Picture of the Week - 10/10/2019

No boy-news in this email.  They are all happy and healthy and wonderful...  re-read activities from last week - pretty much the same stuff this week.

This week's update is about how I've been spending my time the last few weeks and some of the things I've realized with a little bit of spare time to think...

I've been quilting!  And I've loved it!  For those of you who haven't seen my posts on Facebook or Instagram, I'm working on a Lori Holt applique pattern called Granny's Garden.  It's cute and feminine and has flowers and adorable prints - and about a zillion steps.  

I have had a lot more free time to work on this over the last few weeks than I have had to do pretty much anything crafty for the last few years and I'm only done with 3 blocks.  There are 42 blocks!  And that's not including the borders.  I thought I'd share some progress with you because I love to share pretty stuff - and also because when I stop and think about how much time I've already invested and how much more there is to do, I get a little intimidated.  Maybe more than a little.  

Each block requires the following: Rough cut fabric, cut wax paper (my chosen method of applique), trim fabric to correct shape, iron fabric to wax paper (my least favorite part), position shapes on background, sew shapes to background (stop and admire the adorable), sew background with newly bloomed flower to circle of interfacing to create a pancake, sew pancake to block background - rejoice!  One's done!

I know some people might like to do one block at a time - from start to finish.  I don't do that.  I like to have blocks in various stages so when I get bored with one step I can do something else for a while.  This also helps get blocks ready to travel - because only 2 of those steps up there lend themselves to stepping away from my work space - which is one of my very favorite parts of applique patterns.  Anyway...  I like to have stuff all over the place and in varying levels of completeness - which adds to both the mess and the mental chaos.  

I was considering all of this one day while mindlessly cutting wax paper shapes and I realized a few things.  These are my lessons and my take-aways, but since I regularly overshare with you all in these updates, I thought I'd share.  Maybe someone will find something useful in my musings...

Intimidation

This is an intimidating project.  42 blocks is a lot of blocks.  When you look at the number of shapes on each block and the number of steps required...  it's a small wonder anyone decides to tackle a project like this.  And I think that's a bit like life.  If you stop and think about all of the things that need to be done it would be paralyzingly scary.  If you think about all of the steps needed to complete just about anything successfully (or even attempt and fail) - it's terrifying.  But if you just look at one block at a time and remember to rejoice with each step, then before you know it, it's 1/5th done. then half, and then you are tidying up with the final stitches and standing back to admire.  One step at a time.  One day at a time.  And don't forget to rejoice and admire!

Imperfections

My blocks aren't perfect.  My shapes are a little wonky.  I could stand to spend a bit more time trying to get things even and centered.  I noticed one particularly bad "miss" on the block in the upper right hand corner (affectionately known as #6).  It's really off center.  And it's up in the corner - not a spot I can really hide very well.  By the time I realized how screwed up that poor, adorable flower is it was a little too late to fix it.  I had basically 3 options: 1) Cry, 2) Start over, 3) Accept it as is and move on.  I picked #3...  and here's why...  if my stitches were all perfect and all my blocks looked exactly like the pattern then how would my grandkids grandkids ever be able to tell the difference between my quilt and someone else's?  If we were all perfectly recreating someone else's vision, then the result would be a bunch of boring cookie cutter final projects*.  My imperfections are mine - and came from my hands, my interpretations, my best efforts.  

This idea of accepting imperfection is really something that is a little hard for a recovering perfectionist, but when I look around at all of the things I've had a hand helping to create - my home, my career, my marriage, or my kids - any one of you could look and find issues, problems, imperfections.  You may see the way my boys keep their rooms and think I could be doing a better job creating men who clean and a house to be proud of.  You may see the scratches in my hardwoods and take pause because I've let my dogs mess up my previously perfect floors.  You may read that I got laid off and rationalize that I surely screwed something up to find myself in this situation.  (I tried to think of something "wrong" with my marriage, but I'm a bit at a loss...  ;) )  All of these imperfections and yet here I am, happy and content.  So what would I gain by trying to make all this stuff fit some arbitrary ideal of perfect?  What would I have to give up in the process?  

I'm OK with my imperfections.  Some of them I will see, acknowledge and work to improve upon.  Some of them, I will recognize and then move on.  Some of them, I don't even notice.  Some of them I wouldn't even call imperfections - so if you do, that's on you.  I think it's a pretty healthy thing to look at the reality of the things we are working on and realize that there isn't a "perfect" that's worth chasing.  Imperfect is perfect.

Celebrate little steps

Look, this quilt (and this thing we call life - raising kids, forming relationships, growing spiritually, contributing to something, earning a living, etc.) is a long haul.  It's one block at a time.  It's bouncing from one step to another and then backtracking again.  Two steps forward, one step back.  Sometimes you hit the "chute" and end up many steps back.  Sometimes it's the "ladder".  The goal is to add stuff to the "done" pile while simultaneously lamenting the giant size of the "to do" pile.  And all along the road, we should be celebrating.  Look how cute that flower turned out!  No, really, look!  Hang it up and admire and then take it down to work on the next thing.  Life is like that too.  At the end of every day, there's something to celebrate.  I guarantee it.  Don't believe me?  Try looking for a reason to celebrate - even while acknowledging that you have to get up and do it all again tomorrow, next week, next year.  Try it!  Even on bad days, there's something to celebrate.  I mean - who doesn't celebrate finishing your taxes or tying a bow on that last wrapped Christmas present or not undercooking the hamburgers?  Go ahead - celebrate the little wins!  That's what makes this whole thing fun, fulfilling, and worthwhile.

Enjoy the process

If all I wanted was a finished, adorable quilt, I would buy it.  It would be far cheaper (really at any price) for me to buy one than it is for me to make this quilt.  If all I wanted was the end result, this whole thing is a complete waste of time and talent (albeit imperfect talent).  The truth is, you have to enjoy the process along the way.  If you can't enjoy the process, don't do it.  Find a way to find joy along the way.  Listen to your favorite music on that long drive to vacation.  Try a new recipe every week while you are working on losing some weight.  Drink wine for no reason on a Wednesday night with your best friend and then do another load of laundry.  Find a way to enjoy today because the process IS the point!  (Read that again.)

So there you have it.  Therapy through quilting.  And now I'm off to throw dinner in the instapot, prep for another interview, and feed my dogs.  It may not be a perfect Thursday, but it's a pretty good one - and I may just finish another flower along the way.

Here are a bunch of pictures (probably too many) of the progress I've made on my blocks so far.  You will notice (I hope) all the different stages these guys are in...  and that I'm not working on them in order.  LOL  Conformity be damned!  LOL

Cheers!

*You may be thinking that just by choosing a pattern instead of free form creating from my imagination I have caved to "the masses" and am attempting just to recreate someone else's vision.  You aren't wrong.  But I will be the first person to recognize my strengths and where I can use some help from someone with different talents.  

Merry Men (almost) in time for Merry Christmas

I really wanted to wait until this was totally done before I made a blog post about it, but I didn't make it time for Christmas Eve.  And then I saw Bonnie Hunter's Holiday link up and I decided I would bite the bullet and put this up early.  Who knows...  maybe I'll actually finish the binding tonight just in time for Santa to be impressed.

I made these fun little ghosts (Boo Brothers) back at Halloween time and my husband suggested that I make some for Christmas.  I'm SO glad I did!  I love these guys!!

Here's my design for the Merry Men... 

 

 

 

I picked out golds and greens to match my dining room.  :)

Sorry for the terrible picture - table runners are kind of hard to photograph!

After a LONG hiatus (through Thanksgiving and Christmas prep) I finally pulled these guys back out to get them finished up.

Here's my favorite tree getting basted and ready for quilting.

 

 

I decided to go SUPER easy and do a very simple quilt design on these guys.  It went really fast, but now I am absolutely kicking myself for not finding some metallic thread to use for the quilting.  Oh well... 

 

I'm not quite done with this yet.  The binding needs to get finished, but that may have to wait until Christmas festivities settle down a bit.  I've got a houseful of little boys and a whole bunch of traditions to enjoy!

Merry Christmas everyone!



Boos and Ghouls QAL - I love Halloween!

A few weeks back Bryan House Quilts announced a Quilt Along that totally caught my attention.  It was a super adorable combination of a pixelated quilt and a celebration of Halloween.  My boys love Halloween - and so do I!  It's such a perfect kick off to all the fall holidays and who doesn't love chocolate?!?

In the initial design there was a plain ghost (already super cute) and a second variation on the pattern for a girl ghost with a bow.  I don't do girls.  :)  So I decided to try to design a few more variations on the basic ghost so that each of my boys could have a ghost of their own. 

Here's what I came up with using the poor man's version of a design tool - excel

I was able to use all stash for this quilt top - which was destined to be a table runner for my dining room.  The first 2 ghosts were kind of no brainers.  Spencer's fascination with all things mustache and Quinn's distinctive glasses were perfect inspiration.

 

The next two ghosts took a little thinking.  I love the idea of a ghost in a bow tie, but I didn't want to just have a single plain ghost.  I settled on a ball cap.  But when I went to put ball cap ghost together, I couldn't put a black ball cap on a white ghost with a black background.  Soooo...  the hat became orange.  I had briefly contemplated making all the accessories in the boys' favorite colors, but I thought a purple mustache would have been too weird.

 

The final 4 ghosts turned out pretty cute - and I actually love the pop of color on that orange hat.

 

 

Next up - what to do for the back...  I went digging through my stash again and found some Ghastlies fabric I had bought a while back and never had any idea what to do with - UNTIL NOW!  How perfect!

 

 

 

I wanted to machine quilt this project - and actually started that direction - but, truth be told, I'm really not very good at machine quilting.  I hope that someday I can improve my machine quilting skills to the point where I don't feel like I'm going to ruin every project I attempt.  For this one, I abandoned the machine quilting and went back the old standby of hand quilting.  I kept things really, really simple and just outlined each of the ghosts and their accessories.

 



After a simple black binding was added, they were DONE!

 

I loved this project.  I know that this will have a place on my October dining room table for many years to come.  Thanks Becca for a super fun project!

Celestial Star QAL - final linkup time!

A short fast post to share today as my final link up for the Celestial Star QAL.  I am not quite done with this quilt yet.  I still have the quilting to do on 11 of 12 of my stars. 

I have really enjoyed this project!  And I am super pleased with the results - imperfections and all!

Thanks Diane for hosting such a fun quilt-a-long!


Here's my top with the binding all done.  I'm calling this quilt "Buckeye Stars" since the color scheme is inspired by Ohio State football helmets.

 

 

And here's the back - which I don't think I've shared anywhere before.

 



Thanks for taking a peek!!  I'll share one more blog post about this when all my stars are done. 

By the way - if you are interested in seeing close-ups of all the blocks - check out this post

Celestial Star QAL - Quilting

I have often chuckled to myself about the fact that when most people talk about quilting, what they are really thinking is the piecing part that creates the quilt top.  I love the piecing part!

But my favorite is really the quilting - the actual act of sewing together the top and the back with some kind of batting in between.  I love the way quilting can change the look of the entire project.  And I especially love the fact that it's a nice quiet process.  Perfect for keeping my hands busy while I watch TV.

The quilting part is also TIME CONSUMING!!! 

I'm sure the time commitment part is why lots of people turn to machine quilting instead of doing the quilting by hand.  I've dabbled in machine quilting, but I'm not very good at it.  I need LOTS more practice before I would consider attempting machine quilting on a quilt top as awesome as this Celestial Star top. 

So I decided to hand quilt - even if it means I'll (very likely) miss the deadline to finish as part of this Quilt-a-long.  I love this quilt and I don't want a deadline to change my plans for it. 

Here's my finished quilt top all pieced together.  Somehow I didn't get a picture of the back, so that will have to be a surprise.  :) 

 

At this point I still wasn't sure how I wanted to quilt this, but I knew that I needed to get it all basted together before I could do anything.  I really don't love the basting process.  I have messed up a few little mini quilts recently because my back has shifted during the basting process.  So I turned to the internet and found a new technique that I decided to try in an attempt to try to get everything lined up and straight during the basting process.

 

This new technique started with taping some skewers to my table.  They are just simple/cheap skewers from the kitchen.

 

The idea here is to mark the center and then line up the center of each layer using these skewer bumps as a guide.  I really meant to take a picture of each step, but I got too into it and forgot. 

Here's a picture of the back and the batting ready to go.  (Note the super duper heavy duty clamps...  yeah - overkill!!!  I bought them online and they are way bigger than I thought they were going to be, but I did get a GREAT deal!)  Sorry that this is such a bad picture...  it's a phone pic...



Next I got the top laid out and started pinning.  I pinned a LOT more than I normally do because I have become paranoid about the layers slipping around.  This is actually the first time I've ever used pins on a quilt that I was going to hand quilt.  Honestly, not sure I'll do it again...  the pins have gotten in the way a good bit as I've worked on this quilt.  But they were faster than thread basting...  I think.

 

 

Here's the top in the middle of the pinning process.

 



 

Somewhere along the line I decided (maybe by default) that I wanted to do echo lines around each of the stars to fill up the background.  In hindsight, I could have chosen a WAY faster design. 

 

I love the fact that I managed to get this ready for quilting at the same time football season started.  I love football and I know I will spend many games watching and sewing with this on my lap over the coming weeks!  Here's the start of the quilting. 

 

 

I use a wooden hoop that is attached to a base.  I love that hoop!  It allows the quilt to sit up off my lap without me having to hold it the whole time.  I'm not sure I could hand quilt without a hoop like this.  It's one of my most highly prized (craft-related) possessions.  

Here's picture of some progress and another that shows a whole area finished.  I currently have 2 of the 6 "middle spots" quilted and a few of the edge sections.  I'd say I'm probably about a 1/3 of the way done with the background quilting. 

I love the texture I'm getting with this design.  Nothing better than running your hand across a nice bubbly quilt top!!

I think the quilting of the actual stars will go much faster.  I'm not going to do anything to take away from the designs, so I'll probably just add some in the ditch quilting or maybe a few highlights.  I'm planning on finishing the background before I settle on the star designs.  Stay tuned...

Celestial Star QAL - top DONE

Phew!  It's SUCH a good feeling to have all of my Celestial Star blocks done.  I was more than a little obsessed with them over the last month or so!

I'm also REALLY going to miss them!  I had a great time with this pattern and this fabric.  I loved the paper piecing process and watching these come together.  (I still hated the cutting...)

If you want to make one of these yourself, please go visit From Blank Pages!

After asking for (and receiving) some great feedback on layout, I decided to stick with my gut and went with the original layout.  Here's what the quilt top will look like.  I love it!

I can't decide which one I like best.  Every time I look at them, I choose a new favorite.  If I were forced to pick only one, I think I would go with one of the "flower" designs - 1 or 10.  But I also really love some of the others...  so hard to pick just one.

I thought I'd share some close-ups of all the blocks for anyone interested.  Have fun scrolling!

I had a couple of "extra" blocks too...  one of them I made and loved the design, but it bugs me (a lot...  OCD much...) that it's crooked.  The other one I like, but I couldn't decide on a last design to make for block number 13...  so I made 2 with plans to use the extra blocks in the quilt back.  I'm also going to include some simple little pieced rows of all the fabrics used.  I can't wait to get this quilt finished up so we can use it to cuddle under during the Ohio State football games this season! 

Here are the blocks for the back. 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed them!  Which is YOUR favorite???

Celestial Star Quilt-a-long

I am really having a BLAST with this quilt a long - hosted by Diane at From Blank Pages.

This is my first time doing a QAL and has actually inspired other changes too.  I am pretty new to the whole world of online quilt making and sharing.  I am NOT new to social media.  The marriage of quilting and social media is kind of a match made in heaven for me. 

So I've started a blog!  Not ONLY for this QAL, but this was definitely the catalyst!  Here I will be able to share my weekly ramblings for friends and family and my quilting adventures. 

The first quilting adventure I'm going to share is my progress on the Celestial Star QAL.  I have learned a TON in piecing the first 5 blocks.  And I've got 2 more in various stages of completion.  I think I'm going to go ahead and do 12 blocks - provided I can continue to squeeze out some time!

The first 2 blocks I pieced went together super fast - for paper piecing.  I stopped at the point where it was time to start joining together pieces.  I was too nervous to mess things up!

The 3rd block was a bit of a nightmare!  But I'm choosing to consider it a good learning experience.  I need to make sure that I'm really certain of the design before I start.  And that center seam needs some special attention!

Here's my progress in putting block #5 together.  I would say each block is taking me about 5 hours???  It's a little bit hard to say because I'm usually working on several blocks in different stages at the same time.  (This helps me from getting bored!  HA!) 

Enjoy - and if you want to play along, go see From Blank Pages and join the Quiltalong.  It's not too late!

This is the final fabric selections I made after auditioning all the different choices.  I am using Me and My Sisters WEEDS fabric line for this quilt.  I choose it because I loved it from the first time I saw it - also because this reminds me very much of the Buckeyes and hopefully it will be done in time to use during football season!

Here all the templates are laid out on the fabric in preparation for cutting.

 

I did some fussy cutting with this block - which really just means that I paid attention to how the pieces were cut out so they would all match in the block.  This project is the first time I've ever done any fussy cutting.  It takes me forever...  cutting is my least favorite part - except maybe that center seam...

 

Here's everything all cut out and ready for piecing using the pattern paper templates.

 

After all the pieces were done and trimmed up, I tackled sewing them together - after making sure I had all the necessities - coffee, rotary cutter, phone - GO!

 

I chain stich just about everything.  And normally I've got more than one group of pieces going at the same time.  I'm pretty sure these pieces were becoming wedges at the same time some other paper pieces was happening.  Efficiency is important to me!

 

The great divide!  Trust me when I tell you that there is way more than an inch separating these pieces.  Tackling that center seam is nerve racking! 

 

After staring at those 2 halves for 2 days, I held my breath and pieced them together.  Not perfect, but passable!  Especially for a quilt that I want to be loved and used. 

Here are the (almost) 6 blocks I have finished.  The one in the lower right isn't finished yet. 

 

I'm really loving how this is turning out so far!  It's a challenging project, but there is no better feeling than getting all those pieces trimmed up and laying them out to see what the block is going to look like.  It's kind of like magic.  And speaking of magic...  this pattern is SUCH a chameleon!  It completely changes based on how you lay out the colors and fabrics.  If you are looking for some quilting inspiration, go check out #celestialstarqal on Instagram.  Everyone participating has taken this is a different direction and the results are so very beautiful!