Constant

Staying on top of scraps is a constant battle. These are about half of the scraps that accumulated in the 3 months I've been sewing in my new studio space. They were sitting all together in my favourite scrap basket, waiting for sorting. So finally I did just that. I love having a system in place, it means this kind of sorting only takes a short time, but it still must be done on a continuous basis.

Did I mention this is only half of them?

Not to mention my existing bins of scraps. I see a massive sort and cull coming soon. Spring cleaning. Starting fresh. Whatever you want to call it, I'll be sharing soon. Unless you want to see another scrap quilting book.

Improv and Intentions

One of the workshops at QuiltCon I was lucky to get into was Denyse Schmidt's Improv workshop. It was a hot commodity and I had just the right timing when doing my registration. To be honest, I took it out of curiosity more than anything. I'm quite comfortable with improv work, even teaching it myself! But I wanted to see how Denyse taught it and see how people responded.

Frankly, I really enjoyed the class. It may have been the opportunity of just free sewing/playtime after weeks of prep for my own classes at QuiltCon. But it was also a great environment. The other students ranged from improv virgins to the old hats at the technique like me. Denyse is a good teacher, clear on the approach, and extremely encouraging. For the students who'd never done improv it was a challenge at the beginning but they all seemed to really embrace things at the end.

Denyse's technique involves true randomness. Three bags of fabric bits in different sizes. Close your eyes and reach in! At home I do almost the same thing, but I keep my eyes open. Denyse's goal is to get the students to see the beauty in the randomness; beauty in seemingly clashing bits of fabric and blocks that don't lay flat. And it is most definitely there.

After each exercise we reviewed all the blocks and discussed our responses. I loved this part as too often in classes we don't get see what other people make or hear about what people experienced as they worked. The last part was a big eyeopener as a teacher. Well worth the class for me.

In the morning we worked solely with Denyse's scraps. In the afternoon we got to add our own fabric and a randomly chosen solid (Confession: my solid may have been placed in my hand by my very awesome Aussie volunteer and friend). Having seen reports of this class before I chose my fabric to bring with great intention. The blocks from one of these classes can start to all look the same so I chose my fabric to stand out a bit. Plus, it is one of my all-time favourite fabrics.

I didn't expect to care much for my blocks, I prefer a bit more control in my colour schemes. But I LOVE my blocks. So much so that I've got plans for a lot more and a finished quilt. I think I lucked out  with the fabric I picked out of the bags and the colours that came up.  Or it was just all serendipity... In the end I took a handful of orphan blocks from the morning exercises and I have another plan for them too.

Again, I was totally reminded that we need to remain open to experiences. I went into the class all cocky about my improv ability and thinking I wouldn't learn anything. And I came out with a bit of a gut check, new ideas, and an appreciation for the approach of others. Plus some rather cool quilt blocks.

Friday Favourite: fast2clean Mini Microfiber Cleaners

*Giveaway is now closed*

The Missing U is one of my favourite quilts from Sunday Morning Quilts. It came together with Amanda Jean's contribution and really was the start of our collaboration on the book. Right now it is living on our bed, keeping me warm when I fall asleep and soaking up the almost spring sun's warmth during the day.

Because it is a favourite I was thrilled when C&T contacted me about using images of the quilt in a new product. The fast2clean Microfiber Cleaners are pretty cool. At first I thought it was kind of cheesy and pointless. But they arrived right around the time I started using a certain fruit based music device. Between my fingertips and the greasy fingers of my kidlets on the face of it, the thing was a mess. 

Then I pulled out my handy little microfiber cleaner. Through the wonders of static it sticks to the back of the device. Then I can pull it off and clean the face every time the grubby fingerprints get to be too much. It really works well for that. I've even used it for my computer monitor in a pinch!

And once I discovered that I can access Instagram through this device the whole thing gets used a lot more than for hard-core dance fests with the girls. The camera on this thing is only marginally better than my cell phone and I'm still trying to figure out even some of the potential, but feel free to follow me there for some snippets of daily life, and sneak peeks at projects that end up here.

The other quilt featured is by Kim Shaefer.

C&T very generously sent me extras of this product. So, if you can't find them in your LQS or don't want to order them on Amazon, try your hand at this little give-away!

Leave a comment on this post between now and Sunday 11:59 pm MST for your chance to win. Make sure I have a way to reach you by email through your profile or comment, I'm not going to chase down no-reply comments. Tell me your favourite colour to work with or live with. Or point me in the direction of some favourite photographs. Or just say hi.

I will pick 4 winners and and send out a pack of these little treats next week.

Big's Quilt - Part 1

A couple of months ago my little girl asked if we could make a quilt together. We usually have quiet mornings together a few times a week when her brother is napping and her sister is in school. Personally, I think it was more about playing on the design wall than the finished project. And that's just fine.

She spent a happy morning pulling every single bin of mine out of the closet to pick fabrics. The only thing I encouraged her to do was perhaps select a favourite fabric to start or a colour combination. Being the little girl that she is, the pinks and purples came out first. At the beginning it was going to be all pink, then purple was allowed in. Then yellow, then some green, and finally red. I'm pretty sure this fabric play took her a few mornings.

Once she'd settled on her fabrics I set to cutting them for her. She specifically requested squares all mixed up. I went with 6 1/2'' squares simply because it was an easy size to cut. As I cut she placed them on the design wall. And then she'd go harass her brother, come back, and change a square. This went on for a few weeks.

Her first layout was all the same fabrics grouped together, with a random interloper breaking things up. I let her sit on this, then encouraged her to play. She was hesitant at first, but I took a picture of what she had and promised to return to that layout if she hated it after we played. But we never went back.

She would come in every morning and rearrange a few blocks. I snapped this photo when I realized her  PJs matched her quilt. So maybe she did have an inspiration after all?!

Then the blocks sat. I got busy with other projects and she had more playdates than quiet with Mama. I kept asking her to sew with me but she wanted to play catch instead. No amount of urging from me and pleas from her sister (who wants the design wall for her own quilt) could get her motivated.

With it being spring break this week and my need for the design wall I simply told her we were going to start. She didn't have to help, but I did sew a good portion of the quilt with her on my lap.

One last rearrangement before I took all the columns down and set to sewing. I changed nothing in her layout. Of course, as we were sewing she changed her mind on some blocks. So it ended up with a little more improv. The only thing I did was make sure we had no two blocks the same next to each other.

This has been a glorious experience for me. I've watched her excitement over the fabric and layout. She got such a kick out of making HER quilt layout just the right way. It took a lot of my energy to stand back and let it all happen. A lot. Sure, I did the heavy lifting, but this will most certainly be her quilt.

(The top is together and she's picked the backing fabric, but she asks that we wait for a big reveal!)