The Error of My Ways

I would dearly love to have a quilt go together with no problems.  Is it possible?  I guess it would be if I did a really simple one without complicated piecing and color arranging, but I am not drawn to simplicity.  You get to listen to me vent as I try to solve the problems.  Sorry!  It does help to clarify the difficulties by writing about them.

I am making 36 square blocks with the same pattern. Each block is made of two half-square triangles, but each of those triangles is made with 14 pieces.  The finished blocks will each be 7 inches square (not counting seam allowance).  Three of the 14 pieces that make up a triangle vary in color in order to produce a complex design.  Below is the part of the design that threw me a curve this week and forced a bit of ripping and redoing.

Graphic of four blocks on point.

Note the four triangles with check marks.  They have to go the right way to create a bit of structure to the center of the quilt.   The checked black triangles must all be north and south, while the red ones must be in the east and west positions.  Those checked triangles are each a corner of a different block.  It really makes a difference when you look at the total design.  The graphic above shows one of four exact groupings that occur symmetrically in the quilt.  I am sorry, but I am not going to divulge the complete design so you just have to take my word for it.

Two of those four checked triangles were going the right way and two were oriented the wrong way - grrrrrrr!  I  had switched black for red and red for black.  A secondary design had vanished.  Some required the rip-and-redo treatment.  The others hadn't been sewn yet, and were only glued so they were really quick and easy.

I am so glad I discovered the goof before I went any further, and it only took about an hour to re-establish order.

TIP:  This is where a design wall is helpful.  I walk into my sewing room frequently and look at my work on the wall, analyze design and color choices, and find mistakes.  My wall is cheap.  I hung a flannel-backed tablecloth flannel side out, and it works great.

Off topic TIP:
I found a website with a solution that might help some of you.  It tells you a simple way to clean a cutting mat if it begins to hug fuzz in the cuts.  Here is a great fix.

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you easy fixes if you run afoul of perfection.

Signing In

Signing in to say I am still alive, but not writing this week.  Last week was very busy with guests, hiking, and way too much food.  We had a wonderful time with people we love.  This week the night time temperatures are dropping into the low 30s so that means getting caught up with laundry while I still have water to the washing machine.  I am getting all my houseplants back into the house before they freeze.  I got the garage (aka Guest Cottage) sorted out with towels and bedding put away, and made it ready for storing the outdoor furniture cushions.  It has been a great summer, but we must look forward to winter now and be prepared.  Too tired to sew!

TIP:  Don't sew when you are too tired, if you can possibly avoid it.  It is way too easy to make mistakes when your brain and body are crying for rest.

Photos are from a lovely hike...short, but steep up to tree line with our visitors.  We were lucky in missing the downpour that drenched the mountains an hour later.

Poudre Lake straddling the Continental Divide (Rocky Mountain NP).
10,758 ft. elevation.  That's where we started hiking!

This beautiful mule deer buck posed for us in the sunlight.

Lovely alpine flower called Arnica.

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you fatigue-free stitching and will catch up with you next week.

Know Thyself

I discovered something about myself.  After I finished my last quilt and decided that thread painted portraiture was not my strong suit, I was in limbo as to what my next project would be.  I sat down, pulled up Illustrator and tried some ideas using some paper pieced stars I had made awhile back.  The idea was to turn them into a small quilt, but no go.  It just didn't work for me until I messed around with a graphic version of those stars and arrived at an appealing design that doesn't look anything like stars.

I thought I wanted elegant quilts, Victorian looking, with lots of stunning quilting like Margaret Solomon Gunn.  I thought I would like to draw pictures with the quilting needle like Bethanne Nemish.  I do love their quilts, but their way of quilting doesn't manage to magically appear on my screen from my own brain.  However, as I fiddled around with my stars,  playing with ideas, moving and manipulating shapes and colors,  I made a remarkable discovery.  I LOVE intricate designs!  I think I have always loved them.

When I go to my Idea file I find all kinds of geometric designs.

Mosaics are all over the Mediterranean.
Don't remember which country this is from.

Mathematical designs.

Fountain at Hassan II mosque in Casablanca

Pretty designs.

Sconce.  University of TX in Austin.

Doorway/gate in Paris

Colorful designs

Hassan II mosque in Casablanca

All of these designs are non-representational.  Just interesting stuff.  Fascinating eye candy.  When I got to amusing myself with those silly stars I had so much fun creating, coloring, and crafting my next quilt.  Intense.  Who is going to cook dinner?  Oh, I forgot to get meat out of the freezer.  Oops!

Once I recognized that I love designs, I realized that I am also drawn to them everywhere I go.  I take photos of them, I scratch them onto my grocery list.  I love to create kaleidoscopes and spiral quilts.  Designs are in my DNA I guess, and actually DNA is a pretty cool design itself.

DNA

TIP:  It helps to know yourself.  Be honest about what you like, but step out and try new things.  That will help you grow, and you will learn new techniques to apply to your work.  Trying something new is refreshing and keeps your quilts from becoming tedious, but be true to yourself.  You will make happy quilts this way.

My four paper-pieced stars remain pending, currently unloved, waiting for inspiration.  I am working on my new quilt, which is a complicated, interesting design.  It is exciting watching it evolve as I think about how to quilt it.

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you insight into your inner design wall.

Quilt Creases

Creases are annoying when quilts are on display.  I had one do that when I showed it, and had several knowledgeable individuals look at it and make suggestions.  They shook their heads and ended up telling me that they don't really know why it happened.  What I have learned since is that some battings will crease more than others.  Some have a "memory" of the fold creases.  Currently, I hear that some of the big name quilters have gone to wool batting to prevent creases.

I do know that packing a quilt to mail is one way to get unwanted creases.  If your box is too big the quilt will move around and it is impossible to figure out what it will do when it is active.  Sort of like a toddler.  If your box is too small, the quilt gets crushed into the shape of the box and folds get pressed in.  Likewise if you pack too many quilts tightly into one container.  I put a little crushed packing paper in the folds and that seems to work for mailing.

Quilts can be rolled on swimming noodles and I did that for awhile, but again, the all-knowing experts are saying that some parts of the quilt are subjected to more stress than others when rolled tightly that way.  I guess the best way is to store quilts flat on a bed.  Do you have an extra bed for that purpose?  I don't.

One way to avoid creases is to fold your quilts on the bias.  See Alex Anderson's video.  After looking at it I am tempted to go back to all my stored quilts and refold them!!!  You can see another slightly different method using bias folds here.

I have no photos appropriate for the content this week so I will share these cute mule deer fawns that have been enjoying the unusually green grass (for this time of year) and munching on my wildflower garden.  They've been tasting the petunia blooms too!

Three fawns but not triplets.

Care to guess why they are called mule deer?

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you time to enjoy the outdoors and some wildlife.