Pressing Issues

Some people think in the shower, others on a long walk. Some like to talk it out with a friend or partner. Some others like to turtle under and not think about things. Me? I iron.

Truth be told, I don't like to iron my clothes. My sister and I had this as one of our chores when we were growing up. My mom made us iron all the t-shirts too. Our clothes looked great, even if they smelled like smoke. Now I iron clothes only when necessary.

But pressing a quilt top or readying a back for basting is my go-to task when I have something to sort out in my brain. Whether it be bringing swirling ideas together or planning a difficult conversation, the repetitive nature of pressing, with accompanying steam facial is the means by which I can often formulate my thoughts.

I've got a lot to sort through this week, anyone want to bring some blocks over?

Cataloguing the Scraps

So I designed a quilt. It uses 36 fat quarters but there are some leftovers and scraps. Such pretty scraps. I know people hate to see waste and overly generous yardage requirements in patterns. I do too. When I made the quilt I made a point to keep and organize all the scraps. Here they are.

They could combine to do some really fun and beautiful things. Instead of using the extra blocks on the back I kept them aside and they will be used in a baby quilt. There are all those circles cut from the back of larger circles appliqués. They could be another small quilt if appliquéd on a background. Then there are strips and snippets and trimmings. The fabrics are this Vanity Fair bundle from Dear Stella plus a lot of additions from my stash. All pretty. All useful.

Oh the possibilities!

When the pattern comes out in the Spring issue of Quilter's Connection we can talk more about the scraps - how they came to be and what I may have even done with them by then.

Alturas Applique

With all due credit to Carolyn Friedlander and Sarah Fielke I must admit to a new addition: hand appliqué. Okay, so it is only in the early stages, but boy do I like it.

Yes, I have a hand quilting project on the go. And a hand piecing project (which I'm really going to wrap up as soon as I can find the first chunk of sewing I did). But over the winter break neither of these were getting me all that excited. I was looking for something to keep me busy as I kept Hubby company at the end of the day while he watched endless episodes of Top Gear and Patrick Dempsy: Le Mans.

You know my aversion to patterns, but I didn't have the brain power to be creative in this instance. Besides, I had Carolyn's appliqué patterns and they are just so cool. So I decided to keep it simple and go with the block based pattern Alturas. Fuel to the addiction for sure.

That being said, I'm not sure I have it in me to make a full size quilt of hand appliquéd blocks. Right now I am committing to nine of them and then we'll see what happens.

Never Gets Old

One would think that after writing the book and making the quilts, after all the Just One Slab blocks, after teaching the class almost a dozen times this year, that after all that I would be tired of making slabs. Nope, not at all.

Perhaps slabs are my default sewing? When in doubt make a slab!

Actually, that is a lesson I teach my students. That once you have the basic technique down it is perfect for when you just need to sew something, anything. If the fabric is there then there is no prep work needed. If you only have a few minutes you can work up a block without even thinking. If the day sucked and your brain hurts you can still sew and not stress about perfection.

Then there are the possibilities! Slabs as blocks, as fabric for making other blocks and more blocks, as background, as the whole quilt... I feel it is impossible to get burnt out on the technique or the possibilities. Maybe you are tired of seeing slabs from me? If you are, then oh well, because I will keep making them.

That mess up there in the top photo? That's what happens when a toddler who has to get into EVERYTHING finds your scrap baskets (also made from slabs) and you let him go to town because it gets you ten minutes of writing. What can I say, though, the boy has good taste. The mess sat there for a few days, taunting me with all the lovely colours. I was head down on a deadline but finally couldn't resist. I figured that if I randomly grabbed fabric and used them as leaders and enders I wasn't technically starting anything new. Whatever we have to tell ourselves.

Pink, orange, yellow, and grey. So loverly and so many possibilities.