Top is Done!!!

I guess in quilting hours, I did pretty well getting this all pieced together. And I am pretty pleased with the results.

I do see things in there that I doubt others will notice, but that is human nature to focus on the little errors because you are the one who made them. Not all my triangles were exactly the same size, so some of my squares are a bit wonky and my finished size is a bit smaller - I think from trimming everything at each stage.  And despite my best efforts, there are a few places where there are colour matches or clusters.

That said, if it were all perfect, it would look like it was made by a machine, right? Not an excited Grandma-to-Be. I am sure a more precise person would have achieved a crisper outcome, but at the end of the exercise, there will be hours and hours of love put into a wonderful homemade keepsake.

It's interesting that before embarking on this exercise, in my mind I had decided that it was less time-intensive than a rug hooking project. Now I am not so sure. I think the heavy lifting of the piecing is over, but there are hours and hours of hand-quilting yet to come and then the finishing.

If I were to hook a project that was 40 x 40 and dedicate the same hours to it, I wonder if it would be done in less or more time? I may just have to challenge myself to find out, but not right now.

Next week - or the week after, since we have incoming next week - I will build my quilt "sandwich" and get it ready to start quilting. There are notes on the Purl Bee instructions page that warn the novice hand quilter that there are many layers of fabric in the ditches and it is not a notive project. I am thinking I will move slightly away from the ditch and follow the squares - see what happens. Trial and error ahead.

I think I will use my cheticamp frame and keep it set up in the studio so I can do a little bit whenever I have a little time. My goal is to have it all finished in a couple more weeks.Let's just see how that goes.

Squares, Squares and More Squares.

As a quilting neophyte, I am learning in leaps and bounds. Mostly by error, but sometimes by trial. After squaring up 100 squares - well 98 actually (I had to quickly stitch a couple more) I have now arranged all those squares into strips and then laid them out into 4 large squares.

The best way to see if I was happy with the arrangement and also avoid any eye-catching conflicts was to photograph the 4 squares with my iphone and then look at them on the computer. I actually did that twice! The pictures below are the second set, and I have tweaked again since I took them. I am pretty happy now with how they are looking. I will take one more final set which I will use as my guide. I also think I will leave them laying in position on the studio floor rather than trying to remember what went where.

Without more heightened clairvoyant powers, I really can't imagine how the four squares will look together, but I am sure that the same cheerful busy-ness that is in the squares will somehow all come together in the end.

Here is how it is looking. It's amazing that every time I look at it, my eye follows a different colour around the block. I am sure I could drive myself completely crazy if I don't stop adjusting at some point. But the tumbling of the lights and darks - the lure of the orange (Jackson's dad-to-be's favourite) and just the energy in it is so great.

So this week, with four rainy days forecast, I will begin the assembly- first squares into strips - then strips into 4 big squares and then put the squares together. However, as soon as I say this, I can feel the work truck backing up with lots to keep my from doing this.

I will be happy to get all the piecing done. I can't believe that I actually entertained the thought of doing this all by hand - for about 30 seconds that is. Kudos to my friend Jo who does all her quilt work - start to finish - by hand. She is an amazing quilt master.

I am looking forward to the actual quilting, which I will do by hand. It is straight line stitching, following the shapes in the triangles and squares, so hopefully not too difficult. I am sure my stitches will be a bit rusty in the beginning, but I am sure I will be an expert by the end.

The Happy Jackson Quilt Progress

Ok, so I am not totally an amateur at quilting. After all, I did make an applique quilt over 30 years ago - that is still with us in a somewhat faded version of itself. But this piece-quilting business is turning out to be a wonderful "learning" experience. And I am quickly finding out all the things that I shouldn't be doing.

Make sure there are only two triangles of fabric when you sew things together. Those extra triangles  can really hide in there and you don't realize till you start to press.

Also, don't try a short cut on your first venture. Save that for when you really know what you are doing. My short cut turned into a very long detour - nearly a road block.

Let's just say with both these lessons, I have spent a lot of time with my seam ripper.

Yesterday, I almost started to giggle when I realized that in quilting, there is a crazy circle that really only makes sense to a quilter or quilt lover.

Buy fabric in large pieces
Cut the fabric into squares
Cut the squares into triangles
            then
Sew the triangles into squares
Sew the squares into strips or larger squares
Sew the strips together to make a quilt sized piece

Really, when you think about it logically, there isn't any. 
 
I am making progress, despite my frequent "back ups". I have over 40 squares made and they are great. I am very happy with the results and with how much I have done. I didn't think that I would have this much time to dedicate to it this week, but a slower work week and rather cool days are making this a perfect project for right now.

Here are a couple of progress snaps (nothing trimmed yet):

The shortcut ended up having the triangles sewn along the long side - wrong!!

Here is a sampling of the squares. I love how the orange pops. It will be a happy quilt.

When I first started putting the triangles together, and then the squares, I was over-thinking the arrangements. I have learned to "trust the fabric" and know that just about every combination looks good. And there is some thought to darks and lights. When I get there, the assembly process will be somewhat random.

Otherwise I will totally go crazy when it comes time to putting it together. Ah, that should be crazy-er!

My Ongoing Summer of Colour

The Beekeeper's Quilt continues to grow, whenever I can grab a bit of time to add "puffs" to it.
Here is where I am to date - this is the side where the knots are tied.

Keeping the colours in a pleasing order is a bit of a challenge. First rule: make sure no two puffs of the same colour are together. Second rule: try not to put solids together (there aren't very many of them, so they need to be "seeded" throughout). Third rule: try to come up with a rule for placement.

After trying several different tacts, including a colour sketch and a bad attempt at mathematical calculations, I have resorted to just trying each puff in a couple of places and then"go for it". Hopefully the "winging it" technique will continue to yield a pleasing arrangement. So much for "rules", but so far I think it is working!!

My second colour exercise last week - a hooking one this time - took me into the dye pot. I did a casserole dye with three formulas for the OHCG Teachers' Challenge Mat I am working on. I decided to put three wools into the pot together - a light beige herringbone, a piece of natural heritage wool with a strong thread weave in it and a piece of natural Dorr.  I used three dyes - orange, red fuchsia and turquoise. Here is what came out of the pot.

The largest piece is the beige herringbone, which took the least amount of dye. The vertical strip to the right of centre is the heritage wool, which took the most and gave a lot of deeper reds with that one beautiful fuchsia spot. The Dorr natural gave the nicest sort of orange areas. The good news is that all three marry nicely and are working well for the intended purpose.

And if two colour exercises weren't enough, I added a third one to the pile. Since I was going to my ma-in-law's for the weekend, with a large fabric store nearby, I decided to put a plan in place for future grandson Jackson's first quilt. I am using the pattern from Purl Bee called "Broken Dishes" which I love because it isn't just a baby quilt - it can be a forever quilt.

The colours are taken from a Pottery Barn quilt and bumper pad set, which my daughter really likes. She will get the bumper pads and some sheets, but she really loves the Purl Bee quilt and was happy to have my offer to make it.

Here was my plan of attack. I used Paintbrush (like Paint, but for Mac) and sampled the colours in the fabric from Pottery Barn, to take the equivalent of a swatch to the store with me.

And here are the fabrics that I ended up with

Laura is very excited about the selection. Luckily, she is like me and doesn't believe in pastel baby colours. So Jackson will have a quilt that may start in the crib, but can follow him along for years to come. 

And I get to continue my summer of colour as I put together all these bright and cheery projects.

Colour at Play

This past weekend, we got together with four other couples at one couple's beautiful new cottage on Kashe Lake, just south of us. They took down the original cottage and built an incredible place on the property they have owned for many years, to make lots of space for their grown children and multiple grandchildren. Having a dozen people there at once is no big deal for them.

The focus on their lifestyle is all about playing, so I created this colourful little piece for them as my hostess gift. It seemed more suitable than a name mat in this particular instance. And red is their accent colour. So I just went to town with bright colours that will appeal to even the youngest "player".

We moved it around the great room looking for a good place to put it while I was there and when I left it was sitting on the right side of the stone hearth of the fireplace. I am sure they will find a perfect spot for it.

This word "play" also factored into the hooking of the piece. I used sari silk, roving, yarn, and wool and hooked everything nice and high. Then I outlined the lettering with sparkly jersey fabric.

When I got home from the weekend of eating, drinking, singing, dancing and generally making merry, I spent some quiet time figuring out how the Beekeeper's Quilt all comes together. And I decided to take a stab at it.

It is surprisingly easy construction - just stitching the points of the hexapuffs together and tying them together, leaving short tails on one side. That is how you can easily take one out if it gets damaged or dirty and put it back in. Like lego.

Here is a start - only 35 puffs in there at the moment. I am already really liking it and it is nice to have a break from the knitting. I love all the colours in there and it's fun choosing which one to place where, without being too anal about it.

Since I have a quilt on the sewing list and lots of little baby things on the knitting one, I had best get motoring on this assembly. But it sure is fun to play in such bright colours.

Challenge Mat Update

For those of your who already have a subscription to Rug Beat you may have already seen the update in the challenge. For those of you who don't, here's the latest on my rug:

A little mix up, due to me thinking I had another couple of weeks (when in fact I was a week late) meant that I scrambled a bit at the end to get something for Candi Derr to include in her update on Rug Beat.

Here is what I sent:

Here is what I said in the update:

As you can see, I have boxed each of the words (or two) and used a different font and treatment for each one. I had originally planned on doing them as word tiles that I could arrange around my studio in any shape I wanted (kind of like giant fridge magnets), but I decided that was just too much finishing, so I grouped them all together.

The fonts that I used mostly came from a website called dafont.com, where you can download fonts for personal use for free or make a donation to the creator. If I were to make this into a pattern, I would pay for each of the fonts used, so as not to infringe on copyright. I love, love, love the "cat font" which is the second HOOK at the bottom right.

I have used all kinds of textures - sari silk, wool slub yarn, roving, sparkly jersey, lots of recycled kilt plaids and 'as is' wools. I did the word "WILL" in proddy after having pretty much decided to do a proddy border - only the top edge us done thus far.

I think this will become the "motto" for the studio. It will hang in a place where everyone can see it.

What did I LOVE about this project? Everything!!

I loved that there were at least 25 patterns in my notebook before I settled on this one.

I loved finding all the fun fonts.

I loved figuring out the relationship between all the words and fonts.

I loved hooking each of the blocks. Once I decided on separating them with the black and white tweed, it sort of gave each tile its own personality and I felt free to "go for it" on all of them. (I may change the second tile "what you", but am going to wait till I am all done the border before making that decision.)

I loved the exercise of trying to create a bit of a colour plan. Using a print of the original design, I played with coloured pencils till I was sure that each of the colours appeared more than once and then went from there. Each tile is like its own little mat and I tried to do one each morning, but not in any order. Sometimes I would just get the actual words done and then save the backgrounds for later.

I love doing the proddy border. It is so much fun and is the best way to bring all the colours from inside the mat to the edge.

Here are a few close ups of the different "word blocks".

Sari Silk lettering, recycled kilts

Roving, yarn and recycled wool

Slub sky and wool letters

Random plus signs - all wool

Sari Silk lettering

Proddy lettering

Feels like the 60's doesn't it?

Glitter lettering, yarn and recycled skirt wool

Cat font- what else can I say.

It really was a fun, fun project. I learned something from every single block. So it was definitely a Challenge - even for the Challenger.

Definitely Brag Worthy.

I received an amazing "photo to mat" mat on Thursday. This came from someone who took the workshop, did her first mat, but has done this second one all on her own.  I asked for permission to brag about it - on her behalf - and she said yes.

It's awesome. See for yourself.

This is the photo.

This is the mat.

She has totally captured the image - in fact she has improved it. The cropping in the mat is better without the dead centre paddlers. The dog is absolutely adorable - the face without a face is totally working. And I love the shorts and the movement in the water. So great!!!!

The lucky recipient of this mat was getting it this past weekend. I am pretty sure she will be absolutely beside herself - I know I would.

And I feel pretty confident in saying there will be a few more lucky friends in this gal's life who will get that special once-in-a-lifetime present. 

Word Up

Well, Canada Day weekend came and went, with ho hum weather that really didn't encourage me to go "in" the water. I did get "on" the water on the paddle board and the pedal boat, but it was never warm enough for me to submerge.

Both offspring were here, daughter with future son-in-law and son with two other large meat-eating friends. So much food was consumed and I am pretty sure the Beer Store saw a little spike thanks to the folks at 319.

While people were sleeping in, I snuck down to the studio and did a little bit of hooking. Funny - every project that I was working on involved "words". For some, the words/letters are the entire design, for others only part, but it seems to be all I have been doing for the last little while.

I love words - having made my livelihood with them. I love fonts. I love lettering - and I am learning to love hooking them. It's something that some folks find intimidating, but I think it's like handwriting - practice makes perfect.

Here are a few of the words of the weekend:

This is the centre of my primitive mat inspired by my class at Loyalist.

A little hostess gift, which I hope the 'hostess' is not seeing ahead of time.

One of the words in my challenge mat from Rug Beat.

Lots more words left to go on the challenge mat - and lots more hooking on the Prim mat, but it is fun moving from project to project and font to font. I will definitely be adding a "words" class to my teaching portfolio.

Prim but Not Proper

I am still unpacking from my Primitive Class at Loyalist last week. It was 4 wonderful days with a class of exceptional students. They truly made the experience for me, and I thank them once again for making me feel so welcome and so special.

My take on this Primitive Class (hence the clever title) was Primitives with a Technology Twist. We shared all the wonderful resources that are out there on the internet to help create a one-of-a-kind primitive rug. Since rug hooking has evolved, as have the fabrics we would "up-cycle" today, these have their own distinct personalities, adapting the primitive style.

I took pictures of each of the students and their project. The pictures are not the best quality of the rugs. For better ones, please go and visit Christine's blog. Hers are taken with a really good camera and totally highlight the rug, not the creator.

Here are my stellar students:

Cindy with her little Irish cottage with mossy roof.

Carol with her moose runner, close to my heart.

Deborah with her Maude Lewis design.

Christine with her not-so-primitive "selfie" in contemporary "as is" fibers.

Mary Anne with "Iggy" the adorable piggy.

Jane with her bird with the amazing background.

Maribeth with her gorgeous goldfish.

Harley with his moose. This was his first class.

Nancy with her husband as a boy being chased by a goose and rescued by a pig.

During the 4 days, we also did some "onion skin dyeing" and some "marrying and marbleizing", so I decided to create a little mat out of all the wool that we created. That is where I came up with the title
'Prim but not Proper' and put it in the design. I also have included a motif from the 9 projects that were under way.

Here is the pattern, for which I will share progress shots.

I can't wait to share pictures of these student projects completed as well. It was fun designing and studying the Primitive Rug fundamentals - and then adapting them where we saw fit. I am sure a few of the purists might think it is not good to "stray from the basics".  But we sure had fun doing it.

Fun with Fonts.

Every time I do a class, I try to come up with a coordinating idea for name tags. I think they are not only fun, but important - for my "short term" challenged brain and for the students, who may or may not all know one another.

In keeping with my upcoming class, which is Primitives, I decided to make somewhat primitive tags. With a little something extra. I printed out the names on printable fabric - in my new favourite font "sunshine poppy" - and then ironed them on to some "upcycled" wool.

Then, I made a little wool sandwich with black wool and blanket stitched around the outside, stuffing some dried lavender in at the end. I added a button to each one from my button jars and tied some hemp string around the button, so it can be worn lanyard-style.

Here's a close up of mine - the prototype with too light floss - and a tad blurry.

And here is the group shot - with the hemp string tied around them.

I was very happy to come up with a practical idea for the lavender, which I dried and saved in the garage for "someday". I will do some plain ones with the rest of it when this is all over. (The blank is in case someone shows up at the last minute.)

And this project was not the only fun with fonts I was having in the last while. In deciding on a design for my "challenge" mat for Rug Beat, I spent far too long on a great website called dafont
It is a website where font designers put their wares on display. They are available for free download for "personal use" - or you can make a donation. (Note to self: go back and do that.)

Be warned, this place is incredible and you can get stuck there for a LONG time. I had so much fun looking at so many fonts. Can you believe there is such a thing as a "cat font". Yep, there is indeedy - and I used it in my "challenge" mat. Here is a little sneak peek:

I was grinning like the proverbial Cheshire you-know-what the whole time I was hooking this. Hopefully, you don't have to look too hard to see the fonty felines. Hint: in the O's, the head is on the left and the front paws and tail complete the circle.

It is an incredible resource for rug hookers who use words in their mats and don't have great "penmanship" LOL.

When you have some time to spare, go and and have some font fun yourself.

A Busy Past Few Weeks

That is my excuse for my absence. Not an original one, but an honest one.

First there was the Annual in Kingston, which was great. Every year has its own little quirks and this one was no different. We stayed in an older conference centre that has been updated and was quite good from an accommodations point of view.

The rug show was excellent, though my pictures from my iphone do not support that statement. I am very disappointed. I wonder if it was because I only got to see the show on Sunday when it was open to the public and I was constantly zigging and zagging around other viewers? Or just bad photos.

At any rate, I  had a definite favourite rug and a picture that is good enough to share. It did not win an award, but it was definitely a crowd favourite!!

Isn't it delightful? It was hooked by a member of London Ontario's Simply Hooked branch and is called "For Lynette". It is a compilation of her children's artwork - Jacob, Kate and William. I love every single thing in the rug, from the colours to the borders. It is the kind of piece that would make you smile no matter how many times you looked at it.

Since I am preparing for a Primitive class at the end of the month, my head is definitely in that space right now and perhaps that is why I adored this so much. I have to go through my kids' artwork and see what I can come up with.

The Primitive lesson planning is also seeping into a "challenge mat" that I have to design for Rug Beat. They published an article I wrote on the Challenges in a Challenge - and asked me to come up with one to go with the article. Obviously, I will have to participate in my own challenge, so I have a few ideas in mind - one being a Primitive treatment and one being anything BUT.  If you want to see what the challenge is, click your way over to Rug Beat.

My other incredible news is that I am going to be a "Grand" - before the end of the year. This is very exciting for Rick and I and for Laura (daughter) and her partner Kris. It all happened a little faster than they were planning, but it was definitely planned. What a wonderful Christmas it will be.

So now all those hexipuffs have a definite purpose and a "due date" lol.  And I can see a lot of hooking, knitting, quilting projects over the next several weeks, months, years.

This is definitely a club in which I am happy to become a member.