I don't know if I'll do any more.

Time will tell.

Quiltdivajulie

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“Even if you think a conversation wasn’t important, be careful about whom you share it with.  One of the most important aspects of listening is being trustworthy.”

Marla Tomazin

Kantha Stitching This Time

Last year I was handed a big stack

of vintage orphan quilt blocks.

This was one of them.

Most of the others were passed along to others.

This was the second one that I kept.

And this was the third one that stayed with me.

They've been in a drawer for over a year now . . . 

I decided to hand stitch them onto 

this length of Moda Bella blue backed with 

more of the vintage damask napkin fabric.

(no batting this time)

I'll use the same Perle cottons used on Rame.

Here you can see one line of basting

with white quilting thread and 

a test line with the darker purple Perle cotton.

And this line of green Perle cotton runs the full length

replacing the center line of basting thread.

I plan to start in the center this time and work out,

alternating from one side to the other

using a different color of thread for each length.

This is more like Kantha style stitching.

(good background articles HERE and HERE)

I've used this method before on my Moodling series

of Priority Quilts for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative.

(click HERE to see a series of old posts

where Moodling was included)

* * *

I have named this piece WU WEI.

(Adjective describing a Chinese concept and art 

of conscious non-action; to embrace the flow 

instead of effort to achieve a result)

Quiltdivajulie

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“As a writer you try to listen to what others aren’t saying . . . and then write about the silence.”

N.R. Hart