Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, Where have you been?

Two words: Custom Orders.

It's not that I don't like making custom orders. I enjoyed seeing these colours come together again. It's just that when I make these, I have nothing to say. Do you ever feel like that?

When I am creating something new, words spring out of me so that I can't help but write and share my feelings and processes. But when I make something over, something I've put into a pattern, so I don't want to share too much to respect my customers and my work....I am mute. I get into bed at the end of the day and realise I haven't blogged again. Not that I'm on a schedule or anything. I just find it interesting.

I finished off four drawstring quilts this week. I was happy to do this order because I do my colour wheels in batches of 6. I made the coloured quilt tops almost entirely from scraps, even unpicking leftovers from previous colour wheels. I was pretty proud of myself with that. My customer asked for Joel Dewberry's Herringbone for the back of two of the quilts so I decided to quilt along the white lines in white. I'm SO happy with that result.

And then yesterday afternoon, Tim and I sat on our back verandah and snipped sticky-outy threads because our generous neighbours let our kids come over and throw the ball for their dog. It was probably win win. :)

The Purple Windmill

These are a few snaps from my day at The Olive Tree Market on Saturday. The market is a monthly affair filled with the city's finest artisans, and is such a great way to spend a sunny Winter day. Strolling around the different stalls I felt honoured to be invited to be part of it.

I didn't sell much and it made me glad for my new deal I made with myself before I signed up. If I was going to start selling at a monthly art market, I needed to make what I loved and just turn up with what I had. Boy, did that pay off! It meant I didn't spend the week before abandoning my kids or my home, and then on the day, I could just enjoy the sun and the time out of the house and the interactions with different people. It seemed like the most valuable reason to be there was to connect locally again. New friends dropped in who had been following my blog and knew my story this year and wanted to meet me and see my quilts in person. I really enjoyed that. 

(By the way, that beautiful, hand printed work next to my stall is by Billie the Kid. I want her to print panels or FQs so I can buy, ahem, someone can buy them for me, to quilt with. If you agree, head over and let her know!)

Anyway, the main reason for this post is to actually show you this new quilt. I wrote about how I made the block here. I've found it so interesting to follow my last quilt, which disappointed me, with this one, just purple and grey, and simple and regular, yet I love it. I mentioned in my last post that I started with scraps, as I am now in the habit of doing, but along the way, I changed tact and started pulling out my favourite pinky purples from Denyse Schmidt and Anna Maria Horner. There was something about this change that gave me the feeling I get from a really nice red wine. (It is a red wine kind of quilt, don't you think?)

So the windmills are made out of some prints I love, and other ones I was just trying to use up, and then there's that floral Garden Party print with the olive green and red flowers, that I've never really liked, but I loved what it did here. A slightly different shade and the right amount of clash, which as a whole print doesn't really do it for me, but cut up in something like this, perfect! How does she do it?

It's tempting for me now, in light of my recent musings about creativity and satisfaction, to say, "Yes, what I really love is blocks," or "I just need to avoid primary colours," or "I just need to pay attention to those feelings of doubt when they come." But sometimes pushing through them pays off, and sometimes experimenting without keeping tight reins on the project does too. And if there's anything I really need to take from this, it's that art is a bit of a game. Sometimes you win and other times, you don't. But certainty is not the thing to aim for here. I'm aiming for beauty, self expression, integrity and humility. And these are qualities that are uncertain, intangible, but I hope, slowly, they are starting to show through in my work.

This is making me happy {a Windmill Block tutorial}

Thank you to those who joined in my discussion about my latest quilt earlier this week.  Your thoughts, which were coming in at the same time I was making these blocks, made for some great food for thought.
I started cutting these purple strips because at some point in the making of my Basket Weave quilt, I thought maybe purple would help. I changed my mind and started to think up other ways to use them.
A few evenings ago I was flipping through one of my quilt block books, trying to imagine them in less brown-and-forest-green prints. The Windmill Block struck me as an easy way to use these strips without cutting them into hundreds of triangles. My book comes with templates, but I prefer my ruler and making it up as I go. Here's what I did:

I cut 5" squares from this Essex Linen in Grey, and then cut them in half to make triangles.

I sewed one of my strips (which were 8.5" because of my original plans, but you're probably only need 7") to one of the short edges of the triangle, pressed open and trimmed, using the 45 degree line as a guide.

When you repeat this step for the other triangles, make sure you sew them all the same way! I always made sure I had my strip facing down over my triangle. (and when I didn't, I decided to make a couple of blocks going the other way!;))

I sewed two lots of triangles together into two bigger triangles, then sewed the final seam to get my block.

About the time I was running out of scrappy purple strips, I wrote my last post about colour and creating. So instead of going back to my purple scrap bucket for more, I pulled out some of my favourite purple prints by Denyse and Anna Maria. I love the variations in tone these fabrics bring to the quilt. And as I was cutting them up and sewing them together, I felt different. It made me happy. The goal moved from plowing through my scraps to creating quilts I loved. I gave more attention to colour and tone. I brought in just the amount of clash I love in a quilt. (and it turns out there can be plenty in purple!)

And I realised that recently, I've been quilting from an idea in my head, like using up my problem prints or scrap wadding, rather than thinking much about colour design. And sometimes that works, like I think it did here, and sometimes it doesn't. And in my windmill quilt, I love that it has the beginnings of a scrappy quilt, with more intentional prints brought in to give it some grounding. If I'd started with my freshly cut stash, I wouldn't have made these pieced windmill arms, and if I'd used only scraps, you wouldn't see any of that burst orange or pinky tones. And I love what both bring to this quilt.

So now I am madly trying to quilt it before I hold my first stall at The Olive Tree Markets tomorrow. I would love to photograph it there for you. So many amazing creations and colours!
My lines are a bit more wiggly that I would like, and I've been feeling a bit flat about it, but this photo gives me hope that it's not so obvious from further back?
Now. Any ideas for tiny triangles? I'm collecting a few!

Fabric Fast Challenge #2: scrap wadding and other existential questions.

How do you sew "yourself"? I've had this question ruminating in my head for sometime, partly sparked by this post, (in which it was just talked about in passing), and partly by my latest quilt. This quilt is number 2 on my Fabric Fast challenges that are distracting me from my burning desire to go fabric shopping. I loved the look of Maureen's Quilt as You Go quilt and followed her tutorial to use up my masses of scrap wadding. Using scrap wadding is SO satisfying because you can SEE that mountain shrink dramatically as you use it. Unlike my scrap buckets which are just as full as they were 6 months ago, just with much smaller scraps.

I cut my strips 2.5" wide, split them into 'warm' and 'cool', sewed them end to end, then cut them 8.5" long. Then I  made these little squares and spray glued them to my wadding.

Then I quilted them really finely (about a 1/4" apart), trimmed them and sewed them together. (check out Maureen's tutorial for more pics and details)
As I was sewing them together, I wasn't convinced I liked the colours together like this. I started to think of ways I could attach sashing (I thought my ideas were pretty clever!) but in the end decided to stick to my original plan so the quilt didn't become huge or take forever, and because maybe like my last scrappy quilt, it would look great, despite the odds. Now I'm not so sure of my decision.

I mean, I don't think it's ugly, or a disaster. I even think it's pretty. And my friend Jo who was holding it for me when we went to the park today (hurray, sun!), said it was her favourite. I just don't look at it and think, "Yes!" or "That's so me!"

I backed the quilt with these flannels and I love the weight and texture. I do think it would make a really fun, robust baby quilt. I used this Seaside print for the binding. It's my favourite binding stripe so I always love when it goes perfectly. This is the first quilt I've bound, unpicked completely and tried again. Ugh! I attached the binding too far away from the edge so whenever it came to the think quilted seams, I couldn't stretch it over. It's still not perfect but it's sturdy! And I did have to put it down for a week just to see if I could find the imperfections a week later. I couldn't find as many! :)

So back to my musings...I feel like I've done a great job using my scraps this year, and other parts of my stash that I bought for specific projects. But now I feel like I'm on the hunt for some kind of self expression, not just emptying those buckets or ticking off lists. I know I've made some quilts like that this year. My Quilt for Moving On is a favourite. And my last scrappy quilt. And both of those used such different formulas. So I'm keeping in mind it's a journey. Some of my very favourites are really early ones, before I read blogs or bought celebrity fabrics lines. I didn't even know what scrappy was, but I just used what I had and loved it how bright and rich and sometimes clashy it was, like my first drawstring quilt here. (I would never use that rare AMH Centerpiece for binding now but I loved it, and still do!)

I'm always glad for good authors like C.S Lewis when I'm stewing about these things. In a quote I happen to have next to my bathroom mirror, he says about individuality and personality,

"The very first step is to try to forget about the self altogether. Your real self will not come as long as you are looking for it..."
                                                                             - Mere Christianity.

He says the same thing in other books about creativity and joy. The secret to finding myself is to give myself. So I will keep making, taking risks, trying new things, enjoying others' creativity, and my own. And when I'm buying fabric again, I want to think less about celebrity and fabric lines and what's on special, and more about prints and colours I like, and others I've learned I use a lot.

What about you? Do you feel like you've hit a groove and make 'yourself'. Do you know what you like and how to achieve it? Do you even care? (I know not everyone would think this very important.) And do you feel like there's a particular journey you take to get there? And how do you know you don't just like it because it's what everyone's making or selling?

 And look how short I am compared to my friend Jo! ;)

{inside my head}

• Recently I've taken to making blocks and listening to TED talks. I'm in the mood for little details. Quick finishes. Small scale. The other day I was listening to this talk by Alisa Vitti, who, among other things, talks about how our (female) cycle and the different hormones at work each week affect the way we approach life and what our strengths are. I have noticed, since making more quilts, how at one part of the month I have more ideas than I know what to do with, and I start them all, because I just want to dip my toes in all of them. Then later, the rush of inspiration has vanished and I just feel like pumping fabric through my machine. I actually would have guessed that my rhythms are opposite to Vitti's, but I'm going to keep a journal anyway, just to find out. Could mean I might embrace starting 10 things at once, trusting I'll finish them all by the end of the month. I'll keep experimenting and let you know.

•  My current block bonanza included this sweet Ohio Star. A dear quilting friend leant me an old book with traditional American quilts in it. Beautiful. It makes me want to a) make more traditional blocks (though it could just be the time of month! ;)) and b) discover more of Australia's quilting history. I love history. I majored in Modern U.S. history at Uni. I could happily dive into American quilt history and swim contentedly. I buy American fabric, I read American blogs (albeit with an Australian accent!), but there's a little spark of interest growing for my own creative heritage. 

• It rains in Newcastle for about 130% of the winter months. And it's not just constant rain, it's the kind that comes in the early afternoon, after you've rushed to get your washing on the line because the sun's been out all morning. I started a conversation with Tim about getting a dryer, but it's always been one of his environmental stands. He thinks we'll end up getting lazy and using it more than we need to. I understand this view of humanity. I was brought up with it. But since my grief earlier in the year, and my long, hard road trying to go easier on myself, I've discovered I'm not actually a lazy person. I've stopped beating myself into motivation and I haven't spent my days sitting on the back deck drinking cider, or even browsing Facebook. Go figure! 

• So I'm spending a lot more time than I would choose hanging out and trying to dry our washing. Earlier this week while I was grumbling about this, and trying my hardest to pray and breathe my way into a more contented place, Tully came into me and exclaimed, "Mum, I love you more than all this washing!" There you go. It's not about how efficiently I can get things done (and despite having toddlers, I still struggle with this!), but about having my eyes and ears open to joy and peace in each moment.

• Well, I was going write more about this next quilt, but maybe that's enough of the inside of my head right now? I'll wait till the sun comes out again and I can show you the whole quilt and give it the single post it deserves. For now, I'll just tell you that I used Maureen's quilt as you go tutorial, and I'm hooked. I have SO much scrap batting. I mean wadding. I can't even remember which word we use, and which one you do. But I don't mind. I like the reasons why.

So what's been on your mind lately?

Practical Processes: Scrappy Squares

I got some really excellent questions about piecing together my Problem Prints quilt, thank you! So often my emphasis is on the emotional process, rather than the practical, because I quilt for expression and therapy. :) And I forget to write how I put it all together.
For this quilt, and the next one I'm working on, I did actually think a lot about piecing it together, so thanks for the prompt to think through the process and write it down!

The two quilts I talk about here, use squares. The Problem Prints Quilt is made up of 2.5" squares, all from my multicoloured stash. The next quilt will be from 5" charms from all over the world, donated for my friends who lost their home and everything in it (Thank you!!). There is a huge mix of colour and style, but I'm using the same 'rules of thumb' so I'll share them here:

•  I don't lay the quilt out at any time. I chain piece from a big splattering of squares next to my machine. But I do make sure each pair of squares matches. And by matches, I usually mean in value, colour, print size. So that my Problem Prints Quilt wasn't too busy, I matched like prints. I like to create little pockets of colour and value (light and dark) rather than spread them evenly.  I wanted it to look more like water than a chequerboard.  

• I sewed together 2 squares, then sewed those rectangles together to make another square, then those to make a bigger rectangle, and so on till I had 9 big squares. And each time I sewed a seam, I tried to put together pieces that looked good together. This means that even though you have wildly different prints in the same quilt, and even prints you don't like, they each sit nicely in their little part of the whole.
• Someone asked about browns/grey. Part of my leaving out grey was that all my greys (and I don't have many) are very useful! And this was a mix of my 'useless' prints. And my browns were also very multicoloured (as you can see in the picture above.) and I always find them hard to use. The other reason is that my problem prints were mostly colourful vines, which included browns. So while it's a scrappy quilt, I guess there was still pretty strict colour rules.

• As you can see in my next quilt, there are no colour rules! But I'm still following similar guidelines where I can. My friend Jodi came over last Thursday to sew them up with me and we did end up laying these pieced squares out on my bed. I think she was a little scared it was going to be a mess! :) In the end we decided that a gradual shift from light to dark, from one corner diagonally across to the opposite, would be really effective. I do like the eye to know where to move or focus.
• In this process, I decided, 'If in doubt, add Denyse." There's such a mix here of upcycled vintage fabric, more traditional prints, and modern, that Denyse Schmidt's modern take on traditional styles has turned out to be a real glue between all these different patterns. I can match her small, regular prints with almost everything! I have tried to match same values together, but in this case, I'm prioritising colour.

In the end, quilts like this are one big experiment. And that's definitely how I faced the first quilt. And for me attitude makes up the experience just as much as technique. I'm learning more this year to approach making with a 'let's see how this works!' frame of mind. It's helping me to have more fun and be more adventurous.
I don't think there's a greater compliment than questions about how a project came together, thank you! Always feel free to ask more, and to add here how you make yours work too.
Happy sewing,
Jodi. x

Fabric Fast Experiment #1: The Problem Prints Quilt.

I am having serious.fabricshopping.withdrawals. I am now very close to half way through my year long {new} fabric fast, and I'm wishing I allowed myself a little break at the 6 month mark. Sigh.

So last week I set myself 3 challenges. I want to make a serious dent in:

• The 'too hard to sort' scrap bucket (multicoloured scraps)
• The pink bucket (I never, ever bought pink fabric before making girls clothes. Now it's my most copious scrap.)
• The overflowing cupboard of scrap batting/wadding.  

And somewhere along the line I was going to stop and write about them and show you my processes, but instead I've been on a wild, quilting, hormone induced frenzy. (Not the fun nesting kind, but the disappointing 'that time of month' kind.)

So here instead, I present to you a quilt I'm beside myself excited about. This is my collection (or about a quarter! It takes a lot of quilts to empty a scrap bucket!) of my 'too hard to sort' scraps. They have big prints, lots of colours, and some of them are loud and clashy. I do like loud and clashy, I just always seem to put them aside these days for flatter alternatives.

For this quilt I basically only set one colour limit - no grey. And I made sure I included my brown background prints to create some variation in value (and because I never use those either.) I chose 2.5" squares because I wanted to see the prints all broken up, and I thought bigger or more irregular pieces would look too much like mud. And then there's the reason that all my scraps are left over from necks and armholes. Much easier to cut little squares than charms! I also used the opportunity to throw in a stack of scraps won in giveaways which aren't really my style, but fit in well here.

And Hurray! It works, don't you think? While I still feel like scrolling through a screen of new fabrics, it does make me feel like I really can use anything in my stash, even if I regret buying it now, or I thought it would only work for clothing. And look at those apples on the back. Aren't they perfect?! Here I was trying to use them for pinafores and not really liking it, but it's been waiting all this time for a quilt like this.

Driving into the city to this park today, I was reminded of all the beautiful places in this city for taking photos. So that's my other challenge for the year: no more next door neighbour's grey house! It is SO convenient, but not nearly as interesting.

I used zig-zag stitch-in-the-ditch to sew on my binding again. A kind of mix between Rachel's and more traditional machine binding. I'm sold!

Well, I have to say, I'm not completely cured of my addiction. I do love the whole process of making a quilt, including the fabric buying. But I'm trusting like anything it will come and go. And I'm leaving ample hints for Tim for my birthday coming up in August. (That's not included, right?!)

This quilt is now available here.