Workshop in Progress - May 26

In the Workshop this week, for me, is nothing but doll quilts.  I accepted an order from Bamboletta a while back.  Now that my Dad's quilt is finished I can tackle those. I must admit, it is nice to work on a small scale for the moment. Odd, I know, considering I love big quilts.

Also on the design board is a new Flickr group for the Workshop. I had a few requests, particularly from folks who use Flickr more than anything to share their work, to open this up to Flickr.  Feel free to post in the group as well. Like all workshop posts, the Flickr group is for sharing process and seeking the input of others.

So many folks out there are taking the notion of sharing Process to heart. We could call this Workshop in Progress/Process.  Same thing, really. I am very happy to see more and more folks participating, and sharing openly and honestly. This post from Andrea is a perfect example. In it she opens up her sketchbook and shares a number of concepts. This requires a certain amount of bravery, but I adore her for for doing it. And she has some wicked ideas!

Tonya at Maggie and Josephine has also taken the Process Pledge to heart.  This week she shares a new baby quilt she has on the go.  Very sweet.

And a finished quilt to share today as well. Lesly has been using the Workshop for opinions on her neutral quilt.  Well, she has finally revealed it. Oh my, what a finish!  I'm glad she listened to the Workshop (gee, when I say it that way it sounds like I'm referring to it like it's the Borg) and went with that cross hatch sashing.

To view more process related posts, don't forget to check out all the pledge participants here.

Roots

Roots

May 2010

Approximately Twin Sized

100% cotton, original design

Here it is, aptly named, my Dad's quilt: Roots.  Roots for the garden growth that sustained my Baba and Dido as well as our family.  Roots for the foundation of where we come from. Roots to acknowledge such an important part of our family legacy.  Roots to impart growth the the family as the next generations arrive and thrive.

This was a true family project. My sister and sister-in-law and I pieced together the top, with a few helpful hands from my daughters and husband. Hubby and my brother watched the 6 kids so we could get that done, while my Mom kept the secret and took care of my sister's dog when she was away to get the top done. Then my brother and sister-in-law found the fabric for the back (so much Mark Lipinksi Krakow - how appropriate). They, with their kids, basted the quilt. I quilted it, again with input from Hubby and help from the girls. Here are my brother and I putting the finishing touches on the quilt. Me, the binding, and he, the label. (This picture entertains me so, the surgeon doing hand stitching.)

Here is a broader view of the quilt, off the back deck of my brother's house.  A house my Dad built for them. My Dad is a builder, always has been. He is one of those guys that doesn't know how not to work, so he is always happy to be putting something together. Of late, he's been spending some time with crochet hooks instead of hammer and nail. 

Now, some details. This is part of the flower patch. A 2 inch checkerboard, with free motion quilting. See those little flowers interspersed here and there?

This is the house. Baba and Dido's house was this tiny house that my Dad himself help build, probably back in high school. It was probably less than 500 square feet. It consisted of a sitting room, an eat-in kitchen, one bedroom plus another sleeping area, and an entry/pantry. At some point my Dad added on another room, creating two bedrooms in total. And I still remember, back in the 80s, when the bathroom, and running water, was added.

It was quite a shock to the system to visit the house - we were suburban kids. I hated using the outhouse, and our arrival meant sleeping in stuffy beds, listening to the drinking and yelling of Ukrainian visits. Even to this day, it shows me what one can do in a small house.

On two sides of the house was a boardwalk made of wood. A small forest was on the back side, and a small lawn on the front.  Otherwise the house was surrounded by garden.

No Ukrainian garden would be complete without dill and onions! Each of the veggies in the garden was quilted individually, with some brown, tight stipple in between.  In fact, looking at these close-ups, you will see that each section was quilted individually.  I would say I used at least 20 different threads throughout the quilt. Time-consuming and frustrating at times, but worth it.

The white picket fence that led up to the house was a perfect spot to really personalize the quilt. I practiced my cursive writing and put the family's names on the fence. This frames the yard with the picnic table, complete with a box of drying onions on it.

This Toe-Catcher photo shows the slough/dug out at the front of the property, complete with the little dock where we stood to gather water for the garden. Or where we caught frogs to freak out my Mom.

This is the label for the quilt. My brother is a label star. He found the grain elevator image. It was perfect because both my parents grew up across the street from the grain elevator. He played with the image, adding the town name and the necessary details about the quilt.

And here we are sharing the quilt with Dad, at a family brunch. It was presented with little fuss, but we all spent a lot time pouring over the details. I didn't see any tears from my Dad, but that isn't surprising. He's a gruff, tough man. But he knew what it was right away and definitely appreciated it. I only hope that it keeps him warm for all his upcoming naps on the couch.

(This quilt shared as part of the Spring 2010 Blogger's Quilt Festival.)

Birthday Dinner

It's my birthday and I'll cook if I want to.

After last week's miss of a good Sunday dinner, I cooked dinner tonight, even though it was my birthday. Oh, and I also was the one who got out of bed with the girls in the morning too. And cleaned up after dinner.  Let the record state that I only wanted to cook dinner.

Dinner tonight was a simple roast chicken. I adore roast chicken. It is about one of the easiest things you can make. I mean that, it is so damn easy.

1. Take chicken out of plastic.

2. Rinse chicken under cold water and pat dry.

3. Fill chicken cavity with garlic, fresh herbs of any variety, and fruit (lemon, apple, grapefruit - cut in quarters).

4. Drizzle chicken with olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, or a spice blend.

5. Bake for 20-25 minutes per pound in a 350 degree F (preheated oven).

6. When the leg moves freely and the juices run clear when the skin is pierced near the wing the chicken is done. Let rest for 20 minutes. Eat.

Tonight I roasted my chicken with garlic, rosemary, and a grapefruit. (We're out of lemons.) And I rubbed the skin with an Ethiopian Berbere spice blend that Aimee gave me. Oh, yum. Served with a pile of Gull Valley tomatoes tossed with Fairwinds Farm Goat Feta and the first of the Edgar Farms asparagus it was an easy, tasty, and ridiculously local dinner.

Good food aside, it is my birthday, so cake was necessary.  Hubby was willing to bake a simple chocolate cake, but I convinced him to pick up something at the market today. A Caramel Chocolate Tart from The Bakery at the Calgary Farmer's Market. Love the Wacky Cake, Hubby, but that tart was definitely better.

So the drama of split milk and singing Happy Birthday later, we finished the night with the first backyard fire of the season. 

Now that's a Sunday dinner!

Workshop in Progress - May 19

Okay, I'm a little perplexed.  Or maybe not. I got my quilt back from the Invitational Show at Quilt Canada. And this label was pinned on.  Is it normal protocol to attach the label from a show to a quilt? Or do people merely hang on to these in a special spot/lose them in the mess of their sewing space?

Now, all around the web this week people have been talking process.  I love it! Thank-you all for taking on the challenge and the pledge.

Elle is busy, as always, on a sunny couple of quilts. In her post this week she is playing around with fabric choices.  It is really fun to see what's in and what's out.  Do you share her conclusions?

The inspiration for Elle's piece came from Sue. Now Sue is asking for input on the placement of design on her fantastic stripes and circles. This is a quilt after my own heart.

How cute is this? Katie completed her super family in cross stitch.  Any thoughts on whether she should add to the final design or not?

Our other Katie in the workshop is debating sashing choices this week. She's come up with some very different looks.  Which one is your favourite?

There are two other posts I wanted to share here. They really fall in line with the emphasis on process that Rossie and I are trying to encourage.

Elizabeth at Oh Fransson had a wonderful post on her thinking and process with her latest project - getting her bee blocks together.  Even for her, she admits, it was a change to step back and document her thinking.  But to see an artist and designer like her share with readers all these little steps and thought is fantastic!  Thanks Elizabeth!

And finally, I wanted to share Jacquie's experiment here. This is a wonderful example of crowd sourcing in the Quilting 2.0 universe. Jacquie asked her readers to pick a fabric and name an inspiration for her next project.  If that isn't a perfect example of modern quilting then I don't know what is.