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.

Triangles

It took a scary day, medically speaking, to push me to finish The Evil Genius' quilt. It sat on my design wall for well over a month. Frankly, it is so pretty I was content to look at all the triangles and not sew them together. But then my girl needed a pick me up so I finished the top. 

Like her first quilt she picked all the fabrics and layout for this quilt. I will admit to spending a few days strongly suggesting that using red on those edge triangles would not make the quilt look better. I finally had to cut a few options and have her compare. This is the fabric she chose for the backing and I think it works well here (My preference was for a pale grey or white.) She definitely has a future as a quilter.

It finishes out at a twin. Because she wanted a quilt big enough for when she gets her own bed. (My girls share a bed.) With no plans to actually buy new beds that means I have tonnes of time to get it done, right?

Travelling Quilts 2, Latest Round

Despite all my deadlines and personal goals sometimes I feel the need to join a group and play. Of course, I always do it with the caveat that it is pretty much a guarantee I will be late in meeting any deadlines. It is the same with any bee, round robin, or group project. That's why I usually volunteer to be the assembler at the end. Plus, that is one of my favourite parts.

All that being said, I do enjoy the creative process and challenge of working with other people's work. Sometimes it feels like drawing bodies on heads, sometimes it is tremendously difficult. It is a push to add without detracting, to make use of seemingly disparate things. I may not be able to meet group deadlines very well, but I think I can meet this kind of challenge.

I am part of a group, modelled on the Travelling Quilts that you've likely seen out there. Some of us Canadians brought in a few American friends and we're playing. Here are a few of the quilts.

This one started with Jenn, of Pinkbrain Quilts. She made the paper pieced non-star block in the centre. Then Julie added some stellar embroidery, including the pink brain! Then off to Jacqueline. She made up a bunch of linear blocks, but didn't join them to the original.

My initial thought was more circles - shocker. Then I decided to bring in the linear aspect of Jacqueline's blocks. But those angle from the original are so intriguing. So I extended angles and joined them with the fabric and linear aspects of the additional blocks. Not an easy addition, but so much fun and I love the results. I can't wait to see what happens next! Off to Anna and Robyn next.

It's hard to figure out where to go when you start with colour blocked cathedral windows. For me, the temptation was strong to just make more and more. Can you imagine a quilt just like that? These were the beginning of Julie's quilt. Jacqueline made a whole schwack of blocks, many on the large scale like these ones. I took the combination of text inspiration and the cathedral windows and combined them for my blocks.

I used colours already in the blocks as background. The petals are simply appliquéd on. I resisted the temptation to join them into a strip because that would have finished at 72''. That's a big quilt to commit to for the folks coming next. But it would look really nice that way. Hint, hint...

Process on the Quilts in A Month of Sundays

It's another snowy morning. That means it is perfect to talk about quilts. Today to celebrate A Month of Sundays I want to share a bit about some of the quilts with you. As a blogger it is so hard not to share my work in progress when making the quilts for the book. So hard. I'm used to sharing everything from the initial inspiration to the fabric pull to the frustrations to the finished top to the end. Sharing that is part of my blogging style and I believe in the honesty of that. I did take photos along the way while making book quilts, so at least I can do it after the fact.

When I'm making quilts for publication my process is actually a bit different. If I were to go my normal way of sewing - starting without a definite plan, adapting and making changes along the way, and ending with something for the sake of it - I would have a lot of work to do reverse engineering to write a pattern. That is a recipe for disaster - for me and someone trying to make the quilt from that pattern.

Oh boy, was finding text prints at the time of doing this tough! 

Thankful for some screen prints dug up on Etsy.

Quilts destined for publication always start, for me, with the pattern. Not just a sketch, but the actual pattern. I like to draft the whole thing first. This lets me think about the best way to divvy up fabric requirements and calculate yardage as well the most efficient way to make the quilt. I consider myself the first pattern tester. As I work there is always going to be a sketchbook filled with numbers or a pad of graph paper next to me. That allows me to write down any notes or corrections as I go. A half an inch makes a difference.

From first fabric pull to second, after patter drafting, things changed a bit.

A good friend gave me advice when I was starting on the journey of this book. She told me to send out the quilts to be long armed. I'll admit, this was hard for me, but it was the best thing I could do. I was having another baby, after all. The deadlines may push forward because of the need to get the quilts to long armers, but the time saved for me was valuable. It meant a lot less stress and a lot more time with my family during the work. Not to mention the savings on my already taxed joints. So, thank-you to Angela Walters and Janet Madyski for getting me through the work.

I use a lot of binding tape in the book.

Coordinating my snacks and my quilts.

When I was looking through my photo library to pull these images I was struck by just how much the making of these quilts, these books, is intertwined in my life. On the same day I was cutting fabric there was a crew framing in the basement and I had a book launch for Sunday Morning Quilts! Same day. Other days will be pictures of my babies doing their thing - like finishing preschool - while I finish a quilt. And all while I had a newborn. So the quilts, and the book, are a true reflection of our life at a moment of time. And more than once I had to take my own advice that I was writing to slow down and sew, not just get caught up in the frenzy of making.

It is always a huge rush to get the quilts made, though. You think you have all this time but you end up doing everything at the end. Your fingers are sore from binding, your shoulders hurt, everyone in the house is cranky at the fabric everywhere... Then you send the quilts away and don't see them for months, or even a year! It kind of feels anticlimactic. Such an energy high from the moment of first sketches to the last stitch and you don't get a chance to even snuggle with the quilt. But now the quilts are home, living in rotation. Reminding me of the time spent in creation, the moments that happened then, and the concept to just chill out.

Not helping me when I needed to quilt.

So, on this Sunday filled with sunshine and a blanket of fresh snow I will do just that. Right after a birthday party and coffee date with my Hubby. But then, then I can pour some tea, wrap myself in a quilt, and attend to an afternoon of puzzles and paper crafts with my girls.

Remember, there will be giveaways at the end of this celebration. One comment on each post in the month enters you for the prizes.

Tell me, coffee or tea, or hot chocolate with marshmallows?