Thoughts on Creativity

Leaves seem reluctant to change their colors in my part of the world, that is, save for a group of maples in a park I frequent.

They are a rich red which draws me over for a closer look.

The cottonwood trees, though, can't seem to muster their usual bright golden yellow I love, if they are turning at all. Their hearts don't seem in it, any more than my heart has been into what waits in my studio this year. Oh, there have been splashes of interest, bursts like those maples, but the interest and drive I once had waxes and wanes. Age? Health? Shift of priorities? I don't even take as many inspiration photos as I used to. And yet, I still study clouds on my walks and couldn't help but try to capture some stunning ones yesterday, having no idea how I might work them into a textile piece - clouds are really hard to capture in fabric and thread! Not even easy with paint!

I went on a bit of a rant in my last post, and confessed I'd managed to confuse myself looking at all the videos previewed during a taster offering.Why am I looking at all these painting sessions? Why am I not working with textiles? And then found this quotation in a recent e-mail from Laly Mille, one of the teachers and someone I've been following and taking free lessons from for awhile:

“You will enrich your life immeasurably if you approach it with a sense of wonder and discovery, and always challenge yourself to try new things.”

– Nate Berkus –

Well, I did allude during my rant that I do like a challenge of mastering something new and this quotation reminded me of that. Some of my earliest memories involve needle and thread, fabric and yarn, constantly challenging myself to learn a new stitch or make something slightly beyond my abilities. And this need to learn has never been limited to any one thing. That's why now I joke that I have too many interests, I can't keep up!

Ah well, I suppose there are worse problems to have. I can't disagree with the above statement. Back to work . . .

Sucked In Again

Someone should create an app that blocks all e-mails and websites offering free things, at least things related to art and crafts. I was going to make more trinket bowls but the free Year of Light Taster sessions I'd signed up for a few weeks ago out of curiosity suddenly started, and there I was, committing myself to nine days of art videos that would then disappear. I checked out how things were set up and found it very much like the Sketchbook Revival I participated in twice: A host artist (who I was familiar with from her videos on Sketchbook Revival) and 4 different artists a day presenting their classes in videos lasting anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and a half. At least with Sketchbook School we knew we'd have a week or so following the last presentations to catch up or rewatch videos, but this taster kept stressing that all would disappear after the last day of videos. Not to worry though, the host said, just purchase the year-long "Year of Light" and you would have lifetime access to these videos plus all the other videos that would be shown during the year. I didn't check out the price of that but you can believe it is hefty, and hefty enough that the host was offering a 25% discount and payment plan. Wow . . .

Well, I got to watching. Techniques taught were predominantly watercolor with a few using acrylic paint or pastels, and a few teaching drawing skills with pencil. There was a little collage and mixed media that I found interesting, and my fave Laly Mille showed a transfer technique unlike what I'd seen before (and am anxious to try). The quality of presentations varied widely, some very fussy and having you sit through slow application of paint and layer after layer to reach the desired result, something I had no patience for, some I skipped because I'd been exposed to them in Sketchbook Revival, some good but could have been edited down, and some very well done and informative. I fast forwarded through a lot of them, and the ones of interest I watched clear through, taking notes on the printouts provided. Unlike during Sketchbook Revivals where I watched and did almost every lesson over the two weeks, I had no time to actually do any of these lessons, but would like to try the ones I took notes on eventually, hoping I can remember and make sense of the notes since I won't be able to re-watch any videos.

My brain was reacting differently from other times I've watched videos like this, it seemed. When I'd run across videos either too lengthy or not well done, I'd question if this was a good use of my time. Even on ones that interested me, I caught myself thinking how much easier some of the effects could be done using fabric. In fact, one session painting a night sky with moon and bare branches stretching across and over the moon, I HAVE done in fabric, more than once. And one showing how to paint bubbles with acrylic paint reminded me of the bubble prayers quilt I made using sheers and metallic thread for the bubbles. Feeling confused, I started to question why I was even interested in wielding a paint brush, except that I have all the supplies and it's a newish, unmastered technique I have dabbled in.

And all the while, I felt the pressure of time, knowing these videos would be going away, and feeling a certain anger at something presented as a fun, get a "taste" of the real thing which was simply a marketing ploy. Whenever someone shared that they'd been sick or busy with work or other life intervening things and "behind" or even not having been able to watch a single video, the chirpie Host would say, don't worry, just buy the year long class and you'll have lifetime access to all, or to those saying how overwhelmed they felt, you don't have to do every lesson, just pick a few. Nope, you certainly don't have an understanding of the people who would sign up for this sort of thing. We would want to take full advantage of such an opportunity for free classes. 

Granted, Sketchbook Revival is a bit of a marketing tool as well, but it is giving the opportunity to artists to showcase what they have to offer should one decide they'd like to pay for a class from them, but the main thrust is to get people using their sketchbooks again and giving them ideas of how to do that. This taster didn't feel that way to me at all; no, this was buy my pricey class, gains for you secondary.

By the last day which was yesterday, I have to say I was pretty burned out, watching or skipping through all those videos for nine days straight, and losing interest in the last set, asking myself the important question of how would I use what I might learn here and am I even interested in learning how to draw or paint the object shown? (No, I do not want to paint a fox. No, I do not want to sketch a bird.) I did watch two more but was glad I was done. Also getting overloaded with so many people posting their renditions of the lessons in the Facebook group even though some were quite good. In fact, I had to chuckle that a few came out better than the teacher's. In the end, the host relented to the cries of give us a few more days and did tack on 5 more days of access to the videos. Good on her. But I've seen all I need to see I think. Back to trinket bowls . . .

The Trinket Bowls (Or Baskets)

When I started the first of these trinket bowls, I wasn't feeling very well, but I thought well enough to sit at the machine wrapping fabric strips around clothesline and slowly stitching the coil together. And in fact I did feel well enough to do that, that is until I had to make a decision about changing to a different fabric. Where I stopped to take a picture for this blog post was where I could switch to, say, the blue fabric or continue up the sides in the raindrop fabric. I wasn't sure how far the blue strips would go and in my muddled state, I simply couldn't make up my mind and walked away . . . for over a week until I felt better. By then I'd thought it over and had a plan to just continue up the sides and switch to the blue for the last two rounds. And was disappointed with the look, plus the bowl was slightly larger than mine that I was using as a guide, and I'm not sure why. Was the clothesline slightly thicker, or the less wide zigzag not pulling together the coils as much? Whatever the reason, I forged ahead, deciding the next one would use up all the pink fabric and it pretty much did. But was smaller than the first - go figure! I had some orangy pink for the center of the last bowl, filling in the gap to the place where it shapes up the sides with raindrop fabric and doing the final 4 rows in the blue now that I knew how far each strip would go. In size it falls somewhere between the first and second one. I think I like it best although the pink one is very likable too. 

There's still maybe a 4 or 5 inch selvage to selvage strip of the raindrop fabric plus other wider lengths that run parallel to the selvage but otherwise, the rest of the fabric that went into the quilt has been used up. I like the way the raindrop fabric worked up in the trinket bowls so may put it in the bag where I have other fabrics suitable for bowls. in the meantime, quilt and pillowcases and bowls are now boxed up ready to send off.

Signs of Autumn

Spotted on a recent walk

From Joy Williams essay, “Autumn”:

There is no such thing as time going straight on to new things. This is an illusion. Okay? And clinging to this illusion makes it difficult to understand oneself and one’s life and what is happening to one. Time is repetition, a circle. This is obvious. Day and night, the seasons, tell us this. Even so, we don’t believe it. Time is not a circle, we think. Spring screams the opposite to us, of course, and summer seduces us into believing that we’re all going to live forever. Winter couldn’t care less what we think about time. But fall cares. Instructive, tactful, subtle, fall is a philosophy all its own. Occult, secretive, taking pleasure in sleep, in rest. Fall’s comfortless, honest rot. In the beginning in most places it’s showy, the better to mask its melancholy: raging leaves and spanking breezes, edgy with the real cold. And that special, solemn light. For fall is for melan- cholics and those in love. The torchy sort of love. Forget spring. Spring is nothing but promise, a reproach to melancholics. Spring makes us forget the deal, whereas fall is the deal. The unutterable, unalterable deal.

Fall is. It always comes round, with its lovely patience. If in the beginning it’s restless, at the end it’s re signed, complete in its waiting, complete in the utter correctness of what it has to tell us. Which is that we’re transitory. We’re transient, we’re temporary, we’re all only sometime. We will pass and someone else will take our place. Our pursuit of living founders each time we remember this. Fall is the darkening window, the one Hart Crane had in mind in his poem “Fear,” the window on which likes the night.

Found in Ill Nature: Rants and Reflections on Humanity and Other Animals.

 

So Much For Quick

Only some of the stacks of fabrics I went through

I really liked the idea of using up the big pieces of fabric left over from making the rails baby quilt by making it into pillowcases, and thought it wouldn't take me long to make up three for the other kids in the family. I'd found several free pillowcase patterns on line and chose the one from AQS partly because it used a little less fabric in the main part of the case and the cuff seemed simpler. I made a few changes like not cutting two separate main and cuff pieces, thus eliminating one long seam, and found I could get two cases out of the ark animal fabric and one out of the raindrops. That part went quickly enough. But as you can see, picking coordinating/contrasting fabric for the cuffs sent me for an agonizing trip through my stash that lasted several days. You know the drill: pull potentials for auditioning, find a few that might work, nothing seems quite right, and finally, when looking in a spot you forgot to check, you find a perfect candidate, then another and decide you really like that one you spotted in the beginning. Ahhh, all three cases now have cuffs to match. (And I have to say, the process reacquainted me with a lot of beautiful fabric I must find a use for.)

Me and my mother 1968

Both sets of directions gave the option to just zigzag or machine overcast the seams but I knew with this fabric there would still be a mess of threads after washing. So I opted to make French seams, a technique I learned when I made this dress for a high school prom. That floaty chiffon overdress absolutely had to have its seams encased, not just to keep raveling under control but because they could be seen through the chiffon.

You know me, I like things nicely finished and I'm very pleased with these French seams and the way the cuff folded over and was stitched down a bit from the edge, looking very much like a commercial pillowcase.

But these did take longer to make than I thought they would. I did do a lot of pinning which I suppose many people would not, but again, it assured a good looking product in the end.

Now I've started on the trinket baskets I wanted to send along as well. It won't use up all of the raindrop fabric (I don't think) but here is what was left of the ark fabric and the various pink fabrics I used in the quilt that could be cut into usable length strips for the baskets.

It's been awhile since I've made these so I had to spend some time going over directions and finding my notes on machine settings and changes that make a full basket into a short lipped saucer shape like this one. And this first one is going very slowly as I get my wrapping and coiling rhythm back.

In the meantime, I've finished sleeve one of my lavender sweater and yes indeed, it did use up slightly more than one skein, meaning I definitely will need at least some of the extra I was able to get.

Call of the Wild

Round Lake State Park

A case for vacation: “A lot of writing consists of waiting around for the aquarium to settle so you can see the fish. Walking around muttering seems to hasten the process. Taking public transportation nowhere helps. Looking out the bus window lets the back of your mind move forward. Don’t listen to anything but natural sound. Don’t look at anything you have to turn on. This is about the pleasure of silence. This is not meditating; this is reacquainting yourself with yourself. Something interesting might enter your head if you let it alone.” Abigail Thomas

I don't think that only refers to writing, but to any creative outlet. I have the luxury of being able to do this often, tap into this "pleasure of silence". Today was one of those times.

Goldilocks got her "just right" weather today so off I went and this is where I spent some time. I was surprised that more water wasn't flowing through here and what was didn't make a sound, even though some flowed over and around rocks. I was wondering if something was wrong with my hearing it was so quiet, if not for the very loud woodpecker. Up on the upper trail I spotted a deer browsing in the trees. I stood stock still while it tried to decipher what I was. When I finally moved on, it took off but not far. Turns out there were two or three more in those trees, just calmly watching and chewing. It was a day not to grab for a camera but just take in the sights and smells and the feel of the breeze against my skin and its sound through the trees. Refreshed.

Highly Influenced

I am stubborn. I try to avoid cliches or puns when naming my quilts. I strive for something more than "For (quilt recipient's name)". But as I mentioned, an obvious name for this quilt for my goddaughter's baby was alluding me. But not really. Every time I spread it out on the table,"Pretty In Pink" popped into my brain. NO, my stubborn side said, that's a movie title, one I've not even watched, and probably sending a message I don't want to send. And yet . . . this quilt IS so pretty in pink. So I gave in, inking the info on the back of the quilt. I usually use a micron pen to do my inking, and more recently, their plastic nib versions. Had a blue one I've used before, but it seemed to have dried up. I've had a lot of issues with that recently with micron pens I've purchased either at the Michael's store near me or added to an internet purchase from some place like Cheap Joe's. It's making me wonder how long these pens have sat in stock, because I have pens I bought years ago but don't use often that still work fine. Was about to change to a black one when I had a thought. Could I use one of their brush pens instead, since I had one of those in blue? Yes! In fact, a brush pen may move even better over fabric when using a light touch.

I am so pleased with my choices for the quilting. After finishing all the arrows on the blocks, I wondered if I shouldn't add more lines. I decided to wait until I'd quilted the sashing to make up my mind. The arrows were a take on one of Angela Walters' "dot to dot" designs from her recent series, Dot to Dot FMQ Challenge Quilting Along, such an easy method of quilting with straight lines. But for the sashings, I was considering several of her more curvy designs like serpentine or ribbon candy. I've done neither of these before and wasn't in the mood for practicing or setting up my machine for free motion quilting. As I stared and considered, it occurred to me I could put into practice more dot to dot quilting in that sashing, using the seams of the strips in the blocks as my "dots" to shoot for. This worked so well and when I spread out the quilt again, I didn't feel I needed any more quilting in the blocks. Thanks, Angela, for influencing how I approached the quilting on this piece.

When making baby quilts, I've gotten in the habit of quilting the baby's name somewhere within the quilting designs. This time I reserved the border for adding her name, interspersed with hearts. My script may not be the prettiest but the variegated thread hides some of my inconsistencies.

So here it is, ready at last to send off to baby Briar. But first, I'm going to make some pillowcases from what I have left of the Noah's Ark fabrics. I have quite a bit and have no desire for it to go back into my stash. They can go to the other kids in the family.

What's In A Name?

I've been watching the Olympics, mainly gymnastics, which has reminded me of a piece I made back in 2008 when I was also watching the Olympics. The commentators kept talking about the gals on beam having to make balance checks to keep from falling off, and that stuck in my head as I worked to strike a good balance with the applique pieces that were leftovers from another piece. Then there was lots of musing about maintaining the design balance of the piece as I added more and more quilting in various colored threads on that black background. It seemed a given that I'd name this piece "Balance Check". You can read more about this on this blog post where I talk about not just achieving balance in my artwork, but in life in general.

Do you have trouble naming your quilts or do names just appear as you are working? As a general rule, I do settle on a name before each piece is finished, although a few stubbornly refuse to reveal what they would like to be named. I'm having that issue with the rails baby quilt and it's driving me crazy. I think it must be because I feel like Helen Wells feels:

I try and take my time naming a painting. As the paintings develop I keep a list of words and phrases which occur to me as I work, that have resonance… a running list of possible names or just fragments of thoughts. I think about what I am trying to convey, the feeling that is embodied in the painting...how the painting makes me feel.

Naming a painting is like a small milestone, a closing ceremony, a gift to the painting and the viewer, a mark of completion, a small badge of respect, a sense of identity for the new painting that has been created…

What's your experience with naming quilts? 

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Lighthearted Musings

Photo by George Sanker

July is nearly over, and I think I will miss this calendar photo of the American Purple Gallinule. Look at those feet! You'd think they'd be an encumbrance but in fact, they are purpose built for walking on floating vegetation and clinging to plant stems. Laugh if you will but their huge clawed feet are their specialty for survival.

If that doesn't make you smile, perhaps this video will. I had saved it thinking it would be much longer than it is but worth watching when I had more time. Who among us has not faced "creative anxiety and procrastination", the theme of author Fredrik Backman's talk? You won't believe what he has to say in such a short amount of time!

And then there's this post from Ellen Anne Eddy: Repetition:The Nervous Person's Friend. Ellen is always so open and honest in her posts and this one is no exception as she muses about the breakdown of the body as we arrive in our seventies (I'm with you on that one, Ellen). But I also agree with what she has to say about this art form we embrace that is so full of doing the same thing over and over. Here's a sample but do check out the entire post.

"Part of it is that repetitious actions put us in a different mode and zone. It’s been called right brain thinking, but I think it needs the reinforcement of physical action, particularly action that doesn’t take a lot of thought...Thank God for repetition. For mindless tasks that eventually build art. They also bring quiet, piece, peace and courage. On the other side, enough blue, purple, orange and yellow is an excellent color therapy. Color really is an antidepressant."

I also came across a couple of John O'Donohue quotations this week which I found surprisingly fitting for the artist in me rather than just the spiritual which is his milieu. They really uplifted me, and if you need uplifting in any way, perhaps they will resonate with you as well.

"May you have the wisdom to enter generously into your own unease to discover the new direction your longing wants you to take."

"May I have the courage today to live the life that I would love, to postpone my dream no longer but do at last what I came here for and waste my heart on fear no more" 

And may you have an astounding and fearless and lighthearted week!

Not Much To Share

It's been hot. There was motorcycle racing to watch. I had to drive to the semi-big city yesterday in 100 degree heat. I've gotten hooked on the Smithsonian channel's Air Disaster series, newly discovered by me but in its 20th season so lots of catching up. My lassitude feels typically summer so not too worried as long as it doesn't continue into fall! I think my deck flowers feel the same as they struggle to maintain blooms in this heat. I've finally started on the first sleeve of the sweater knitting project while watching tv that doesn't require full attention; otherwise, creativity a bit stalled. Hand me my iced coffee as I relax with a good book . . .

Helen Wells sent out a video addressing this very thing, how a change in season shifts our energy and can make one want a change in approach. She lists a lot of things she'd like to do in this time, "carving out" a little more space for them in this time when she wants to retreat a bit: "A time to retreat into creativity, a time to replenish, a time to be more introspective...."  She has keyed in on 4 things to consider in how she wants to spend these summer days. 

• What do I want to START doing?

• What do I want to STOP doing?

• What do I want to do LESS of?

• What do I want to do MORE of?

 I realized that this is what I've been doing for awhile now as I've felt a need to adjust a routine I've fallen into but want to get out of or at least modify. I just haven't written it down in list form as she suggests. There are things I know I want to stop but why is it so difficult to do that? Reading and knitting definitely fall in the do more of, and I have. Am trying to do less on the computer starting with not reading every single thing I come across, doing a better job of "curating" what's important and what doesn't really apply to me or is not new info, letting quick scans gather up what I need to know, passing up things I don't. As for what do I want to start? I'll have to give that more thought. I have so much going on, so many interests I'm already pursuing, I can't imagine starting something new. Then again, maybe I'm looking at that the wrong way. More thought!

You can watch the video here or read the transcript version below it. Let me know what you think. Does any of this resonate with you?

It Worked!

I started quilting on the rails quilt by stitching-in-the-ditch through the center of each block both directions to stabilize things before quilting the "arrows" in. It occurred to me that repositioning the architect lamp that usually shines down on the needle area over to the left and down to shine the light at an angle might produce shadowing so I could see those hera markings even over the light fabric. And it worked like a charm - I could see all markings easily.

I like the way the arrows rotate around the block. Makes me think of the storms and winds Noah and his ark must have weathered. My only concern is that there may be too much open unquilted space that I might feel compelled to add more stitching to. I'll not worry about that now.

Here you can see those initial lines of stitch-in-the-ditch quilting and the wedges of unquilted space.

I do like this gold/yellow thread on the back. It does run quite light as it variegates but I think it was a good choice.

Ready To Quilt

Slowly but surely I have overcome my procrastination and issues with pinning and marking of the rails quilt. Sometimes all one has to do is just admit you have no choice but to proceed and just do it. I was pleased to feel myself getting into a rhythm with the marking, and putting the rest of the pins in went quickly. As usual, was asking myself what the big deal was that had me putting this off for so long. I'd already started auditioning threads and found the King Tut pink variegated thread perfect for the top. As for the bobbin, there were several ways I could go including pink, but those flamingos are very peachy. I initially thought the King Tut blue variegated thread would be perfect, surely was the right blue, but I hesitated. Maybe that light blue one would be better, but it just looks like white or grey thread when I spooled it across the fabric. There's quite a bit of golden tan in the animals and I've decided that gold King Tut variegated thread was the one. I also think it would show less should I have any pull-ups on the front. It sure has gotten hot here, too hot to spend any time outside during the day, so no excuse not to start quilting in my air conditioned studio.

Did I mention I ordered more batting? I honestly don't need more, which a quick assessment of my stash confirmed. But what a knee jerk reaction to seeing a 30% off sale at one of my favorite internet shops, Connecting Threads. I wasn't aware of this particular blend of cotton and wool in a batting and I was intrigued. Cotton battings often quilt up flatter than expected, but I don't always want to use a wool batting. I'm speculating that the wool will create a loftier batting and keep it all natural. Has anyone out there tried it? I absolutely shopped like I was still making lots of quilts, buying the king size batt because it is the best value. I still remember Harriet Hargrave's batting lecture where she pointed out most quilters buy batting because it is the size they need for their project, not considering if its contents is appropriate for their project and never thinking they could get more than one quilt out of the largest batt available and save money. Well, you have to be using it up for it to be a good buy, so I guess my somewhat impulse buy may encourage me to make more tops. I do have two large quilt ideas I've not followed up on (even though fabric is set aside), and think I may still have it in me to get them made. Perhaps I'll be guilted into it! Whatever works, I say.

It's That Anniversary Again

Each year on the anniversary of my husband's death, I pause and contemplate our life together, from meeting at college to forging a partnership through marriage and finally to our last days together. When I sit down to blog about it each year, I've looked for photos that showed the various aspects of the person who loved me, supported me and did good out in the world. Often I've shared the motorcycle part since that was such a big part of what might be termed the second half of our life together, and this year I got out an old photo album to hunt down pictures from a 1998 motorcycle vacation that included visiting Copper Falls State Park in Wisconsin, looking for waterfall pictures which is what you see above.

Unexpectedly as I flipped through pages, I ran across these two photos of us from 1997 when we flew back to Olympia, WA for a friend's wedding. It was held at an old house with wrap-around porches sporting fantastic views, and I remember how much we enjoyed just sitting out there with no cares. My initial reaction upon seeing his smiling face in this photo was, well hello handsome - you clean up well! Then noted what I'd written at the top of the page: "Here's to you - you handsome devil!" Ah yes, I always loved it when he dressed up, always looking so smart.

Which prompted me to hunt down another pic I took of him "all suited up". Of course, the current furry child had to be included. This was in the early 80's and after realizing he had to give up teaching at least for awhile, he was putting out resumes and preparing for interviews. He really didn't have a suitable suit so I sent him off to pick something out. He came back with a beautiful 3-piece suit and what else he needed to go with it. Sigh . . . I loved it every time there was an event when I could accompany him wearing that suit.

 

So that's my story for this year. I'll be raising a glass of something later today saying, "Here's to you - you handsome devil! Thanks for every memory." 

Some Nice Things From Last Week

Our weather has been so up and down, but Friday was what I would call a perfect day for being out and about. Sunny, temps in the 70s and a light cool breeze coming off the lake made for a delightful walk at City Beach. Tourists have started arriving and the beach was bright with colorful umbrellas, towels and bathing suits.

The marina is full of sailboats and I saw several people out on paddle boards and small boats. Motorboats were being backed down ramps into the water. A few younger people braved the water which is still quite cold to swim and splash around. Summer is here!

Man With Turkish Coffee by Daniel Gill

I made a stop at the library having finished another book and ready to pick up the next from an author I'm catching up with (Lisa Unger) and was pleasantly surprised to see a new exhibit in the lobby cases. A local watercolor group was being featured and this painting by Daniel Gill caught my eye. Definitely the best of the lot, and in talking to one of the exhibitors learned that he is a local illustrator and indeed better than the rest in this group which lost its teacher to retirement but decided to stay together and share their knowledge with each other - sounds just like the quilt guilds I've belonged to. Daniel has occasionally given demos and I can see that the group would benefit from his expertise.

Also by Daniel, I took this photo of a still life not so much because of the painting but because of the shadows being cast across it by the brackets holding the glass shelves. Abstract in nature, they almost look like part of the presentation, the one shadow over the painting itself looking as if painted there.

Another pleasant surprise: I got a phone call from the yarn shop owner who promised to let me know when her next order of mill end wool yarn arrived if it included more of the lavender yarn I'm sure I will be short of to complete the sweater I've been working on. Four skeins were included in the order, all the same color number and lot number of the yarn I originally bought - woo hoo! I think two more skeins will do it but heck, why chance still being short, and one can always find something to make out of a skein or two, so just like I used to say," heck, just give me the rest of the bolt" when buying fabric, I said, heck, just give me all four! They are so inexpensive, why not? I'm nearly done with the front so I'll start the sleeves knowing I have plenty of yarn to finish them.

Lastly, after getting all the bedding plants transferred to pots, I did move two of them - the extra marigolds and begonias, out front and they are doing marvelously along with the snapdragons in the big pot alongside the stairs. The sun may have been out when I took the picture but you can see that the concrete is still wet from quite the thunderstorm that drenched everything shortly before this.

The rain was so hard that dirt splashed up from the pots and covered the side of them. But the plants themselves were undamaged. This is such a lovely sight to enjoy when I leave and come back from my walks.

There was one not so nice thing that happened though. Even though all the windows and doors were shut, I was awakened one night by the smell of skunk! They do occasionally wander through my neighborhood and it always astounds me how strong their scent is and how long lasting. It must have checked things out under my deck because days later, after the smell had left the rest of the neighborhood, I still get whiffs of it when I step out onto the deck. I don't know if repeated rains are reactivating it or what, but I'm at a loss as to how to get rid of it, except with time.

Here We Go!

 

Layering of the rails quilt has begun. A big enough area of the work table has been cleared to spread out the backing, which to my delight only overlaps the width of the side by side tables by a few inches. Batting proves to be cut to fit edge to edge of table width and matching the side edges of the backing, which by the way I thought I'd have to piece for it to be wide enough. But it is 44 inches wide and the quilt top 42-1/2 so about an inch extra on each side. I usually allow more than that so I can turn the backing over the batting to the front and give myself something to hold on to as I quilt. But not having to piece the backing . . . priceless at this point. I gave the top a good steam press and removed a lot of stray threads from the back before smoothing it over the batting. Everything just fits.

I follow Angela Walters and watch most of her free videos on free motion quilting designs and a recent dot-to-dot series design caught my eye as one I could use on this quilt. I used one of my EQ mockups to play with different directions I could place those arrow-like motifs, finally settling on the one sketched out on the block in the second row. You might be able to see some arrows on the lines if you click for the larger picture. I worked out where to start so that the entire block can be quilted continuously, including along the sashing on all sides.

But I know I can't trust myself to free-motion quilt straight lines with any accuracy so as I started to pin, I started to think of how I might mark the lines and avoid any difficulty in removing markings. I remembered the technique of making creases in the fabric with a hera marker and thought this might be the way to go. I used to have two hera markers that were freebies, but I couldn't locate either one. No worries, any pointed thing will do and the tool I use to help close up pins has a short straight edge on one end not unlike a hera marker. So I gave it a go before too many pins got in my way. I found it surprisingly slow as I made the marks on two blocks, noting that sometimes a line didn't show depending on which way the light was hitting the lines. Add to this, as I moved to the second block, the sashing confused me into placing the starting point of the first line in the wrong place. Not sure I have the patience for this. It occurred to me that laying down masking tape as I go will be quicker and leave no marks. If I did ruler work, this would be the perfect place for it. But since I don't, I think I will abandon the hera marking and opt for masking tape as a guide.

What's your go-to method(s) for marking quilts?

A Sketch Expedition

Remember me showing you the water feature outside my library and saying I'd like to try sketching it? Friday turned out to be the perfect day to take myself on an "artist date" as I had a book ready to return to the library and another one to check out, good weather, and nothing else really pressing to keep me from spending some time sketching. In every respect, it was a relaxing and positive experience, from the mother with her two little kids who stopped to look over my shoulder and ask questions to the finished sketch. Granted, I do tend to get a bit timid with the colored pencils, kept going over the rocks to make them a little darker but I think they still need more definition. And how to show the foamy white water bits? I tried a white Posca paint pen after I got home which barely shows up. But the major parts like fitting the whole scene on the page even though I was sitting quite close to it (I often end up running out of room) and getting most of the perspective right was very gratifying. Am wondering now how I might do using watercolors - now that would be a real challenge for me!

Speaking of challenges, I had stacks of pads of paper that I use for bookmaking to move off the top of the box where my batting reserve resides so I could see if I had enough of that limited edition slightly plusher batting I liked so much in the last baby quilt left for this current one. All that paper is sitting on the work table that still needs more of it cleared so I can layer up this quilt. It has taken me awhile to figure out where I could open out the batting to cut an appropriate piece since the table is not available. Just dawned on me that I could strip my bed down to the mattress (sheets need changing anyway) and do it there. That realization felt like a palm slap to the forehead - I'm not as quick thinking as I used to be I guess.

Ready To Layer

The rails quilt is finally together and ready to layer. Still struggling to get a decently lit photo with true colors for you. All I can say is that I so like how it has come out, that it is so PRETTY and that is partly due to the fact that the pinks are slightly different. I was concerned that not all my pinks were a clear strong pink and I had to use some that were more muted and even with a slight orange cast. Now I see how well they work together and make this a better quilt.

These colors are more true, and I took this to show how I carefully placed the sashings and borders so the raindrops are all falling down. They don't do that in the blocks however; that would have been too much fiddling to figure that out before piecing and decided they could just represent the swirling storm the ark sailed through. It was only upon studying the picture that I realized that border was NOT on the right direction.

Glad I caught it now rather than while I was smoothing the top over batting or even after pinning. I would have been furious. I'm already a bit put out with myself. I was being so careful and double checking before pinning. Don't know how it happened . . . although I may have been looking at strips in a block turned the other way rather than at a sashing. Well, easy to fix although time consuming any time you have to get out the seam ripper!

Back to Rails

I finally got into the studio today to continue work on the rails baby quilt. Finished sewing the block quarters into full blocks and sewed the sashing spacers between blocks to create rows. Took a break at that point to snap this poorly lit and possibly confusing (I just put the blocks up on top of what is already hanging out on my design wall) picture for today's post so you could see how it is coming along. Next step is to sew the long sashing spacers between rows and then the narrow border strips all round. I'll soon be layering for quilting.

Egging me on is this picture my goddaughter shared of her and her six month old baby that this quilt will go to at her graduation at Baylor in Texas. She has been working on this degree for at least 14 years, a lot of the classes taken on line, juggling a job and a growing family. How proud we all are that she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a doctorate of nursing practice (DNP-FNP).  Now if only she lived closer so she could be my NP. . .

What else have I been up to? Well, I did knit those final few shaping rows of the purple sweater's back. While my yarn may be going farther than I originally thought, I still think I will come up short for two full sleeves. Still waiting for the yarn store to get in their next order of these mill ends but it did occur to me that this company also sells regular skeins of yarn and perhaps I can find this color elsewhere, although not the same lot. We shall see as knitting progresses on the front.

And between motorcycle races (and there were THREE different series racing over the weekend), I finally made the final decisions of how to distribute the last of the bedding plants bought nearly a month ago. I've been watching them carefully, placing them tentatively on the pots I think they will go in, rushing out to water when I see them drooping. They have been ever so patient with me. They went much farther than I thought they would, took more time to transfer than one would expect, and I had to pull three pots out of the garage that I didn't use last year. This is a tentative arrangement, and one or two of the pots may go out on the front steps to keep the pot of snapdragons company.

As usual, the star of the show are the geraniums. They never fail to please.

New to my garden are the begonias, which are giving those geraniums a run for their money as top pleaser. Two in this small pot, four in a much larger pot which is a candidate for out front.

The snapdragons and the mystery bloomer went in the long planter per spacing directions. They'd better spread out and fill the space. The matching planter has one of the mystery bloomers and two of the dianthus. The other two are in a separate smaller pot and although growing tall, have no blooms yet while the ones that waited so long for a home are popping a bloom.

The pansies looked so much more robust than they have in previous years so I snatched several up. Yellow ones in a separate pot and two rich colored ones in a bigger pot.

And marigolds. I don't generally add those because I've never liked the smell when you brush up against them. My college campus had them everywhere, no doubt because of ease of growing them and they do add bright color. I decided to succumb this year in order to add some orange to a mix that was heavy on purple and pink. One in a small pot, the other two in a larger pot which may be another candidate for the front steps.

It felt really good to get this done - I didn't realize how much it had been hanging over me for so long. I still need to hose down the deck to remove the spring pollen and the dirt I spilled (too much rain again), and then I will be ready to enjoy the heat wave expected this weekend as I sit on the deck and enjoy my spring flowers.