Time For Bookmaking

I put the quilting aside last week in order to meet a deadline for a bookmaking project to get in the mail. I'm turning these two books from my library's "free" shelf, books that have been removed from the catalog or donated books Friends of the Library sell that haven't sold over time, into Traveler's Journals. The blue one is a volume of Reader's Digest Condensed books which takes me back to my youth. My parents had quite a few of these that I would occasionally page through. The other is a Scholastic title geared toward the younger set. Both are in good condition for this project.

A Traveler's Journal is a book where the signatures are not sewn in but can be removed, either for ease of use or to switch out with different signatures. By using old books with good covers and spines, not only does this score points for recycling but should make the process easier and faster. Step one is to remove the text block by slitting the end papers where they join with the block. My books were partially glued to the spine making them more difficult to remove than the book demoed in the instruction video. A lot of tugging and careful application of a sharp blade finally released them but boy, did my hands hurt the next day. Still, easier than cutting bookboard.

The spine now needs to be covered up with fabric, not only for aesthetic reasons but for increased durability. Because mine were pretty rough, I opted to make quick bookcloth by fusing a lightweight sketch paper to the back of the fabric.

These are trimmed to extend beyond either side of the spine but about 1/8" shorter than it. I used PVA glue to adhere them into place.

I realized that I could use the lovely yellow I'd cut away from the end papers to glue as new end papers trimmed so that they just overlap the book cloth. For the other book, it was the opening pages to the last story in the Reader's Digest as the recipient is a lover of cats. It was suggested that, depending on the sturdiness of the papers, it might be a good idea to cover them with some kind of sealant. The cat ones definitely needed this, but I sealed the others too with Acrylic Varnish.That yellow could easily get scuffed up or dirty removing and inserting signatures. The Digest cover is very sturdy with a smooth surface so no additional sealing was necessary, but I did use the varnish on the outside of the red book which has a standard cloth cover.

Once these had dried overnight, it was time to add some holes with eyelets top and bottom on the spine. I don't have many opportunities to use this Crop-o-dile combination hole punch and eyelet setter but every time I do I marvel at what a wonderful tool it is. It's only drawback is that there's a limit to how far from the edge you can punch a hole. However, they do make a giant one that has a much longer throat but it's definitely an investment.

The last step is inserting elastic through the holes. These will hold the signatures by opening them to the center and slipping under the elastic. I did putter a bit with printing lines on 8 x 10 drawing paper, something on hand that will run through my printer and need minimal trimming for what I need for the cat journal. The red one is slightly bigger and I'm still working out what paper to use.

I truly thought I could get these done in a week. If I were only making one, no problem; I sort of forgot that two would take longer. I also didn't really factor in the time it would take to make 4 signatures - 2 for each journal. As I finished up the outsides, I had that same sinking feeling I get after I finish the quilting on a quilt - elation at being done, then despondency when remembering there's still binding to do. There's still a lot of fiddling left to make the signatures but I've picked out cover papers and know what size the signatures need to be for each. Just have to get down to it and not dawdle. I gave myself enough lead time that I think I'll still meet my deadline. 

Not Exactly Flying

When I queued up the tutorial video for the crochet cardigan, I found myself watching a young and perky gal so excited about this pattern and promising that "it will fly off your hook!" Well, I'm not finding that to be true (although there's a lot of slipping off the hook - more about that later). Here's my progress this week, which has been slow. There's a lot of counting, which limits the kind of tv show I can have on while I work. I've already had to do a fix at the end of a row so I didn't have to undo two rows of crocheting, and undo a different row where I'd put a stitch in the wrong place near the beginning which threw off where the final stitches would land. I'm not flying (although one thing about crochet - those stitches really do fly when you're undoing them), and I'm not exactly enjoying the journey.

Add to that the difficulty of working with the slick yarn whose twisted threads don't really stick to each other making it way too easy to snag one as the hook is pulled through or even find the hook splitting the strand altogether. Slow going but I persist. There are many 4 row repeats left to go on this back section. I've only managed 3 so far.

Not having a great deal more success with the quilting on Venetian Tiles. I finished the 1/2" echoing inside the half blocks around the outside, all done with a walking foot. Moving on to the small "cornerstone" squares, I was reticent to give up my walking foot and slowly worked my way around 4 of the 9 squares' fabric motifs. No, you cannot see the stitching very well, as I wanted, but because I used Thermore batting, I'm not getting much texture either. I'm wishing I'd used something with more loft. The more I studied the different squares that were left, the more I realized I'd need to get rid of my "training wheels" and switch to free motion quilting. Not my finest hour as I quilted a fifth square, but again, it doesn't really show.. I'm planning on switching thread color on the final four so before doing that, I moved to one of the big octagon blocks, again studying the motifs to determine the best routes round for minimum starting and stopping. Not exactly flying on this one either but slow and steady wins the race I guess. And of course, the more I do, the more relaxed and better I'll get.

Continuing spring reporting, my side of the street is lined with chokecherry trees that burst into bloom last week.

They have a sweet smell that hit me as soon as I opened the front door. I just love them. Apologies for the blurry pic - it was quite breezy when I tried to get this close-up shot. I also noticed a lilac bush in bloom, another sweet smelling flower that strikes me as coming out a bit early this year. I'm sure the Lilac Festival organizers and participants are a bit worried as the parade isn't until next weekend. 

A Distracted Week

I'm letting this knitting and crocheting kinda distract me, anxious to cast on the next knitting project and spending time checking to see if I have the right size needles for what is lined up. As if not bad enough to have at least 3 projects ready to go, I keep looking through patterns I've printed out but not paired with yarn yet, and a nearly gone skein of yarn I'd really like to use up. Yup, knitting, like quilting, leaves you with "scraps" left over that you can't toss but can find it difficult to use up. But as my mind has wandered, it occurred to me that there would be enough yarn on that skein to do the ribbing on a tam and there was a tam pattern with a sweater pattern I'd printed out so I couldn't resist starting that. This may all be because I'm finding myself a bit intimidated by that crochet cardigan. Right off the bat it requires me to learn a new stitch with a yarn that is very slippery. I didn't think that the bamboo viscose yarn would be like that but then again, it is actually just rayon, and rayon is definitely slick.

The pattern does give a link to a video showing how to do this foundation double crochet stitch, a good thing because I couldn't quite figure it out from this copyright 1959 book that, along with a 8-1/2 x 11 multi-page how-to pamphlet I'd was given way back in gradeschool is how I taught myself to crochet. 

Me and my sister-in-law crocheting away

This book was bought in 1970 before heading out on a 3 week family vacation that included one brother and his wife. Sue wanted something to keep her occupied in the car and decided she and I needed to get yarn and this book. I've made several things from it and it is a good resource to have on hand. I have to be honest, I'm really struggling with this stitch and that slippery thread, as I work to make 109 of these stitches before turning my work and doing the next much easier row.

I had hoped to spend more time quilting Venetian Tiles but the distractions also included catching up on correspondence and end of the month bills plus baking my annual rhubarb pie. Still, I'm probably about half done quilting the green parts around the outside, easily done echoing using an adjustable bar attached to the walking foot set for half inch spacing . The green thread I chose definitely blends in nicely, leaving me wondering if it is too safe a choice. Nahhh, as I've mentioned before, I'm generally not into showy quilting, texture being enough for me. Click on the photo for a larger view to see just how those stitches blend rather than stand out.

Yesterday as I was looking down our greenbelt, I noticed the syringa has started to bloom. It's been lovely to watch the procession of blooms throughout the neighborhood. Certainly brings a smile! How is spring in your neck of the woods? 

Another Finish!

With more diligent knitting this week, the blue knee high socks are finally finished. And I have mixed feelings about them. I measured, and measured, and measured again the distance from the floor to my kneecap and consistently came up with the same measurement as suggested in the directions. And yet once on, the socks could easily be an inch or more longer to actually reach the knee. Plus the ribbing really stretches out over the calf which looks a bit weird to me. However, the knee high bit is for warmth, not show, and close to the knee is close enough for this pair. I'll make a note on the pattern should I try this again. I'm also finding the yarn doesn't feel as soft when knit up as I thought it would, but I do still need to block these, and they may soften and "bloom" once I do. But they are done and I can move on to the next project.

I pulled the wrong yarn for this pic. This "tape" yarn will be for a bag.

And that would be a crochet project? It's been quite awhile since I've done any crocheting, but just like my knitting, there was a time when I did a lot of it, mostly to make baby blankets (that lovely ripple pattern) and throws (including a variation of the popular granny square block for a throw that I made for my dad). Back in the 70's - 90's, I never liked the look of crocheted wearables that couldn't hold a candle to ones I could knit with a more sophisticated look. But here I am, ready to give crocheting a summery cap-sleeve cardigan a go, all because I'd been looking at something similar in a catalog and found myself saying, surely I could make one myself for less. And then I ran across this kit on the Lion Brand Yarn website, liking it better than what I'd been seeing in the catalogs. I do think I will make it shorter though so that it hits mid hip - about where my summer tops end. It calls for a size G hook and uses a bamboo viscose yarn which I've not dealt with before but is supposed to work up light and drapey; hopefully it will work up quickly. Bear in mind I bought this to have to wear LAST summer but a knitting project didn't finish up in time for me to start it. Wish me luck!

I've also started the quilting on Venetian Tiles by doing a lot of stitching in the ditch along the burgundy sashings, with burgundy thread so I can't really show a picture of it, it hides so well. I'm generally not into showy quilting, so have been auditioning threads for areas where the stitching really will show but where I don't want to "hide" the beautiful patterns in the kaleidoscopes. From the very start back in 2003 I thought I would use the pink and/or blue Oliver Twist hand-dyed threads and pulled them out to see how that would work. Hmmm. By chance, I'd picked a dark brown bobbin thread to pair with the burgundy thread and it helped me see that behind those pink and blue motifs in the fabric was a golden brown. And yes, I have 3 different Oliver Twist browns to choose from so that all the quilting in those blocks can be done with a single color, no switching back and forth from the pink to the blue. Finally, the green variegated King Tut thread will be perfect over the scroll-like patterns in the green fabric around the outside of the top. 

An Interesting Week

I pause from watching a ton of motorcycle racing this weekend to update you on my goings on. I'm delighted that blooms have finally burst forth in my neighborhood. The first that I noticed were forsythia bushes - how could you NOT spot them with their bright yellow blooms.

Days later I spotted flowering trees along the next street over from me. (My street has maples and choke cherry trees that won't bloom until later.) These were taken on a cloudy day with my not very good cell phone camera so difficult to see some of the pink blooms.

My neighbor had set out a pot with bulbs pushing up which I'd been anxiously waiting to see just what they were. Finally they have opened up into beautiful daffodils. 

I had reason to be downtown one day last week and was delighted to see white blossoms on some of the trees there. I was due for a haircut and my safari hunting stylist had two pieces of Kudu hide left over after mounting by her husband. The Kudu was actually taken by her dad after he'd shown interest in her first safari adventure. It was a special trip for this hunting father-daughter duo and I'm honored that she thought to offer these to me. I have yet to do anything with the first pelt she gifted me but the wheels never stop turning. It's mostly that I have no experience working with leather and continue to research.

In the meantime, back to the familiar. Time to layer up the Venetian Tiles top. I definitely considered skipping a few steps like pressing the major creases out of the backing, but decided I'd no doubt hate myself at some point if I didn't do it. The top had only a slight single fold line so yeah, may as well press that out too. I flipped it right side down and sighed a heavy sigh as I saw so many frays along the raw edges of seams. Very nearly skipped trimming those away too, but decided again that I'd be kicking myself if I could see any of those threads showing through to the front as I quilted. Not a quick process but cleaning up the wrong side is always a good idea. Look at the pile of threads!

All layered and safety-pin basted although I still need to hand-baste around the edge of the top and turn the backing/batting to the front to be pinned down for a nice neat package for machine quilting. So fascinating studying the variation of pattern in the blocks cut from the same fabric.

I also spent time digging through those bins and other piles around the studio for the missing Stack-n-Whack book, and also my Mariner Compass book that I wanted to reference before finishing up those class sample blocks and cannot put my finger on. You know you're in trouble when you look in the same places for the third time with the same result. Running out of places to look, although I did manage to unearth two books I don't remember buying plus two that I think I'd pulled off the shelf to reference quite awhile ago when I was working on stamping and linocutting - much piled on top of them. Those went back on the shelf as I'm not stamping or linocutting at the moment. The two I didn't remember got put away properly too. Is the dragon guard doing too good of a job, hiding things from me?

Suddenly I remembered a file box in the garage that holds info for the classes I taught while still in Wisconsin. I've tried several times to break down these files as I'm not planning on teaching any of these again, but as I look through it now hoping to find the lost books, I was reminded why I keep putting the lid back on and shoving it aside. Copies of class handouts and patterns easy enough to get rid of but there's also fabric from samples and partial blocks used to demo steps - as if I don't have enough leftovers and orphan blocks to deal with, I just can't face taking these things out and deciding what to do with them yet. They are from over 20 years ago; will they be helpful in making a quilt years from now as in the meme?  However, I was right about finding a lost book out there. I vaguely remember teaching the basic Stack n Whack method and sure enough, that first book was filed with my class notes. But the Mariner Compass book was not there, even though there was a Mariner Compass class file. Sigh. It no doubt will show itself when I least expect it. 

I'll soon have another finish to share, by the way. I've been much more diligent this last week putting in time on my sock knitting. I am literally 2 inches away on each sock from being done with them.

In Search of a Finish

 

When I saw this on Instagram, I nodded my head in agreement. Since diving into quilting, I've often had more than one quilt project going at a time, pretty much for the reason she states. But on second thought, I decided I agreed only up to a point. While I've not had multiple knitting or embroidery projects going at one time, the ones in progress do add to list of things I could work on, and at some point I think the overall number of choices can become overwhelming, frustrating, and even depressing. That's kind of the point I'm at, I think, especially after unearthing so much during my search through bins. Over the weekend I could feel it building until it became clear: I needed a finish to feel better.

And so I chose the Joy Banner. You know, the one draped over my sewing chair waiting for threads to be buried and a label. I'd been viewing it as a daunting task, one I didn't want to do but couldn't escape. But there was a bookbinding video I wanted to watch which was an hour long, and because it was the last in a 4-part series, I was pretty sure I could follow along while burying threads, looking up when I knew there was something to see. The burying went more quickly than I anticipated with it nearly done by the end of the video. It only took ten or so minutes on another day to complete the task.

Now for the label. For years, I meticulously printed out my labels and hand stitched them to the back of quilts. Then there were some that really didn't need the printed label and I was fine with inking the info on cloth by hand. Next step was deciding some labels didn't need to be hand stitched in place but could be fused there. And that is what this banner would get. I didn't get the spacing quite right but the banner is going no place except up on my wall. Trimmed and fused in place, I now had that much needed finish and feeling better about myself.

I also spent some time over the weekend, rooting around in those bins again. I'd opened up that Stack-n-Whack quilt top to be dazzled by it, and wanted to find that possible border fabric I'd bought that now I wanted to use as a backing. You can see it at the top of the quilt, and that it would not work as a border. But it will be great as the backing. There's no question; this will be the next project to finish.

I'd searched my blog for posts about making it but could find none. How could that be? Fortunately, I'd pinned a note onto the top that explained everything and made me wonder how I could have so little memory of where I was living and the studio I was working in when I completed it. I only remembered working on it at the same time and with the same fabrics as the blocks for St. Hilary's Star which I finished after moving to Idaho in 2006. This note tells me I finished the top in 2003 (!), the star blocks at least partially done and set aside too, two years before I started my blog. The note also tells me the name which I'd forgotten: Venetian Tiles which is the name of the pattern in the book Stack-n-Whackier Quilts by Bethany S. Reynolds. My version uses only 4 blocks rather than the nine in the original - probably because of the fabric I had on hand. Finding the book took scanning my bookshelf then having another look through the closet where I found it resting flat on a shelf. I think I had plans to make at least one more quilt from it as I looked at fabric in the big bin and rolled onto a cardboard tube. I surely must have purchased her first book where I would have learned her technique and made my first Stack-n-Whack quilts but at this point, I can't find it. Anyway, I'm very excited to see things coming together for a finish of this quilt.

As long as I was lifting flat folds of fabric used in those two quilts out of the big bins, I thought one of them might work to finish out two of the Mariner Compass sample blocks I'd unearthed. I think pillows will be the best bet for these and I like this leafy print in the right teal blue for it. The other compass has already been set into a square using the same fabric as the background fabric but I think using this fabric for the back of the pillow will work well.

The yellow in the compass is actually more golden like the print in the batik on the left

Finally, I felt it time to take that last Mariner Compass and find a fabric to set it into. This one I plan to finish as something to hang on the wall, maybe even stretch over a canvas frame, and give to that great niece and her new husband as a wedding gift. That dark fabric on the right is a very mottled batik that should fit the bill nicely. I think it will be more interesting than a solid black (lord knows where the black fabric used in the compass might be by now). But you know, you have to try a lot of things, even outrageous things, to find the right fit. A lot of prints and batiks got auditioned before the mottled one stepped in and said, "Hey - don't you think I'm the one?" Be honest, doesn't your fabric talk to you too?

I've certainly got my work cut out for me during my daytime slot for creative endeavors. In the meantime, the evening knitting of the socks is coming along, be it slowly. One more section of increases on this one before the run to the top, at which point I'll switch back to the other sock to knit its increases. Each round begins at center back, and that orange marker reminds me when I've gotten there.

Wishing You a Lovely Weekend

However you celebrate (or don't celebrate) Easter, enjoy the pause to recognize the coming of spring and so much rebirth. And don't forget the Reese's peanut butter eggs . . . 😁