Archive for August, 2010

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7.9 Craftcation 2010 Results

August 29, 2010

Result from Craftcation 2010:

Podcast 16 completed, blog post done.

Ugly potholder made  and too thin binding created for said potholder.  Binding completed on pocket only and given up for the outside binding.  Good idea, ugly potholder (not right for me), need to start over and use a larger binding.

I finally pulled off the red pocket on this potholder, cut another larger binding that matches the outside, and struggled with getting the binding to match up on this small project.  I also sewed down the binding back by machine.

Finished the front of a complicated nametag.

Found extra binding that had complimentary colors to my nametag, then sewed the binding on said nametag.  Binding on something this small was a pain and I had to watch a binding tutorial several times and there was many instances of thrusting binding and resewing the top.  Currently binding pinned down ready to be sewn to the back, which is something to do at work after lunch.

Cut out a few series of 6 pentagons to create a small fabric ball, about hackysack size.  Will sew these pentagons down like grandma flower garden blocks.  Only three dimensional. 

Played a small amount of Super Mario Brothers 3 on my computer to take some screen shots for a new mario quilt.  Entire quilt not completely designed as of yet.  Found a place for super mario 3 sprites to download.

Here is a Mario 3 outline I created from one of the SMB3 Mario sprites.

Worked on super mario brothers 1 perler bead project.  This is the project worked on most of the time this craftcation.  Here is the progress so far.

Used photoshop and the grid functionality on photoshop to create accurate sprites for perler beads.  Currently waiting for more background peg boards for perler beads to continue.

The other major project catapulted one of my UFO’s into the forefront.  I prepped two different birds for appliqueing onto my daisy quilt. 

This involves:

  • copying the pattern
  • enlarging the pattern 121%
  • tracing the pattern onto paper to limit the number of pieces in the final project
  • numbering the pieces on the traced pattern
  • deciding which pieces would be on top
  • tracing the pattern onto freezer paper (at this point the pattern should have been reversed to get the correct orientation of the birds)
  • cutting out the freezer paper pieces
  • deciding on fabrics for the pieces
  • fusing the pieces onto fabric
  • taking off the fabric on several pieces
  • going to the quilt shop to get better fabrics
  • washing two loads of laundry to prewash the fabrics purchased
  • ironing the fabrics purchased
  • fusing the rest of the freezer paper pieces to the new fabrics
  • cutting the fabric pieces out
  • gluing all the edges down with elmer’s washable glue
  • putting the pieces of each bird into a baggie
  • putting all the fabrics (new and old) away

 Prepping for something this complicated sure was a lot of work!  It’ll be worth it though.

Completed the beginner class for EQ7.  Found out where my frustrations lie with the sketchbook.  Learned that there is a capability of color gradation between two colors or a color colors to grey that may be presented in the next EQ7 course.  Look at this amazing, concise handout I got with the class!  (not showing further details for teacher/blog privacy)

Also learned about some EQ7 features that I haven’t used yet, like premade layouts, and block symmetry for the entire quilt.  Also was reminded of a great suggestion on file managment for EQ7 files (and other files).

Watched the entire Harry Potter series of movies that has been produced so far.  Watched about 6 additional movies and several more TV programs.

Created a poorly constructed eyeglass case for my one dollar sunglasses.  Need to refine this.  Some of the construction problems were due to scrap size of the batting I had available.  I also tried a technique to narrow the bottom by sewing corners in before folding the case over, which resulted in a funny shaped bottom.  Also wrong, wrong bead for the clasp.  A thinner piece of elastic (I have some blue elastic around here somewhere!) would also be helpful with the closure.  But to protect 1 dollar sunglasses – sure thing.

Some colorful binding created for my black and white quilt.  Well the binding is cut and sewed together anyway.  Still need 11/12 border corner blocks to complete.  Found the blocks so I can be ready to sew them soon.

Started thinking about the next podcast, getting a blog post started for that.

Many many happy days crafting and thinking about crafting.  Happy trails!

Posted in Home Sewing Front | 1 Comment »

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7.8 Podcast Episode – Get out of Jail Free

August 23, 2010

Podcast Feed

Warning: Police Siren heard in this episode.  Pay attention if you listen when you’re driving.  If the siren doesn’t go away quickly, it’s an actual police siren.  Be aware!

Rules Rules Rules

Words organized and originally colored by Wordle

How are you at following quilting rules?  Do you like the rules or follow them?  Does the quilt police constantly put you in jail?

Some Examples of Quilting Rules

  • Pressing Rules
  • Cutting Rules
  • Seam allowance Rules
  • Prewashing your fabric Rules

What defines a quilt?

There could be varying answers in all the rules you gather from everyone.  It’s a matter of personal style.  Quilting rules are your own set of rules that you have to organize, follow, understand and try to help you express your personal style through your quilting.

Places for tips/guidelines/rules. 

Beginning quilting resources:

Online Resources for Quilting

  • Sharon Shamber (not Sharon Shamburg- oops!) Network videos
  • Google! 
  • YouTube!
  • Blogs

Integrating personal style to create quilts that everyone likes.

Use design principles and techniques to create the quilt that you want to create.

Juried quilt shows have criteria for letting your quilt in.  Would you expect them to let everyone in?

Sometimes ‘poor technique’ is valuable when it is quilting done by children learning how to quilt with doll quilts, for example.

As an attendee, I expect to see a good quality quilt when I attend a show.  What makes a good quilt may have to do with design, color, shape, movement, or even story.  Not always what you expect.

Following and being consistent with a style within one quilt will help make a quilt successful.  If your quilt style follows the style of a traditional pieced block quilt, the quilt should be the best traditional pieced block quilt that you can make. 

If you put an applique quilt in a pieced block only show, don’t expect to be disappointed if the quilt doesn’t make it into the pieced show.  Perhaps it is the best applique quilt ever made!  Don’t get discouraged.

Cultural areas define what the quilting rules are.  In Southeast Asia there are different types of quilts than there are here in the states.  This reflects our different styles and what may be considered okay here may be a rule against quilting there, or vice versa.

Sometimes by attending a show, you can expand your own ‘quilting rules’ based on successful quilts that you see in the right context, you can see how to correctly apply things you have not been able to do.  This will allow you to have more techniques that you have never imagined.

Image from flickr by  u-murrayhusted

Sometimes to learn a rule you have to organize it or work on it.  Sometimes if you know why someone makes a rule to create a technique correctly, you can understand how and why to apply it to your own quilt.

 Quiltzillas and Quilt Police show up when they don’t explain why you’re doing something ‘wrong’, or doing a technique they can aesthetically see differently than you.  They might not realize their tone is annoying to you, but can come from genuine concern for helping you create a good-looking quilt.

Be careful when sharing blocks in swaps or making group quilts.  By doing the same as everyone else, you ensure less frustration for everyone involved later.  Communicating your group expectations is key to keeping feelings in check and not coming across as a quiltzilla.  And if things don’t go right, you can always use completed blocks for other things!

Looking out for your quilting requires constant vigilance!

Image from flickr by garryknight

Self Determination keeps us antsy when we feel like we have no control with quilting rules.  If other people always tell you what to do, you don’t feel like doing it anymore.  Just ask a teenager who has to clean their room.

Quilting rules are guidelines to help you produce the best version of your quilt that you can make.

In science there are rules and operating procedures.  By asking why the procedures are in place, you begin to think like a scientist and be creative and curious.

Safety is a must, so make sure safety rules are always followed for your sake and for the sake of others!

Don’t forget, in math, there are several different ways to get to the same answer as long as you follow the algorithms correctly.  Don’t discredit your answer if you arrive there at a different way than you expected. 

Think similarly in quilting and you may be feeling like you can get out of jail free!

Additional Information

Additional Music and Sounds

Molly (herself)

From freesound.org

From Mevio’s Music Alley

(Left off the outro music).  E-mail me at scientificquilter (at) gmail (dot) com

Come by the blog (here you are!)

Stop by the Big Tent at Quiltcast Supergroup to be a part of our community!

Posted in Hypothesis, Podcast Episode, Quilting, Quilting Community, self reflection | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments »

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7.7 A Completely Dressed Dresser

August 9, 2010

Working on the rules podcast, getting a great amount of feedback (keep posting if you would like).  Cannot record until computer is reformatted (long techie story), & this reformatting thing hasn’t happened quite yet.

So in the mean time, what did I do in the blinding heat yesterday afternoon?  Get this monkey dresser off my back and get it finished.

Here is the dresser that arrived to my house about a month and a half ago:

And here is the completed project as of yesterday afternoon:

A few touch ups may be in order for the yellow bits to look smooth.  The painter’s tape worked rather well, but hey, you always need touch ups after painting.

Here is a close up of the top & handle:

I was originally intending a dark dark red and ‘gold’ (see post here  and here for details), but made a compromise. 

I painted the base and drawers a shiny semi-gloss black, and the red and gold yellow were just the paint tester colors because I didn’t need much of it. 

The vertical stripes save the piece, from having to redo it.  I had these pretty little red boxes with pretty little yellow ‘borders’ , which I really made too thick and to yellow for my taste.

On a whim, I mixed my red and my black (and was surprised to see how purple the mixed paint looked) and then started taping up the front of the dresser to give the dresser a modern feel.

I was going to go for another ‘ring’ of this dark black just inside the yellow, but something made me say ‘put the color over the yellow to help break up the yellow with your eyes’.  So that’s what I did. 

And for me, it works.  And it’s modern looking.

I was going to paint the handles gold, but the way it is now, I’m leaving it.  Now to find out how to rearrange my room to put the dresser in my room, and then I can put fabric in the dresser.

Maybe also a quilt design from this!?

Posted in Misc | 8 Comments »

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7.6 Podcast Preview Rules and How to break them

August 6, 2010

We all hate the quilt police.

Image from flickr by ” Erica Marshall of muddyboots.org ”

When I started this quilting journey, I learned a ton of ‘rules’ that are usually set up to give you the best quilt you could get in the end.

There are many kinds of rules: ‘design rules, color rules, pressing rules, back stitch rules, applique rules, machine quilting rules, swapping rules, BOM rules’ etc..

Do you follow the rules, break the rules, worry about the rules? Do you encourage others with the quilting knowledge you have, and appear as the quilting police to someone else unintentionally?

What are you thoughts about rules?  Add your thoughts and be a part of the next podcast.

We are down to 3/4 of a computer now, so I can’t actually record anything until some needed parts arrive, but soon … soon.  In the meantime, I’ll be over at the big tent.

Posted in Podcast Preview | Tagged , , | 5 Comments »

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7.6 Dresser Diaries – Part 2

August 2, 2010

So it took me a week to come back to this task, and I really shouldn’t post unless I am doing something exciting or creative, but in order to make progress on the details, first the base must be completed.

So two hours of CastOn later, and more painting on my porch, I got the black base paint for the four drawers of the dresser done.

Two hours for four drawers?  I never claimed to be fast, did I?  Anyway, I have been talking myself out of working on these during the week for whatever various reasons I cannot fathom.

If I haven’t mentioned my boxes problem has been solved – the boxes are outside empty on my porch.  My neighbors are already trying to figure out how to kill me, let’s just add some more incentive, shall we?

What’s weird is that as soon as the space cleared up in the living room from the boxes, then the dresser has been plopped right in the middle of the tiny house for a week.

Also still stalled is any quilting, but I did go back and get more done on my applique flower for my name tag (yeah the one I was working on in January), and during the bus trip to Lincoln (more on that later) I got some much needed organizing done on my embroidery floss.

It was already organized into my ‘box of floss’ like above, but now I am working on getting the floss around all the bobbins I bought several months ago (at the end of May Mayhem) so that I can work with it more easily.

This is all I did on the 3 hour trip (one way) in terms of furthering along my sewing.

I got a lot of progress done on this, so GO ME!  Will probably work on this after lunch at work today, it feels good to make some headway, even if it isn’t sewing exactly.

AND we had a GREAT time with several ladies from my quilt guild and surrounding area.  The guild website is here, and there are more pictures on the website.  Will update more on the trip later.

‘… You can never find any good crab fabric anywhere ….’

Posted in Misc | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment »

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