Time to Get Things Working Right

You probably noticed that I changed my blog theme...again.  The "new" one was so pretty, but drove me crazy - I didn't like working with it.    This one is not as dramatic, but it suits me much better.  I'll keep it for awhile until I get restless again.

My new project was moving right along until the directions got ultra complex and I got so confused.  I see now why Judy Niemeyer hires people and trains them to teach her classes.  There were two booklets of directions for this pattern.  The first was a dozen pages of general directions, which I skimped on (bad move).  There was an extra pattern piece with no explanation of what it was for so I sat down and read through everything - carefully this time.  Apparently it was a way to cut one part of the pattern to sew without foundation piecing.  If it is something else, I will eventually figure it out!

In another place I was told to cut through the middle of a foundation piece when initially cutting it.  Later, it was insane trying to foundation piece it.  One piece ended up having no seam allowance marked.  I have now scanned the whole pattern and can print more pieces if I need them.  I'll do that piece my way!  You can't beat experience.  I am thankful for all the many hours of foundation piecing I have done over the years.  Whether the directions are clear or not, I can eventually figure them out.

I made an annoying miscalculation in a color gradation.  That was my own fault!  What to do?  Below is an extra piece I began to put together before figuring out that I didn't need as many as I thought.  However it is a perfect demonstration of a piece gone wrong in the gradation.  It looked fine in a stack of large pieces of fabric, but it created a sharp demarcation between light and medium dark that looked terribly wrong to me in the strip of small pieces.  It sat behind my machine and just glared at me.

The offending piece is the paisley 3rd from right.

 I had 24 of these graded strips all sewn together so I pondered.

I looked again.

I strongly disliked it.

I pondered some more.

I tried to use paint to darken the piece.

Yuuuuuk!

I finally used an Inktense pencil to color lightly on the left side of the of the offending piece.  Then I used water to blend the color across the piece like painting in watercolor.  Heat set and hope it holds.  It blends perfectly now!  I also washed the test piece with soap and water and it maintained its new look.

Can you see how well the paisley blends now? Compare with the previous image.

Thank goodness I didn't have to do these strips all over again.  This is a project from my stash although I did have to purchase the background fabric.  I have lots of whites, but not enough of any of them so I got a pretty white-on-white.

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you gentleness as you blend your life.

A New Project - An Old One Finished

Sewing time has been scant to non-existent.  There have been so many things to be done and other things I wanted to play with.

I had my DNA done some time ago, but didn't really know what to do with it.  I heard about DNA Painter and then a cousin wrote about her efforts to locate the family of my ggg-grandmother using DNA so I got busy, learned the program and added my DNA to the project.  We still don't have an exact answer, but all indications point to a family that is probably hers.  Waste of time?  No, it is challenging to learn new things and keep the aging brain active.

I am one who does not collect UFQs (unfinished quilts), but I just kept making fusible stuff when my machine was in the shop.  I ended up with three UFQs hanging around and it was hard getting back to work to finish them.....until.....I saw a table topper on Facebook that would be a lovely shower gift for two upcoming brides in the family.  It is a Judy Niemeyer pattern that has been discontinued.  I got one of two left!  It is energizing to begin a new project even though I still have two UFQs.  They'll get done at some point!

I made myself finish "Sweet Lady" the collie while I waited for the pattern to arrive.  I puzzled about the binding.  With the red bow on her head I felt I needed a little something red somewhere.  Red binding was clearly not the answer, but I put down some red rick-rack under the black binding.  I think it really makes the quilt pop.  The binding is 1/4 inch and the corners were really hard because of the bulky rick-rack.  I couldn't trim it much because it frays so badly.  So the quilt has bulky corners.  I may take a hammer to them with a piece of fabric under the hammer to prevent the fabric from getting shiny.  We'll see.  This is not for show and it is far from perfect, but I am happy.  I am happiest to have finished at least one project.

Sweet Lady

Sew some happy seams today.  I wish you the thrill of a finished project soon.  Continue your learning process to keep your brain healthy.