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.

Had To

It had been weeks since I sewed. All invigorated from vacation and bursting with inspiration and one of those pesky ideas that just won't go away I had to get in my sewing room and sew. With just a cutting table and a couch I piled, cut, and started sewing. A few days later I had a sewing table and a design wall and three helpers constantly underfoot.

More on the sewing room next time.

For now, let's focus on my current obsession. An obsession it is. A million WIPS to finish, looming deadlines for articles, quilts, and more, and a house that still hasn't fully recovered from the holiday season. All of it thrown aside to work on this quilt.

It started with the Architextures line, a wonderful fat quarter bundle that Carolyn Friedlander herself sent me herself (she is such an awesome friend!) I had a concept in my head for some text letters too. Instead of using the whole line I decided to focus on a few specific colours: pink, navy, and orange.

A note on the colour focus. It wasn't until I was putting away our vacation laundry that I realized why I focused on these colours. Those were the colours I also packed for the trip. Seriously, all my clothes were navy, pink, or coral with neutrals thrown in. Funny.

So I shopped my stash for more low volume prints and a few darks. Then the rotary cutter came out and I started to hack it all up. This is both the terrifying and exciting part. I LOVE this line of fabric and it would be easy to hoard it. But I was giddy with my idea and wanted to get going.

And go I did. In between school pick-ups, swim lessons, play dates, construction, and interruptions I managed to get some letters pieced. And then some!

Giant Hexies

In looking at my inventory a few weeks ago I realized there are projects there I haven't shared. And some I never shared progress for. I must rectify that, starting today.

These are my bee blocks from the Unscripted Bee. It is a group of Canadian ladies with a love for all things improv and modern.

I asked for giant, giant hexagon blocks. Each friend was sent a a stack of fabrics and a template for the hexagon. It was up to them how they would actually put the block together. They all finish at 16.5'' across, on the flat sides. And, as you can see, they got very creative in how they did it. So much fun!

There are two outstanding blocks, plus my own to make. I do want to make it with straight edges so then I need to finish off with all the outside pieces. Now that I have these out I want to play!

Wine Gums Top

Well, I'm managing to sneak in bits of sewing here and there. The baby is napping well and my little girl loves to putter around the house on her own, when we aren't having tea parties. Phew.

It didn't take much to finish this top. Worked on in snippets (hah, get it Amanda?) it comes together rather easily. I love this top. I love the concept, I love the colours, I love the construction. I'm looking forward to the finished project.

At one point I can grand plans to make 4 square panels of these and use them as quadrants, all in opposing directions for a large quilt. It is SO hard for me to work small. But I decided to stay true to the original pattern size so people can appreciate it for what it is.