Cut First

 Look at me! Cutting all in advance of sewing. That is a seriously big deal, folks. The vast majority of work that I do starts with me sewing, not planning. Even my book quilts generally start with a little bit of sewing before I stop and figure out what I'm actually doing. But this time I drew the pattern and cut everything before I sewed a stitch.

This is what is becoming of the necklace inspired fabric pull. It has a destination and pattern that will be available in not too long.  Pretty excited to share it with you. It's a rather cool quilt with a really awesome final destination. Soon.

What about you? Are you a cut everything first quilter? Or would you rather start then sew a little?

Side by Side (Weekend Reads)

With March Break in full swing here I've been looking for creative ways to spend time with the girls. I've also been looking for a way to prioritize my time with them, while still fulfilling my creative needs. I was hoping that this book would provide a bit of inspiration.

Side by Side from Tsia Carson is not your typical craft book. She pitches it as projects that you can do with your resident crafter. Not so much about setting them up or doing all the dirty work for them. That's the goal.

To be honest, I'm not sure she really succeeded in that. There are definitely projects that work very well when parent and kid work as a team. And some that show great parallel activities so that both get something interesting and appropriate for the skill level. But it didn't really read any different than most craft books to me, other than some language about working with your kidlets.

And the projects? Well, many are things I've seen before - with some notable exceptions. I'm trying to convince my husband to do some guerilla gardening in the park across the street for the Living Willow Tree Teepee. And my kids loved the Giant Newspaper Snowflake. But pom poms, making stuffies from your kids drawings, and hand sewn pillows I've seen many times over.

My other issue with the book is the inconsistency in project instructions. In some cases they are so basic. And that's fine, if you know what you are doing. In others they are nicely detailed. It reads like a reflection of the author's own skills. If she knew how to do it, she assumed others did. If she had to research and figure it out, she spelled it out for readers. There is, however, a detailed technical section at the back of the book for the skills needed for the projects, like crochet stitches. It's pretty handy.

Carson's website is Supernaturale. I love the site for tidbits of inspiration and ideas. The book,  I suppose, is the same. Tidbits that are good for picking.

I do think this is a good addition to my library, despite my criticisms. It serves as a good reminder to be with and work with my kids a bit more. And I'm positive that once the kids devour it I will be pulling out pom pom makers and fabric paint and staplers to craft with them, at their insistence, not mine.

One

This wild and crazy guy is 1 today. ONE! I can still remember the sunrise on the morning he was born, the feeling as he was placed on my chest seconds after being born, the moment my husband told me it was a boy, the fuzz on his beefy arms, the look on the girls' faces when they met him the first time.

Not to mention the days and months since where he surprised us with his ability to tolerate the girls' shenanigans, his pleasure at being in the company of anyone new, his quiet curiosity at the world, his insatiable appetite for anything but a raspberry. Then there is his insufferable cuteness. Okay, I'm pretty biased on that last one.

We aren't ones for over-the-top first birthday celebrations. We will make a cake and let him smash it wherever he wants (although, this boy does not like to waste food). I will rewrap the toy we've given all our children for their first birthday. We will shower him with affection and love. And he'll be wearing some cool/funny looking pants while we do it.

I adore the Quick Change Trousers from Anna Maria Horner. I'd made him some when he was a newborn, then slacked off. A few new pairs were in order for my growing boy. I'll admit, I doubted my fabric selection, thinking it was all a bit much. The combos worked great flat, but as pants I'm not so sure. Ah, whatever, right? You're only 1 once.

Just Sit Down

There are times in life when we need to push ourselves, when the teacher becomes a student, when the one who can't top talking needs to shut up and sew. This pillow serves a reminder to me to do all of that.

After my two days of teaching at QuiltCon I had the pleasure to take some classes. The pillow is the end result of my class with Yoshiko Jinjenzi. I jumped at the chance to take a class with her, even though I wasn't thrilled about making a pillow with sheer fabric. Whatever, it was Yoshiko Jinjenzi.

Turns out we were making a project from her book, Quilting Line and Color. I have the book, I constantly pull it out and drool, but I've never been inclined to make anything. The instructions seem fussy and overly complex. Well, this pillow was actually dead easy to make. We had a total of 5 minutes of instruction from Yoshiko and then we set to making.

As our first step we got to go and dig through scraps to create our own bits and bobs to highlight on the pillow. Every single person in the class had to resist the urge to squirrel away extra fabric. We were cutting little bits so it was quite fun to think about this fabrics on a very small scale.

After we picked our fabric, cut them to whatever size and shape we wanted, and laid them out on this gold fabric she provided we layered it with a sheer gauze. Some basting stitches to hold everything in place then we set to quilting the heck out of that sandwich.

That is, when we weren't crowded around her fondling the quilts she shared. It was half pillow class, half trunk show. But it was when she was showing her quilts that you saw the potential of this layering technique. Something I was quite easily dismissing at the beginning of the class suddenly provided inspiration. Of course, the intricacy of her work and the extreme attention to finishing details might have also had something to do with it.

In the end, I did get my pillow almost done. Despite the distractions of the quilts and my neighbours Marianne and Leanne and my SIL (way to represent Alberta in Austin!) All but the actually turning it into a pillow. Just as soon as I could I turned it into a finished project, minus the tassels. I knew that if I let it sit it would never get done.

This pillow is so far removed from anything I would normally make, from something I would likely every make again. Gold? Sheer? A Pillow? But it serves as a good reminder for me to just shut and sew sometimes. And for that reason it will keep a place of honour in my heart, if not my room.