Quilted Baba Update

Making progress over here. It’s slow, but it is progress. This is the first 9/81 blocks, all sewn together.

Early in the year I let you in on this epic portrait project. It is a pixelated quilt portrait of my Baba. Each pixel is actually a little x block. And when I say little, I mean that I square them up at 1.5” x 1.5”. When all is said and done, the quilt will measure 90” x 90”. To make the quilt I’ve divided the picture I started with into a 9 x 9 grid. Each of those 81 blocks is made from 100 of the little X blocks. That means there will be 8,100 little cross stitches in the finished quilt.

That picture there? That is 9 of those 81 blocks of 100 together. They constitute the bottom corner. Why did I start in the bottom corner? Well, I had to start somewhere! It also allowed me to test the fabric choices and pixellation because all the other corners were mostly background colours. I’m happy with how it turned out so I shall keep going!

For the most part, I’ve been making the blocks as my Morning Make practice. I tend to make them in batches of 10-15. It is tedious and boring sewing, so that seems to be all I can handle. That, and the fact that it was in the morning and there is only so much time to sew. When I have 100 for the block I lay them out and start the process of sewing them together. Assembling rows goes quickly, but the pressing is a definite slow down in the process. It’s worth the time and effort, though, as there are a lot of seam allowances and having a mess on the back is not good. With such small pieces a messy back would spell disaster for a quilt that stays flat and in order. Once the rows are sewn I pin - yes, me, pinning! - to join the rows together. I want them to line up as best I can. I will admit, there is a some work needed on my part to improve accuracy. But it improves with each block.

Now that I have the studio space I have to figure out a new time to piece these blocks. I think a regular time would allow me to see continued progress, and make it harder to put things aside for weeks or even months on end. So far I’ve been taking 20 minutes after lunch, after I walk with my son and the dog to school. We’ll see how that works.

I think it is important to tell myself that this won’t be an exact representation of the photo. I did my best to match colours and fabrics, but we are always limited by what is available. I wanted to use prints, which meant buying commercially available fabric. I fear that my work with the values, more than the colours, isn’t exactly spot on. I know, however, that the story of the quilt will still be successful. For me, that matters more.

Moving to the New Studio

After 3 and a half years years I am finally in my new studio. I went back and checked, it was March of 2021 that I first spoke about getting this studio space. It was a much delayed renovation (for so many reasons) but we are in the space. Big sigh! Not sure if it is a sigh of relief for me just yet, but it will come.

Over the years I have sewn at 3 different dining room tables, in my bedroom, in a few different basements in various states of being, in a closet once, and most recently (for the last decade) in a dedicated sewing room at home. Every single space has been a place of creativity and challenge. All I really cared about was that I could sew and I made any space work. What all those spots had in common, though, was that they were at home. This is my first time with a space outside of the home.

The goal for this space is twofold. One, I will have my own creative space for sewing and creating. It is much larger than anything I’ve had before with excellent storage and good lighting. Two, I will be able to both host small classes and film classes here. So, personal and professional opportunities.

My personal space is quite lovely. Open with a lot of room. I’m still missing an actual desk, but it is coming. Of course I set up my sewing table first! After a few days of moving and not sewing I was getting antsy. I’ve more or less set it up exactly as I did at home. It works well for me, this standing configuration.

It is a treat to set up a little sitting area. Technically, I had this in my sewing room at home because it was also our guest room and there was a couch in it. Not surprisingly, it was covered with stuff (quilts, quilt tops, blocks, fabric) most of the time so sitting on it wasn’t always an option. I’m hoping for generous cups of tea and visit with friends here. The chairs themselves came from a friend of mine. She and her family were moving away and leaving furniture behind. These chairs were her grandmother’s. I got new cushions made for them from fabric collected over the years (like hemming pants, cushion covers are not in my wheel house most of the time.)

Since the initial planning I knew I was saving this blank wall to be a giant design wall. I’m nearly finished making it and just have to install it. Folks, it is massive. I am so excited. For me, yes, but also when I am teaching. Having been in so many spaces for classes over the years I know how creative we quilters have to get when it comes to design walls. This is going to help so much.

As much as I am thrilled to have this new space for me, let’s be honest, it isn’t just for me. My son is doing online school in the mornings here. He is transitioning to full time school after missing most of the last 2 years with Long Covid. Then, because the house is now empty in the mornings the dog also comes with us. I won’t lie, this presents a challenge. It isn’t exactly the quiet space I would have hoped for. At least not in the mornings! Maybe that actually helps me with the transition out of the home though? Bring some more of home here so it doesn’t feel weird?

True confession time: this is weird. I am feeling rather discombobulated still. There was the stress of all the moving (and the resulting chaos left at home) and adjusting to change. That’s going to take some time to resolve, I think. Then there is the impact on my schedule. I haven’t had to be up and out of the house in a long time. Plus, I am used to throwing a load of laundry in or getting dinner started in the middle of the day. I had my multitasking game down pat! Truthfully, though, I was doing more of the home/mother stuff and very little of the work stuff these last few years. It was what was required for our family but it sure was frustrating for me. Finally, I’ve worked hard to compartmentalize my life since joining the family business. This new studio space is connected to our office/workshop space. That means I can be interrupted at any time with accounting or strategy questions. I can also pop back and forth between my own quilting work or writing and the family business. My head is spinning somedays! I really liked home is home and work is work. Now it is all jumbled.

Time, I need time. Change isn’t always easy, even if it is the right thing to do. I miss hearing the birds in the background or the noises of residential life. Now I have trains on the regular, power tools, and our employees on their lunch break. That being said, I have the wide open space and opportunity plus excellent storage (as soon as all the shelves are up). Nothing is ever going to be perfect, but it sure can be good.

Ulani - A Quilt Full of Sunshine

Ulani

66” x 66”

Ulani is full of sunshine. She’s a shining light in a stressful time. A reminder to look for light. She is a bright girl who brings joy to everyone she meets.

This sunny quilt comes from the leftovers of our family travels. I brought a stack of 6.5” squares with me to Egypt and Turkey. I made many into some improv blocks as a travel diary. When I got home and there were leftovers I made a quilty plan to use them. The scraps became this quilt, the rest are here (with a few extras to get to this size.)

After my long arming tension disaster I spent the entire 3rd season of Ted Lasso and then some ripping out all my quilting stitches. When I went back to the long arm I was prepared with extra fabric to test the tension. With the test done and all clear I proceeded with the exact same free motion quilting. There is absolutely no point to trying to follow the previous stitches. Really, that would just be a recipe for too much stress. Besides, any needle holes will disappear with the first wash. The whole quilting pattern is just a loopy stipple with stars interspersed here and there. Nothing fancy, but just the right texture for this quilt.

You can really see the quilting on the dark fabric on the back of the quilt. This blue print was purchased on our Egypt trip. The sightseeing guides (which is the best way to navigate the many sites in Egypt) conveniently build in shopping opportunities. Needless to say, I was looking forward to the trip to the Cotton Store! Buried in the basement were a few rolls of fabric on the bolt. There was my spot!!! (Did I get a pic? No.) I only bought 2 pieces of fabric. One, we would later see as a windbreak used by our Beduin guides on an overnight in the dessert. The other was just pretty. I did not have enough of either, however, to make a full back for this quilt without messing up the gorgeous pattern of the fabric. So I decided to simply frame out the one and use it here.

I absolutely love having this extra memory on the back.

If you know me, you know I love a contrast binding. Here I decided to use a blended binding, however, so that the stars stood out more. I almost went with a white print, but in the end, went with yellow because I had a lot of it.

Now this serves as another, cozy reminder of our trip. Not that we need cozy when we think of that trip because we will never forget that heat and that sun!

Beginnings of a Portrait Quilt of my Baba

Meet Nettie Ciona, my Baba.

This photo is nearly 22 years old, my Baba is long gone from our physical lives. But it is a photo and a moment I can always remember. We’d taken her out of her tiny town nursing home to visit the old house and garden. She was feeding the dogs, laughing at my sister-in-law selvaging an old, rotten chair, found out she was going to be a great grandmother, and my whole family was together in the Saskatchewan sunshine. For years I’ve had this image spinning in my creative mind.

The self portraits of 2023 were leading to this project. I wanted to explore the different ways to make a portrait to see how I might translate this one. In the end, I’ve gone back to my original, over the top idea.

You can see that I’ve pixelated the picture. I used a random, free app I found online. Upload the picture and they pixelate it for you. That’s all it does, so the next step is on me. I need to translate those pixels into a piecing plan. Again, I know there are fancy programs out there that could probably help, but the way I am doing it makes sense to me.

After pixelating the picture I opened up Excel. One square for each pixel. I’m creating a colour map. As I go I am simplifying the colours a little bit. For example, using 4 whites, 4 pinks, 3 blues. I don’t want to have to buy a million new fabrics! I also want to simplify it for the making process as well. I’m going to have a lot of colours as it is. This level of planning is way out of my comfort zone!

My plan for sewing is the truly over the top part. Each square will finish at 1”. But I am not using straight squares. Instead, each square will be an improv X block. That’s right, I’ll be making all the blocks as little Xs. You see, my Baba was a phenomenal cross-stitcher. She sewed millions and millions of little Xs in Aida cloth and on linen over her lifetime. This quilt will truly be an homage to her.

So far in my planning I’ve determined I will make the quilt square. It will be 90” x 90” More than that and it will be a lot of extra sewing for nothing but background. The composition of the photo will still work so I’m sticking with it.

So this is my Morning Make until I finish. With breaks, of course. In the meantime, I need to go shopping and buy a bit of fabric. My stash is deep, but not that deep!