Jewel - And Why I Would Make a Bad Influencer

Jewel

53” x 75” (ish)

She lives her life a little haphazadly. She will come into a room and leave a flurry of herself behind. You are happy she was there, but a tiny bit frustrated by the mess she perpetually leaves behind (literally and figuratively). She sure is a joy! Funny and chatty and she gives the best hugs.

Long before there were influencers, many of us were just called bloggers. In fact, I can remember going to Quilt Market in the early 2010s and feeling the disdain from companies when you told them you were a Blogger. We had a reputation, for sure, that fed the negative stereotype of what we call an Influencer now. But I learned back then that I would suck at the job and this quilt proves it.

Shortly after my first book, Sunday Morning Quilts, came out, I learned that Jennifer Sampou was married to the CEO of CT Publishing, my publisher. After discovering this at Quilt Market I did not hesitate to fan girl with her because she was the first fabric designer that I remember noting. Before her fabric in the late 90s, early 2000s, I only noticed the fabric, not the designer. So there I am gushing about this little daisy print I used on my very first quilt (and many more subsequently) and she tells me she is relaunching as a fabric designer and would love to send me some fabric to play with. And she did!

This was back in 2013. 2013.

I did play with it a little and then put it all in the closet and forgot about it. I found it in the studio move and pulled it out 6 months ago again. So twelve years later I actually used it and finished a quilt with it. Twelve years. This is why I stopped calling myself a Blogger all those years ago and why I can’t accurately call myself an Influencer now.

My initial play paired some cuts from a jelly roll or two with a background fabric. I made some components and did not make more for over a decade. When I rediscovered all of it I found all the fabric too. It wasn’t hard at all to finish off the top. Just a few hours of sewing, really. Then I used a bunch of the fabric to piece a wild backing.

(Funnily enough, I clearly liked some of the fabrics because I have bigger pieces in my stash and know I’ve used some of these same prints multiple times, yet I never touched all of this fabric!)

An invitation came to donate another quilt to a tapahtêyimôkamik elder. After meeting her I knew this particular set would be a perfect fit for her. It also made the choice of the rainbow variegated thread for quilting so much better. I quilted her on a rented long arm.

The binding was made from some leftover pieces of the jellyroll. They are already 2.5” wide afterall! And then I didn’t need to pick anything specific for the frame of the quilt.

I still have a lot of the fat quarters from 2013 left. I don’t know if this will influence you or not to buy Jennifer’s fabric, but I know many of those prints are still available in some stores, not to mention her gorgeous ombres. but it’s safe to say it’s been this long since I got or shared any free fabric!

A Notan Inspired Quilt Top

Have you heard of Notan? I know it as a Japanese paper cutting art form where the positive and negative space, or the light and dark aspects mirror each other. There are more in depth or different interpretations but they all come down to the interplay between the light and dark. I love it all.

In the early spring I’d finished two scrap quilts full of riotous colour. I decided I NEEDED to try out an idea that popped in my head. Just a couple of blocks, no expectations. Some hand applique, creative cutting, and only black and white fabric. I was thinking about Notan and how the concepts could be applied to fabric. So I grabbed two rectangles of fabric, one black and one white, and I cut them. And immediately I knew my idea did not work. At least not without some additional layers for success.

In the Notan of my inspiration you take one piece of paper, the black, let’s say. And you cut it. You then get the design of the black ON the white, with the white showcasing the design. On one side it will look like a white design with a black background and the other side will look like a black design on a white background, but the designs are the same/mirrored. And you only cut one of the papers, the light or the dark. This concept is absolutely doable in fabric too - with one cut only - provided you either have raw edges or do not factor in seam allowances.

In my interpretation I cut through the black and white fabrics at the same time. This is because if I only did one cut and then tried to mirror the pieces with applique the seam allowances would change things enough that it wouldn’t look like a mirror. In more detail, let’s say I cut a triangle from a rectangle of black. I appliqué the triangle itself on another white rectangle. The triangle gets smaller because I’ve turned under the edges for the needle turn applique. But I want a mirror piece so I then take the remaining square of black that has the triangle cut out of it and applique it on another square of white (one with the same outside dimensions as the square of black). Now the opening of the cut triangle becomes bigger because, again, seam allowances. So the two white triangles do not end up the same size. In the end, then, I would cut through a black and white fabric at the same time, plus cut additional background fabrics (two white and two black) so that I ended up with four blocks, or two mirrored sets. The way that I solved the problem of the different seam allowances was that I mirrored the blocks that had the center portions of the cut blocks in one set and mirrored the background appliqués in the other set.

This is the background cut piece (the white) appliquéd on to a piece of black. Think of it like reverse applique.

This is the coordinating cut center from the above white appliquéd on to a piece of black.

So these two blocks would NOT be paired together because the seam allowances would distort the Notan effect. I paired them with their coordinating cut with the black appliqués.

Clear as mud?

After I made my realizations and made the first sets of blocks it was clear that I wanted to make more. And more. It took a little planning to make the sizes work because I had cut my first blocks in a rather random and odd size (12.5” x 20.5”). To be honest, it took a lot more planning than I am used to! In the end, however, it came together with just the right amount of fabric before I ran out.

It is not a representation of the art of Notan, but I think the inspiration definitely shows. Now to figure out how I want to quilt it.

Fall Frost Obsession

About this time last year I saw a block pop up on Instagram. It was part of a sew along and I was immediately transfixed. Did I want to participate in the sew along? Sorry, no, not for me. But I could not get the block out of my mind. Luckily, the pattern for each block in the sew along was for sale individually.

This is the Fall Frost block designed by Heck Yes Sew.

I made one block - it took me hours - and set it aside, thinking I’d satisfied my craving. But it lurked in the corner of my creativity for months, haunting me. I had enough of the fabric I first used for background to make another block, so I did.

Then I realized that I wanted to make a whole quilt. That began a search for more of the background fabric. Alas, I wasn’t able to find much of it, but I did find similar colours. Being an improv quilter, however, meant that it was easy enough to come up with a new plan. Improv is, after all, about starting without knowing where you are going to end up. So I channelled my inner Tim Gunn to “make it work”. I’m still a bit short of one of the colours, now that I’ve gotten this far, but it is getting sorted.

This whole thing is out of my norm, my comfort zone. All that precision piecing, such a dark background, big expanses of a single colour. Frankly, it’s rather perfect for me right now so I couldn’t be happier.

It is the peak of fall colours here right now, and the weather is making a swift change this week. I don’t know when we’ll see snow, but it would be great to get this done in time to enjoy in the upcoming season.

Quilted Baba Update

Confession: I had a hard time working on this project over the last year. The reasons are many and varied.

First, moving to the studio a year ago meant my Morning Make routine was upended. I only do handwork or writing at home now, for Morning Make. Then, when I arrive at the studio things aren’t always so smooth. At the beginning, my son was coming with me so he could do school online. I didn’t feel comfortable having the machine going while he was doing school so he had a fighting chance at concentration. Then, because the studio is attached to our company offices, I was often pulled into work work stuff. In the end, I struggled to find the dedicated time to work on these blocks.

Second, this is boring and repetitive sewing. Tiny Xs, squared up to 1.5” x 1.5”. There are 100 in each block and the whole quilt requires 81 blocks. A girl can only do so much before it drives her to madness. And, let’s be honest, it’s a short drive these days as I struggle through perimenopause.

All that being said, I have no doubt that I will finish the quilt. It's too important to me not to.

In the last month I’ve pulled it back out. My son is finally back in school full time, so that barrier is removed. I also have my own means of transportation again, which means my mornings are no longer heavily influenced by my husband’s schedule. So I can come in when I want and sew before anyone knows I am here, minimizing the company interruptions in the morning. It’s not perfect, but I am getting more consistency.

One stitch at a time, one stitch at a time.

I usually make 10-20 little squares each day. Then it takes a few hours to put an entire block together, mostly because of all the pressing! One day, when I know I have the time, I will try to make a block from start to finish and time myself. If only to satisfy my curiosity.

The truth is, there is no need to put pressure on myself. This was never going to be a fast project, there is way too much piecing for that to happen! This is about persistence, not patience.