Biscuit Quilt

There is something cathartic about making a scrap quilt. I don't feel any particular need to save leftover fabric, because there are always more solid fabrics to be had, but I still feel guilty about throwing away leftover bits of fabric.

Last year, I started sewing together scraps from quilts as I made them. I had no particular layout or end goal in mind. It was nice to work on between projects because there was no pressure or expectations. All the pieces were scraps, and various sizes so nothing had to line up or be precise. As time went on, I decided to put together scraps from all the quilts for a particular year and make a quilt out of it, and to keep a visual record of my year in quilting.

It went from bits and pieces...

To rows...

To finished things...

To a whole quilt!

I've been calling it a biscuit quilt, because it reminds me a little bit of when you make biscuits, and you roll the dough and cut out the biscuits and repeat until you can't cut any more out. We always used to bundle all the scraps together for one lumpy looking biscuit.

Sometimes that would be the biscuit that my brother and I would fight over, because we knew what all those perfectly round biscuits tasted like, but the lumpy biscuit was always a bit of a surprise. It's been a long time since I've rolled out biscuit dough though! Maybe I'll just make quilts instead.

Pictures of Cats

Jill made this comment on my last post.

I'm choosing to interpret it like this.

Although, after seeing the results, maybe I shouldn't have made a pop art portrait of Fritz.

Yikes! Nightmare time!

Fritz's horrifying visage aside, I did finish quilting my scrap quilt, and now all that's left is to bind and wash it. I'm aiming to get it done for the Blogger's Quilt Festival, which starts on the 13th, so I've got plenty of time.

I never want to like the back of my quilt better than the front, but I really like how the quilting makes the back look.

Sometimes it can be hard for me to determine if I'm improving my free motion quilting or not. I'm always looking at my work with a critical eye, and it's so much easier to find the flaws that honestly no one else cares about than to appreciate the good work that I have done.

Although, some mistakes are pretty hard to miss!

It pleases me that there was some pretty clear evidence of improvement in this quilt though. There were three center blocks, and every time I quilted the same motif on the blocks it got better. The pictures below are in order of when I finished them.

None of them are perfect, but by the time I got to the red one it started looking much better. This kind of quilt is perfect for that type of exploratory free motion quilting because the piecing is so wobbly anyway that it doesn't matter if the quilting isn't perfect. In fact, it matches better when it isn't perfect.

This has been a pretty satisfying project for me, but I'm glad it's almost done so I can move onto the next thing.

Call Me Narcissus

Have you ever fallen in love with a photo of yourself?

I did, yesterday. We had a class project that involved creating a pop-art version of yourself, and this is how mine turned out.

And it's like, man! Look at those cheekbones! I think it makes me look like Cher.

Now, I don't really have a long lean face with killer cheekbones or a super pouty mouth.

I'm kicking myself for not grabbing the original photo, but I was making a face like this:

Which, is not quite as attractive, but oh the magic of photoshop! It almost makes me want to get cheek implants. Almost.

I've been trucking along on quilting my scrap quilt. I've got one more section, and then maybe some stitching in the ditch if I feel like it. I'm not great at it, but I do like the look of it.

I'm not sure if this qualifies as "modern" quilting or not. I'm not to worried about labels, but as I am a member of a modern quilt guild, so it is something I think about. Sometimes I think I've come up with something really modern, and other times not so much. This type of quilting seems a little fussy for modern quilting, but I like the look of it.

I guess I won't really know if this qualifies as modern or not for about 20 years or so, when we can look back on this period of quilting and see what the trends really were.

Between Quilts

My quilt for the second project modern challenge is finished, washed, and photographed. I have my scrap quilt to baste (ugh), an idea rattling around for the third project modern challenge, but I don't have a quilt that I'm really working on.

I don't want to baste my scrap quilt quite yet, I just did all that with my monochromatic quilt and I could use a bit of a break from that kind of quilting stuff.

I have a lot of leftover fabric from my monochromatic quilt, so the past few days I've been sort of playing around with it. I know I want to make another scrap quilt using the leftover fabric of quilts I make this year, and I want to make a medallion type quilt this time.

I took my monochromatic scraps (for this block is was more like unused yardage) and made the center piece for the medallion. I used a pattern I've been sitting on for awhile, and wanted to test to see if it would be fun to make for a larger quilt. It was inspired by medieval tile patterns.

I think this kind of block, but it needs some real precision work to look really good, so I'm not sure if I'll use it again.

I'm also thrilled to use my new design boards that Paula gave me. She was getting rid of them, and I snapped them right up when she offered. They serve a much different role than my old "design wall", which was just a happy birthday banner.

All bits and pieces from my last scrap quilt.

I've gotten so used to that banner that I bet I'll use both the design wall that Paula gave me, as well as the banner for just holding stuff.

On Thursday I went to the opening of the PMGQ show at PNCA, and it was great! There were a lot of people there who weren't involved with the guild at all, so it was nice that we were able to show the community what we are all about.

I didn't even have to make anyone pose, this guy did it all on his own.

There was also a lot of free, delicious food. What a perfect kind of event!

Indecision 2011

I spent most of today in Salem getting some training for the class I'm teaching. It wasn't so bad, and I sat next to a woman who was going to be teaching Wine Marketing at the Chemeketa Viticulture center. My dad teaches almost all of the Viticulture (grape growing) classes, and it turns out that she and her partner David Adelsheim had bought grapes from my parents for many years.

Small world huh? The grape world seems even smaller.

Last night though, I got together with some of the ladies from PMQG for some much needed food and sewing. As always, I had a fantastic time. We hadn't gotten together for awhile due to the holidays, so it was nice to see everyone.

Jill was kind enough to let me take a photo of her and her awesome quilt.

I spent my time at Modern Domestic putting together the green stripe in the quilt top below. All the rows are made up of scraps leftover from other quilts, except the big one which is made up from leftover yardage.

All of the diet root beer cans in my living room are tastefully cropped out

Here is where the indecision comes in. For some reason, I thought that all of these pieces together would give me a much longer quilt. It's not a bad size. It's roughly 5 feet by 6 feet, but a really good couch quilt should be bigger. At least for me anyway.

So, I could wait until I have a few more scrap rows and add them on (which would be after a few more quilts), but I'm sort of liking it the way it is. Considering the amount of time it took me to put all of this together, I'm not sure I would use this as a couch quilt anyway. I eat a few meals on my couch and it seems inevitable that I would get spaghetti sauce on it. It may be destined for the safety of my closet.

I can't decide if I want to wait and add more, or just quilt it now. I think I'll sleep on it.

As for Fritz, he's been driving me nuts lately. He's been knocking stuff over.

I'm going to go ahead and blame most of the messiness in this picture on him.

And it's no surprise that he's hanging out where he shouldn't be.

Would you believe that Fritz left all those dirty dishes in the sink?

So tonight when he started jumping up on my sewing space, I decided he could use a little time in cat prison. Hopefully it will scare him straight.

Goofus and Gallant

Sometimes in life, you are Gallant, always putting other people's needs before your own, acting with kindness and empathy, and serving as an example for all those around you.

Sometimes though, you are Goofus, and act lazy, are selfish, and take what you want and damn the consequences.

Today I am Goofus. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I spent my night doing this:

These are half-square triangles made from the leftovers of the flying geese for the star quilt I made (and have not finished even thought it was meant to be a Christmas present) for my dad's girlfriend. If I were in a more Gallant like mood I would have basted that top so I could finish it. Maybe tomorrow I'll be Gallant instead of Goofus.

In Fritz news, he has taken to sleeping on my ironing board. I put the red sheet on it to protect the board from excess hair, and he looked so happy there, I started using my big ironing board when I was working on the half-square triangles instead of tossing him on the ground and using the table top ironing board.

It's normal for one person to have two ironing boards, right?

Fritz was very interested in my ironing, and watched attentively the whole time. After I was done, I went to watch some TV, only to look over and see that Fritz had found a new ironing board.

This is a cat that will never be satisfied with what he has

Also, I had my first class today! I think it went pretty well. The students all seemed to be active listeners, and nobody looked like they were checking their Facebook page while I was talking, so I'll count that as a success. I'm just now realizing that even though I have most of the materials from the previous instructor, I will still have to develop a lot of my own materials. I was sitting at the computer last night working on my syllabus, and it felt a lot like being back in school and doing homework.

But at least I get paid this time, instead of paying to take the class!

Decisions, decisions

So, I made these blocks awhile ago, and I really like them. I pulled the colors from my leftover fabrics, so it was nice to get rid of some of that stuff.

While I was making them, I had the idea that I might put them with the scrap project I was working on, but when I put them next to each other I realized that the blocks were not scrappy enough to work with the stuff I had already put together. It wasn't quite a match.

This lead to two realizations.

1. I want to make a quilt with the two blocks I already made, using different color schemes for each one.
2. I wanted to include this block into the scrap quilt, using many colors.

I made three more of the block, and it's interesting to see how different it looks without a coordinating color palette. I wasn't so wild about the overall affect after I finished it, but now that I see it in photos I like it more. I sort of want to make a whole quilt with this type of block too.

Can you see my cat Fritz in the corner? He seems to always know when I want to take a photo of something without him in it, so he makes sure to get in there.

He's been getting a lot of places I don't want him lately, like behind the dish drying rack.

However, his face is so ridiculous that I can't hold it against him.

Friday Nights

Last night we had an impromptu PMQG sewing night which was tons of fun, as always. We started off with dinner at Tin Shed and (almost) every one humored me for a photo.

Poor Jill got stuck at the side table, but she made it work.

I started working on these blocks during the sewing part of the evening. I had attempted to paper piece some of the parts of it, and decided it wasn't working for me. Thanks to Rachel and Cherri for patiently explaining it to me though! That's the nice part about sewing in a group.

I might add these to the scrap quilt I'm working on. I'll have to layout all the pieces and see how/if it fits together, but I'm hopeful. These blocks are really big, 24" by 24", so they are good for using up larger bits of leftover fabric.

Midway Station

Quilt wise, I'm sort of in the middle of things. I've done a tiny bit more to scrap quilt I'm playing with, and I'm waiting now for more scraps from my Project Modern quilt before I start putting anything together.

I'm almost done with cutting all the pieces for the Project Modern quilt. Life keeps getting in my way though, in the form of "friends coming over" and "accidentally working really late".

I am looking forward to the guild sewing night on Saturday, because then I'm sure to get some stuff done.

Marvelous Anne

Inspiration is a tricky thing. I'm definitely inspired by shapes around me. It's often something that flashes into my head without warning. When inspiration does strike, hopefully I'm in a place where I can write it down, or draw it safely. It's more annoying when I'm driving a car, or drifting off to sleep.

I'm not quite sure what tipped me off for this particular quilt. I do know that I planned it before I started on my Hey Cherri sampler quilt, and it was set aside for that bit of madness. I realized after I designed it that it reminded me of a ride at the fair, so I named it after one of my mother's fair co-workers. I've been working on it in bits and pieces over the summer, and finally sat down a finished it. It's roughly twin sized.

One of the first things they told us in design school was not to criticize our own work in front of others. Our teacher told us that we had to stand behind our work, because no one else would. They also said that pointing out errors was the best way to get others to notice them, so, in essence, keep your mouth shut about any mistakes you may have made.

It's a hard mindset to get out of. I hesitate to point out things I find wrong with this quilt because of it. Quilting has a lot in common with graphic design, but it differs in that there is an element of sharing success, and commiserating over failure. Quilting is a community, rather than just a business. No one is grading me here, and there is no client to be pleased other than myself, so it would be alright to mention some pretty significant mistakes in the construction of this quilt.

Maybe I'll just let it go and remind myself to keep working on my precision and craftsmanship. All in all, I like the thing.

While I was waiting for the quilt to wash and dry, I worked on the scrap thing that is sitting on my "design wall". I think I'll sew together what I can, and wait for more scrap bits from my Project Modern quilt to round it out. It may take me making a few more quilts before I finally have enough scraps to make something resembling a twin size quilt, but that's cool. I'm in no hurry with this one.

Pleasure Cruise

Now, I have a quilt top that I need to baste. I cannot start my Project Modern quilt before I baste, quilt and bind that sucker.

La de da, I can't hear you! I'm going to work on something totally pointless!

I had a ton of scraps left over from my Hey Cherri quilt, and the quilt top I need to quilt, so I've just been sewing pieces of fabric together for the heck of it. I have no real plan. It's a weird feeling.

These will be something, someday. Maybe.

I also started my regular (non-camp) job up again today. It was okay. I like my job, but it's a painfully long time until next summer. My boss is out of the office for the rest of the week, so it's just going to be me. I think pajama work days are in order!