Self Portrait - Making Faces With Melissa Averinos

Using air quotes in print infuriates me. (So does asterisks around an action to indicate action, but that is another story.) That being said, I almost put them around the words Self Portrait in the title. My eyes aren't really that colour nor are they that pretty. The fabric selection implies I wear eyeliner or mascara and I rarely wear either. My eyebrows are not grey. I do have pretty lips though.

Being real isn't the point here. It looks like a pretty good face, doesn't it?

I made this face in class with Melissa Averinos at QuiltCon in February. Having been totally taken with her face quilt at last year's QuiltCon this class was my top choice when registration opened. I was not disappointed.

Melissa spent a lot of time in the class teaching us the structure of the face. She started with having us draw a face, then breaking down components and proportion. Totally eye opening! I've never had any drawing training like this. It meant that even if we got figurative with features, it would still be very recognizable as a face. Now, I want to make all the faces!

It isn't for me to share Melissa's exact technique - she does teach this class for a living - but I can say that it was incredible easy to execute. Not to mention, fun!

So far I've only done the quilting on this - simple matchstick quilting. I'm not sure if I will bind it the traditional way or get creative with framing. Time will tell. 

My kids say that this mini quilt is creepy. I'll take that as a compliment, a testament to the skills Melissa taught me about making eyes. And they need to get over that because I think it would be fantastic to do portraits of the whole family. 

How Sunday Morning Quilts Changed My Life

My life changed in a lame but spectacular ski accident. I went tumbling after my ski likely hit a rock hidden in fresh powder. Initially, I heard the injuries more than felt them. Although I managed to get up and put my skis back on, one push off and I was back on the ground again. Then down the hill, full of shame and frustration, in the ski patrol sled. The romantic weekend my husband and I planned lost in hospital visits, wheelchairs, and pain medication. The year we thought we would have lost in reduced mobility and independence, physical therapy, and a change in the parenting dynamic.

I wouldn't change a thing about it.

That time sitting around, facing my frustrations about so many things, brought me here. It was during that time that I first spoke to Amanda Jean, that I contemplated a career change seriously. It was during that time that I decided to pursue a long held dream to write a book.

You see, I was a kid who loved to write stories. With my own kids now I think that is an instinct that disappears over time (with criticism and other outside influences). I, however, never wanted to stop. I went to journalism school, but transferred out. I wrote when I could but never with focus or intention. In the few years before my fall I'd been annoyed at work, missing something more meaningful in my professional life. I fought it because I was doing what should have been a dream job for my education. Plus, it felt like I'd only just paid off my student loans from grad school. I thought I owed it to myself to make something of it. But I had started writing on the side again - here on the blog and with a fledgling freelance career - and I wanted to do more. 

Those first conversations with Amanda Jean - over email and then on the phone like teenage girls - were the start of something amazing. Not only can I still call her a wonderful, dear friend, they started me on a professional path I never imagined and do not want to get off of.

Image from Sunday Morning Quilts by C&T Publishing.

I wrote the book in bed or in a tiny desk stuffed in a closet or at IKEA while taking advantage of the playroom. I learned to work to the soundtrack of PBS Kids. I did indeed take over the dining room table as I made all my quilts in the book. It was messy, chaotic, stressful, and awesome.

The day I truly started working on the book was also the day I started as a stay at home mom, having quit my policy job because our family could no longer survive with both of us working full-time. It also coincided with my husband leaving for more or less 3 months. While writing the book I had two miscarriages as well. I remember sitting in the hospital, binding one of the book quilts while waiting for a D&C.  Let's just say it was a stressful, rocky time for everyone. 

At the same time my Dad was dying. We had tears over the phone, stressful trips to see him and help, then there was me trying to meet my deadline as he was moved to Palliative Care. I still remember the day we met the final deadline and he seeing him look proud of me. He wasn't one for sharing love, but I could feel some that day.  

The book was finished and there was nothing to do but wait for it to come out. Our family life started to smooth out a little. And I even started working on the next book. I got pregnant and this time it stuck. 

Four years ago this month and a little over two years after that fall on the slopes Sunday Morning Quilts was published. Four years ago my son was born. If you are a long time reader here you might remember that we even had a little bet going on which would come first - the baby or the book? For the record, the book arrived at people's doorsteps and shops about a week or so before my little guy did.

As a mother my world blew up with his entrance to the world and our family. He's a delightful, (mostly) boy with more energy than a nuclear bomb. We worried about the age gap between he and the girls (6 and 4 years) but he's shown us that it doesn't matter one lick as he throws himself, full speed ahead into everything. I love him even when his pouting infuriates me or his tantrums last all day. I do wish he would stop talking sometimes, but he is his mother's child...

As a quilter, my world is totally different since Sunday Morning Quilts dropped. I wrote the book for two main reasons. One, I wanted to write a book and both Amanda Jean and I felt we had something to contribute to the market. And two, I wanted to teach and expected the book to be a good springboard to that. I never, ever could have anticipated what my life looks like now. 

Recently, I wrote a list of all the places I've travelled to teach or speak about quilting. Outside of local gigs, I've been to nearly twenty communities. In one year I hit all three oceans that Canada touches. In rooms of ten or over 100 I get to talk about my quilts, my approach to making. I've filmed five online classes too. This blows my mind. And I could totally do more, I want to do more.

Have you seen my other two books? A Month of Sundays came to be because the quilt, Sunday Morning, proved so popular and inspiring. You Inspire Me To Quilt is my most recent, less than a year old, and all about the design process and making quilts for loved ones. These books wouldn't exist without Sunday Morning Quilts because I never would called myself a writer and actually sat down to pitch, write, and develop my voice in quilt books.

Then there is the unexpected benefit of writing books and designing patterns - people make quilts! I say unexpected because it isn't what I went into this for, to have people be inspired enough to make. But wow, that is the best part! To know that your work, whether words or technique or designs, get people sewing is fantastic and now the part that feeds me. It's one thing to buy a book because it is pretty or because you like the looks of a project or two, it is another to be so inspired that you actually get your butt in the seat and sew. That my little books can do that for people rocks my world.

In all honesty, it is that last part that keeps me going. I'm not going to lie, I have rough days. Those days are filled with doubt and I question whether I should be doing this - for my sake, for my family's sake, and whether anyone would notice if I stopped. Then someone sends me an email or I get tagged in a photo of a quilt they made inspired by my work. That old adage that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery isn't quite true in this case because I am putting the designs out there for you to make, but it still counts in my book. Kind words and flattery will get you everywhere with me! 

So I keep writing, playing with genres. I keep designing, publishing in books and magazines. I definitely keep teaching, always striving to inspire. I certainly wouldn't still be doing it without the support of everyone out there, all you quilters making quilts. I wouldn't be doing any of it without that fateful day on the slopes. 

And now, I have a fancy carbon fibre brace for my knee and I'm back on the slopes with the family, all five of us.

The Splendid Sampler - First 10 Blocks

In all honesty, I am shocked that I am here. Ten blocks into a 100 block sampler and I'm actually on track and still making blocks. This is made all the more shocking by three things:

• Embroidery
• Small, precise piecing
• Block styles that are so not my norm

That's the exciting part though. It may be work and a challenge for me, but that is exactly why I am doing it. We all need a push out of the comfort zone sometimes. And there is no improv in this sampler, as far as I can tell, until my block. (And that is only a tiny amount as it is.)

I nearly gave up. If it wasn't the 1'' squares it was the embroidery. So not my world. And I have a lot to learn about both of these skills. Then there is probably someone else in the group incredibly comfortable with these and freaking out over applique or getting precise points. I forged through and so can you.

At the beginning of The Splendid Sampler I know there was a lot of stress about fabrics. I ended up raiding my scraps bins. You need little pieces of everything so it is perfect for scraps. Now that I am this far in I think I will end up in stash for the black and whites. I also think I am going to change colours now. Maybe make a change every 10 blocks. That should help keep my interest up and perhaps make a tiny dent in the scrap bin. Besides, I've never really made a rainbow quilt.

Even 10 blocks in I see so much potential in the designs. So many of these blocks could be made many times over for really interesting quilts. The patterns are worth it for that inspiration alone! If you are following along on Facebook or Instagram it is incredible to see the difference fabric makes in the blocks. Some people are getting a bit creative with their interpretations, but I really like the blocks that allow some personality to seep in while still respecting the original design. 

If you aren't up to speed on The Splendid Sampler, make sure to check out the website. 100 free block patterns over the course of a year! Eventually, the blocks will be put into a book format by our fearless leaders Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson. If I continue to keep up my blocks will eventually make it into a quilt.

A Year of Garment Sewing - 13 Things I've Learned.

This represents a year of garment sewing. (Minus one sweatshirt and two skirts hanging in other people's closets.) I am suitably impressed with myself.

A year ago I tried making a Linden sweatshirt, then another, and another. I made one more a few months ago. Two years ago I still would have said that I will never sew clothes. Now I have a collection of patterns in the To Make pile and I stash garment fabric. I hardly know myself!

Yet, I am so drawn to garment sewing. I know why, too. This has become my hobby. In order to avoid complete burnout with quilting being my career I needed another outlet. I'm not so keen on other crafts with a small house and limited time. Plus, I really, really like my sewing room. Sure, I could, and do, read in there. But sewing is what I really want to do. If quilting is just too much that day I pull out my tracing paper and already prewashed garment fabric. They are relatively quick finishes compared to quilts, another bonus. Finally, making a garment is a palette cleanser for me. A reward when I finish a quilt, a quick project between big quilts, something to take advantage of a clean cutting table before I mess it up again.

In this past year I've learned a few things about garment sewing.

• When you are told to use a rayon or poly thread, use it. I had the quilting mindset and was all cotton all the way. But cotton thread has little give and ripped seams in my knits are the results. I've remade one sweatshirt and rehemmed a few others.
• Make a muslin or test piece. It helps with fit and to work out any confusion that might come with construction. I've been making mine out of solid cottons when the pattern calls for a woven - they are generally cheaper and I can resuse them back for quilt scraps. I make wearables with the knits, knowing I can donate it if it doesn't work out for me.
• Yet, there are times when you make something and it looks great, but it just isn't you. 
• Adjusting a pattern isn't that big of a deal.
• Spend the money on tracing paper. I always trace my patterns instead of cutting the original. It is easier to make changes and then make multiple sizes, if necessary. Like if your best friend asks really nicely for a sweatshirt.
• Storing the patterns after tracing is a pain. So too when you print a PDF pattern. I've taken to saving paper towel and gift wrap tubes and storing patterns in those.
• A serger would make my life so much easier, but I really don't know where I would put it. I might have to figure out that detail though.
• Just because the pattern is popular doesn't mean it will be right for you, for your body. And that's totally okay. If you aren't sure, hit the mall and try on something in a similar style. Then determine if the style works and/or if you could adjust the pattern for yourself.
• Voile, once washed and sewn in a garment does not drape as I expected.
• It will almost always take longer than you thought it would.
• Unless you have the most basic of sewing machines, there are a lot of stitches on your machine that are your friend. Discovering the blind hem stitch and how to use it was a game changer for me, for example.
• Nearly every independent pattern I've used has extensive resources online. Maybe not from the designer themselves, but a google search will pull up blogs, reviews, and tutorials that can help you with your sewing.
• Garment sewing is not nearly as scary as I remembered from my Home Ec days.

Here is what I have made this past year. When I hung them all together like this I was shocked. I didn't realize I had made this much!

• Five Grainline Studios Linden Sweatshirts, one in double gauze and one where I played with the sleeves.
• One Liesl and Co. Everyday Skirt in Cotton and Steel rayon challis.
• Two t-shirts that I copied from an old favourite.
• Two April Rhodes Staple dresses, one cut to a tunic length (but they definitely need belts when I wear them).
• One True Bias Sutton Blouse. A great pattern, but I'm not sure the voile I chose was the right material, or maybe it is the cut on me?
• One Sew House Seven Bridgetown Backless. I love this, but from the front I look like a linebacker. Again, voile might not have been the right material choice.
• Two skirts from Modern Style for Girls by Mary Abreau that my daughters love to twirl about in. 

There is a stack of fabric and patterns waiting for more of my time. I wish I could tackle the pants I want to make for the kids, the linen pants for me, a skirt out of Liberty, find the right pattern for the silk/cotton I recently picked up... The list goes on. And I'm pretty excited about that.