Quilting is a Dangerous Hobby

About three degrees of separation, but I blame quilting for my car now being without a headlight and that there’s an injured deer out there somewhere.

Today was a “mini-retreat” for my quilting group.  A few of us spent the day in a church basement working away on our favorite hobby and generally solving the world’s problems by chit chatting about everything under the sun.  My joy of life daughter Ana came with me and we had a wonderful 2 days together.

I do not have a lot of space at home to lay out quilts.  I may have nearly 3000 square feet, but the house is 100 years old and full of small rooms.  I save up finished quilt tops and lay the out at these mini retreats.  This one was no exception.  At about 6:45 tonight I finished piecing a large quilt that I’ve had the blocks finished for a long time.  I had the backing for this quilt, and the blocks, in my “immediate” project box and they took up a lot of room.  I was very motivated to get the quilt all pinned out and ready to quilt at home.   The quilt is all blocks, no border.  It’s pretty simple – a using up of 6 inch squares and 2 ½ strips from the scrap pile.  There is no border.  That’s important….

I had my roll of “Warm and Natural” batting with me, so I was prepared.  I laid the quilt out on the floor and took out the tape measure…..

UGGGGGHHHH…..

92 inches by 101….

Ugggg

Have you done the math yet….?  Warm and Natural is 90 inches wide….. The quilt has no border, so I cannot get 2 inches back…

There’s a Jo-Ann’s about 10 minutes away.  I have my coupons in my purse (Always!!!).  Ana and I hopped in the trusty minivan and raced up there to get a batt.  I could have pieced a strip onto the rolled batting, but at King sized, I really didn’t want to.  There’s a little thing to note here too, we were on a huge time crunch.  We had 10 PM tickets to a special screening of a movie at Orchestral Hall.  We HAD to leave our house by 9:15 to make it, which meant leaving the church at 9, and we still had cleanup and other things.

We got the batt, and went back.  It’s now 7:15.  I iron my backing (108 wide fabric, no piecing).  That took time, it must have been near end of bolt –it was quite wrinkled.  I laid it on the ground – I love using commercial carpeted floors for layouts – then finished the sandwich and pinned it all out.  There were 132 blocks, and I pinned each in the center.  I actually counted down the pins as I went… 129…128… 34…33… etc.

At 8:45 I was done and ready to pack, vacuum (it’s a church basement and used on Sunday mornings – we clean up well).  By shortly after 9, everything was in the back of the van and we headed out.  About 2 miles down the road, I decided to stop for some candy for the movie.  As I was getting out of the car, two things happened simultaneously… Hubby called and I realized I didn’t have my purse.

I panic… that’s me…. I pull together quickly… but I need that rude to everyone, shut up, let me think moment.

My husband is a saint….

As I was blustering to him, and getting worried, Ana kept a level head, called the church, got a hold of someone else who was just leaving and sure enough, they had my purse.

We turned around and headed back.  We now have assured ourselves that we will be running late to the movie….

I picked up the phone and call hubby as I’m driving.  Don’t rail on me, it’s allowed in this state, and I’m pretty good at watching while driving.  I have speed dial, voice dial and am not looking down as I dial. 

I talked for about 45 seconds, and I’m doing the scanning the road thing.  I’m approaching a light, so I’m looking more ahead than directly in front of me.  It’s a major city street, but pretty empty.  We are driving through a block that has cemetery on both sides. 

All of a sudden….

Ana lets out a shout….

I see a flash of beige that’s obviously an animal…..

Crunch….

Not a big thump, or a lot of force, but a definite sound of breakage.

I say into the phone “I just hit a deer”….

Poor hubby, I think he’s going to stop calling me; I think he’s starting to feel pretty helpless.

We stop, Ana puts on the hazards as I walk down the street and sidewalk looking for the deer.  There was a guy on a bicycle as this happened.  He saw it and told me it was a doe and that it was by the fence.  We looked as I called 911 but never saw the deer.  The emergency operator assured me that I could leave as long as the road was clear (it was); no injuries (no) and that I didn’t need a damage report.

The minivan is 13 years old, has 231K miles and numerous rust patches.  All that was damaged was the lens and bulb for the headlight.  Also, I think the fact that I was on the phone and not tensed really helped with there being no whiplash or that type of injury.  The blow was so light, that it didn’t stop the car immediately – and that by the time I realized what was happening, the deer was gone so I didn’t slam on the breaks, but came to a gentle stop.

Chapter 2

We were late to the movie, but had a good time.  Ana left our house about 1 am (we got out of the movie at midnight, home at 12:30, but then had to do the Minnesota goodbyes for 30 more mins… J ). 

She headed home to Wisconsin….

On a major highway leading out of Minnesota….

On the Saturday of Halloween weekend…..

At bar time….

In a car with outstate license plates…..

Doing a few miles over the speed limit….

Yes, she got pulled over.  The officer asked her if she had been drinking.  She said she hadn’t (true) and that she’d come from a Quilting retreat.  I think the obvious sobriety and the quilting supplies packed obviously in her front and back seats was a good confirmation.  She was let off with a warning.

Conclusion

Two days of sewing in a church basement equated to: 

·         3 broken fingernails (me)

·         1 pretty nasty cut from pin (Ana)

·         1 smashed up headlight

·         1 speeding warning

·         1 husband who is probably afraid to answer calls from me least another issue occurs.

I did lay out and sandwiched seven quilts.  Most were already done; I had to border one, assemble one, fix a wrong block on another and piece a couple backings.  I really did very little actual sewing, but I feel like I accomplished so much because I lowered the level of my to do bin and have a pile to quilt on the Juki now. 

I also made a run to Twin Cities Quilting and got a border for my Irish Mist quilt.  I’ll have picture of that later – after I get the border on.  It’s a cool pattern.  I don’t often make quilts fully from a pattern, and I did with this one. 

I go to a lot of quilt shops and find that the service and expertise varies greatly.  I do both very traditional patterns/blocks and also very artsy things.  I make up a lot of my own patterns as well as putting some interesting twists on existing ones.  I like to think that I’m an artist.  I have a real knack for color.  My “adopted” daughter-in-law, Brandie, who is a true artist, as well as many others, have confirmed to me that I have a way with color schemes.

That said, I have found that the owner and staff at TCQ are both helpful and on the same level with me on the color thing.  However – and this is very important – they are also very helpful and patient with the more basic, traditional customers.   I don’t often ask for help with picking out fabric, but I’ve decided that TCQ is my place to go when I need help finding the perfect fabric for a special piece.  I could probably find the right fabric somewhere else – even Jo-Ann’s – but the opinions and eye to eye camaraderie means so much more.

95% of my quilts are me playing around with color, scraps, pattern, etc., and wind up being donated, gifted or traded.  It’s that 5% that I collect fabric for, have a special pattern, etc., that I want to make just prefect that bring me into TCQ.  I’ve been there twice in the last two months for the perfect border for a special piece and both times walked away with the perfect piece. 

Last and NOT least

I have to call out my wonderful daughter now.  She’s 24 now, and been quilting since high school.  Although she’s quite skilled, between school, work, boyfriend, and being a young adult, she has not produced very much.  A few years back, I bought her a pattern “Chocolate Covered Cherries” at a quilt expo.  She raided my stash for small pieces (the pattern is fairly scrappy) and has been working on it in spurts since then.

At our quilting retreat a few weeks ago, she finished the blocks (30) and today, she finished assembling the top.  We’ve picked out borders, but she hasn’t completed them yet.  Here’s a picture of where she’s at right now.

And yes, the border fabrics also came out of my stash…. I’m just so happy to have a daughter sharing my interests that I don’t minds the stash swiping… (Hands off the 108 wide batik, the 1 yard cuts from the Nancy’s notions show and the Cherry wood bundles though!)

I’m going to quilt it for her – a simple meandering stipple – but she’ll have to hand stitch the binding herself…. She HATES hand stitching…. I’m going to have fun watching her.

Another last… but more least than the last last….

I didn’t take a picture, but I have to call out my birthday present to my daughter.  Her REAL birthday present was given to her a couple weeks ago at retreat – a Viking mechanical sewing machine, but I had to make her something small to celebrate the actual day. 

I found some fabric at Mill End.  It’s pretty crappy fabric as a whole (loose weave, lots of sizing, rough texture), but it’s an old fashioned McDonald’s print – Hamburgler, the purple guy, Ronald, etc.  Ana works as a Crew Trainer at a McDonald’s.  I figured a good – but useable – joke gift out of the fabric would be perfect.  I bought a yard.

I made her a large tote bag.  It has a suede and Timtex box bottom and is lined with warm and natural.  I found some polyester (ugg) webbing in my stash that matched for handles.  I take a lot of pride in my workmanship, but I wasn’t going to spend an hour making handles for a joke bag.  I know it will get used, but I’ve made her several other bags, and this one isn’t the most fashionable.

I thought it especially funny that the guest she brought to lunch on Friday was her manager from McDonalds.  He liked the bag too.

Block of the Month

A lot of quilters like to do Block of the Month programs.  Why?  Well, there’s a lot of reasons and they vary from person to person.  The two reasons that rise to the top for me personally are:  Social opportunity and personal challenge. 

Social

I’m socially clueless.  The Asperger’s is what makes me a good quilter; I’m methodical, can focus greatly on things that interest me, etc., but it’s also what prevents me from reading social clues and being able to make friendships the “normal” way.  So, I circumvent that by going to classes and clubs.  There, I automatically have a subject to talk about and can jump start some of that initial awkwardness.  I really like sharing and giving.  When I’m in a quilting group, there’s always an opportunity to share fabric, thread and patterns without putting a burden upon the other person.

The social awkwardness also prevents a lot of standard girl outings.  I really don’t know how to enjoy happy hours and sitting with a group of woman, talking at dinner daunts me.  However, when I go to a quilt retreat, I find it very easy to chit chat and have silent moments, with a group of women.  We are all there for the same thing, and enjoy working away on our own projects.  Quilting events are a place to be very individual, yet be in a group.  Yes, group sports in school were awful for me…..

Personal Challenge

Aka – thinking outside the box.  When left to my own devices, I would make everything in purple and probably use the same sort of pattern every time.  When I do a block of the month program, I can’t do that.  I’m forced into a pattern not of my own choosing, and even made to use colors and patterns I wouldn’t normally pick in fabric!

One block of the month that stands out in my mind was the first Scrap Tamers program that I joined.  The project was a mystery.  Since I had no idea what the finished product would look like, I threw all caution to the wind and went with a color palate that I normally didn’t touch – fall colors.  I actually really liked it when it was done! 

Current

I’m currently doing three block of the month programs.  One is a mystery and two were shown before starting the program.  The mystery is also the only one of the three in which I get to chose my own fabrics.  The overall result is that I’m doing a lot of things – color use, fabric pattern use, design – that I wouldn’t normally do.

Mystery:  This is another scrap tamers and I decided to black and dark reds.  My choice was based solely on looking at my shelves of smaller pieces of fabric and deciding that I had a lot of smaller pieces of various black background pieces.  I then sort of did a mental “enie, menie, miney” and settled on red for a complement. 

Paper Piecing:  I love paper piecing and I saw that a local quilt shop had a block of the month that was all about paper piecing.  The group is using a Carol Doak paper piecing book which was another big plus.  The book is called “300 Paper-Pieced Quilt Blocks”. 

I was initially chagrined at having to purchase a $30 book for a group I joined for social outings.  However, I now cannot speak highly enough about the book.  It comes with a CD of the blocks… but not just a CD of patterns to print out – there’s a small program that’s really quite helpful.  It allows you to select a block and print it in ANY size that you want.  No more standing at the copier trying to get the size just right or redrawing it in Visio (graphing program) to get it perfect. 

Of course, that also means that I’ve now selected about a dozen other blocks and projects I want to do……

Pieced Blocks:  Last and not least at all, I’m well past the midpoint with a block of the month at Twin City Quilting.  This is my favorite for many reasons.  There were two choices for the fabrics for the quilt – Batiks or the Troy line (I keep hearing the name said, but have never seen it in writing, so I hope that’s right).  A pack of fabric is handed out each month.  Each person gets the same fabric (in the choice they’ve chosen), but they can chose to buy more, make the blocks in different schemes, etc.  I do like it when some of the choice it taken away, yet room is left for independence outside of that basic choice.  I also like having the fabric picked for me – I am forced to think outside my box, but still have a chance to make something different that the rest.

The best part about the whole program is how the shop owner has organized it.  It cost one fee to join initially. I can’t remember, but I think it was $25.  Each month, we meet, have a mini class, see what’s new in the shop, show and tell, etc., all the standard stuff. 

But, here’s where it’s different.  Unlike the other programs I’ve done, she actually holds us up to our commitment to “block of the month” and checks up!  We have to show our completed block before we can get the fabric pack for the next month.  If we don’t do the block in time for the class, we then have to pay $5 for that pack – a penalty! 

Conclusion

So, at this time, I have three blocks of the month to do each month – two are the first week of the month, and one is the second.  I am currently planning vacations around being in town for those important commitments.  I am up to date on all my “homework”.  

Scrap Taming

I mentioned before in this blog about the “Scrap Tamers” club (similar to a Block of the Month club) that I went to at a local quilt shop.  Well, I’ve joined the group again this year (I skipped a couple years) and I have some new goals!  The club itself has also morphed a bit.  When it started, the format was to meet each month and get a new clue for a mystery quilt.  Each month’s clue would encompass a different technique and a mini class would be taught focusing on that. 

This year, the club is Scrap Tamers and Marti Mitchell tools.  There is a mystery, of which we get a clue each month and also a second section focusing on a Marti Mitchell tool.  Along with the tool tutorial, we also receive a pattern that uses the tool.  (Note:  the patterns can also be done with standard quilting techniques – the tool is an aid, not a necessity). 

Since my scraps and small pieces are getting a little out of hand - Ok, I’ll be honest – ALL my fabric is getting out of hand – I’ve decided to personally challenge myself as well.  Instead of simply making the mystery out of fabric on hand, I’m going to make something out of each pattern each month.  My strict rule to myself is NO BUYING anything for it.  This includes backing and binding as well.  I can, however, use recently purchased fabric.

The Mystery

Status: 

Clue #1 – Complete (except for background)

Clue #2 - Complete

Clue #1:  This year, I’ve decided to do the mystery in black and red.  The first clue was cutting all the fabrics.  I finished cutting the reds and blacks, but I’m waffling a little on the background.  I am really thinking white.  However, clue number two didn’t dip into background, so I’m going to wait until clue three, or later.  I’d just like to get an idea of how things are looking.  I don’t consider that cheating with the mystery; I’m not peeking ahead at anything, just being a little flexible as things progress.

Clue#2:  This clue had us sewing together 2½ strips and then cutting them into three color rail fence blocks that are 6½ inches square.  Nothing too taxing there…. The clue used up all the longer pieces of fabric cut, so I’m guessing that the rest of the blocks will be a little more complicated.

Monthly Project #1

The monthly pattern given for the first month was for a quilt in sizes ranging from runner to queen using blocks that are basically two triangles.  One side is strips of color and the other is a solid triangle.  I chose to make a runner and to actually use scraps from cutting out all the pieces of my mystery.  I also used small pieces of black from my stash to fill in the triangles.

A black and red runner isn’t for everyone.  My mother dislikes it.  I think it’s rather striking.  Next steps are to pick out backing, quilt it and bind it.  I’m thinking black for the backing and then use pieces from my rolled scrap strips for a scrappy binding in reds.  Keeping with the “scrap” format of the club, I’m also going to piece my bat for this quilt from my scrap basket of batting.  Warm and White/Natural stitches together quite nicely and lies just as flat as fresh pieces from the roll.

Monthly Project #2

The second month’s pattern is fairly tradition in its blocks and layout.  Traditional really isn’t me.  I have decided to address that by going very wild on the fabrics.  I have two recent additions to my stash that have been lying in the “must do something with” bin.

First, the pattern calls for a floral focus fabric that is used in the center of the blocks in 4½ squares.  I just bought ½ yard of a black background with very bright circles and rings on it.  They are all high impact colors.  It’s also got a border design along one side.  I’m going to cut my squares from it and then use the border piece for something… not sure what yet.  I’m going to make the quilt in the table topper/wall hanging size so I have a couple ideas.

Idea One – incorporate the border on the backing as a sort of label.

Idea Two – use the border pieces (and some filler as I only have 18 inches) as an additional row on the bottom, beneath the actually pattern.  Maybe pull it to a point or something like that.

Next – the rest of the fabrics in the quilt (except for background) are meant to complement the focus fabric.  The other piece in my must use pile is orange metallic/batik like fabric.  It’s patterned but truly reads as a solid.  I think it will really enhance the wild print.  Now I just have to dig for a couple other bright fabrics for the other parts.

Last – background…. I’m a little stuck here.  Do I use black since my focus fabric is black background?  Or will things just blend too much?  Do I use white for a stark contrast?  Or do I use a light shade of one of the high impact colors in the focus fabric? 

You’ll just have to wait and see!!