Red Cedar

Besides working on one block at a time, I’ve got this monster to finish, as I’ve pulled it out of the back of the closet with a commitment to either bringing it to closure or pitching it out. Of course the frugalist in me can’t stand the idea of throwing out that much fabric (not to mention that much work) – so finished it will be.

While this might not actually rank as the ugliest quilt (it definitely has some woodsy charm) – it definitely did not come together as I had hoped in designing it. See, about nine years ago I decided to make a quilt for a friend, built around that gorgeous and very retro leaf fabric (which reminds me of the prints on the sleeping bags we had as kids). I had hoped that by pairing a sold block with a four-patch that the leaf fabric would dominate the quilt…… but!

As I was very new to quilting and possess no colour-theory background, I didn’t stop to think of the tone-value of the batiks I chose to go alongside the leaf-print…. which as you can see are much brighter. Thus my quilt is dominated by bright olive green and bright rust orange rather than the lovely muted fabric I fell in love with.

I started on this when I lived in Gibsons – and pieced almost the entire top before abandoning it to the unfinished objects box. From there it got moved back to the city, and then into the house I currently live in – all without a serious evaluation towards getting it finished. But lately I’ve grown tired of all the bits and pieces and want to move some of the clutter out of my sewing cupboard.

When I pulled it out of the box last week, I found the main quilt along with four additional rows which would round the spread out to queen-size proportions. All I have to do now is iron it all out, sew on the remaining rows and then quilt and bind it.

So that’s a lot. And it’s a lot of work for a quilt that I won’t love when it’s finished. However, it has a woodsy/campy flair and the colour scheme means it will never look dirty. Since we are starting a cabin build later this spring, I think I’m meant to finish this to throw over the couch when we’re done.

Besides my lovely little arty pieced blocks, this is my other sewing project – one I should probably get done sooner rather than later before I lose my willingness to go back to it.

For some reason 2014 has bit me with a quilting bug like never before. Although I learned to quilt about ten years ago now, I have mostly confined myself to small projects (I’ve made 3 queen-size and 3 lap-sized quilts otherwise it’s all table runners and placemats) – mostly because I hate the actual quilting stage on a small sewing machine (and no, I don’t have room in my life for a long-arm).

Anyways – I’ve got two quilting interests in particular going on and you’re likely going to be seeing it all year long (if you come back that is):

1. Samplers – I am fascinated with samplers and have long wanted to make one. In particular I would like to spring for the Mill Book 1852 Fat Quarter Bundle and use it as the basis of a  Dear Jane quilt ….. but not before I get my act together and tackle a couple of simpler projects first.
2. Piecing – Related to wanting to make a sampler quilt I have to acknowledge that I am an imprecise sewist and my piecing leaves a lot to be desired – so before tackling anything too huge I have decided to perfect my piecing skills bit by bit – while putting together two different quilts over the next year.

What you see below are the first two blocks for my first sampler project – which is a Block-A-Month hosted by Aurifil. I had a box of brown, turquoise and red fabrics (some already cut) set aside for a quilt that I never really started a couple of years ago – and decided to start there rather than purchase more. The top block is January, and the bottom February.

I have not used my piecing foot in a very long time and lined my seams up entirely wrong on my first go at January – what you see below is the second attempt. Even though I almost had it right, both January and February fall a bit short of 12-inch finished blocks — but I hope to stretch the hell out of them when it comes to setting them into a quilt.

Fortunately I have now figured out this piecing foot, though it is so hard to see the quarter-inch plate edge that I need my glasses to use it! (Confession – I need my glasses for pretty much anything close-up these days).

My days at work have been crazy, and my time at home almost entirely consumed by sewing. My aunt (mom’s sister) was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this week. My 4-year-old nephew has asked for a new crochet dragon as a companion for the one I made him for Christmas. I’m behind on my Directed Study this semester. Mica’s school play opened this week.

And my mind is just like that – from one thing to the next without the time to synthesize it into some grand statement about life and creativity and happiness.

I am meditating a lot, and I’ve started walking (6 km) to work on the mornings without rain or snow. I would like to lose some weight as illness gave me too many excuses for sluggishness. Despite that I’m feeling pretty good these days.

For the next several posts I will only be blogging pictures of what I am working on including the start of my 100-block project. This is the first of the pictures – new market totes!

Our old totes were getting a bit shabby and then I ran into this wonderful owl canvas at Spool of Thread. Matched up with some denim in my stash they make for delightful and sturdy carry-alls.

A little extra detail on the handles too – love those fancy stitches!

Besides finishing the pillowcases for my quilt set on the weekend, I also managed to get a second iteration of the Cooper messenger bag done – this one for myself.

This bag turned out better than the one I made last month for Brian – not only did I correct the squaring of the bottom, but the detail straps on the top flap went on straight this time. Like the first bag, I made this one out of waterproof fabric and it features several pockets, magnetic snaps and rivets.

What I would do different? I would definitely interface this bag the next time around. I pretty much always interface bags I make – because I like them to have some body on their own – but this time I hoped that the heavy canvas would do the job. Sadly, this bag is a little floppy for my liking. Great if it’s full of stuff but otherwise lacking in structure – which I suppose is the messenger bag way (not the fault of the pattern, in other words – this is personal preference issue.

I am currently working on a pair of market totes (which will be interfaced) and am proud to say that having made Cooper twice I am now adept enough with magnetic snaps and jiffy rivets that I feel comfortable incorporating them into other free form projects. Skill building is a definite win out of doing this project twice.

I do plan to make the Cooper Backpack version in the near future (I’ve got a trip to Hawaii coming up and I thought it would be a cute carry-along) – but in the meantime this is my carry-to-work bag. Waterproof being very important for that function. Thanks to Colette Patterns for the easy-to-follow instructions not to mention the excellent companion PDF.