Now What?

I have my Hubby to thank for getting some quilting done this week.  No, he didn't magically win the lottery so I could quit working, nor did he take the girls out every evening so I had no interruptions.  But he had a busy week at work, so he was too bagged at the end of the day to do much work on the fence.  That meant I didn't have to work on the fence.  As much as I would love a fence, I really appreciated the quilting time.

With The Monster's birthday behind us we had a bit of breathing room this week, beyond the yard work.  So I actually got to sew during naptime today (I don't work on Fridays).  I got all the strips sewn for the water quilt.  Well, I say that they are done, but I'm not sure of that yet. I've got all these strips, now what?

Just to get an idea of the potential size of the finished quilt I laid them out on the grass in the park across the street.  Eyeballing it I would call this a large lap size at this point.  Maybe 60 inches square, depending on layout, or even up to twin sized.  The layout above with very random and done without any thought.  But it does make me happier with the project overall. It has the general feel I wanted.  I think it will come together into something interesting.

My next few posts are going to be photos of potential layouts.  I would appreciate any opinions or input.  I'm sure I'll have more stuff to piece and bits to cut out along the way.  And I have a few ideas for how it could all come together, but we'll have to see.  In the meantime, the grass across the street will be decked out in fabric.  I've got no design wall currently so that is the only place I can spread things out to see.  Let's hope there is no wind or rain in the coming days. Oh wait, if there is no wind or rain I'm on fence duty.  Crap.  Quilt or finish my fence and get a yard again? Rock, meet the hard place.  

Isn't this a cool photo?  A grass-eyed view of the quilt.

I Used to Quilt

This about says it all.  A bunch of strips sewn together and just sitting there.  Just sitting there.

Phew, this was an exhausting week.  Work was hell.  The only thing getting me through the week was the promise of a drink with an old friend.   We haven't seen each other in over a year and in two short hours reconnected. Beyond work I had some heavy deadlines for Quilt Canada, I donated blood, and had to pull off a picnic for over 30 for The Monster's birthday this weekend.  Needless to say, I didn't get a lot of quilting done.

This water quilt is a work about process.  That is, I don't have a final design in mind.  A general idea of what it might look like, yes, but no final picture.  I've been sewing strips together in varying thicknesses and lengths.  At some point I'll lay them out and see how they look.  It could be complete crap for all I know.  So far, however, I do like the combination of fabrics.  It is soft at points and bold at others.  Serene, but a bit wild.  A bit like the ocean and only kind of like me.

Here's hoping that once I recover from the fact that my Monster is three (or rather, that I've been a mother for three years) and get the invitations out for my sister's baby shower and help Hubby build a fence and lay sod, then I can get more quilting done.  

Water, Water Everywhere

Did you know that today is United Nations World Oceans Day? While it is against the laws of nature to make a quilt of water and fish - and would be kind of gross even if you could - I am starting a quilt inspired by water.

This is the first pull for that quilt. To be honest, I got the idea when I did the pull for my Key Lime Pie quilt. I just loved the looks of the greens with blues that I used for the limes. Still on the high from the memories of Baja these fabrics jumped out of the stash and begged to be sewn together.

As I said, this was the first pull. I always have that initial rush of fabric delight and pull everything out that my conceivably work with the colourful notion in my head. When designing heads prevail I weed out about a third. Then, as I cut, more gets culled from the pile and maybe some other ones get added in. It would be different if I started out with a specific pattern in mind. Because for me quilting if often about process rather than final design, the fabric choices are dynamic and continually evolving.

I'm curious to see where this one takes me.

Off to the Races

If you're here for the Sew Mama Sew giveaway, welcome. The giveaway is in the previous post. In the meantime, enjoy my latest quilt: Wednesday Night Races.

This is my Project Improv quilt. I pieced it entirely from scraps and stash, and sadly barely made a dent in my stash. The blocks are all triangles, pieced like wonky log cabins. I've said it before, it was a challenge to piece the top together and I couldn't avoid a few inset seams, but it worked out well. The whole thing squared up nicely too. (I know it doesn't seem like it in the photo, but it was a breezy day.)

The name came to me after I shared the photo of the top with the Project Improv Flickr group. A couple of people mentioned that it reminded them of flags at a marina. Back in my university days I would join some friends for the Wednesday Night Races at one of the sailing clubs in Halifax. It was an exhilerating, raucous, and slightly scary event for this Prairie gal. My friend did his best to scare the crap out of me, but I always came back. That wasn't entirely the experience with this quilt, but I liked the memory and decided to pay homage with the naming of the quilt.

The entire quilt is quilted with straight lines. I started following one triangle and went around and around it. This I repeated across the quilt with triangles of different sizes and filled in spaces with lines. Very bold. For thread I used a Mettler silk finish 100% cotton, my latest favourite for quilting, in three shades of yellow. White seemed too stark on the coloured parts, but I didn't want something too dark on the white parts. The yellow was perfect.

Sure, I could have used a multi-pieced binding, but because the quilt isn't that large (slightly larger than crib, but I can't remember the exact measurements right now) I thought a single binding would provide a bit of rest to the eye. I picked up a few pieces of Katie Jump Rope and Flea Market Fancy in a sales rack a few weeks ago and the green was perfect.

We had to take pictures in the park across the street from our house because we currently have no front steps. The Monster was quite keen on holding the quilt herself for me to take a picture. How could I say no?

Wednesday Night Races, along with this quilt, this one, and one more I have to share with you are headed to a show this weekend. My first quilt show! No, not just my quilts, let's not get too excited. But it is the first time I've shared my quilts in public, other than through the blog. If you are in the Calgary area please stop my Heritage Park Festival of Quilts for the show. They hang hundreds of quilts throughout the historic park - on buildings, fences, clotheslines, and in some of the old houses. It is quite the sight, really. I'll post some pics next week.