A Broken Promise

Collection of papers including some from sample packs of Khadi papers

Not long ago, I made a promise to myself that I would quit being lured into spending a lot of time on free classes All those hours watching Sketchbook Revival videos over several years were the prime culprit - mostly enjoyable but not always useful to me personally, yet I felt obligated to watch them all. And then there have been the Laly Mille freebees, just couldn't stay away because collage and art journalling are things I'd like to master better. Most recently I think was the "year of light" taster on FB - not unlike the Sketchbook Revival series but an absolute slew of artists, but this time I was more prudent about which videos I watched and did not actually do any of the lessons, just took notes and printed off info. That's it, I thought, no more falling into the trap of signing up for classes just because they were free. However, in a weak moment in December, I followed a recommendation that came via e-mail to sign up for Catherine Rains Collage Breakthrough FREE multi-session class running for a couple of weeks in January. The thought was I could always opt out if I got into January and felt too short on time or stressed to do it, but it did sound like a good opportunity to learn more about collage which I still struggles with. 

I print out instructions to add to sketchbook

This is not exactly quilt-related as my previous post might have implied I'd be realigning to, but perhaps quilt-adjacent. After watching the welcome video, I could see Kat was presenting a different more structured approach, incorporating design principles a step at a time and in small formats with the emphasis of ending up with individual collages that were also cohesive with each other. Pick two colors from a cool palette or two colors from a warm palette to work with on all collages throughout the series. Separate your piles of papers into patterned and quiet papers, then each one of those stacks into light medium dark values. Just that exercise alone was instructional. Then start small with 2 inch penciled in squares to fill with just two pieces of chosen paper - one "quiet", one patterned - of different values, using a glue stick.

auditioning placements, temporarily taped in place

I'm working in a Mixed Media Sketchbook a made back in July of 2023. That's one of the problems with being in the book club - so many of those projects produce blank books that sit on the shelf waiting for a purpose. So it is pretty delightful to finally put it to use. It's designed with spacers between the signatures to allow it to expand as layers of collage are added to the pages. As the squares increase in size to 3 inches, I had to work over the center of the signature but it wasn't too bad. And now we are picking three papers that go together, one dark, one medium, one light, either two quiets and one patterned or two patterned and one quiet. All the while, you consider how each trio works with what's in the squares beside and above/below, and trying not to put the same orientation of the pieces as are in adjacent squares. Kat suggested maybe wait to glue down pieces in a square until all squares are composed in order to give the option of changing your mind as you go. These little pieces do scatter quite easily so I found it very helpful to use removable scotch tape to hold them together and to the spot they may reside in.

Compare to in-progress pic to note changes I made

Although Kat kept correcting herself whenever she said "rules" rather than "suggestions" or "recommendations" (heaven forbid anyone feel constrained . . .), I'm a strong proponent of learning rules first, and I am grateful for these simple ones she put forth that provide some structure. I so often let all that fabric I get out to work with overwhelm me and I do not always make the best choices when putting together a quilt be it traditional or art. I think I can use what I've learned here to make better fabric choices. I also like filling the squares in a sketchbook. With fresh eyes the next day, I could study what I'd done and what perhaps didn't work so well, While choosing pairings, I noticed how easy it would be to go monochromatic even though I had two colors (blue and green) in my piles - had to keep reminding myself to grab some green now and then which I could see made the grid groupings more interesting. When I moved on to choosing three papers, I sometimes caught myself choosing all patterns or a value too similar to another as I gravitated towards ones I really liked. Making a switch did make for a better coupling, one where I could instantly say, Yes, I really love that - which Kat encouraged, that intuitive instinctive knowledge over too much brain thinking.

Two more sessions to go as we move up to four inch squares and make a final single collage at five inches as we continue to work with the papers originally chosen and learning how to use even the smallest scraps that we've been encouraged to save. This has been fun and educational and can be done with fabric scraps as well which I would like to try. But just like when I'm surrounded by fabrics and cutoff pieces when constructing a quilt, my table is a mess of piles of paper that I will be glad to clear away soon, making room for a "real" project.

Wrapping Up, On To 2026

I made one last push of completing something before December was over and finished knitting the replacement sleeve for the eyelet cardigan. However, I couldn't quite make myself actually remove the offending sleeve and stitch in the new one before New Year's day. When I did get around to it, it was much more difficult to remove the whip stitching than I anticipated and a lot of picking and tugging managed to make my thumb joints cry out in rebellion. I had to take several days off to rest them before adding on the new sleeve, and then another few days before I fixed the places along the side seam where I hadn't caught enough of the knitted edge in to hide a run of knit stitches. But that's all done now, the sweater soaked, blocked and drying. I'd tried it on before wetting it and was a little disappointed in how it looked on me - not as long in the sleeves or body as I'd anticipated, not the slouchy casual sweater I saw hanging behind the counter at the yarn store. But as I was laying it out to dry and taking some measurements, I realized it had grown quite a bit, measurements in all directions more like I was expecting. The blocking is suppose to relax things, soften them up and this really needed that. Hoping it will be more the sweater I envisioned once dry.

Pushing me along to finish the cardigan was my antsy-ness to start on another pair of socks. I bought this yarn the same day as I saw that cardigan and got the pattern for it, and have worked on the cardigan for the better part of the year, even though I'd wanted to dive into this luscious blue yarn with hints of purple and teal. But while I'm ok with having more than one quilting project going at a time, I've always worked on just one knitting project at a time, so there was much incentive to finish the cardigan so I could start these. I'm using the same pattern as I used for the grey wool socks and hoping there is enough yarn that I can make these knee high. I've rolled it into two balls so I can knit on each sock until its ball runs out, and checked the gauge last evening. It's a thinner yarn than the grey of the other socks and I'm experimenting with increasing the size of the needles so as to match the gauge. Gotta tell ya, going from heavy worsted yarn worked on average size 8 needles to fine fingering yarn on needles the size of bamboo skewers is quite the transition. But at least, off and running in the new year!

Speaking of things knitted, I've had a lovely warm lambswool cardigan bought a very long time ago that I pull out to wear around the house with a turtleneck or flannel shirt once the weather gets wintry. And the last time I went to put it on, sometime before Christmas, I noticed to my surprise and dismay, that I'd worn some holes in the elbow regions. But I can mend that fairly seamlessly I think, and have searched my yarns and crewel threads for one that is a close match to the deep cranberry of the sweater. I believe I was wearing this when I was still working at a paying job, which would make it at least 35 years old, so I guess it has actually held up pretty well. No way I am going to ditch it now - mending on the way!

So here it is, the new year, so I was surprised by a late Christmas package arriving on Saturday and delighted by its contents: a "bento box" of specialty teas and these Amy Tan books. Oh my goodness, the Chronicles has such beautiful drawings on every spread, and Amy's writing about her nature excursions and observations in her backyard strike a chord. The journal is just blank pages with room to note day, time, location, weather so that you can draw your own bird observations, and is prefaced with Amy's suggestions for supplies and procedures. Not sure how much I'll use that as in MY backyard, the birds flit so fast among the trees I often can't figure out what they are and I'm not interested in putting up feeders. I do have the occasional humming bird dip into my deck flowers but they too are so swift that I can't even get a photo of one. We'll see . . . 

And now it's time to announce my yearly Resolution Word, one that came to me as I worked on the Joy Banner: Realign. Day after day, I was surprised at how smoothly that project went because I'd been away from that kind of sewing for so long and my memory reminded me of how rusty and fumble fingered I'd been on the last few. Not so now, no hesitation as I moved through the process from one step and skill to the next. At some point I felt a subtle shift inside, hard to explain but basically a feeling that if this was going so well, I should keep going, get back to doing this kind of work. Thus the idea of "realign", and upon checking the definition, I found this one that captures my feeling: To put back into proper order. I have no lack of sewing projects waiting in the wings but they partially wait because I've expanded my interests to include so many other types of crafts and art. I enjoy them all but I can't shake that feeling that the proper order of my time spent needs to move the sewing/quilting up the ranks. And after a year of feeling so low on energy, so many draggy days and a real effort to get things done in spite of my good and helpful resolution word(s) of last year (see below), I'm experiencing a drive and energy going into January that's been missing for awhile. I surely hope it lasts. Happy New Year!

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Previous Resolution Word Posts:

• 2008 - Freedom
  2009 - Calm
  2010 - Focus
  2011 - Refocus
  2012 - Balance & Harmony
  2013 - Perseverance
  2014 - Explore
  2015 - Fearless
  2016 - Light
  2017 - Endure 
  2018 - Refresh
  
  2019 - Wing It!  
  2020 - Go! 
  2021 - Finish 
  2022 - More 
  2023 - Continue
  2024 - Organize  
  2025 - Resist Less/Fear Less 

 

Did I Make It?

Click on picture for a larger view of the stitching

Yes, I did! At about 5:00 p.m. Christmas, I put the finishing touches on the Joy Banner and hung it in the living room, followed by getting out the Christmas trump topper and a few decorations - instant Christmas! If memory serves, there is a tradition somewhere of waiting until Christmas Eve to put up decorations which to be honest I've never tried until this year. But I kind of like it! However, I listened to so much Christmas music while working on the Banner that I got Christmas song-ed out. Wouldn't have thought possible! So let me walk you through the finishing touches starting with decisions about where else to put quilting after stitching in the ditch along most seams (I just quilted up the middle of the checkerboard and not along all the horizontal seams). There were those almost triangular areas above the arch at the top, and to carry out the holly theme I decided to quilt around the holly template used to do the applique below. Note how I also quilted close to the edge of the holly and bow appliques - a really nice touch.

I'd been puzzling over the outer border, whether to add any quilting in it or just let it go since it wasn't very wide. But I had holly leaves on the brain and decided to quilt a string of them around the border, no marking and with the same gold thread - yes, getting daring because indeed I'd wondered if I should do it in a less visible green thread. Really hard to photograph metallic thread and the thread didn't really pop off the border - I used the YLI thread this time since I'd be doing free motion quilting and I didn't trust that old Coats metallic thread to hold up to that. The Coats metallic was a bit flatter which I think catches the light better. The leaves are wonky, the only non-precision thing about this quilt but I'm fine with that. Be sure to click for the larger view.

Time to bind. I'd mentioned in a comment on the last post that I didn't think I had even a small sleeve in me for hanging this quilt. I'd been thinking tabs and decided to see how much binding I had leftover. Believe it or not, I had exactly enough left to make three tabs (two pieces right sides together, sew up each side to make a tube and turn). I've perfected this method of cutting binding slightly wider than 2 inches so that when turned to the wrong side it overlaps the stitching line enough to be caught when I sew it down from the front by stitching in the binding's ditch. All I needed to do was fold each tube in half and position the raw edges even with the edge of the quilt edge, then turn the binding over, pin and stitch. It worked very well. If you click on the photo for a larger view, you should be able to see the nest of metallic threads that have been pulled to the back for burying.

17" x 32"

And here we are - a joyful, joyfully made, Joy Banner to enjoy now and for years to come!

It's nearly New Year's Eve so I also wish you a Happy New Year full of wonderful projects and surprises. 

Merry Christmas

 

The Quilting Has Begun

I was daft to start the Joy banner in December. Here I am, well into week three of working on it with much left to do. The completed top looks rather good though, don't you think?

I know there are some who are into adding lots of quilting to every piece, but I want to keep this one simple. All three prints do have metallic gold accents so I'm using gold metallic thread. That's a very old spool of Coats metallic thread on the left that I'd really like to use up, now that I have a more reliable YLI gold metallic thread on hand. Wondering what I should use as a bobbin thread, I discovered I had multiple spools of Sulky 60 wt PolyLite thread which I must have gotten in a grab bag special on Superior Threads website, and which I'm not sure I've actually used. But there was the perfect color (matches more closely than the photo implies) and the description that came with it does say it is perfect to use with metallic threads.

This combination is working well as I do a slow crawl stitching in the ditch around the borders and sashing. Slow because these stitches really show and I need to stay right in the ditch and because I don't want to put stress on the metallic thread such that it will suddenly fray and break on me. So far, so good.

Tried to video the way that thread really does sparkle, even in the ditch but it didn't capture very well. Click for a larger view. But if you listen closely, you can hear the Christmas music I'm listening to while stitching, compliments of The Jazz Groove. I think I may have to pause work on this for a few days to work on Christmas cards, but I am determined it will be done. at least enough, to hang on the wall by Christmas Eve.

Going With My Heart's Desire

I'm getting there - down to adding a final border and then quilting the holiday banner. But I'm nearly out of bobbin thread and late posting this week so thought I'd pause to show you my progress. Above you see all the small and odd shaped pieces ready to go (strips for borders are pinned to the design wall), the small pieces of paper on each one labels so I know which piece is which when I start following directions to join everything. There were enough different pieces to use up every letter in the alphabet! You may note two things here: first, wasn't I contemplating ditching the pieced letters for appliqued ones? Yes, yes I was. And as I cut the final little piece and stood back, it dawned on me I'd just cut all the pieces for those letters, so I guess they were going to get pieced!

The other thing you may note is, in spite of encouragement from Jan in the comments on my last post to just go with the lighter sprigged fabric for the background, I instead used that warm tan, the fabric that I was first drawn to. Sometimes your first instinct is the right one, and believe it or not, when I did one final audition with sashing strips laid out on each fabric to form the size of the letter blocks and the pieces of a letter placed within, I was very surprised to find that the pattern in the lighter fabric fought for dominance over the dark green shifting it back while the darker fabric let the letter shine. It gave the whole thing a much warmer look, more my heart's desire, that rustic country or antique look that I am so drawn to. I've struggled a bit with my camera to capture it accurately but the picture at the top does a good job. 

I proceeded with piecing those letters, which I feared would be a pain, but they really were not. Everything matched up really well, and except that there were lots of short seams, they came out well. I added sashing on each side and sashing with cornerstones on the other sides, and when I spread it all open on my work table, it was instant joy! Honestly, I was filled with such happiness - loving the fabrics and how they worked together and loving how well this was going. This section now has a tan border and the checkerboard borders on three sides.

Next up would be fusing applique to the curved section that would be at the top of the "joy" section. The pattern called for a heart with "commas" on either side, but I'm not one much for hearts on my quilts (although there have been exceptions). When I looked at the picture of the Christmas quilt I'd made for my mil, I was reminded that it used bows and holly leaves appliques. I wondered if they were sized to fit in this new space, and got out the binder with its documentation file to see if I had saved templates. Yes I did, and yes they were the perfect size. Ah yes, these are the moments that justify to me my penchant for documenting and saving!

And here they are, fused in place and waiting for some stitching. Sylvia had encouraged me to use some glitzy thread around the letters, and I had indeed been thinking to do that. Two of the fabrics do have gold highlights on them, and a little gold thread holding down the edges of  the leaves and bow would be a perfect accent.

Ok, that wasn't so bad, once I stopped procrastinating . . . but I was heaving sighs of wishing I didn't have to tackle the next step - curved seams! Not one, not two, but three of them. You'd think I'd never sewn a curved seam in my life but in fact, I've sewn more than I can count and some so tight they should have been appliqued. Kind of a master at it in fact. I think I was sighing because to do these seams well, it takes a lot of pinning. But even that went fairly easily and soon they were all done. And once again, the finished look filled me with so much satisfaction and, yes, joy. And I think part of that joy is because of how well designed this pattern is, with good instructions and no errors to complicate things. I could just go on autopilot and get pleasing and precise results. That surely hasn't been the case with that knitted cardigan; the contrast couldn't be more obvious. 

I want to thank my "coaches" and "cheerleaders" who commented on my last post. Your insights and encouragement really do help me soldier on! Now. back to the studio to fill that bobbin and get the last border sewn on. :-) 

New Project

 

On the left you can just see a picture of the banner 17" x 32"

I must be daft . . .

It might have been the after effects of the turkey dinner, that full and contented feeling letting one's mind wander. And it was wandering as I sat on the sofa contemplating how I would decorate the livingroom this year for Christmas. I have a Christmas topper I throw over the big trunk, but as I did a mental inventory of quilts for the wall, I could think of nothing with a holiday theme to replace what now hangs in the space where I rotate my art quilts. For no reason I can fathom, the idea suddenly popped into my head that I could make something to hang there. I knew just the thing, a "JOY" quilt pattern I'd been saving for years - the pattern torn from a 1991 issue of Quiltworks magazine. Sure, I could probably finish it this week, if I put my mind to it. And my mind was definitely on board. By Sunday I'd found the pattern and dug out fabric - I have quite a bit of Christmas fabric I rarely find reasons to use - and started cutting strips. Monday I cut more strips and worked out how to copy an odd shape in the pattern. 

Yesterday it was sewing time, getting those strips sewn together and subcut into pieces for the checkerboard inner border. As long as I've been away from traditional piecing like this, I hadn't forgotten a few tricks of the trade. The strips were cut 1-1/2 inches wide and those subcuts would also be that wide, 53 of them. To keep from making errors lining up my ruler, I placed a stickie note on the underside along the 1-1/2 inch mark. Oh, that really helps to speed things up.

Forty of the subcuts then got sewn together to make checkerboard strips - twenty for each side. The remaining thirteen subcuts were sewn together to run across the bottom connecting the two sides. 

Then today, I ground to a halt. You see, the pattern called for muslin for the light areas and I definitely was not going to do that. Instead, I was seduced by the tan fabric on the left, rich and mottled and looking so good with the red and green fabrics I'd chosen. But as I looked at the picture in the pattern, I wondered if it was too dark rather than just rich and warm. I revisited the stack of Christmas fabrics and pulled the one on the right with its off-white background with its own sightly mottled surface and those sprigs with red berries. It's one that came from my mother-in-law when she gave up on quilting and sent everything she had to me. She'd wanted to make a Christmas wallhanging with that one, had a pattern from a book picked out but eventually lost interest. So I made it for her with the fabric she'd sent. It's closer to what the pattern calls for and I know that is clouding my judgment on which to pick. Once made up, will I be disappointed with the rich tan because it reads too dark, or disappointed in the lighter sprigged one because it reads too bright? My auditioning isn't getting me anywhere.

As if that weren't enough to put the skids on, the next step is actually making the letter blocks. I can get to cutting some of the pieces that are from the red fabric, but can go no further until I make that background fabric choice. But boy, is that going to be a lot of fuss, all those piece with angled ends. I do know a method to make it easier, but I'm not looking forward to it. Instead, in my weaker moments, I've been wondering about just cutting out the letters whole and fusing them to the squares of fabric. Well, I have to do something today . . . What do you think about all this?