She's not so quick, but she's clever

Tracy wrote:

I've been trying to keep track, and (based on the number of audio books that I've listened to), I'm at about 72 hours for machine quilting.

Yes, 72 hours sitting at my sewing machine.  I'm not telling you this because I'm looking for a poor baby.  No exclamations of awe are required.  It's just background to what I'm about to share.

I have to take my glasses off when machine quilting.  Usually I stick them in the neckline of my sweatshirt (greatly increasing the probability of smudges from my chin when I look down just so).  Sometimes I live dangerously and lay my glasses on my sewing table - running the risk of losing them amongst the clutter (and of course it's hard to look for my glasses when I can't see because I'm not wearing my glasses).

71.5 hours into my quilting odyssey, I had an idea.

Here's my cel-phone purse thing-y, larks-headed over the neck of my quilting floor lamp that's located between me and my sewing machine.


Where do I sign up for the local Mensa group?

I Only Make It Look Easy, Part One

Tracy wrote:

Okay, my last post mentioned the estimated number of hours I've spent at my sewing machine, just quilting and not sewing.

I am constantly amazed by the amount of time it takes me to quilt (actually, I'm amazed at the time it takes me to do pretty much anything at the sewing machine). I mean, it's sit down, sew one or maybe two squiggly lines and move on, right? Why, then, does it take me at least 45 minutes and usually over an hour to do one single block?

In an effort to document the how/what/when/where/why... well, that might be too ambitious, but let's try this, step by step.

First off, not even included in the at the sewing machine time, there's the three D's: determine-design-duplicate.

I start by looking for and assessing potential quilting motifs. This involves looking through my library at home - both in books and on my computer, checking out the city libraries, surfing the  web, and sitting down with pencil and paper (and a mega-eraser).

Once I find something that looks possible, I then have to figure out if it's quilt-able. Well, I guess everything's quiltable, but I'm hoping for the thing that will give the biggest bang for the buck (and create the fewest gray hairs while doing so).


F'r instance, this motif is quite cool, but it would drive me to drink. So many stops and starts and backtracks!

This one is also cool, and I can "walk the maze" in a continuous line. If you trace the motif with your fingertip on the screen, you'll find that this one will is made up of two continuous lines.

I've already accepted the sad fact that whatever I will be quilting will have crossed lines - the over/under weaving knot stuff (which I absolutely love) is not realistic for any more than a one-time thing*.

*Refer back to the gray hair and drinking comments*

Once I've got some 'possibles', then it's time to do some graphic manipulation. In the event that I've gotten a motif from an online source or from my computer, it just begins with opening the file. If it's from a book or a drawing, there will be scanning involved.

Once I open the file in my graphics program, I can then clean it up by removing stuff I don't want to use, or combining two different designs into one. After that, it's mucking around to make the motif into the correct size (1/2 inch smaller than the block size) and then printing. (that's 3 minutes, 3 seconds just to open and resize an existing, already-cleaned-up motif)

That's it for TWO of the D's: Determine and Design. Next up is Duplicate. And I'm still not at the sewing machine.

The Time Out

Tracy wrote:

Okay, Steve is getting a time-out while I ponder his headgear.  I thought I had it figured out, then Keith wandered by and put in his two cents.  As is usual, when Keith gives a color/fabric suggestion, it kicks the backside of whatever I've been messing with for the previous 30 minutes.  It's the only decision (that I know of) that he makes lightning-fast, and he hasn't been wrong yet.

So, why is Steve getting a time out?  Mainly because I wore myself out trying to find something that was BETTER than what Keith suggested.  That didn't happen.  I had to go take a nap.

The Motif Search Begins

Tracy wrote:

Okay, I got out the small panel and measured it.  From seam to raw edge, all 4 borders are 3".  Taking away 1/4" for binding and leaving 1/4" *air* on each side of a motif gives me a width of 2.25" with which to work.

Measuring horizontally, I get 24.5", raw-to-raw.

VERTICALLY, I get 85.25".  Is that right? I could have measured incorrectly (there aren't many uncluttered places that are 7' long or longer in my house).

Through some serious math-gymnastics, listening to Mr. Algebra spouting off just like HE hadn't slept through HIS classes, and a touch of pin-the-tail-on-the-fraction, I've come up with a projected motif size of 2.25 x 9.5".

Okay, true confession here:  The math-nastics actually led me to 2.25 x 4.75", but when I figured out that I was going to hand-draw FORTY motifs for just ONE of the SMALL quilts, I got inventive.  It was either that or a(nother) nap, and it was already 9:30 at night.

Don't bother trying to figure how my figurin' works out.  It's kinda like a secret ingredient.  Or magic.

Trust me.


Next up, going through 5 or 10 inspiration books for... uh... inspiration.

Do you think that we should share the quilting theme?

Re: The Motif Search Begins

Jean wrote:

Yep - 85.25 or 85.5 depending on the amount of stretch. The pattern is right between the two, so I guess we're as close as we're going to get.

BTW, the side borders were cut at 3.25, while the top and bottom borders were cut at 2.75, so all 4 borders aren't 3" unless the top and bottom have grown. Be careful. From seam to raw edge, top and bottom should be 2.5.

Maybe share the theme of the quilting a little later. It's only the beg of Feb. Hard to believe we've just started the 2nd month. Well, okay, the first week is gone, and there's only 3 weeks in March.

Talk about tedium. I've been taping and taping and trimming and taping the rose window. Then bias taping. I just started the third wheel of bias, so for sure we're going to need at least 5. That narrow quilt takes 8 yards just going up and down the white strips.

The Drawing Board

Tracy wrote:

Okay, I had a brilliant inspiration for the quilting pattern for quilt borders. One or two readers even got a preview of said brilliant inspiration.

Oh, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

Until I put pencil to paper. After resizing (2.25 x 9.5") and the necessary simplification (so that a human could stitch the pattern) it was, well, boring. Boring and unrecognizable as anything even remotely resembling brilliant. Back to the drawing board.

Here's my drawing board:


Included are things that measure, things to help draw shapes, tracing paper, things that mark things, a major-league eraser-on-a-stick, and the Very Important Things: Coffee and a book on tape. It took 4 Miss Marple short stories to come up with a workable border motif (or two).

Getting the Lead Out

Tracy wrote:
(It's getting harder and harder to come up with snappy titles!)

Jean wrote:

Ta dah! I got all the trimming and underneath taping done on the rose window as well as almost used up the fourth package of bias tape.

So I've started sewing down the bias radially. When all that is sewn, then I get to put the bias down in 7 circles from the center out. But I'm so happy that the pieces are not flying around anymore.

God's Beauty

Jean wrote:

I was awakened at 6:30 this morning by the snow plow. I excitedly got up and in the dark went out on the porch and measured 1 1/2" of white, fluffy snow. I was instantly glad I was retired and didn't have to worry about going down the hill to Clark.

So I went upstairs to work on the borders which would complete the first narrow quilt top. The measurements, cutting and sewing went so smoothly, I was oohhing and aahhing as the quilt top came together.



It was getting light out so I raised the sheer shade of my sewing room window and just stared at the beauty outside. I felt so small.

Here I was so excited about the colors and patterns of the quilt top, thinking they were so beautiful, and here was grandeur out my own window.

I don't normally sew large quilts, so these quadriad quilts are large by my standards, but not by Tracy's, as she does queen size quilts without blinking. But looking at the snow on every single branch, I realized how small my efforts were by comparison. Here was beauty on a grand scale with exquisite detail and pattern that I could never match.

Still, I was involved in making something for God's dwelling place, and that is special in itself. Creating that quilt while being surrounded by God's beauty is both a humbling and inspiring experience.

Bump In the Road

Tracy wrote:

Jean worked so hard to get one of the 4 quilts finished so that I could start applying mass quantities of thread to it.  (The last large quilt I did had over a mile of thread ON it - that didn't count what was used to put it together in the first place)   She unveiled it while we were at a meeting in Vancouver. 

The quilt top is stunning.  I know, it's not fair to say that and not show a picture, but there ya go.  Absolutely stunning.

The quilt top is also still in Vancouver.  I managed to leave it safely stashed under the coffee table next to where I was sitting.  Didn't remember it until we were past Ridgefield, and it was late in the day and it was rain-snow-slush-Slurpee-ing, so we didn't turn around and go back to get it.




Guess what I'm doing on Friday?

Woot!

Tracy wrote:

Steve's got clothes!  He is also ::gasp!:: HAND-BASTED together, all but his hair.  What a pain in the patoot!

Okay, there's one more bit of cloak to add (below the elbow), and painting/shading to do on the white.

Upon seeing the photo (that won't be shared in the blog) Keith commented that Steve looked really good.  He realizes that when seeing ol' Steve up-close-and-personal, it's hard to see the forest for the trees (or some such thing).

Next up is everything above the eyebrows.  heh.