WIP_Hand work

The last few days have been mainly dedicated to watching the Olympics.  This means a chance to do a bit of hand work.  Usually I only watch tv for an hour a day, or less, so hand work can mean weeks or months on one project.  But there are now two projects getting close to completion.

The first is going to be a needle roll, used to store knitting needles and accessories.  I have patterned this to be similar to a roll I made to store my good quality paint brushes, that  works well. This latest one is at the stage of machine quilting, prior to adding the pockets to the lining.  The hexies are 1 3/8", and the overall size is roughly 17 5/8" square.  This will be more precise after the quilting is finished, but before the navy blue binding goes on.

The other piece is going to end up as some sort of tote.  It's been many years since I tried any Cathedral Window piecing.  ( Maybe 35 years?) I had a recollection of how I was shown to do it, but checked the internet.  Found absolutely nothing that agreed with the method I had been taught. So I had to "wing it".  Everything I remembered and saw on the internet told me that the squares were 6 inches square, so I cut all my backing squares 6".  I think what the actual instruction meant was that the finished size of the square would be 6".  My finished squares are 2 1/2".  Imagine trying to do the final diamond applique in that dimension!  However, it should be ready to assembly within a day or so, if the Olympics stay as interesting as they have been.  As you can see, the bottom of the bag will be squared off, but I'm thinking of adding fabric to the top, and then gathering it as a Draw String bag.  I'm dithering over whether or not to put handles on it.  Unfortunately, some of the appliqued square will end up on the bottom of the bag, and, if I do this again, I will design it differently.  The bag should end up about 25" around from top of one side to top of the other, and about 12" across  each side.  This will be lined in plain brown cotton.

 I plan to link this, as a WIP, with The Needle and Thread Network.

Finished

The class project is finished, but I won't be showing a picture, as it's not my design.  It proved quite a challenge.  The issue was a familiar one to me--value.  Gets me very time!  My colours were basically  too much the same--a medium dark-- but there was one area, sky and water, that was light enough to provide contrast. So the whole piece was acceptable, although I'll never show it, not being my work.  So I put the binding on and stood back.  OMG!  One section was so much lighter that it stood out terribly, and it wasn't the focal point.  At this point, I would have done anything to get it off the work table, so out came the coloured pencils.  The area was darkened just enough that it fit in with the other colours, and I can now call the piece done!

So, did I learn anything?  Yes, I did.  This evening, I went back to the project with which I was wanting the help, to start with, and I think my approach to it has changed significantly, and for the better.  I have a much better idea of where I'm headed. 

Frustration

The past couple of weeks have been somewhat frustrating.  Last weekend I taught a two day Machine and Free Motion Quilting class that went well.  As there always is, there was one troublesome student, but she had been e-mailing me in the weeks leading up to the class and I knew she might have problems.  

I have come up with an idea for a project, my own design, but using some techniques borrowed from a well know teacher.  I treated myself to an internet class she teaches, to see what I could learn about how she approaches these techniques, as I have only read about them. I have been following along the class project, and am finding that I haven't been this frustrated in years.  Now I have to figure out if it's me, or if the techniques are not as easy as she makes them out to be.  Some of the difficulties may also be my unfamiliarity with some of the materials used.  

One good thing to come out of the class is that I was forced to buy some commercial fabric.  I haven't bought commercial fabric in years, but off I trotted to the LQS.  What fun!!  I had no idea how the quilting world has changed in the past few years.  It was like a combination of "Alice in Wonderland", and Christmas, all in one day.  I rationalized the whole thing by telling myself that the fabric might also be useful in the planned project

A bit of fun.

This piece was just an experiment, mainly about how to handle and finish something with a very loose form and raw edges.  I ended up stabilizing with an iron on stabilizer, especially after deciding to add the buttons, as a focal point.  The raw edges baffled me for quite awhile until I happened on a mention of felt.  While it isn't quite finished, the plan is to stitch it to a double layer of felt, leaving about 1/2" of the felt showing all around the edges.

I plan to link this with The Needle and Thread Network

Derailed Intent--finished!

This is a relatively small piece-only 19" by 21".  I loved the way the mandala came out of the dye bath, but have been having difficulty figuring out how to quilt any of the ones I've made.  I decided that this would be a good size to experiment with.  It is faced rather than bound, and will fit my new hanging systems quite nicely.  The title comes from the fact that the finished piece/design is not at all what I had planned, or expected, it to be.
While working on the quilting, I decided that the centre portion needed something more, and decided to bead it in a "sunburst " configuration.  Now, having seen it in the photo, I'm thinking that I need something in the very middle.  Not sure what that may be but I'm leaning toward a group of maybe three larger blue beads, as are around the edge of the sunburst.  The marking lines are obviously a problem, but aren't nearly as prominent as they appear in the photo.  I'll know to use a different method, if I do another.

I plan to link this with The Needle and Thread Network 

Cleaning Ritual

Having finished a piece, I have a ritual of tidying the studio.  I'm a messy worker, so this is also a very necessary step.  Because we're in the middle of renovations, there was also a lot of extraneous stuff in the room.  I was clearing out a pile of project boxes and came across a loose pile of 33-1" hexies, cut, but not yet basted.  I also found two boxes of already basted 1" hexies, so decided to baste the last few and put them in with the others according to colour groups.

Imagine my surprise when I realized that, the ones I basted to cardstock today, weren't compatible with the ones in the boxes, which had been made by the circle method with no cardstock involved! The cardstock ones are just a "smidge" over 1" and the circle-based one just a "smidge" under.  

        I guess I'll have to figure out something else to do with them, maybe a new draw-string bag for my Rune stones?

Finally a finished piece!

Well, we're up to our ears in kitchen renovations here, but I've still managed to find a few minutes in the studio.  I have a Machine and Free Motion quilting class scheduled in a couple of weeks, and like to beef up my technical skill a bit prior to class.  Awhile back I showed the pieced top comprised of various hand dyed mandalas that just didn't work out.  Since this will probably end up as a charity piece, I've used it to practice my quilting, and ended up with a bit of a sampler.

Here is the piece, finished with a traditional binding.  It is about 38" by 38".The red and turquoise are commercial fabrics, but everything else, including the backing, is a hand dye.

And here are a couple of close-ups of the back.

Since I've also had a goal this month of "loosening up" a bit, I didn't sweat the starts and stops.  If I could get away with it, not every loose thread is tied and buried.  :)

I plan to link this with The Needle and Thread Network and Nina Marie's  Off the Wall Friday.