arg!!!!

Isn't it lovely? My quilt top is finished! I am done! I am taking pictures! I am....ohmygosh!!! I am NOT done! I've done it WRONG!!!

This is my lovely raft full of paddlers, as it looked at about 9:30 this morning. I'd appliquéd and embroidered for a few hours last night as well as this morning. First I did it with the machine, it looked terrible. I picked it out. I hand-embroidered. It looked good for some paddles. Others needed to be picked out and redone, to straighten the handles. Finally, finally, the picking out was finished, and so was the top.

Until I took the picture.

I didn't even notice when I marked the quilt, when I embroidered it or re-embroidered it, when I hung it on the wall, or when I stood back and admired it. It is WRONG.

See the guy in the front? Not only does he have his own paddle, but his buddy's paddle is extending out of his armpit. Now that's some trick paddling, if you ask me!!!

More picking and embroidery and voila!

I think the paddles all go to the right people and the top is finally finished.

If anyone finds any more mistakes, I really don't want to know about them. :)

***Pat, this post is for you. See. I make mistakes ALL THE TIME. I pick them out or fix them, and then try to get over them. It's part of the process. Sometimes they stay in, and I call it a design choice. The rest of the time, I just grit my teeth and start over. again. It's all good. :)

Spring Sprucing?

It's been raining for almost a week. yay! The garden is starting to lose the bare look of winter and brave little flowers are poking their heads out.

I used to have masses of violets, but something happened to them, I'm not sure what. I could accuse the Round-up king, but that wouldn't be nice of me, would it? I know I've been guilty of pulling out many plants, trying to keep them from overtaking the entire flower bed. But today, in February? I am more than delighted to see them poking up once again.

While it's wet outside, I've felt the urge to spruce up inside. Last week it was the closet, this weekend it was the fabric.

Every year our local quilt shop has an after Christmas sale, and I go SHOPPING. When the back room is 50% off, I leave self-control at home and go for it. I think I came home with about 77 yards of fabric. This is what it looked like.

For the past two months, it has been in bags on the floor of my sewing room. sigh. I ALWAYS, ALWAYS prewash my fabric before putting it away. I've had too many episodes of wayward dye to ever want to repeat the experience. I wash the fabric with a bit of orvus and color-catchers. What doesn't bleed goes into the dryer. What does bleed goes through the washer again, with either retayne or synthrapol and more color-catchers. I wash until the bleeding stops, and if it doesn't stop after 3 or 4 times, I get rid of it.

This is what my sewing table looks like this morning. Not quite so nice and neat as it was post-Christmas, is it? I'm about one-third of the way through the pre-washing, and I need to take a break and get caught up on ironing before I add more to the pile.

Once it is pressed, the fabric will be separated by color or theme and put in one of the stash storage cabinets that I showed you a while back.

And now, the fabric is calling me. I'd better go see about making the wrinkled pile smaller and the neat and tidy piles larger. Wish me luck!!

Sneaking a peek

As I think I've hinted, I have been struggling lately. It hasn't been so much the lack of quilting, but the lack of time to work on my own work. Finally, finally, the for-hire work is gone, and my time is my own. What a blessing!

Of course my first priority should be housekeeping, but I haven't been so good in that department this week. Instead, I took the time to piece together a quilt top that I began last year at Asilomar. This was my second class with Ruth McDowell. The woman is a genius!!!

She is an amazing teacher who specializes in piecing. We're not talking piecing quilt blocks, we're talking piecing pictorial quilts. Her work takes my breath away. The first time I saw it, I thought, "THAT is the kind of quilting I would love to be doing!" I had no idea what was involved. It is time intensive, but it is oh, so rewarding!!!

Last March I began a 6' x 4' piece, depicting white water rafting. It was inspired by a family excursion to the upper Kaweah - where the rapids were class 5. Two weeks earlier, they had been class 6, which means they cannot be navigated. The water was wild, no doubt about it.

Our guide assured us that "one of you will fall in," and the last thing I wanted to do that day was even put my foot in the raft. But we needed every body, and I was not allowed to back out.

I fell out twice, before we'd gone 20 yards. It was terrifying.

There is much more to the story, but I will spare you. Suffice it to say that I now have a bit of a fixation with reproducing rivers in fabric.

This is a close-up of the rafters that Ruth drafted for me. I struggled for HOURS, trying to make the people sew-able, but was unsuccessful. She suggested throwing people out of the boat, but I'd already done that. When I started to explain how important this and that detail were, she said, "Be quiet and let me think!!!" She sat and stared at what I'd sketched, then began drawing lines. ohmygosh!! The people began emerging, and my rafters looked like rafters!!

By the end of the week, I had this little section all sewn together. It is about 8" x 12", and I believe it has about 84 pieces. whew!!!

It wasn't until a few months ago that I noticed that I had sewn a piece wrong.

By then, it was deep into the quilt-top. arg. what to do?

Yesterday I picked out the wayward triangle. If you look at the first picture, you will see turquoise raft instead of water, under the rafter's arm. oops. Yesterday I fixed it.

Isn't this much better? It gives you a sense of how small that little raft is compared to the raging river. (By the way, I'm the one in red, getting ready for my first plunge.)

I also put a piece of lining behind the paddle blade, to eliminate the shadowing seen in the first picture. Much, much better.

I am booked for the rest of the weekend, but on Monday I plan to sew the final seam in the quilt. I will add the remaining paddles and handles, and then baste it for quilting. I can hardly wait! :)

Small World

This morning I found a comment on my blog from a faith quilter that I met last year at Asilomar. big smile. Her name is Lisa Ellis and her work is wonderful. big smile. She lives in VA, I live in CA. Earlier this week she set up a "google alert" on "faith quilts" and guess who popped up? Moi! bigger smile!

She had already taken this picture on Wednesday, planning to send it to me. Is this cool or what?

Psalm 46:10 Be Still
Suzanne Kistler
Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival XIX

The only times I've ever seen quilts of mine hanging with blue ribbons have been at the local quilt show, the county fair and the state fair. ooo, it looks so good!!! Thank you, Lisa!!!

She also sent me a picture of her faith quilts, which are hanging close to mine. Don't you love them? Our work is so different, yet the same. Our work seeks to praise God, and to remind others of His glory. He is so good to us. He cares about little things - like crossing our paths last year at Asilomar and keeping us in contact when we live at opposite ends of the country. Wow. What a small world!!!

Quilts by Lisa Ellis
Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival XIX

And what I find truly amazing, is that in BOTH my artist's statement, AND hers, (on the "San Diego" quilt) we refer to "our extraordinary God." Must be a great minds thing...and a witness to our great God. BIG SMILE!!!

God is good

"Psalm 46:10 Be Still"
40" x 40"

Today the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival opened in Hampton, Virginia. This little wall quilt is there, and according to the winner's list on the website, it is sporting a "Best Handworkmanship" ribbon. Needless to say, I am THRILLED. All of the hours put into this quilt had been worth it, but to win an award at its first show? For me, and my quilts, that is a first.

God gets all the glory for this one. I hope that the quilt stops people as they hurry by and that they are touched by its message. His word never goes out empty, and how cool, that this time it also caught the eye of the judges. He is so good to me!!!!

Closet Organization

Sometimes the mess gets to me. Yesterday was one of those days.

Over the weekend, I'd gone to Target and purchased two small shelving units, thinking that I was going to put them in the garage. But then I sat down at my sewing machine and glanced to the left. ugh. Would the shelves fit in there? By golly, it was like they were made for the space.

I removed everything from that part of the closet, prompting my son to pop his head in and ask, "WHAT HAPPENED IN HERE?!!!" Yeah, I know. It wasn't pretty. But soon, the area was empty.
I left my tripod hanging on the rod, along with hangers. Yes folks, I need those for drip-drying laundry. There is no maid. :)
This is what the shelves looked like, once I assembled them in the space. MUCH better than the rolling wire drawer unit, don't you think? Even when things get piled in front of the shelves, I will be able to get to the shelf contents. With the drawer system, I had to empty the closet to open the drawer, to access the contents. Yes, MUCH better.
And here it is, looking all organized and beautiful.

You notice that I did not say this was a storage solution. It's not. Although I was able to move some new things into once-wasted space (threads, scrap bins, etc.), I really didn't add any new storage. I just made what I had already stashed in there more accessible. Two shelves contain machine embroidery supplies, one is filled with machine-quilting thread. The wire baskets used to hold only machine embroidery stuff.

There. I feel MUCH better. I can even find things easily. At least for now... :)

Quilting For Pleasure

This has been a long week, in more ways than one. SO much happened, it has caused me to reevaluate priorities and think about what I want to be doing with my life. Two friends, plus my cat died this week - add that to unsmiling clients, and you've got a recipe for reevaluation, no doubt about it.

One thing I do not want to do is leave a pile of UFO's (unfinished objects) that give no indication of what they are or of what they are supposed to be.

By yesterday, I was feeling settled enough to go into the "studio" and pick up something small. The lucky piece was an exercise from a class taught by Cynthia Corbin at Empty Spools in Asilomar, in March of 2006. Other than my final project, this is the last piece for me to finish. The final project is close to completion, in that I'm beading it. Other than that, the rest are done.

I suppose I should show you what I'd put together in that class, so let's go to my computer's archives and see what we can find...

This was my final presentation on the last day. I'd focused on river studies, in preparation for a river quilt I've been wanting to make for a long time. One of these days I will make it!
This is another view of a conglomeration of my studies. (The colors in the first picture are more accurate.) The class was called "Deceptively Simple," and I think the name said it all. I tend to get drawn into details. Simplifying and throwing them OUT drives me nutty. I was very pleased with the birch trees in the river, but most of the water studies reminded me of glaciers rather than moving water. The top piece, with the larger river is about half of what it ended up being.

Back to this weekend's project:

This is the photograph that I began with. It was a gnarly old tree, on the grounds of Asilomar. I was to simplify it and convey the idea of the tree, without any of the detail. Thank goodness for printed fabric!!

11.25" x 13.5"

Yesterday I quilted this piece. It's been folded to the side of my machine for almost 2 years. It didn't inspire me to do anything other than finish it. But it was small, and I knew I could do it in a day.

Now that I've looked at the photograph, I think I should have done some lacy leafy quilting in the upper portion of the quilt. Then again, it was supposed to be simple, and I've definitely done simple. There was something restorative about quilting the lines of the tree, back and forth. And although I usually don't enjoy stippling, it was quite soothing to fill these small areas of background.

This is the back of the quilt - did I get carried away?


I guess the best part was that I could take my time and pause and reflect and not worry that I needed to "clock out" or that I might be wasting a minute of my client's time. I had no client. I was just quilting to quilt. I had a chance to do what I haven't done in a long time. Quilting used to be a time for me to pause and reflect, to think and to pray. It's been a long time since I've had that option, because it's been a long time since I've quilted "off the clock."

I do think that THIS is what I need to be doing more of, because it is MUCH better for my soul. I can feel the desire to create beginning to kindle once again. It's only a small spark, but it is much better than the dried up deadness I've been feeling recently. Ahh, to really be quilting again. What a gift!!!

Is it Spring?

On Saturday afternoon, I peeked once again in the yard. A few days before, I'd noticed the daffodils budding. By golly! They've burst!!

I LOVE daffodils, they are so perky and happy and bright and cheery and YELLOW! They are the perfect tool to turn that frown upside down. :)

But it's not only the daffodils. The narcissus have been going gangbusters since late November - they've decided that they are winter bloomers and there's nothing I can do to change that. I used to think that they were the forerunners of Spring, but I finally realized that really, it's the daffodils.
And then there are the irises. This is the one that began its bud at least 2 weeks ago. It's been cold, so its growth was stunted. But the sun has been shining, and it has been growing. And if you look closely, its neighbor to the back has also begun pushing up a stalk.
And here's the final proof that the weather is changing. This was supposed to be a photo of primroses, but instead, I've got a close-up of snail bites on my geranium. If the snails are getting active, can Spring be far away?

Just Labor?

Today I finished another quilt-for-hire.

I've done a lot of quilting recently, but very little has been my own. I've been quilting for others, and I have to say it takes a lot out of me. When I delivered today's quilt, it was something else.

For the most part, I enjoy quilting for others. As I've said before, for-hire quilts involve colors and patterns that I probably wouldn't choose, and it's fun and exciting (and sometimes challenging) to decide what kind of quilting to do and how to make the piece something that the owner will LOVE. That's one reason I charge more than others: I customize the work and try to give the client exactly what she's envisioned for her quilt. I know that she's spent a lot of time and money already, and I don't want her to be disappointed.

Today's wallhanging was not large. But it was detailed. It had floral vignettes set in attic windows, and the owner wanted the flowers to pop and to have backgrounds quilted (like rippling water and sky). Because of the size, I thought it would take about 2 hours, and I told her as much.

But once I started quilting, I had multiple thread changes. I used 4 bobbins, and probably 8 or 9 colors of top thread. As the 2 hour mark came and went, I stressed a bit, but this was what she said she wanted. It took 2 hours and 23 minutes.

I called her, and she picked up the quilt. She seemed to like it, but wasn't as enthusiastic as she'd been when she first gave it to me. When she looked at the bill, she said, "It took more than 2 hours."

Yes, it did.

And then she wanted to know why I was charging sales tax, since "All you're doing is supplying labor."

I explained to her that no, according to the State of CA, quilting for others is not simply labor. If what I do changes the value of something and adds artistic elements, it is taxable. If you gave me a mink stole, and I remade it into a jacket, that work is taxable. If you gave me a pair of pants to hem, that labor is NOT taxable. As I understand the State's standards, quilting for hire is taxable.

I've collected tax for 5 years, and reported it and paid it to the State. They've never sent it back...

Anyway, the "just labor" comment cut me. Maybe I'm overly sensitive, but I try to give my clients more than "just labor." I try to show their work to the best of my ability, and I like to think that I have a unique style that adds more than perhaps they've envisioned.

But apparently to some, it's just labor. And apparently it's over-priced. Should I have stopped at the 2 hour mark, even if her quilt was not finished? I don't think so. Should I have given her less than she asked for to stay within the 2 hour limit? Again, I don't think so.

I hope that she grows to appreciate the quilt. And that the end result eventually helps her to "get over" paying the bill.

In the meantime, I am very glad to be caught up on my for-hire work. I like to think that I am more than a common laborer. If I'm not doing anything for-hire, I can think anything I like. ;)

I think I'll make dinner, then spend the evening sewing beads on a little quilt of my own!!!

Happy Valentines Day

Happy Valentine's Day, 2008!!!

Every year I make my husband a quilted valentine, and I thought it would be fun to share them with you. I haven't always done it, but I've done it for a while, so this will be a post full of pictures.
This is the 2008 installment. This year I stepped out of my box and made an "art" valentine. I clipped snippets of fabric which I layered behind bridal netting. I rough-edge appliqued the fish on top, satin-stitched the edges and quilted the lettering. Voila. C'est finished. ;) (Excuse my pseudo-French.)

Last year, he decided that he was really into model railroads. This primarily consists of reading about them, and keeping his trains in boxes. But if he likes trains, and it's going to be his hobby, I'll definitely encourage him.

We were married in 1981, so 2006 was our 25th anniversary. No, we weren't married in February, we were married in June. But still, I thought 25 years deserved some recognition. I drew the design on silver lame and reverse-appliqued it over a background of dairy cows. For those of you who don't know, Pete is a dairy veterinarian.

Yep. No comment on this one.

In March of 2004, we took a trip to Tahiti. In preparation for it, we read up on the culture and what to expect. That explains the tane/vahine designations. Also, the broderie perse flowers were from some fabric I bought on our honeymoon to Oahu way back in 1981...

More cows, and milk.

I must have been feeling patriotic in 2002. I think everyone was.

At one time, fly-fishing was Pete's passion. He rarely goes fishing any more.

This is his valentine from 2000. Back in 1996, we'd taken a trip to the UK. I took some pictures at Melrose Abbey. I LOVED the stone carved windows, although they were quite broken and there was no glass. I took several pictures, and one view had a rolling hillside with sheep on it. Several years after making this valentine, I made a quilt entitled, "If Melrose Had Glass."

1999 was your basic heart on heart valentine. The red fabric is chintz. Until this year (2008), every one of these valentines has been hand-quilted.

More fish...even though he wasn't fishing...

I distinctly remember making this valentine. It was in 1997, and I was sitting in a gym - I think we were in Riverdale, but I can't be sure. My daughter was playing basketball, the afternoon was ticking away, and I HAD to get this valentine finished. whew! Made it before the buzzer! :)

And finally, this is the valentine that started it all. I don't even remember making it. But around this time I was making Christmas tree ornaments, and hearts with ribbons was one of my first designs. I think that explains the loop for hanging. Then again, this was a dozen years ago - who knows what I was thinking back then?

And on that, I wish you all a happy Valentine's Day.

Cat Remodel

You're probably tired of cat news, but this is a hoot. Malcolm got a haircut yesterday, when he went to visit the vet. He's been having stomach issues for over a year, and I was convinced it wasn't hairballs. Just to be sure, when he was knocked out for his barium GI series, we had him shaved, to eliminate hair as a possible cause of his problems. The x-rays showed that he's got massive reflux problems and he's now a member of the "medicated twice a day" society. Getting the medicine into him has so far been unsuccessful.
But back to his haircut. This is called a "lion cut." He thinks he looks terrific, which has me completely surprised. I thought he would be under the bed for the next week. Instead, he struts around like he is king. VERY curious, to say the least. Every time I see him, it's a surprise. He looks like a walking, breathing photo-shop animal, and it's just a wee bit disturbing. But not to him, so I guess that's a good thing.

I made ART!!!

This is what I did yesterday afternoon. It wasn't for me, and although it is art, it is not ART. It was freemotion quilting fun on a quilt-for-hire. This particular quilt was delightful to quilt. It was small and cheery, and invited interpretive quilting. Best of all, it was quick. woohoo!

But what I really wanted to be doing was something of my own. It's been a while since I've worked on my own work. I am in the process of beading a quilt, and I've gotten a bit carried away. Okay, so maybe that's an understatement. Maybe I got a LOT carried away. It will be weeks before that quilt is finished. When it is, you can be assured that I will post a picture.

Anyway, my new Quilting Arts magazine just arrived, and yesterday I was paging through it. There was a new challenge issued, called "Go Green!" The challenge specifications were preceded by an article of a "green" quilter. She uses stuff from around the house to make miniature art pieces.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of recycling...if you're talking about aluminum cans, plastics, newspapers, etc. But using dryer lint in my quilts? I just can't bring myself to do that.

But I CAN limit myself to using items that I have on hand, and that 5" x 5" size is actually do-able.

In fact, that's pretty small.

So I tried it. I started with a 6" square, instead of 5", and planned to cut it down, but the piece ended up 5.75" square. But that's fine with me. It's not for their challenge, it's ART. And I am NOT an artist...but I made ART!!
Isn't it cute? Don't you love it? I do. I started with a 6" foundation, then strip-pieced the background with scraps from my scrap box. Then I raw-edge, machine-stitched the seaweed, ala Rosemary Eichorn. I added some couched yarn from Charlotte, some bubble beads from my river, and some tiger eye stones at the bottom, rejects from the river quilt. The fish is where the "go green, recycle" theme comes in. It was an earring, that I'd bought years ago, thinking, "This would be cute on a quilt." But then I never did anything with it.

Just goes to show, that if you're desperately procrastinating on cleaning the bathrooms, you, too, could be making ART!!!

Stash, what stash?

This post will probably only be understood by long-time, serious quilters. I'm talking about those of you who have been quilting long enough to learn that colors are cyclical, and just because the stores are FULL of your favorite greens this year doesn't mean they'll be around next year or at any other time in the next FIVE years. I am NOT joking. I found this out the hard way.

The only way to combat the color dictators, other than to dye your own fabric, is to store it away for a rainy day. This is what is known as "the stash."

It starts innocently enough, at least mine did. But then it begins to grow. About 20 years ago (was it really that long ago?) we had a yard sale. Our neighbors also had one on the same day. They were selling a gun cabinet. All day long I looked at that cabinet, imagining what I could do to it. I couldn't take it any more. $20, and it was mine.

I dragged it into the garage, refinished it, covered it in polyurethane and installed fabric-covered shelves. It was PERFECT, and has served me well.

But there's a problem. Can you see by looking at the contents? I see it plain as day. It only holds blue and black and some assorted large pieces of fabric that are waiting to be used. Where are the other colors?

Well....

About 4 years ago, I just happened to find this cabinet marked down in Costco. It was the floor sample, and I think I paid under $200 for it. Not a $20 find like the gun cabinet, but it was ready to use, and was PERFECT.
Until I out-grew it. The saga continues...

I confess. I spend a LOT of time looking at catalogs and furniture places, looking for the perfect way to store my stash. Nothing is big enough to hold it all. Is that an indication that it's too big? No, I seriously doubt that! :)

Last year I found a storage solution that I LOVE. This one was also at Costco.
Upon closer examination, it's not made all that well, but it functions perfectly for my needs. It holds my stash where I can see it. It keeps it dust-free and organized. It is wonderful. But it is still not enough.

Both of the earlier stash storage shelving units are in use, and yet those are indeed Rubbermaid containers that you see in front of the cabinet, as well as to the side.

And these are some of the containers in the closet. And there are containers next to the sewing table, on both sides. And under the quilt stand. And in the shelves. And...I think I took them out from under the bed, but they might still be there...

You know, as I write this post, I think it's time for me to seriously think about doing some quilting. If nothing else, the stash is a source of INSPIRATION. Here I come, let me at it!!!

RIP, Spike

You never know what the day will bring.

I certainly didn't expect this. On February 1, I posted Proud Mama pictures of my kitties. And today, Spike 3 is gone.

Last night he went swimming. He didn't know how to swim. As far as I knew, he avoided the pool like crazy. We lived here thirteen years, with a pool, and the only thing that ever went swimming unattended was gophers. And that didn't bother me.

Then, last year, our 16 year old Cocker Spaniel took a midnight swim. We found him in the morning.

Last night, Spike took a swim. Andrew said that Spike was his usual goofy self at midnight - Andrew was outside playing with his furnace. This morning, I found Spike in the pool. sob.

This is his baby picture, with his sister Hecate.

Here they are again, just last week, waiting for their breakfast. I made them smile for the camera first. (They weren't smiling, until I fed them.) :)

All to say, that you never know what the day will bring. So we'd best make the most of each and every one of them!

The Elephant Has Been Consumed

Yes, folks, I've finished quilting the large purple quilt. whew. I am tired. It almost got the best of me. It's jobs like this that make me wonder why I do this. Not because I don't enjoy quilting, I do. But when a "for-hire" quilt takes longer than expected, and when one takes a LOT longer than expected, I stress. big time. I charge by the hour, and as the hours tick by, I start to freak out. This particular quilt has MUCH more quilting than my usual "for-hire" quilts. This quilt has the type of quilting I usually reserve for my own work. When I agreed to quilt this particular quilt, I confess, I didn't realize what I was taking on. Look at this baby. It's HUGE! But it's done. Finally. Like eating an elephant. If you take it one bite at a time, eventually you get to the end. :)

Here's a close-up of the vines that I quilted over the entire interior of the quilt. First I'd quilted the wisteria/lilacs in purple. Then I quilted the roses in pink. Then I went back and filled in the background with vines. I have to admit, it's very striking. It's also not something I want to do again any time soon. :)

This is a close-up of the back. A very small portion of the back. I used a thread color called "Wisteria," and it was PERFECT. Imagine quilting this dense, over the entire quilt. We're talking 84" x 102". That's a LOT of quilting.

See these cones of thread? They hold 2000 yards. The one on the right is brand new. The one on the left is the one I used to quilt the vines. It was almost new when I started.
See these spools? They hold 500 yards of thread. The spool on the left holds all that is left of the FOURTH spool of "wisteria." I used a lot of thread. ($8/spool, $25/cone). Plus pink. :)
These are my quilting gloves. I wore the hole in the finger unpinning pins as I quilted. Time to buy another pair. They didn't have a hole when I began.

And I had to take my machine to Dr. Stu, because it got so noisy I couldn't hear myself think. I used it so much, the gears were no longer meshing. Good thing I have a back-up!!!

So. What's the point of all this?

Oh, I don't know. I guess I just want you to know that when we for-hire quilters are working on your quilt, it's not just labor that you're paying for. Yes, you are paying primarily for our time, our skill, and our artistry, but we also have to cover the cost of our supplies and keeping our machines in top condition. My out-of-pocket expenses resulting from this particular project will be close to $110...which is actually about the same percentage that comes out of my pocket for most for-hire quilts. I don't know if that interests you, but I find it fascinating... :)

And with that, I'm going to go to bed!!! Good night!!!