pq 13.2 and more

Well it's been a bit, hasn't it?  I've been busy but haven't felt much like writing about it.

Today is the day!

First up, Project Quilting!

The latest prompt (announced nearly two weeks ago - has it really been two weeks almost now?) was "Silhouette" and I struggled with this one.  I couldn't wrap my head around making anything larger with it, since my original idea was to make dolly quilts, and that just didn't seem like a kid-friendly theme.  It makes me think of old ladies homes with oddly misshapen outline cuts of grandkids hanging on the fading, dusty walls.

So I started looking around the interwebs for inspiration and saw some butterfly outlines and went with that.  I also knew I had some fun striped batik-like materials in my stash, gifted to me way too long ago by my aunt, that would look nice behind it.  But a pincushion seems okay, right?

I just used a spray baste to hold the shape on and only quilted just off the stripe lines.  It may not be as secure as if I had done raw-edge applique, but this is about a 4" square to start.  Not a large shape and not a lot of space to sew anyways.

A few hours later, I had this finished project.  It's pretty, but the fabric is kinda stiff, so I'm not sure how good of a pincushion it would actually be.  Oh well, at least it's pretty!

This is the back.  Part of the same fabric, just in a different spot.

In my last post I also mentioned a few projects I might start.  Some have been scrapped (the masks and embroidery journal - that second because I couldn't, after a few days, motivate myself to start OR to figure out some motif that seemed significant for the day - I just don't always have days with something significant to report, I guess!), but others have gone full steam ahead!

First up, the lounge pants.  I was scared of this.  Pockets and a button fly and whatnot.  What was I thinking?  But I had found a video online of a gal making exactly that pattern and figured if all else failed, I could turn to that for instruction.  I'm a visual learner, so printed instructions are difficult for me.

I took a deep breath and cut out the pieces.  You can't sew if you don't have pieces, right?

This took way longer than I wanted it to and some of the pieces instructed me to cut them out with the pattern facing down.  Now, to get a right and a left, I understand.  But if you're cutting a folded layer, don't you get a right and a left no matter which direction the pattern is used?  Oh well, I did it as instructed and the only one that SHOULD have had some directional help, the waistband, was okay that I cut it upside down because it was just a rectangle and I figured it out.

It took most of a day, but there were a lot of steps.  And a lot of reinforcing a seam or trimming a seam or figuring out how to use the buttonhole foot again...but in the end, I have these:

The length was perfect.  I hemmed just a little, as directed, and they're perfect.  The elastic I was instructed to cut was perfect.  (I cut it long to be safe, but perfect.)  It's like this pattern (in a size medium) was made for me!  And everything went really well.  I took my time and read and thought and tried things until I had it figured out before I sewed, but I'm now the proud wearer of t-rex lounge pants with pockets!

The scrapbook journal has been fun.  I purchased a simple spiral bound weekly planner, shortly after the new year started for a bargain of 50% off, as well as some watercolor paints.  (Who knew I didn't have any watercolors in my crafty stuff stash?)  My plan is to watercolor the pages for each week and then stick in random bits from the week.

Since the paper isn't intended for watercolor, it's being a little sketchy about being wet, but I'm going to paste a bunch of stuff in there and it's gonna get all wonky anyways, so whatever.  This is a trial thing, to see if I enjoy it and keep it going.  If I manage a whole year, I'll do something fancier next year.  Or maybe not.

This first week isn't much, but it's a start and an idea of how to continue.

The second week looks busier - and now I know about when I made my first Project Quilting project as well as the lounge pants.  My cats may also have been a little spoiled this week...

This week looks a lot busier!  I started the quilt for my niece.  The thank you card is from my vet - I took cookies in when Finn went in for a checkup because I knew they were short-handed and also know that cookies are always welcome everywhere.  That was quite a while back and it took me a minute to figure out WHO sent me the card!  I figured out how to punch holes and insert it into the binding, which took longer than it should have, but lesson learned.

Probably my nerdiest and favorite thing is the receipt.  I pretty much only read used books, most often purchasing them by the bag-full at library fundraiser sales.  Sometimes you find random things tucked in there, used as bookmarks.  Plane tickets (back when they were printed), business cards, and often receipts for the book.  I've always loved finding those odd bits of the books' previous life.  This one, however, was not for the book, but for gas at a station on the way to Drummond Island.  I think it's one we've stopped at, but this is not our receipt.  I'm excited, though it was not my original intention, to have a place to stash these.  (I even made a note what book it came out of!)

My cats may also have been spoiled again this week...

One more week has been done, but no photos.  That may get old, right?

I have found a pencil box stashed in a closet, empty, that I have started to use to collect things each week.  Some things get tossed without being used, but you never know how much you'll end up with at the end of the week and it's easier to toss things out than get them back!

While we're sort of on the topic of books, my hubby got a $200 gift card to Barnes and Noble from work.  Something about a health incentive.  He could have gotten it to many other places, but he decided I am such a book nerd, he would get this one and give it to me!  I ordered 11 books (it helped that the site offered me an extra code for 10% off - extra book!) and waited patiently for the few days it took for most of them to get here.

I have learned to keep a list of books I'd like throughout the year and then, when the gift card comes (he got one last year, but not for as large of an amount), I am ready to go.  Some of these were on the list last year, but got dropped due to being hardcover and too pricey and, well, I ran out of money!

There are two more that came later: "Quarantine Quilts" which is really cool, and one more novel, "The Book of Lost Friends."

You can see I have a little science nerd thing going here, but, well, I suppose unless you're new here, that shouldn't be a surprise.

I also may still have a stack that's about as tall as me I'm working through.  But I've kinda settled on a routine of sitting with the hubby in the evenings (I sew and bake and whatever during the day while he is at work - hooray for first shift again!) and while he watches TV or plays games on his phone, I read.  He rolls his eyes, but I cannot handle one more hour of mindless sitcom reruns.  The first time through for some of them I can do.  But if I just saw that same episode (from 4 years ago) three days ago?  And why do we have four channels all playing reruns of the same show, staggered in times, so for hours, all you have to do is flip channels to see more of the same?  Ugh!

Anyways, I've been plowing through books, what with time actually dedicated to reading, but, you know, a stack as tall as a person takes a while!

And now, if you've made it this far, you're in for a big treat!

I not only started, but finished (the top of) the graduation quilt for my niece!

Remember the saga of the horse quilt?  (I'd link, but it's kinda buried - quick recap: one pattern was started and wasn't good enough.  Second pattern is a pain in the behind before I even get started.)

I finally talked myself into starting.

I figured out how to do the paper piecing without sewing through the paper.  (You can search this - there are many methods and mine included a temporary adhesive intended for pattern cutting...that did not wash out of the sheet I used under it and then had to rewash clothing and scrub the lint trap of my dryer...more fun for this project, but this one is on me.)

I started.

First section done.  Whew, that was an easy one.

The pattern suggested sorting sections (all 124 of them) by background color.  Something about "not getting confused" which seemed an odd assumption, but it was as good a way to sort as any.  So here are all the pieces for background #1.

Some of the sections are more complicated than others.  This one particularly had me annoyed, but thankfully there were few this complicated.

Eventually I had all the sections done.  It was time to start putting sections into larger sections.

But first some thought about how to continue piecing without sewing through the papers.  Ah, okay.  Thanks brain!

It doesn't look like much, but felt good to get the first of five larger sections together.  Little did I know this was the easiest one!

Three sections done and we have a butt!

Another section and too much sun.  Toby says hi!

I was chain-sewing sections, working on two sets at a time, and as I was walking back to the machine from the ironing board, I noticed this horse looking at me!  Another exciting moment - I could see what I was making easily now!

And then I sewed some larger sections together - a huge, long, diagonal seam (as if seam direction even matters in paper piecing) and I saw this.  THIS is why I HATE paper piecing.  I lined up the ends of the seam and carefully pinned, but by this time, the 73 pieces of paper were gone and just a few points marked for matching.  To anyone who says paper piecing is exact, they are BIG FAT LIARS.  Things looked good, there wasn't like 2 inches at one end hanging over or anything.  I had to rip about 40 inches of seam and ease to an acceptable spot that is still not perfect.  Many of the seams are not matched perfectly, but I was okay until I got here.  I growled a lot about having to rip, warp pieces, and the fact that had this gone better, I might have been done by then.

But I persevered because no way am I giving up now.  I'm so close.

Yesterday evening I had a top.

Today I realize that the pattern designer started at about the 8:00 position with fabric 1, went around in order through 10 (the first yellow if you're going clockwise) and then jumped to 16 and counted down.  The two yellows should be next to each other and the darkest blue down in the 7:00 corner.  And how in the world would I have known that was wrong with 124 sections?  I'm pretty sure there was no layout helping me know what was supposed to go where.  Maybe, but I didn't see it.  (See above disclaimer about being a visual learner.)

So add this on to the growing list of reasons I am extremely unlikely to ever use a pattern by this designer again.  (And I'm not going to tell you who it is because, well, I'm not advertising for them good or bad.  But if you look back in previous posts, I do tell.)

In the end, it's not a big deal.  It bothers me, but will be unlikely to go noticed by anyone else.

Now it's time to tidy up my sewing room and figure out what comes next.

And quilt this, of course.

Happy quilting!

Katie

PS I know there are some out there who adore paper piecing.  Please do not send me messages trying to convert me.  You do your thing, I'll do mine.