The Patchery Menagerie

Creepy Crawly Crud

2012-01-26T10:55:00.000-05:00

I have that creepy crawly crud that's going around. I've been home sick every day this week and I'm miserable. I've spent the whole week flat out on my back either in bed or on the couch. It's been very boring and demoralizing.

Red Red

2012-01-22T17:02:00.000-05:00

While "watching" tv this weekend, I cut red fabric into squares for the Pick Up Sticks quilt.

You all know how much I love large prints for the backings of my quilts. This one won't be any different. I've selected this Philip Jacobs design.

Seventeen

2012-01-20T06:54:00.000-05:00

Seventeen Red Sticks blocks. I figure I need 80.

Pick Up Sticks

2012-01-19T07:06:00.000-05:00

I'm enjoying making the Red Sticks. These blocks are about 8-1/2" square.

Remember, get to work. Pick up your pencil.

Pick Up the Pencil

2012-01-17T00:30:00.000-05:00

When I was drawing, I had a regular studio schedule. Home from work by 6, feed my son and myself, get the dishes done, and be at the drawing table by 8 PM, where I'd draw for two hours, stop at 10 PM and be in bed by 10:30. At least one night a week I'd teach an adult ed drawing class from 7 to 10 PM. Friday nights I'd do my grocery shopping, and on Saturday I'd get up and head right into the studio and draw for a couple of hours while my son slept late. Sometimes I'd get back in the studio later in the day and draw for about an hour and a half. Sundays I would draw for about two hours. My limit over two days was six hours. In this way I got about 10 - 12 hours of drawing a week. Remember, I was a single parent of a school age child, and I worked at least one (usually two) nights a week. The housework generally went straight to hell.

My drawings took hundreds of hours, and I rarely completed two a year. When the drawing was going well, wild horses couldn't pull me away, but if it went badly, I'd have a hard time getting into the studio to work. If I didn't draw regularly, if I had an issue with a drawing, had a problem I was having a hard time resolving, I'd stop my routine, avoid the work, and stay out of the studio.

The longer I stayed out of the studio - and it could sometimes stretch into weeks - it became harder and harder to get back in there and "pick up the pencil." It wasn't just the problem in the drawing, it was the idea of getting back in there that was hard. I would imagine the pencil getting bigger and bigger -- the size of a baseball bat, the size of a bedpost, finally, the size of a telephone pole -- that eventually it was impossible to get in there and get back to work. It would haunt me. All I had to do was to get in there and pick up the pencil.

All.

The solution, of course, was to simply get in there and pick up the "the f****ing pencil." I knew I was fine when I would wander into the studio, lean over the drafting chair, pick up a pencil and start noodling around in an insignificant area of the drawing. When my back would hurt from bending over, I'd straighten myself up, pull out the chair, sit down and continue working.

There was never any magic to it. The solution was always to get in there and pick up the f***ing pencil. And yes, that's just the way I thought of it. The F-bomb pencil. Pick up the damn pencil. Get to work.

There are a lot of folks who wait for inspiration to strike, and then they get started. The artist Chuck Close famously dismissed those when he said,

"Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work..."

I think he's dead on right. (There's more to the quote, of course. Taken out of context it sounds nasty, but really isn't. Go here to read the whole quote.) You generate more ideas when you are working than when you aren't.

Which is why sometimes a clean studio is sometimes more intimidating than a messy one. After all, if it's already messy it can't usually get much worse, so you have less to "lose."

So although I do have a couple of things I really SHOULD be sewing, if none of them motivates me (and right now, none of them do), I find something to "noodle" around with, something that sparks my interest, but doesn't demand a lot of concentration. Once my conscious brain turns off by doing something that can appear mindless, my UN-conscious brain goes straight into creative mode and ideas start bubbling up and the next thing I know I'm in the happy zone of wrestling with a creative idea, of getting it out of my head and into fabric and up on the design wall.

Which brings me to what I have been playing with - I was browsing through the second collaboration book between Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran and I found "Red Sticks."

I love Red. It's my favorite color. So when I was at Quilted Threads last Saturday, I bought seven yards of the most glorious RED's! I'm taking a detour folks, the Quilt-along is gonna have to wait. I've picked up the pencil. I've picked up the Red Sticks.

Ideas

2012-01-16T07:55:00.001-05:00

Have you got a friend who gives you terrific ideas? The ideas are always good, and you just have to go for it?

My friend Tracey is like that. She doesn't quilt, but she is very creative, smart and funny as all get out. When I was working out my Four Seasons Quilt, she suggested make the scenes at different times of the day. In the end I decided not to do that, but the idea has stayed with me. Last night I arranged these eight fabrics, ground on the bottom, sky on top, as showing not only the four seasons, but four different times of day.

I wouldn't arrange them all lined up like that, but more like this, reading clockwise.

I had always liked this little sketch I did back then,

with the houses in the middle and the trees around the edges. I thought this way the trees could blend from one season to the other in a much more interesting way.

I have a lot to think about. I cleaned the sewing studio over the weekend, so I am ready for a new project. I also visited Quilted Threads, which had a big sale, and I confess I added to my stash. I also swapped out Nine x Nine for The White Cat's Rules. My Four Seasons quilt is being quilted and will be on display at the shop when it is finished.

What Makes a House Wonky?

2012-01-13T00:30:00.000-05:00

To me, two signature elements of a free pieced house are the triangular roof and an off-kilter chimney.

Obviously not all real houses have that kind of roof, and in the real world, chimneys have to be straight. (and that's not a chimney on the right.. that's the steeple of a nearby church...)

Wonky houses are often brightly patterned,

Real houses... not so much.

Wonky houses and real houses often display asymmetry.

Even while trying to be symmetrical at the same time.

When I make free pieced houses, I am not interested in making them "real." I want to use fun colors and prints. I want to make the roofs asymmetrical, rather like a hat sitting on a head.

I want the colors to be fun and happy, or whatever I want the house to feel like. Use "real" houses as inspiration if you want, but don't get all worked up about making your free pieced house look "real."

P.S. Each of these "real" houses is located within a mile of my house.

My House

2012-01-10T07:59:00.002-05:00

My house is kinda boring. I have lived in the bottom floor apartment of this house for over 25 years. I thought its boring-ness was a negative, but when it comes to free piecing your own house, it turns out to be an asset.

I wanted to include a house in my alphabet sampler quilt, but I hadn't done many houses back then, and I didn't want the house to take over the quilt. So I took a picture of my house, and then drew it out to scale.

As you can see, it took a couple of tries. I had to eliminate the elements that would make the house look three dimensional, and I had to work out the scale. The windows would be one inch by two inches. I thought it would end up smaller, but the finished house panel is about 14" x 18".

I actually added the cat in the window after I finished the house, but I think it totally makes the quilt. You can read more about my thought process here.

This, That and the Other

2012-01-08T00:30:00.000-05:00

I finally got rid of the broken sewing machines. I put them out in the trash. They were there in the morning when the sun came up at 7 AM, but gone by the time I left for work an hour later. There had been no takers when I posted it on the local Freecycle.I had removed one of the machines from the cabinet, and set that out on the street by itself. It lasted an hour. Freecycle has been useful for getting rid of some other items - my artificial Christmas tree and an electric blanket, but it seems in my neighborhood just putting stuff out on the street is the fastest way to get rid of stuff.

I've got the backing ready for the Four Seasons quilt. The pattern of the fabric is larger than I expected, which is good. I like larger prints for quilt backings. I think a smaller print over a large area looks empty, and ultimately, a bit boring. I'll be sending the quilt to Chris later this week to be quilted. I've already told her to do whatever the quilt wants, which means custom quilting. I'm very excited about it.

I watched the first episode of Project Runway All-Stars the other night, and found it distincly underwhelming. The runway isn't long enough to get a good look at the clothes, and there wasn't any drama. Not that I'm a fan of so-called "reality" drama, but the show didn't really grab my interest. Am I the one who feels this way?

Julie has been sending me photos of her take on wonky houses. She's doing barns, and they are coming along fabulously. I hope she posts about them on her blog soon. These are her first wonky houses, but you'd never know it, they're just great.

Surrounded!

2012-01-06T07:30:00.003-05:00

I sewed the borders on to the Four Seasons quilt last night. The finished outer border won't be quite so wide, but I do think the binding will be the same batik-y blue.

With a little luck the weather will be mild enough so I can take the quilt outside and get a really decent photo. Now I have to prepare the how-to's for the quilt-along.

Oh boy, you should see the barns that Julie is making! She's going to put me to shame!

Sidetracked

2012-01-04T07:50:00.000-05:00

I've chosen the backing fabric for my Four Seasons quilt. I found it over at eQuilter. I wanted something flowery and leafy, and light. The larger flowers are over 3" across, so I think it will be just the ticket.

Otherwise, though, I've been sidetracked by the Haftas. You know, I "hafta" do this and I "hafta" do that...

I had to take the Christmas decorations down and put them away. (I finally got accepted into the local Freecycle group, and while nobody wanted a sewing machine that didn't work, it only took two hours for somebody to freecycle my large artificial Christmas tree.)

After that I had to clean the house and vacuum, do the laundry, fold it, put it all away; do the groceries, clean the bathroom, etc., etc.

I still "hafta" balance the checkbook and then I should be able to -finally- get into the sewing studio and finish up the flimsy for my Four Seasons Quilt.

Julie has got a terrific idea planned - she's making barns instead of houses, and it looks to be a very exciting project.

Border Wars

2011-12-30T07:00:00.000-05:00

That's an exaggeration, of course. It was more like Border Auditions. I always knew I wanted a blue around the edges of the Four Seasons quilt, to make you think of the sky that is common all over the world. So here is the blue. Lovely color, lovely fabric, but it's definitely lacking something.

My good friend Julie suggested a thin inner border of a darker blue.

That didn't do anything for me either. I thought, "It needs a purple inner border."

So I tried a reddish violet, and immediately liked the way it looked.

Here is what it will look like. I am thinking the skinny border may be about a half inch wide, and the outer blue will be about 3-1/2" or so. I haven't sewn anything down yet, I've just laid the strips around the flimsy to see. Looks like I will finish this flimsy before New Year's!

It's a Bird, it's a Plane...

2011-12-29T00:30:00.000-05:00

It's a flimsy!

I think that's my favorite quilting term. Flimsy!

Anyway, after avoiding the sewing room for the Christmas holiday, I finally got back in there last night and sewed up the four seasons panels into a flimsy! It's amazing what three seams can do to fire up the creative juices. Next up... adding the blue border all around and choosing the backing fabric!

Whee!

5 Kindle Family

2011-12-26T15:06:00.000-05:00

I gave my son a Kindle for Christmas, and my Mom gave my sister one too. So we're a five Kindle family! Here we are all sitting together on Christmas, reading!

Four Seasons Panels

2011-12-21T06:53:00.001-05:00

Here are the panels for my Four Seasons Quilt. They haven't been sewn together yet. The panels are about 37 - 39" wide and about 55" tall.

The quilt-a-long will begin about mid-January. Happy Holidays!

Four Seasons Panels Complete

2011-12-19T07:38:00.001-05:00

I have finished the four panels of my Four Seasons quilt. They aren't sewn together yet. I brought them to Quilted Threads to find a fabric for the border. Here I am auditioning a few of them. You can see the discards at the end of the table. I did find a fabric, and it wasn't any of these.

Summer Cat

2011-12-18T08:13:00.000-05:00

You really didn't think I wouldn't have a cat in the Summer panel, did you?

Summer House

2011-12-16T06:56:00.001-05:00

Here's the finished Summer house. I've had a guest visiting for the last couple of days so I haven't done any sewing. I hope to have the Summer panel done by the end of the weekend.

The Hammock

2011-12-13T00:30:00.000-05:00

A great place to while away a lovely summer afternoon is swinging from a hammock in the shade of some trees.

The hammock is made from fabric with letterscript on it because when I think of lying in a hammock, I think of reading a good book.

To get an idea of the size of the hammock, the space surrounding it is about two inches tall by about three inches wide. The tree trunks are about 1/4" wide.

***As for Freecycle in this city, I signed up on Friday morning, got an automatic reply telling me to read the rules and respond. I did so Friday night, and now, three full days later, I still haven't heard one word.

The Side Porch

2011-12-11T09:41:00.001-05:00

Here in New England (in the Northeast USA) many houses have porches. The house I grew up in had a screened in porch along the front side of the house. It was a great place to watch the world go by, to watch the lightning during a thunderstorm, and just so sit on the swing and do nothing.

I decided the house in my Summer panel needed a side porch. The small white rectangles in the photo above are 1/4" x 1".

How Do I...

2011-12-09T06:04:00.001-05:00

How do I get rid of two old sewing machines that don't work? One is a 1977 Kenmore portable, the other is from 1998 and is connected to a fold-away table. I have instruction manuals and attachments for both.

I could probably put them out for the trash pickup, and some passerby would pick them up before the trash guys ever came (that's how it is on my street). But if nobody picked it up, I'd have to find a way to get rid of it, and the foldaway cabinet won't fit in my car.

Any suggestions? Leave them in the comments or email me.

Thanks.

Yvonne asks a Question

2011-12-07T00:30:00.000-05:00

Yvonne asked a question when I was talking to her last week and it really got me thinking. She was talking about the Four Seasons panels and she asked "Do you draw them out first?"

It caught me totally off guard. I hadn't drawn the Spring panel, and I didn't like it. I had done a drawing of the Winter panel and it had come out well.

I was working on the Autumn panel,

and I had drawn that one too.

I really had to think about it. Why do I draw sometimes, but not all the time?

Now it sounds silly, but you've all heard the quote by Yogi Berra, "If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up someplace else," and it's a lot like that.

I don't always know where I'm going when I get started, but once I do get going, I get a pretty good idea of where I want to go. The details will change, but that's ok. I don't need to have a complete idea to get started. Sometimes I don't have ANY idea at all, but getting going gives me a point at which to start - it helps me figure out what I like and what I don't.

I draw because it's a way to get an idea out of my head and down on paper so I can remember what I want to do.

It's also a way for me to work out an idea when I can't sew.

And this give you all a peek into what the Summer panel will look like!

If At First You Don't Succeed...

2011-12-06T06:52:00.001-05:00

When I finished the Spring panel, it didn't thrill me. I liked the elements, and the colors, but to me it was a little boring.

I tried inserting an "overlapping" tree, and thought it would help. It did, but the house still looked a bit stiff and un Spring-like.

So I set it aside. I made the Winter panel, and I made the Autumn panel. I liked both of those. I knew I wanted to fix the Spring panel without starting from scratch, so I took the pieces apart and remade the house.

That was better, but it was only when I started rearranging the trees, (and adding a small pink one) that I really started liking it a lot better.

So now I'm happy.

Revised Spring House

2011-12-05T00:30:00.000-05:00

After I finished the Spring house, I thought it was a little stuffy and stiff. I didn't like the roof, either. It looked too small.

The house really bugged me, so I took it apart, made the roof bigger, added a wonky chimney and a strip of fabric in the middle. When I was taking it apart, I planned to move the door to the other side of the house, but I sewed it wrong.

The new house is on the left and the original house is on the right. I am much happier now.

Revised Trees

2011-12-04T00:30:00.000-05:00

I lightened up the green trees. Actually all I did was replace the front tree fabric and its trunk fabric. What bothered me about the original version was how dark it was compared to the rest of the panel. I liked the fabric a lot better. This green is a bit plain, but it'll do.

Selvage Fairy, the cat is back outside. You'll see.

More trees

2011-12-02T07:27:00.001-05:00

I think I overdid it. These two overlapping trees on the far right are too close in value, and the one on the left leans too far over to the left.

And the house needs a cat.

Autumn Trees

2011-12-01T06:46:00.001-05:00

I'm getting the hang of making these trees overlap. It's a little bit tricky. You have to think of the tree as a big triangle (including the trunk and the ground below it) as one unit, and handle it very carefully because the edges are generally on the bias.

I started making trees overlap by making complete tree units and then chopping off what I didn't need, but now I'm getting a bit smarter -- see that green tree over on the right? It never started out as a complete tree!

I'll have the complete "House and Tree Along" after the beginning of the year. In the meantime, be thinking of what you want to do with your own private forest!

Autumn House

2011-11-30T00:30:00.000-05:00

Here's the house in the Autumn panel. The fabrics in the roof and the chimney are Christmas fabrics. Never underestimate the way novelties can be used out of context. Here I wanted the gold swirls to remind you of the blowing winds of fall, and the leaves that swirl around.

Let Me Count the Ways

2011-11-29T06:54:00.001-05:00

I can hear you all asking... "So? How's the new machine? Do you like it?"

All I can say is, "Let me count the ways!"

I brought the manual to work yesterday, and read it while I ate my lunch. I kept reading it over dinner. After I had done the dishes and cleaned up in the kitchen, I ventured into the sewing room at sat down at The Machine.

I was already in love with the automatic needle threader, and the scissors that cut the threads at the end.

I sewed a couple of seams and then set up the knee lifter.

Can you say "swoon?"

Yvonne so totally rocks!

Quilting Friends

2011-11-28T00:30:00.000-05:00

People who don't read blogs just don't get it. When I tell people about the friends I've made all over the world through the internet, they look at me like I have three heads.

My story may not be all that unique, but still...

I adopted a cat the internet had rescued, (Millie, the famous cat!) We've made friends all over the world, and she brought me a new family (Monty! Violette, Devon! Tracey!!) My quilting life is directly a result from my blogging (I found Tonya!). I've met even more great pals all over the world. Heck, I traded quilts with a friend over 14,000 miles away (Helen!) I sold a couple of kitty quilts to a quilter in Tennessee (Julie) who hooked me up with a longarm quilter (Chris) who now quilts all my quilts.

It's really pretty amazing. I knew when I asked for help yesterday that you, my quilting pals, would help me find a new sewing machine. I just didn't expect a phone call with an offer!

About a year ago, when I was working on No Rules for Julie, I drove about 30 miles to meet Yvonne. She had made a spectacular wonky log cabin quilt and had used free pieced letters on the borders. We spent a lovely afternoon together looking at quilts and talking about this, that and the other.

I certainly didn't expect to hear from her yesterday morning offering me her third machine to borrow as long as I needed, and that I could buy it for my budget if I liked it. Well knock me over with a feather! Then I thought about it. We quilters are friends even though we may not have met in person. We ask for help, and we offer each other insights, and we share the things we find.

I did make the drive over to Yvonne's house, and she had the sewing machine all set up for me. She gave me a few pointers, and after we visited a while, I brought it home and set it up.

It is -everything- I could ever have wanted. It's a Brother Innov-is NX 450Q. It has a needle threader, it cuts off the thread, it's quiet, it has great tension, and a nice deep "throat."

I think I'm in love.

And I -know- I'm lucky - as we all are, to be a part of this wonderful online community!

The Worst Possible Thing - Update below!

2011-11-27T00:34:00.000-05:00

CRAP!

My sewing machine has just pitched a fit and died. The feed dogs aren't advancing the fabric, and yes, I did everything the manual told me to do. When I lower them, they won't come back up the way they should. It's 11 years old, and yes, I did blow the dust bunnies out and I oiled itl

CRAP!

Naturally this happened at the worst time of the day (repair shop is closed for the weekend), and the month (other financial expenses take precedence!)

CRAP!

I was so excited about working on the Four Seasons quilt.

Can you help me?

OK Quilters, now's your chance. With a budget of only $300 which machine do you recommend? Here's what I need:

1. I make quilts. I sew cotton fabric. From time to time I'll sew through something heavier. Yes, I might hem some jeans. I need a machine that can handle that.

2. I want a machine with good tension, where I can adjust the stitch length somewhat, and can MOVE when I want to sew a long straight line. (In other words, I don't want a slowpoke.)

3. I do not need embroidery stitches at all. I'm not going to do ruffling, or turn hems. I probably don't need it to make buttonholes either.

4. It should be quiet.

5. It would be nice if it could: a) wind the bobbin; b) thread the needle; c) cut the thread; d) have a deeper "throat" than six inches.

A quick search on Amazon brought me to the Janome HD 1000 which looks good. I'll keep searching.

Thanks for your help and suggestions. I'll let you know how it goes.

Updated 4:15 PM Sunday ....

WOW! Crisis resolved! Quilters are a wonderful bunch!

This morning as I sat at my desk doing the bookkeeping my phone rang. It was Yvonne, my quilty friend who lives about 30 miles away. "You can't be without a sewing machine. I have three and I don't use one. You can borrow it. You can come and get it today."

WOW! WOW! WOW! So my sewing machine crisis has been resolved. I'll have more details (and photos) later...

Thank you Yvonne!

Winter and Spring - Update

2011-11-25T22:40:00.001-05:00

I'm learning how to make the trees overlap, but I'm not there yet. The spring house is a bit too uptight and needs a bit of loosening up.

I have a nifty idea for the summer panel.

Click the photo to enlarge (I tried to disable the damnable Lightbox feature.)

Updated - (that's what you get when you try to post a blog from your iPhone - a cropped photo!) I've replaced the photo with a better one from my digital camera, and removed the Lightbox cropping feature from the blog settings.

Dear SF, yes, that black and white tree in the cluster of all the others - it's farther away, so you can't see it, and it probably is in a snowbank.

Clare, Right now I'm making the trees without "background" on one side, and then joining them to "fully formed" tree blocks. I have the step-by-step photos but haven't put them together yet. I promise to show a how-to, but that won't be until I have the process down pat in my own head. Right now I'm still bumbling along.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T07:42:00.001-05:00

This is the time of year to be thankful for your blessings. This is my son and his best friend, who grew up without a family, and calls me her "chosen mother." That's quite an honor. Her new family will celebrate Thanksgiving with the rest of my family tomorrow, and I'm quite looking forward to it.

Have a great Thanksgiving Holiday. I hope you're near someone you love, and the day finds you all safe and happy. Even if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, have a great day!

I'll be back when all the cooking is over, and all the dishes are done!

Happy Thanksgiving.

Thoughts on the Rules

2011-11-22T00:30:00.000-05:00

Not those rules. The rules I mentioned in yesterday's post. They were the rules of real houses.

Obviously fabric houses are different, but as Julie observed, it's really a conscious effort to do something deliberately askew. ("Can you ever," she asked me recently, "make your letters really wonky? Uneven, irregular, symmetrical?") The answer was... not without conscious, deliberate, effort.

One of the lessons in learning to draw is the ability to measure visually; to relate. It's always asking, is this thing I am trying to reproduce higher, lower, lighter, darker, bigger, smaller, thinner, thicker.. whatever... and then putting it down that way.

It isn't simply the ability to draw the "thing" that makes it appear real on the page. It's the ability to draw accurately the spaces and objects around the thing. That requires the ability to measure and compare visually. (You know how you've seen artists hold a pencil out at arm's length? They're measuring something.)

It's the ability to look at an object and tell whether I want to make it exactly the way it looks or if I want to make it more significant, or less so. If I want you to really see it, I'll pump up the contrast. If I want it to disappear, I'll make it blend in with whatever else is nearby.

It's the ability to look at a series of (for example) blue fabrics and tell at a glance which are lighter, bluer, cooler, warmer, more yellow (greener) warmer, brighter, less intense, more intense, more "true blue", etc. In short, I can tell instantly whether they will "work" together or not. More importantly, though, I know why they would or wouldn't work.

I have to restrain myself at the quilt shop from commenting on the fabric selections of other customers. Frequently I have to walk away from a selection of colors I think is monotonous, dull, lacking in contrast or verve, or just plain predictable. (On the other hand, it makes watching their reactions to my color choices all the more amusing.)

I do it all without thinking, and because I've done it for so many years, I do it very, very quickly. I'm rarely aware I'm doing it. It's so intuitive, and so much of a habit, I'll be sewing merrily along, and then look at what I'm working on and think, "oh hell, it's too damn perfect" when I wanted it wonky. To make it wonky, I have to concentrate on NOT sewing on auto-pilot.

So what does this all have to do with making wonky houses and trees? A lot, actually. If you want to make a house look like it's in the middle of a cold landscape, you have to follow some rules. Where I live, in New England, it gets cold in winter (for my pals in Oz, that means 0 degrees C, or the temperature at which water freezes.) In that weather, the trees lose their leaves and we get snow on the ground. Your breath freezes the air, the cold wind hurts your face, and your car doesn't always start on command!

Putting colorful flowers near a winter house wouldn't make it look cold, even though that would be a good example of wonkiness, or rule-breaking.

I made my little winter cabin the way I did because I wanted it to look cold. I wanted you to feel the cold. So the house is shorter, the body of the house is timber, like a log cabin. The fabric I used for the roof looks like the asphalt roofing material used around here (and it's black to hold in the heat and help the snow melt). I made the doors and windows blue - cool blues. I wanted the house to look like it was huddled against the cold. I made the ground black and white, to look like the snow. The only warm element in the house is the red chimney.

It's all a juggling act. More tomorrow.

Winter Cabin

2011-11-21T06:21:00.001-05:00

Here's the Winter Cabin for my Four Seasons Quilt.

I like my houses to sit properly on the ground, so mine have a bit of ground higher on each side of the house. I think it gives them more weight and solidity.

I think the house resting right on the same line as the ground looks a little weird. It's my art background intruding, I know. For me making truly wonky houses is an exercise in breaking so many rules about how things really look that I just have to give in now and again.

(Rules about how things look: usually the top edge of windows line up with the top edge of doors; the roof is symmetrical; the chimney is higher than the roof point. the eaves are the same width on both sides of the house. And any cat that size would be about the size of a small lion!)

New England House

2011-11-17T07:51:00.001-05:00

This is a good example of a traditional New England farmhouse with attached outbuildings and barn.

This is the main house. This traditional style was built on symmetry. The windows and front door are all lined up just so. Note also the placement of the two chimneys, and the solid granite block foundation. This is a large house, and the family that built it was prosperous. My guess is it's almost 200 years old. It's been very well taken care of.

This looks like a simple house to free-piece, but to get the feel of it just right, it would have to be big! Still, though, isn't it great?

Winter Plan

2011-11-16T07:35:00.001-05:00

My back was hurting a lot last night, so after dinner I lay on the couch and drew up this plan for the winter panel of the Four Seasons quilt.It's not perfect - the two groups of trees should be ever so slightly closer together, and I don't want the two biggest trees to be exactly the same height. I may push the house back a little, and even make it smaller, but overall I'm pretty pleased with it. It's a start, and will give me something to think about.

Like, how am I going to make those trees overlap? Last night I wasn't so sure. This morning, I think I have it figured out.

Thinking of Spring

2011-11-15T07:36:00.001-05:00

Here are the fabrics I pulled for my Spring Wonky House and Tree panel. In Spring (at least here in New England) the leaves aren't fully out until late May, and they are not yet bright green. There are flowering trees (which are the ones with pink). The grass isn't quite green but there are flowers popping up. Often the weather is rainy, so the sky in my spring panel is creamy, with a pattern indicating the spring breezes.

When I selected the fabric for the house, I was thinking "what color reminds me of Spring, but isn't necessarily something I see out the window?" Easter and Easter eggs came to my mind, so I chose this lavender striped fabric. For the windows, I needed something dark for contrast. The darker purple was an obvious choice. Then to find a couple of little cats to give the little sense of home.

And here is the overall layout of how I planned to use them. I did make a few changes in the finished panel, but that's what happens.

BTW, I called these large blocks "panels" instead of blocks because they are comprised of different elements. Each tree is a block, (like this cat under the tree), the house is a block, and then when all the blocks are put together, I have a big collection of blocks, and I refer to it as a "panel." This quilt will be comprised of four panels, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

For the birds

2011-11-14T00:30:00.000-05:00

One of my quilting friends told me once, "You always find the BEST fabrics."

I disagreed. I don't think my fabrics are better than anybody else's. In fact, some of my most "inspired" fabric choices were from fabrics that were given to me. (The border of the quilt for DQS8; the lazy dog in The Quick Brown Fox; the spiderwebs on the W in Nine x Nine; the orange roof of the house in Magic Happens.)

I would certainly never have bought this fabric with the pink birds on the green background. I kept it because I thought it might have potential.

It did.

With a little careful trimming, it's perfect as the "ground" in my Spring panel for the Four Seasons Quilt-Along.

I know I keep harping on you to look at your fabrics to see what they can BE. This is what I mean.

What? Oh, you can't see the whole thing? Well, oh, of course not...

House Planning

2011-11-12T00:30:00.000-05:00

I don't want the houses in my Four Seasons quilt to be identical. I want them to appear to be the same house at first glance, but I do want each of them to be slightly unique. Look for the placement of chimneys and doors to be different. The placement of the house will be different in each panel also. These little drawings from my sketchbook will get me going.

Wonky House Sneak Peek

2011-11-11T00:30:00.000-05:00

Here are some of the fabrics I have selected for the Four Seasons houses.

I am really getting excited about this project.

When I select fabrics, I don't just lay them out in a row. I arrange them as closely as possible in their positions in the finished block, like this one:

This house isn't part of my Four Seasons plan, but it gives you an idea of how I plan my houses. This is also a great example of how collaborating with a child can make a great house. When I was making a quilt for my godson a couple of years ago, I drew some simple houses on copy paper and asked his older brother and sister to color them and send them back to me. I then interpreted their drawings in fabric.

Sometimes it's so hard to think of something if you can do anything that it's a good idea to limit your options. In this case I had to stick with the colors from the drawing. It forced me to be creative about using my fabrics. What if I told you that you had to make your Four Seasons houses with only fabrics that are in your stash right now? Would that help you to think more creatively?

Another Scrappy G-block Quilt!

2011-11-10T07:48:00.000-05:00

I've got a semi-secret plan going for these leftover blocks from the Gizzy Quilts I used to make. This is the second flimsy I've made so far. You can see the first one here. When this second top is complete, I'll get backing for both quilts and send them off to Chris to be quilted, along with the Red Letter Alphabet.

THEN I will start working on my blocks for the Four Seasons quilt. Woo Hoo!

House Planning

2011-11-09T06:49:00.002-05:00

I've been thinking a lot about my wonky house and trees. I've decided to go with the four seasons idea, and have pulled all my fabrics. I've also been thinking about how I'd arrange them in a quilt.

First, in more traditional rows, like this.

Then I thought of the cyclical nature of the four seasons, and thought about arranging them a bit like this, with the houses in the center, surrounded by trees. The trees in the border would blend seasons into one another, as they do in real life..

These are tiny little drawings from my sketchbook. You may have to click each photo to enlarge.

While I hate being too "cutesy" I thought of some additional elements that would help identify the seasons in each house - a porch in summer, a mini quilt on a clothesline in the spring, a pumpkin for autumn, perhaps a Christmas wreath on the door in winter... I don't know if I'll actually include these in the finished quilt, but it's better to have too many ideas than too few.

How are your ideas coming along?

It's That Time

2011-11-05T11:43:00.000-04:00

It's THAT time again.

Time to clean the sewing studio because it's just to messy to work in.

I've set out my fabrics for three of the four seasons house panels. What are you doing this lovely sunny weekend?

Wonky Tree Thoughts

2011-11-03T07:53:00.001-04:00

If you live in an area that gets snow in the winter, you know it's only bright white for a brief time. After a day or so it gets dirty and dingy looking. So the ground underneath a tree in winter isn't pristine white. Here in New England, the only trees that are green in the winter are evergreens, which are usually tall and narrow.

Given the almost two feet of snow we got this past weekend, I've been thinking about winter trees. How do trees in your area look in the winter? How would you represent them? If you live in an area that doesn't get snow, how would your viewers know what time of the year it is?

Making wonky houses and trees are pretty easy. I'd like you all to think about where you live. How would you represent your location? What's different about winters in say, Memphis or southern Florida, or California? What does it look like in January in Kununurra Australia? Is it different than what it looks like in July?

Houses in places that get cold and have a lot of snow generally have steep roofs so the snow doesn't weigh the roof down. What do houses in Hawaii look like? I bet their roofs are not as steep. I want to see your wonky houses and trees, but I'm much more interested in seeing how you can interpret the world around you without using words.

It's worth thinking about for sure, but also LOOK around you. Find the clues. Take notes. Take pictures!

Four Seasons

2011-11-02T00:30:00.000-04:00

I think it would be fun to have a Wonky-Along, but it's gonna have to wait until things settle down a bit. I do like the idea of making the same sort of house in all four seasons.

That reminded me of this little quilt for Doll Quilt Swap 8. I had been playing with making wonky trees, but I didn't really have a concrete idea of how I would arrange them.

The whole thing clicked for me one cold January morning as I was driving to work. I looked at the bare trees by the side of the road and wondered how I'd make them wonky style. The tree to the right of the little house was the result.

One thing led to another... how could I show the difference in the four seasons? What would the trees look like? How would I represent the ground? How about the sky? Thinking, going through my stash and experimenting eventually led to this little quilt. I've always loved it, and the recipient loved it as well.

So The next wonky along will feature houses and trees.... Quilters, put on your thinking caps!

2011-10-31T07:11:00.001-04:00

After three VERY stressful weeks, I needed to get into the sewing studio and do some sewing, so I decided to make a wonky house.

As I was taking a picture of it, I thought it almost looked like it did when it started snowing on Saturday (green grass, snow falling out of the sky). I thought about the four seasons, and wondered if could make the same wonky house in four seasons...

I think that's a distinct possibility!

Cutie Patootie

2011-10-28T00:30:00.000-04:00

Here's my new "fairy nephew" in the snuggie I made this summer. Isn't he just adorable? Turns out I sized it just right, he weighed 9 lbs 3 oz when he was born on Tuesday!

Isn't he just cute as a button?

The Rules Find a Home

2011-10-27T06:56:00.001-04:00

The Black Cat Rules quilt has a home in my new office. As you can see, it's a perfect fit!

Four Letter Words

2011-10-24T00:30:00.000-04:00

For the afternoon exercise of my class at Quilted Threads, I distributed lists of four letter words to each student.

The lists were deliberately filled with words that weren't literal and used some of the "trickier" letters.

Students had to pick a word, and sew it up using different fabrics.

I wanted them to push the letters around a bit, and use their fabrics to their full potential.

This was a difficult exercise, but the students rose to the challenge and really "got it."

After she made her word, one student commented, "I don't think I'll ever look at fabric the same way again."

I was thrilled, because that was exactly the point! I wanted the students to be confident to make free-pieced letters, but I also wanted them to get a sense of the possibilities.

Letter Play Class!

2011-10-22T20:55:00.002-04:00

Here are some of the wonderful students from the class at Quilted Threads. For the first exercise, I asked them to make their names.

I thought I got pictures of all the students, but I missed a few. Sorry ladies!

Didn't they do a fabulous job? I confess I really kept them working hard.

Most of them said seeing my quilts hanging at the shop over the last year sparked their interest in making free pieced letters. Several knew about this blog, and one of them (I'm not telling which one) has been a faithful blog reader for a long time!!!

They loved the slideshow I put together showing letter quilts by Brenda, Joyce, Sharon, Jean, Tonya, Julie, Joe Tulips, Victoria and others.

We had a great day.

Letter Play!

2011-10-22T00:30:00.000-04:00

Me and my quilts can found here, at the Quilted Threads quilt shop in Henniker NH on Saturday October 22.

My class is today, and I will tell you all about it later.

What do you see?

2011-10-19T00:30:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend I was doing errands. As I was getting ready to pull out of my parking place after leaving one local shop, I happened to look over and see the building above. What it is, and where it is, do not matter. What is important is that when I looked over, I saw Inspiration.

What was it that caught my eye? It was the warm blue door surrounded by the cream trim, against the barn red and the brown shingles and the colder white.

I may not do much with this any time soon, but I knew enough to take a photograph for future reference.

Ideas don't just come out of the air. They don't just fall out of the sky. I've been to this shop at least a dozen times, and never "saw" this before. When you see something, and it "hits" you, take notes.

Ready

2011-10-15T12:03:00.001-04:00

My class at Quilted Threads isn't until next week, but I am ready.

I've got the lesson plan all set. (The first exercise will be the student's name.) I have my samples ready, I've made each of the projects I will ask the students to do. I have a few demo examples (how I make a really skinny element look nice and straight, for example), and I have a lot of my "misfit" letters.

I folded all the quilts I was bringing and stacked them up so I knew two things: 1. how long it would take me to get them ready; and 2. how much space they would occupy. As soon as I took this picture, I unfolded the quilts, put them all back where they belong (on the walls, on the bed, over the back of the couch...) I am debating if I will even fold them up the night before or if I should do it in the morning before the class.

I'm bringing my laptop and a small projector, so I can project images on the wall so all the students can see. We'll be having lunch together so we can talk, and I can show them photos of letter quilts from quilters all over the world. I'll also be able to access the internet, so you can bet we will be visiting quilting blogs!

It's going to be exciting.

Why am I ready a week early? Because I'm a geek, and next week at work we are upgrading our ERP system, moving the software and data to a new server and a new database engine; upgrading our accounting software; and moving from one version of Citrix to another (which is also on a different server.) In short, it's going to be an extremely intense, stressful work week next week.

So if you don't hear from me much, you'll know why. Yes, I do plan to take photos during the class, and I'll tell you all about it!

Sugar & Spice

2011-10-14T07:10:00.001-04:00

"Sugar and spice, everything nice, that's what little girls are made of..."

This was the first totally free-pieced quilt I ever made, and it was groundbreaking for me. It's the most emotional piece I ever created. I've got it on loan for a few weeks, and I intend to enjoy it, and that includes sleeping under it.

The wonky butterfly tutorial can be found here: Butterfly Tutorial

Letter Quilts

2011-10-13T12:21:00.000-04:00

I made a Picasa album of my letter quilts, and arranged them in the order in which I made them. You can find it here: Lynne's Letter Quilts.

PS to Julie: I will update it with a picture of your quilt, quilted, later!

Coming Soon!

2011-10-11T07:54:00.000-04:00

The class I'm teaching at Quilted Threads is less than two weeks away, and it's full. I've got the lesson plan all ready, and am working on a slideshow of free pieced letter quilts to show my students. I visited QT over the weekend and figured out how I'd like the classroom arranged. While there, I decided to swap out The White Cat's Rules for Nine x Nine.

I also bought some red fabric for the back of the Red Letter Alphabet, but that won't get quilted until after the class, because I want to show my students.

Red Letter Alphabet

2011-10-10T06:30:00.000-04:00

Here is the finished Red Letter Alphabet flimsy. It's exactly what I wanted - a little funky, with one fabric for each letter; letters that weren't too fussy, and each one having its own personality. The letters aren't perfect, and I didn't want them to be.

The finished flimsy is about 32-1/2" tall by 29" wide (about 82.5 x 73 cm). I've left the photos fairly large so you can click, then click again to enlarge for more detail.

Row by Row

2011-10-09T00:30:00.000-04:00

Once I've joined the letters together, I add big chunks to the end of each row, then trim across the top of the row with a l-o-n-g ruler so the edge is straight. You can get a 48" metal ruler at one of the big box hardware stores for about ten bucks. It's worth every penny. Hang it up to store it, and take care of it, because once it gets bent it's not worth anything. Being metal you can run your rotary cutter up against it without any trouble.

When I sew rows together, I always make sure the strip that shows is at least 3/4" wide. Seam allowances of 1/4" will need that much room so they will lie flat and not be bulky. These letters are about 4" tall when finished, so I cut my strips 1-1/2" wide.

I press the seams so the bulky edge lays flat (which means I press AWAY from the letters.) After I press that strip over, I lay the big metal ruler across the top edge and make sure it's STRAIGHT and PARALLEL to the top egde of the word strip. Often it needs to be trimmed a bit.

Do not ignore this step. It's a basic rule of quiltmaking that the top has to lie FLAT and not have any wavy edges. If you make sure each edge is straight as you assemble the top, you have a much better chance of the quilt being FLAT and SQUARE, and the rows lining up nicely.

I only trim edges as I am ready to sew them, and I start at the top and work my way down to the bottom.

Next up, the finished Red Letter Alphabet flimsy. Stay tuned!

Hard to Sew When...

2011-10-08T12:47:00.001-04:00

It's hard to sew when you've cut your thumb. You're left with either a band-aid that makes it hard to pick up anything, and then with that flap of dead skin that keeps getting caught on stuff.

If you cut away the dead skin, you're left with a very tender spot that makes reaching into the pin tin a painful experience.

That's my excuse for not blogging much this week. The next two weeks will be crazy busy for me. First, the postponed upgrade of our Manufacturing and Accounting software is coming up, and it's the same week as the class I'll be teaching at Quilted Threads. I've been preparing my class down to the last detail so it will be ready well ahead of time. I'm almost finished.

I am making progress on the Red Letter Alphabet, and I'll blog about it soon.

Row by Row

2011-10-06T00:30:00.000-04:00

I'm sewing up the rows for my Red Letter quilt. I like sewing the letters together first, and adding extra space at each end, then sewing the rows together. I generally don't trim the rows until just before I am to sew them together. I don't want the edge to stretch, and I want it perfectly straight.

Yes, I made a new O.

Go watch Tonya on The Quilt Show! (It's free this week)

Distraction

2011-10-04T00:30:00.000-04:00

Just got this yesterday, and spent all last evening playing with it. As you can see I found the perfect "wallpaper."

Wink, Wink!

2011-10-01T20:00:00.000-04:00

I'm getting my lesson plan ready for the free-pieced letters class I'll be teaching in three weeks at Quilted Threads. This word, WINK, is one of my samples. This particular exercise is about using your fabrics to their full potential.

The finished letters are 5" (about 13 cm) tall and the word is 23" (58cm) wide.

Here is the word before I trimmed it.

It's Never Too Late

2011-09-29T07:58:00.000-04:00

There's a quote that says, "It's never to late, in fiction or in life, to revise." I like my son's version better: "It's never too late, that's what erasers are for!"

Here are all the letters I made for my Red Letter Alphabet. Some were just too orange, some too pale, some just looked bad and some just didn't fit.

But take a look at the second row from the top. My original "G" is up there next to the "F". At first I thought the two letters were too similar in fabric color and scale. But the "G" I sewed into that row looks too small and wimpy, so I will replace it with the one I made in the first place.

And that "B" might be too wide, and the "O" and "R" are made from the same fabric, the "F" might need to be thinner, and I think there's too much space between the "Q" and the "R." And though I'd been trying to avoid it, I think the "D" (next to all the other letters) is too narrow. I might have to make a bigger one.

You can see why it's easier to make the letters BIGGER to start with. Cutting them down is easy. Making them bigger isn't always as simple.

Harder Than it Looks

2011-09-28T00:09:00.000-04:00

So I am trying to duplicate the repeat design I did in college and finding it rather tricky. (I can't quite figure out how I did it the first time.) I'm close, but the proportions don't look quite right. I'll get there eventually, because the idea of having fabric printed in the design is very appealing!

To all the Red Letter Quilt-Alongers... I've sewn up my letters into rows, and will post about that soon!

Why You Shouldn't Trim Too Soon

2011-09-25T00:12:00.000-04:00

I keep telling you not to trim your letters until you start sewing them together. Sometimes you get a letter that's smaller than the rest, and if you've made the other letters big enough, you can trim them down a bit after you've sewn them together.

But once you've made a letter TOO small, it gets tricky to fit it in. Either you have to trim all the letters around it smaller (which is risky and dangerous) or you have to add some fabric to make the letter bigger, and since you need to allow for the extra fabric in the seam allowance, this can get bulky really fast.

The most important thing about joining letters together is the space between each letter should be, visually, about the same area. So the space between the K and the L here is about equal to the space between the L and the M. But the space between the M and the N is too small, and looks a bit cramped. (It's called Kerning, and you can read about it here.)

Line Me Up!

2011-09-24T15:18:00.001-04:00

Once you've got all the letters in your Alphabet Sampler all sewn up, you've got to figure out how you will arrange them. I wanted a layout that was roughly square, just slightly taller than wide, so I arranged the letters in a pleasing manner.

Once the layout is determined, the letters have to be sew into rows.

As you can see, my B, C and D are too short. I can add a piece of background fabric to the top or bottom, but I don't want to. I'll re-make those letters slightly larger.

Blast from the Past

2011-09-23T07:55:00.002-04:00

I'm downsizing, going through all my stuff and getting rid of what I don't need. I found a whole folder of work I did back in college, and this piece was among them. It's dirty and stained, but I thought it was kinda cool.

From the information on the back, I can see that I created this piece for an assignment in my Design class back in 1973. On the back it says "Repetition." My grade is also there. On a scale of 1-10, I got a 10 for the Design and a 9 for Execution.

I do not remember this at all. I don't know how the design came about, or any other details about the parameters of the assignment.

Here's the single block on which the whole design is based. It looks like the block is rotated 180 degrees and the values are reversed.

I wasn't at all interested in quilts back then, but looking at this I can see why quilts would eventually get my attention. I think this would make a terrific quilt. Or fabric! Can you imagine yards of this stuff?

Z is for Zebra

2011-09-22T03:09:00.002-04:00

Some people think the "Z" is simply the letter "N" on its side.

I don't think so. (You aren't really surprised by that, are you?) It's close, but I think the difference is a bit more subtle than that.

This orange "Z" is from my Letters From Home quilt.

The angled bar of the "Z" meets the horizontal bars at 30 degrees. So you can use an ordinary 30-60-90 degree triangle to place the horizontal bars properly.

Or any other 30-degree triangle. (you can click the photos to enlarge)

To me the big difference is the slanted bar of the "Z" is completely contained within the width of the letter. When I trim the "Z" (as you can see in the photo above), I allow the extra 1/4" for the seam allowance. Those corners can't be cut off, or made narrower or I think the "Z" looks lame.

These are the first free-pieced letters I ever made. They're ok, but at that time, I didn't think I'd do too much with them. I disliked the Y's and thoroughly hated the Z's. I show them to you because it doesn't matter what your first letters look like. If you're willing to continue to experiment and learn, you can do some pretty cool stuff.

Happy Birthday Julie!

2011-09-21T06:40:00.000-04:00

It's Julie's birthday today! Here she is wrapped in No Rules for Julie, the quilt I made for her. Julie is one of my best pals.

Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday dear Julie!

Happy birthday to you!

Y Me?

2011-09-20T03:09:00.002-04:00

The letter "Y" is nothing more than a short "V" on a stick. But I can never seem to line up the top and the bottom perfectly, which really annoys me.

I try to line them up perfectly but they always come out a little off. So now I just say the heck with it.

Go ahead, laugh. Have some fun at my expense. I deserve it.

You can have some fun with the "Y", of course!

Red Letters from A to Z

2011-09-19T07:47:00.001-04:00

I have had requests for links to the entire set of Red Letters, so I have added a widget to my sidebar that does just that. You'll find links to all the letters in the Red Letter Alphabet Quilt Along, in alphabetical order! I'll add the letters Y and Z when the blog posts for those letters are published. (Look for the Y tomorrow, and the Z shortly afterward.)

I will be posting about assembling the letters and trimming after all the letters are finished, so I won't leave you all hanging!

XXX...

2011-09-18T03:09:00.002-04:00

We use X's to denote kisses. I sign emails to those I love with x's.

This "XXX..." panel is on the back of the Sunshine Quilt I made for my son.

Here's a skinny one.

Here's one with a very thick strip, and a very thin one.

What can be easier than an "X"? A diagonal cut apart and another strip inserted? But these X's left me a bit unsettled. There was something about all of them that bugged me.

I have delved deep into the letter "X." I believe I have found a way to make a slightly more elegant looking "X". Here is how I make my "X"s now. I think they look more pleasing, somehow.

I use this Tri-Recs tool to slice a wide strip of background fabric at an angle.

Insert a strip of your letter fabric. This piece is about 2" wide, but I'll trim it down.

Here I've trimmed the Red down a bit, and have lined up the other background piece to see if I like the thickness I've cut. I also want to line up the two background pieces.

Here I've lined up the Tri-recs tool to show you how I've sliced my big strip at an angle.

Sew a wide strip to one of the background pieces, and then add the other background strip, taking care to keep the two long seams parallel and making sure the crosspiece "connects" to its mate on the other side.

Set your ruler over the top of the letter to determine its height. Remember you'll lose a quarter inch at the top and bottom for the seam allowance.

Voila!

The Big W

2011-09-16T03:09:00.000-04:00

The letter "W" is the the w-i-d-e-s-t letter you will make. It simply takes more space, and you have to let it. Don't try to compress it, or it will be very tricky to make, and very hard to read.

The "W" is nothing more than two "V"s next to each other.

It's easy to make two "V"s.

Joining them together into a "W" is tricky, I'll admit, and it's worth the effort.

Sew up your "W" and then set a ruler across it to determine how high the letter should be and where to trim it. I use a ruler set on top of my letters like this to determine how big all my letters should be.

Wonderful!

V

2011-09-14T03:09:00.000-04:00

Some letters start with a negative space (a piece of background; think of the A, C, D, O, P...), some letters start with a center piece (like the H, M, N, T...), and some start with a strip of the letter fabric sewn to a strip of the background fabric (B, E, F, R, S..).

The V is in the third group, but not the way you think.

You'll have to cut and sew your strips like I've shown below (remember the squares on the cutting board are 1".

You DO need all this extra length in your selected letter fabric, and yes, you need all that background too.

How these two join is only slightly tricky. After making several V's and joining them by eye, I noticed something interesting. The V's I liked best were those with an interior angle of 45 degrees. Since most quiltmakers have a 45-45-90 triangle, this is easily accomplished.

Trim the wide piece to a 45 degree angle, as shown here. Sew the narrow strip to it.

ONE NOTE: If you want the bottom of your V to end in a sharp point, make sure you position the thin strip correctly. (Then again, if you sew it wrong, as soon as you open it up, you'll see what I mean.)

Add a wide piece of your background fabric to the other side, press gently. Do NOT be stingy on this background fabric. The background of the "V" takes up a lot of space.

this is the finished V.

Did you notice the wide strip is on the left? That's because it's the way we are used to seeing it, so it's the way most V's are designed. Our modern typefaces are based on Chancery Cursive (think calligraphy) This was done by a right handed person holding a broad-nibbed pen at a 45 degree angle. Moving from the upper left to the lower right gave a wide line. Moving from the upper right to the lower left gave a very thin line. If you've ever worked with this type of pen, you know it won't work "the other way around."

You can make your V's any way you want (like with the wide strip on the right) but don't be surprised if it looks funny. Letter shapes are very interesting, and our eye tolerates a wide variation about what "reads" as a letter. Sometimes a tiny variation can suddenly make a letter "look funny" and diminish the letter's "readability."

How a free-pieced letter "looks" is entirely up to you. It can be a totally graphic element, in which case its "readability" isn't important. However, if you want your letters to form words and be "readable" by your audience, you may have to sacrifice "artistic license" for readability. If you make the letters "correctly", but you think they look a bit weird and can't figure out why, it could be because you "pushed the envelope" a bit too much.

you can click the photos to enlarge

Hey U

2011-09-12T03:09:00.000-04:00

The letter U is one of the easiest letters to make. I'm pretty sure you can figure it out on your own.

Naturally, there are lots of variations. Here are a few:

You can make the pieces thin, and make the space b-i-g...

You can make the space kinda skinny...

You can tilt the uprights

You can even make the letter shorter than the others!

You can play with the pattern on the fabric, like the dots in this black and white U.

You can vary the colors and fabrics, like this U in FUN.

Here is the red U for my sampler.

you can click the photos, and then click again to enlarge for more detail

Katrin's Quilts!

2011-09-11T03:09:00.000-04:00

I've only met one of the many quilters who make letters in person. The rest I know by emails and blogs. It is always such a delight to receive letters from readers telling me to "keep doing what you're doing but get more sleep," or "this [addiction to lettermaking] is entirely your fault," or just "I love your work." I get such a thrill, and it always makes my day.

Katrin wrote to me from Berlin, Germany. She has made these two alphabet Sampler quilts, one for Angelina and the other for Hannah.

I think they're great! I love the birds, the houses, and the fun and unique way the quilts are alike, yet not precisely the same.

Terrific job Katrin!

T is for Tyler. T is for me!

2011-09-10T03:09:00.000-04:00

The letter "T" is one of the easiest letters to make, and the easiest to customize. You can make the bars thick or thin, or a combination of both. You can put the crossbar at an angle, you can shove it over to one side. It's a simple letter, you can have a lot of fun with it.

Here's my red T:

and here are a few others. The next three are from "Nine x Nine".

This "T" is from Letters From Home.

When I was making this black and white "T" for my Daft Zebras quilt, I first cut the strips with the stripes, and the grain. But then I looked at them and I thought... "Um, this is supposed to be DAFT," so I decided to go for broke and make the letter a bit crazy.

For these lower case t's I wanted to show how keeping the upright the same and changing the width and position of the crossbar can make a big difference.

Don't be afraid to play with this.

There is no "right" or "wrong" way to make them. Do whatever pleases you.

If you decide you don't like the way your letters look when you start lining them up together to form words, just make new letters.

Your fabric does you no good sitting in your stash.

After all, it's only fabric. It isn't gold.

you can click all the photos to enlarge

S is for Summer

2011-09-08T19:21:00.000-04:00

Finally, the Red Letter-Along is back! Anybody can join at ANY time. Shoot me an email and I'll add a link to your blog on the sidebar! Today is one of my favorite letters, "S".

I love the letter "S". I have a lot of fun with it.

You can add a little space just to the top bar of the "S" as in the black and white "S".

This red "S" is my sample letter for Tonya's Slither. This letter is 2-1/2" tall and about 9" wide.

You can tilt the components a bit too. I like the way this "S" from Letters From Home reminds me of a swan.

I really like the components of my "S"s really skinny and really fat.

In these two "S"s from The Black Cat's Rules, I used different fabrics in each component. In the purple "S" you can see I started from a batik fabric at the top, and gradually used prints of different scales, getting larger until I used the very large print on the bottom piece. Even that was fussy cut in a particular way to give me the effect I wanted.

In these two letters, I turned one letter upside down, because I liked the way the negative spaces worked, and didn't want them to line up perfectly from one letter to another. There's no rule that says the fat part HAS to be on the bottom!

Tonya's got a very nifty way of assembling the top two components of the letter "S". You should get her book to see how she does it. Click Here for more information about Word Play Quilts.

You can move the top two components closer together or farther apart, to determine the width of the letter "S".

Sew the three components together, and you've got an "S".

Wedding Chuppah

2011-09-04T21:09:00.000-04:00

I was part of a Wedding yesterday. A dear friend our family got married. My mother painted the silk chuppah (canopy). The wedding was at a nature preserve as the couple love the great outdoors. The painted elements on the chuppah included seahorses, birds, flowers, fish, crabs (long story) and a great blue heron.

The poles for the chuppah were white birch trees. I attached ribbon tabs at each corner of the chuppah, as the couple wanted to hang it over their bed after the ceremony. The poles are also decorated with colorful ribbons that floated in the wind. It was quite lovely.

Snuggler Link

2011-09-02T07:30:00.000-04:00

Peggy, I had to download the pattern for the Snuggler from this link:
http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/05/craft_pattern_podcast_snuggler.html

Once at this page, there is a link to download the pattern as a PDF file. Then you print it, cut it out, put the pieces together and presto - you have a pattern!

It needs a yard of fabric, a yard of fleece and about a half yard of Velcro (also known as "hook and loop tape") and thread.

Have fun!

Baby Snuggler

2011-08-31T09:51:00.003-04:00

My friend asked if I could make one of these for the baby she is expecting. Of course I said yes. I had bought this wonderful Philip Jacobs fabric a few weeks ago and thought it would be perfect.
It's a baby snuggler, designed wrap a baby nice and snug.Placing the velcro strips was a bit tricky.I did a bit of testing first.

Customer Satisfaction

2011-08-30T13:21:00.004-04:00

I went to the local Hobby Lobby today to buy the ribbon I didn't buy last weekend. I found exactly what I needed in a store that was clean, well lit, and filled with friendly, courteous, helpful salespeople.

When I was checking out, the sales clerk said to me, "You look familiar. Did you used to shop at Xxxxxx's? I recognize your bag."

"Yes, and I had a horrible experience there on Saturday."

The clerk nodded. "I hear a lot of stories from customers since I have been here. I worked there for 7 years. I knew I had to leave when I kept getting chewed out for spending so much time with customers. The manager/owner was never polite to me until the day he came into this store and found me working here."

It's amazing in this economy that customers aren't always treated well. When this guy's business fails, he'll undoubtedly blame "the poor economy" or "the big box craft store that came to town and drove away my business" without realizing his attitude was really the underlying cause.

Customer Dis-Satisfaction

2011-08-29T00:08:00.001-04:00

My friend is getting married soon, and my Mom and I agreed to make a chuppah (canopy) for her. The canopy is a painted silk panel. We'll attach ribbon to the corners, then staple the ribbon to the posts at the four corners.

I needed to buy fleece for the snuggie I'm making, and decided to get some ribbon for the chuppah at the same time. I went to the local fabric shop.

I haven't been happy with this store for a long time. The store is dark, messy, the salesclerks are sloppily dressed, and never acknowledge when a customer enters. The store has a big selection of home dec fabrics, notions, fleece and a lot of cottons. They call themselves a quilt shop, but they don't know anything about quilting. They've always had the strangest selection of fabrics. I found out the owner buys the stock of fabric stores that have gone out of business. I've long since stopped buying my quilting fabric there, and now only shop there as a last resort.

I walked in on Saturday with my dad. I had to wait for the two salesclerks behind the desk to finish their conversation so I could ask where to find the fleece. I picked the color I needed, brought it to the cutting desk, and asked for a yard, and said I needed ribbon. The clerk cut my fleece and set it aside, placing a slip on it that indicated it was $9.90.

I found some 3/4" white satin ribbon, and five different colors of 1/4" satin ribbon. I needed 8 yards of each.

While the salesclerk was measuring out the white ribbon, she said casually, "Oh, here's a dirty patch," but she kept measuring. Then she came to a part where the ribbon had been cut, and was scotch-taped together. She kept measuring.

"I don't want that cut part," I said.

"What's this for anyway?" she asked.

"It's for a canopy for a wedding."

"Is the wedding TOMORROW?" she asked, and guffawed loudly with her co-worker. We all knew the hurricane Irene would hit the next day.

I didn't reply, feeling like I had just been insulted. What difference did it make when the wedding was?

Since she'd lost count measuring the ribbon, she had to start again. Again, she passed the cut piece.

"What are we going to do about that cut?" I asked.

"I don't know if I have eight yards after this cut."

"That's ok," I said, "I need four two-yard pieces,"

"You don't UNDERSTAND" she said, raising her voice, "I don't know if I have eight yards on this whole roll! There's NOTHING I can do about it." She glared at me.

I blinked. I couldn't believe it. I put down the five other rolls of ribbon I'd been holding and backed slightly away from the counter, and then the fleece caught my eye. I really needed the fleece for a project I'd be working on later that day. I reached into my purse, took out my wallet, pulled out a ten dollar bill and threw it on the counter.

"We're done here," I said. "Come on, dad." I took his arm, and picked up my fleece as we rounded the counter and walked out.

Two steps out the door my dad said to me, "You know, I bet she doesn't even understand why you left."

"Did I overreact?" I asked.

"Oh no," he said, "she was really rude to you."

We got into the car, and I thought about the encounter, "She wasn't just rude to me once."

"No," he said, "she insulted you twice."

I'll never, ever, go into that store again.

While Irene Blows

2011-08-28T00:02:00.000-04:00

While Irene blows in today, and dumps rain on us, I plan to be sewing (assuming we don't lose electricity.

First up is a case for Pip-pay's Kindle.Next up is a snuggie for my best friend, who's expecting a baby in October.
If we lose electricity, I get to read and fold the laundry.

I'm on vacation this week, so I'll be resuming the Red Letter Sew Along. Look for the letter R either Monday or Tuesday (electricity permitting).

A Friend's View

2011-08-25T07:42:00.002-04:00

My friend, The Selvage Fairy, drove up to my favorite Quilt Shop, Quilted Threads, to see the two Rules Quilts together. She sent me an email.

"No offense to your photography but OMG!!! The reds and oranges in "FUN" look like they are on fire in the black one!

I was expecting beautiful, but I'm just blown away..."

Thank you SF! You have made my day!

The Same, and Different

2011-08-23T07:34:00.003-04:00

In my quilts, I like to make the viewer on a voyage of discovery. I want them to keep looking closer, to discover the elements I have placed there. The two Rules Quilts exemplify this. At first glance, they are the same, except for the background - one white, one black. But they are also very different in some obvious, and some subtle ways.

The word RULES uses the same fabrics in each letter in both quilts.

The word MISS is NOT the same. I wanted them to LOOK like they were the same. I wanted you to THINK they were the same. Everyone notices the ladies are different, but I've used different fabrics in the M and the S's.

Look closely (click and then click the photos again to enlarge) to see the difference.

A New "Q"

2011-08-22T00:08:00.000-04:00

Here is the letter Q, with a brand-new how-to! You can click each photo, then click again to get a bigger view. The squares on my cutting board are 1" apart.

I made a big backwards C. I've included my hand near the block, so you can see just how big it is. I am looking for the finished letter to be in the 4" - 4-1/2" size range (10-11.5 cm).

I've sewn a long piece of red to a long piece of white fabric for the tail of the Q, and here I am positioning it. Notice I have allowed for the seam allowance. I'll pull the "tail" piece away, and cut the block apart, then insert the "tail".Oops. Re-do. (Do note, however, I have trimmed the width of the tail so it is quite skinny.)As you can see, the letter is WAY too big. Here's how I judge. I set one of my cutting rulers over the letter and use it as a guide. This ruler is 4-1/2". I want to allow for the bottom seam, but I also need to allow for the top of the Q.

Here I've cut the excess away, but I'll use part of what I cut off as the top part of the Q. This top bit already has the background fabric attached, so that will save me some fiddling.
Now I need to add the piece to the left side of the letter. After working out how wide I want the Q to be, I trim away the excess (always remembering to leave enough for the seam allowance.)
Insert the last strip on the left, and PRESTO!
A nice, new Q!

The Rules, Together!

2011-08-20T12:43:00.003-04:00

Woo Hoo! The two Rules quilts, the "White Cat Rules" and "The Black Cat's Rules" are now hanging side by side at Quilted Threads in Henniker NH.

I've been waiting to see these two quilts next to each other for months. It's everything I could have hoped for.

Soon...

2011-08-17T00:08:00.001-04:00

Red letters are coming soon, I promise. (Paid the bills last night. Gotta pay the piper. You know how it is.)
I love great big fat S's. This one is about 7" wide by 10" tall. Dunno what I'll use it for, but I love it.

It's a GO!

2011-08-16T06:40:00.003-04:00

It's official! I'll be teaching a class on free pieced letters at Quilted Threads, in Henniker NH, on Saturday October 22, 2011 from 10 - 4! You can follow this link to get more information. (You'll have to scroll down a little bit.)

I'll have all my word quilts with me, Letters From Home, The Quick Brown Fox, Nine x Nine, White Cat Rules and The Black Cat's Rules along with Make It Work, Daft Zebras, Tonya's Live, Love as well as both of the quilts Julie made using my "misfit letters," Hidden Potential and Magic Happens.

I am absolutely thrilled and excited! Hope to see you all there!

Love and Nasturtiums

2011-08-15T00:08:00.000-04:00

I plant nasturtiums every year. I put them near my tomatoes because I read once that aphids love them more than tomatoes, and given a choice, they'll attack the nasturtiums and leave the tomatoes alone.I've found this to be true. Usually my nasturtiums are covered in aphids, and yes, they've left the tomatoes alone.

This year, no aphids. Which was a good thing, because the flowers have been so beautiful I could finally pick some flowers to enjoy in the house.

The photos in the background are my son, one taken when he was in high school, the other when he was four years old.

Red Letter Day

2011-08-14T10:41:00.002-04:00

I've finished all the letters for the Red Letter Quilt-along. I'll be re-starting the alphabet, and I've got new how-to instructions for the letter Q, which I will post soon. I won't attempt to post a letter every day, because I don't want to add more stress to my life, but they will be appearing every couple of days or so.

Making the letters takes no time. Photographing the process, writing the posts... that takes time! So I've decided to show you the whole alphabet. I've left the photo large, so you can click, then click again to get a fair amount of detail so if you want to skip ahead, you can.

The Black Cat's Rules

2011-08-11T07:15:00.003-04:00

This little cat, sitting in the "O", has given me the title for this quilt. "The Black Cat's Rules."
I brought the quilt outside at 7 AM this morning, where the sun was shining directly on it, making the colors sing.A wisp of cloud floated by, enabling me to take this picture, which I think best represents what the quilt looks like in real life. As the cloud drifted away, the shimmering quilting began to pick up and reflect the light back, and I thought, "This is the way this quilt should be seen!"

Red Letter days will start again next week!

The Rules, in Black

2011-08-09T18:33:00.004-04:00

The colors look a bit truer here. I'm happy with the way this turned out. I can't wait to see them both hanging side by side.

*Compare it with the White version, which can be found here.

Black Rules Finish

2011-08-08T00:08:00.000-04:00

Not really, I still have to sew the hanging sleeve, but for all intents and purposes, this quilt is done.

Somebody is gonna have to tell me how to photograph a black quilt and make the colors glow like they do in real life. The quilt is AWESOME, and this photo doesn't show any of that.

The quilt is 47-1/2" wide by 54" tall (about 120 cm x 137 cm)

More Quilt Wrangling

2011-08-07T13:28:00.000-04:00

I've finally got the binding all sewn on the black rules quilt, and now I'm in the process of hand sewing it down on the front.

Black thread on a black quilt... practically invisible! I think my days of doing the hand sewing down on the front are numbered!

Millie & Monty Q

2011-08-06T07:39:00.004-04:00

The quilt Millie was "inspecting" yesterday...belongs to Monty Q, Millie's "sweetie."
After all, every couple should have a quilt.So I made them a very special one.

Thank You Millie!

2011-08-05T07:00:00.004-04:00

Five years ago today I adopted a rescued feral kitten named Millie. She'd been hit by a car and left for dead in the middle of a busy city street. A passerby rescued her, and agreed to take responsibility for her. She had a broken leg, and it was dislocated from her hip. She was truly feral, not accustomed to humans or being handled. She was Freaked Out.(this is the Only Time I have ever held Millie, btw)

I adopted her and brought her into my home, which was already occupied by two elderly cats, neither of whom was particularly happy to see her. But Millie had spunk, curiosity and persistence, and made a place for herself in the family.

Millie changed my life, and not just as a cat owner. Through her I made friends around the world, found a new family, and started making quilts again.

Yup, if it wasn't for Millie, you wouldn't be reading this blog, because I wouldn't be making quilts.
So let's have a big cheer for Millie, because without her my life would be much less interesting!

R is for Rules!

2011-08-04T00:08:00.000-04:00

Here are some R's for you. You get the idea of how I make them.
this blue R is a beginner's R.
I like these R's better.

love that fussy cut fabric!
another R, kinda stocky, kinda boring, but I like it.
This R is in Tonya's quilt. After all, a cat wearing a beret - how very Parisian!
This R from Julie's quilt is probably my all-time favorite R.

I'm feeling better, a bit more caught up at work, still tired, doing a lot of reading. I had the photos in this post lined up, and decided you'd all enjoy looking at them even without the how-to's.