Needles

A Hat for Sarah Kate

2008-02-13T22:53:00.003-06:00

I've used this pattern to make baby hats a few times, but always just in one color. This time I decided to experiment with stripes.
I'm a little rusty on changing yarns in the middle of a row, which is basically what this is since the hat is knit in the round and it's just one really long row. I managed to do it without leaving any holes though. Here's what the "back" (inside) looked like before weaving in the ends.
And here it is after weaving in the ends. Pretty bad.
Here's what it looks like on the "right" side. Hopefully this part of the hat can be turned to the back of her head and no one will really look at it. Once I made a pair of mittens for someone, and there was a left and a right which you could tell by the seam, but when I gave them to her she put them on the wrong hands. I guess not everyone notices details like I do.
And here's what it looks like on top.

Star

2008-01-12T21:39:00.001-06:00

Tonight I made my second block, the star.
I chose these three fabrics: subtle blue floral print for the background, dark red with big pink flowers, and smaller pink floral.
Here are the squares that I cut out. The row of blue at the top are slightly smaller. They get to remain squares. The rest of them were further cut into triangles. I came across an interesting method for piecing triangles, in which you put two squares right-sides together and sew two seams through them diagonally, and then cut them apart between the two seams. I was going to try this but I didn't have a marking pencil that would actually show up on the fabric. So I cut them into triangles and then sewed them together.
Here are the triangle-squares arranged in the way that they'll be sewn together.
And here is the finished block. It's a little bit small so I might do that border thing again. I haven't decided yet. In hindsight, I think I should've chosen two fabrics for the star that were a little closer in tone.

Maple Leaf

2008-01-06T19:14:00.000-06:00

Today I started on my first block. I decided to go with the Maple Leaf. I've never done triangles before so I looked in a couple of books to see if there were any special instructions. I didn't read extensively but I didn't find anything special. So I made some calculations for the sizes of squares and triangles I would need, plus seam allowances, and got started.
Here are the two fabrics I chose. Light green with a subtle floral pattern, and red with yellow flowers and green vines. I could make a whole quilt using this color family. I love it. [And one of these days I'd like to make a Christmas quilt, which would probably fit that description.]
Here are the pieces, including the stem on the far left. I debated on whether to make the stem the same fabric as the rest of the leaf or something different. One book I looked in showed this block with a different color for the stem, but I finally decided to keep it simple. The stem had to be appliqued to one of the green squares. So far I haven't wanted to attempt applique, but this one was pretty straightforward.
Hmm. At this point I start to realize that I may have miscalculated the seam allowance on the triangles.
Wait... something's wrong here... oh yes. The middle row is upside down. Guess I'm going to have to start paying attention. Ripping out stitches is not my idea of fun.
Because I miscalculated the seam allowance, my block ended up a little smaller than I needed it to be. I had planned on making this block without a border of the green fabric, but I did see a pattern that called for a border so that's what I ended up doing to make the block big enough.
Except I must have calculated wrong again because now it's too big. Designing is hard.

Tentative Plan for 9-patch

2008-01-05T19:53:00.000-06:00

I switched to the old-fashioned design method: graph paper and pencil. Here's my tentative plan for the 9 squares and the layout. Although I don't like that orange and blue one in the lower left corner. Maybe I'll do a churn dash there. And once again, the colors in the sketches do not indicate the colors of fabric that will be used.

Design Process

2008-01-01T21:32:00.001-06:00

So far I only have 6 blocks figured out. Maybe it will be a 6-patch sampler. (Colors do not indicate what the actual colors will be)

New Fabric

2008-01-01T17:23:00.000-06:00

I'm ready for my next project! I think I want to do a 9-patch sampler with different blocks for each patch. I haven't designed it yet but I went out and bought 15 quarter flats today, and I'm ready to get started.

T-Shirt Quilt #2

2007-12-25T22:07:00.000-06:00

I just finished this quilt for Lydia in time for Christmas-- one year later than planned.

Collaboration

2007-12-02T20:13:00.000-06:00

This is a quilt that my coworker Celine started for our other coworker Kari, for her soon-to-be-born son. When Celine asked me to help her finish it, this is how it looked:She did all of the piecing and pinned the layers together for me. The first step for me was machine-quilting. I outlined each of the stars with black thread.
Mama's little helper was right there with me the whole time.
After quilting, I prepared the binding and machine-stitched it to the front. This picture shows the binding after it's been stitched to the front, and at this point I'm cutting off the extra batting and backing around the edges. Daisy goes nuts over the scissors so this part took a while.
The next step is to turn the binding under to the back and hand-stitch it.
This picture shows how the binding looks on the front and back.

And here are a few shots of the finished quilt.

[Thanks to Lindsey for fixing the flash on a couple of the pictures.]

Old Family Quilts

2007-02-07T22:11:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures of some bona fide, handmade, old-fashioned quilts that Aunt Sophie has. The one at the top is a variation on the bow-tie pattern. Aunt Sophie cut out all the pieces and her mother-in-law (my great granny) pieced them together. The other one is maple leaf, and I assume Granny Lowe made that one too, but I couldn't say for sure.

Sometimes the Knitters Have the Solution

2007-02-07T22:03:00.000-06:00

The last line of the article reads "more knitters are needed." I'd pitch in, but the cost of shipping would probably defeat the purpose.

Cat Afghan

2007-02-04T22:50:00.000-06:00

This is an afghan that someone made for my Aunt Sophie. I've never seen this cat pattern before. I hope I'll be able to find a pattern for it!

Dry Spell

2007-01-21T21:06:00.000-06:00

Yes, it's been a dry spell lately. I did manage to turn out this baby hat for a friend who's expecting a baby girl. I can feel a knitting mood coming on. But there's an overdue quilt I have to make first.

Finished T-Shirt Quilt

2006-11-06T18:12:00.000-06:00

I guess Daisy thinks I made this one for her, too.

I'm thinking about throwing it in the washing machine to see if the interfacing will soften up a little bit.

Bloggiversary!

2006-11-02T12:38:00.000-06:00

I just noticed that this blog is one year old as of yesterday. Help yourself to a cupcake!

Quilt Update

2006-11-01T21:16:00.000-06:00

I'm still working on blindstitching the binding to the back of my t-shirt quilt, but I will post a Finished photo very soon. In the meantime, I'm making plans for the next project. This is going to be my sister Lydia's Christmas present. She provided the t-shirts, and we went shopping together to pick out the fabrics. I can only post a limited amount of photos of the process prior to Dec. 25, because there's got to be some element of surprise, even if she did pick out the fabrics!

Left to right: backing, outside border, sashing:

And here are the t-shirts:

Recent Fabric Purchases

2006-10-26T18:47:00.000-05:00

At the top is a package of "Fat Eighths" (instead of fat quarters). The blue with the hearts is going to be the backing on my next t-shirt quilt, for my sister.

Walking Foot

2006-10-26T18:08:00.000-05:00

Since this was my first project to quilt on the sewing machine, I had to buy a new foot for my machine. This is an even feed foot, a.k.a. walking foot. Looks a little intimidating, eh?

I managed to get this contraption installed on my machine, and practiced on some scrap material. I really like it, since it grabs the fabric from the top as well as the bottom.

Unfortunately, the finished product still isn't perfect. There are quite a few puckers in the quilt. But I'm hoping that better results will come with practice.

Making a Sandwich

2006-09-19T22:44:00.000-05:00

Step one: Prepare the backing, and lay it right side down on the floor. My official instructions tell me to tape it down but I can't be bothered with that. Kind of like the way that I don't pin things as often as I should when I'm sewing.

Step Two: Spread batting evenly over backing. This time I'm using 100% cotton batting, which is what is recommended for machine quilting. For my hand-quilted wall hanging I used polyester batting. Both are low-loft but the cotton seems especially thin. However, it clings well to the other layers which will be helpful when feeding the whole thing through the sewing machine.

Step Three: Lay the quilt top on top of the other layers. Smooth out wrinkles and pin the three layers together.

Note to self: Next time send babies to Grandma and Grandpa's.

Is It Done Yet?

2006-09-14T21:49:00.000-05:00

Daisy doesn't see any reason to wait until the quilt is finished to start using it. I was sewing the border along the edge when she plopped down and made herself comfortable.

Here's a close-up of what the two calicos look like side-by-side. I have one more side to go, whenever you-know-who is done napping...

Sashing

2006-09-10T23:03:00.000-05:00

Stabilizing & Squaring Up

2006-09-09T22:42:00.000-05:00

T-shirts, by nature, are stretchy. When you cut them, the edges roll up. Sounds like the fabric could be tricky to sew with, huh? That's why I stabilized the fabric with fusible interfacing. Here is the process. First I cut the backs (the part with the picture) off of all the shirts.

Lay the t-shirt wrong-side up with the piece of interfacing on top. Spritz with water.

(Note: I do not spritz the water with my left hand, as my left hand is useless for anything much more than holding the bottle of water while I take the picture with my right hand.)

Use a steam iron to fuse the interfacing onto the fabric. Now the fabric will be much easier to work with!

Now that the t-shirts are manageable, the next step is to cut out the squares. I had previously determined that the squares will be 15" and I'm going to use a 1/2" seam allowance rather than the usual 1/4", as recommended by the website that I previously linked. Therefore each one has to be cut into a 16" square. Here's the t-shirt before I began cutting:

My cutting mat is 18" wide in one direction so I used that side to center the shirts and cut off the sides.

After the sides are cut then I turned the shirt and tried to center the picture and cut off the top and the bottom.

The large ruler and rotary cutter make this task fairly easy, and I end up with a perfect (enough) square:

Repeat 11 times. Now there are 12 squares, ready to be pieced.

The Day's Purchases

2006-09-07T20:46:00.000-05:00

After work today I went to both fabric stores on my side of town. I checked for the flannel that I bought the other day to see if there was another bolt of it, but no luck. So I browsed around a little more and found the red print (not flannel) that you see above. Once again I took a wild guess and didn't do any actual math, and asked for two yards of it.

Then I went to the other fabric store, and you would not believe how long it took me to find the flannel within the quilting department. I finally found a display of childish prints, and an array of solids. My first inclination was to go for the "natural" color. Then I realized that there was a pretty big price hike between two brands of fabric so I re-evaluated the situation. True white just seemed too stark, even though 3 of the 12 t-shirts I'm using are white. So I chose the pale pink. It's a very subtle shade, nearly a neutral. It might seem a little weird that I bought red and pink, but other t-shirts are red, pink, and burgundy, so I guess anything goes.

So, without doing any math or thinking very hard, the idea is to use the red print for the sashing in between the blocks only, not around the outside edges. I will then use some of the red/green/gold flannel to make a border around the edge. And the pale pink will be for the backing. Just an idea.

Time to Do Some Math

2006-09-06T19:43:00.000-05:00

I decided that the blocks made from t-shirts are going to be 15-inch squares, and I will probably make the sashing 3 inches wide. That means the quilt, if made without an additional border, will be 75 inches long and 57 inches wide. That's getting close to big enough to cover a twin-size bed. I'm afraid that means my piece of flannel isn't big enough to cover the back. The way I figure that is by dividing the length (approximately 135 inches) in half. So close!!! One option is to make the sashing much narrower. I wonder how an inch or inch-and-a-half wide sashing would look. Hmm.

I'm doing the math myself, but I am following the instructions for making a t-shirt quilt from this website.

Enough With the Brown and Gold Already

2006-09-05T18:51:00.000-05:00

It is with great pleasure that I announce that it is time to move on from the brown and gold. I've known practically since right after I started that quilt that the next one was going to be a t-shirt quilt. I managed to restrain myself and finish one project before starting another one. Last night I picked out the t-shirts that will be used.

I have a few old t-shirts from high school and possibly even before, but I decided to use 12 t-shirts from college. Here they are in the working arrangement, minus one that was in the wash because I just wore it:

On my way home today I stopped at the fabric store to buy interfacing, which is the second thing (besides the t-shirts) that I need to get started. I also browsed the quilters' flannel to see what was out there. I know that I want to use flannel for the backing, but I'm undecided on the sashing. I want bright colors, but most of the bright ones were childish. I saw one that I liked, and thought about asking for a swatch, but it was on sale so I decided to buy it anyway, and if I don't use it for this project then I'll use it for something else. There were 3.75 yards on the bolt so I bought the whole piece.

As soon as I got out of the store, I realized that the calico is made from my signature colors: dark red, green, and gold. I guess it was meant to be.

It Is Done.

2006-09-04T12:03:00.000-05:00

She Thinks I Made It For Her

2006-08-28T19:56:00.000-05:00

Interior Decorating

2006-08-27T19:27:00.000-05:00

I have about one and a half more blocks to go with the hand-quilting, and then it will be time to do the binding. I still haven't quite decided whether to make it a wall-hanging or not. I've moved to a new apartment since starting on this quilt and I don't have the same wall space as before. Tonight I got out the thumbtacks and put it up on the wall by my dining table to see how it looks.

Five to Go

2006-08-25T23:34:00.000-05:00

After taking a break for several months, I've gotten back to working on the quilt. Now I have finished hand-quilting 31 out of the 36 blocks. The end is in sight! I'm still not sure whether it will be a wall-hanging or something to wrap up in on the couch.

Granny Square Afghan

2006-06-05T21:09:00.000-05:00

Here is something I made six years ago, right before I learned how to knit. This afghan was made by crocheting many, many squares and then sewing them together. I didn't like the way it looked when I first made it. I thought the finishing was imperfect and I put it away in the closet. I just recently got it out again and now I think it looks great! Sure, it's not perfect, but it's not half bad, either.

Guess What's In Here

2006-05-22T22:48:00.000-05:00

This is my new sewing machine case. Much more stylish than the plain white plastic ones, don't you think? It has a handy shoulder strap, although I don't intend to be toting my sewing machine around very often. I mainly got this for storage. I don't have a sewing room so the sewing machine will have to stay in the back of the closet when not in use.

Quilt Update

2006-04-11T11:20:00.000-05:00

After taking a break from quilting for a while, I've resumed work on the brown and gold wall hanging. It seems like I should be getting near the end, but I am actually just now at the halfway point. Out of 36 squares, I have quilted 18 of them. I am done with the middle and I've done two edge blocks. I'd better get serious about this if I ever want to see it up on the wall!

How Long Did It Take You To Make That?

2006-04-10T15:19:00.000-05:00

Any time I show off my handiwork, I will invariably get asked this question. Not "how did you make that?" just "how long did it take?"

I don't really have an answer to this question. I might could give a very rough estimate, but I don't keep track of the time because it doesn't matter. It's not a job. It's something I do for pleasure. I pick it up when I want to and put it down when I'm ready for a break. I might work on it every night, or I might leave it for a week or several months before I get around to doing it again. But even if it's a small project that I made in a couple of days, I still couldn't tell you how many hours it took, because when I'm working on my crafts, I'm not watching the clock.

Another thing I'm sometimes told is "you should make these and sell them!" This is utterly impractical. There is no way a suitable price could be assigned to a handmade item. No one would be willing to pay what it's really worth, if you take into account the amount of time spent on an item. And, once again, that's not what it's about. I knit and crochet and sew because it's something that I enjoy. Often I make things as gifts for other people, people that I care about. I spend all of that time because I enjoy the process, and because I hope that it's something that the recipient will appreciate. There's no way I would spend all of those hours working on something just for money.

Ruffle-ectomy: A Partial Success

2006-04-03T22:36:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in a previous post that I was having some difficulty with an excessively ruffley doily. Examine the picture that came with the pattern. It seems to lay flat, doesn't it?

The following picture shows the ruffling in its early stages. I think the lesson here is once a ruffler, always a ruffler. I should've done something at this point:

such as starting over!!

The next picture shows the completed doily in all its ruffled glory:

Before I was finished, I showed it to someone else (someone who does not practice the fiber arts, incidentally) who opined that the problem was that the center was too tight. Even though if you look at the pattern picture, you'll see that the center looks nice and snug. Here's a close-up of my center:

It seemed like a reasonable explanation, so I started brainstorming on how to fix it. The idea I had was to carefully snip the center ring and loosen it up, and then crochet a new center once it was all loosened and stretched and flattened out. So I set to work. I threaded a needle with a contrasting color and threaded it through the six double crochets that surrounded the center ring.

I then snipped the center and tried my best to smooth it out.

Apparently it's not quite that easy. I just don't understand why following the pattern exactly would result in such a different result. What am I doing wrong?

The final picture is a part of the doily that's flattened, showing how nice it would look if the whole thing was flat, because then you could see the stitch pattern.

Lunch Hour: 15 Minutes to Eat, 45 Minutes to Crochet

2006-03-30T13:34:00.000-06:00

The picture above is a Petite Pineapple Doily, a pattern that I found on Crochet Pattern Central (see links). I found several patterns that I want to try, but the blue cotton that I have from my last two projects is the right size for this one, so I started it last night. I soon encountered a problem that I often have when crocheting in the round. The best way to describe it is that it won't lay flat-- it's ruffled. Crochet Pattern Central also has a page for tips & tricks so I thought I'd look and see if there were any recommendations for this problem. For example, should I be making my stitches tighter? So I took a look, but sadly, most of the people offering tips are barely literate, and their tips have more to do with storing yarn and keeping it from tangling than actual tips on crocheting. My plan for this doily is to get it wet and try to shape it and make it lie flat. If I have any success, I might starch it. Sometimes ruffles look nice, but this is an interesting pattern and I want it to show.

I've made several round doilies that I just made up as I went along, and my solution to ruffling was always to reduce the number of stitches in a round. I'm just not sure what to do when following a pattern.

I brought this project to work with me today so I could crochet on my lunch break. I've got to get this crochet fever out of my system so I can get back to work on my quilt!

Something Else Blue

2006-03-29T09:50:00.000-06:00

I had lots of blue crochet cotton left over and wanted a fun project to work on during a long car ride, and this is what resulted! I found a pattern for teddies and bunnies that can be made with any size yarn and hook. Worsted weight yarn should produce a bear about 7 inches tall. This tiny teddy is only about 2.25 inches tall. I was going to give it to a friend, but it's so cute that I don't think I can bear to part with it!

Finished Garter

2006-03-22T22:41:00.000-06:00

Here it is! I got a measurement from the bride and finished it up. Hopefully it will fit!

Blue, Continued

2006-03-20T17:51:00.000-06:00

Here's what I have done on the garter now. Since this is custom-made, it won't be completely finished until the recipient can try it on.

This is a very simple project, in that it's the same group of stitches over and over. This is the kind of project that I really enjoy because it makes me feel connected to the women who lived in a simpler time. Maybe pioneers never made garters exactly like this, but I can still imagine what it's like to make various necessary items.

Something Blue

2006-03-09T18:46:00.000-06:00

My best friend is getting married in two weeks, and I volunteered to round up the "something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue." For the something blue, I decided to crochet something. The first idea was lace edging on a hanky, but I've never done that before and I had trouble finding good directions. So I decided to go with something simple that I would have no trouble finishing by the deadline. Therefore I'm making a garter. The picture above is what I just did tonight. The ribbon will be threaded through all the way around, and it will be embellished with a ribbon rosette.

What I've Been Up To

2006-03-05T21:31:00.000-06:00

Last time I posted I couldn't put up the following picture yet, because I gave it to my sister for Valentine's Day. I call this hat West Coast Sunrise, because the color of the yarn is Sunrise and I made it during my trip to Santa Barbara.

The braided band shows up much better on this hat than on the black one, although it's a little hard to tell in this picture.

I've also been knitting some socks. I had a pair that was almost finished, except for the fact that the gusset was a little too short on the second sock, and it had been sitting there untouched for an undetermined amount of time-- definitely over a year. So I bravely ripped the toe back to before the decreases and reknit so that it would fit. Then I began on a new pair of socks. I just turned the heel on the second sock tonight. Here's what that looks like:

(with flash)

(without flash)

Turning the heel is really fun. I love the feeling of creating the fabric with just my hands, needles, and yarn. It's even cooler when a few simple moves create shaping.

Here's a side view of the heel on the first sock:

And what the sock looks like:

I'm using Lion Brand Wool-Ease sportweight, which is perfect for socks. It's 80% acrylic, 20% wool. This color is called Boysenberry.

Finished Hat

2006-02-06T22:41:00.000-06:00

I finished the hat halfway through the flight to Los Angeles, and ended up making another one while I was there, which I finished on the way back. Pictures of that one coming later.

Once I got home, I still had to block the hat before I could give it to the recipient. I turned my iron up as high as it would go, and held it over the hat to let it steam. Then I shaped it as best I could. I'm not really sure how to block a hat. The main thing I wanted to do was make the brim turn up neatly on the row where it's purled.

Here are the before and after pictures:

By the way, he doesn't like to pull his hats down all the way over his ears, so I made it a little "shallow" on purpose.

Hat Band

2006-01-24T17:37:00.000-06:00

Last night I got ambitious and finished up the hat band. The two ends are grafted together with kitchener stitch, which is nearly invisible. Then I had to pick up stitches along one side of the band in order to knit the body of the hat. I only did a few rows of that, but I have many hours of airplane travel ahead, so expect big things when I return.

Changing My Mind

2006-01-19T10:30:00.000-06:00

As soon as I posted a picture of what I'd knitted so far last night, I knew that I wanted to switch back to size 8 needles. I just think it will work better.

The reason I'm starting this project is because I'm going to be on a five-hour flight next week, and the quilt doesn't travel. Hats are compact and therefore portable. However, I was just reading some tips about traveling with knitting and I'm starting to wonder if the cable needle will be seen as a dangerous weapon. So I might end up finishing the cabled band before I leave, and then just do the simple stockinette stitch of the rest of the hat on the plane. (Unless I want to learn how to knit cables without a cable needle.)

Another good reason to switch to size 8 is because my size 7 circs are Addi turbos, which are harmless but the shiny metal and pointed ends just might attract the attention of a security screener, and my size 8 circs are meek, non-threatening bamboo.

Of course, doing half of the project at home really defeats the purpose of choosing it as my travel project. Oh well. I'll just have to bring along my copy of KnitLit the Third for when I'm done.

Provisional Cast On

2006-01-19T00:01:00.000-06:00

My second swatch turned out to be quite similar to the first, but I decided to go with the smaller needles (size 7 instead of 8). Turns out I needed to do a provisional cast on, which I've never done before, so that later the two ends of the band can be joined seamlessly with kitchener stitch, which I have used plenty of times on socks and Christmas stockings. Luckily you can find all of this stuff on the internet, so I got right to work.

Here is my provisional cast on:

And here are two repeats of the pattern:

Look closely and you can see the cable pattern.

Knit Hat

2006-01-18T20:12:00.000-06:00

Here's a little something to break the monotony of the brown and gold on the blog! I have always loved this hat and I'm finally making it!

No Red Heart here. I'm using the exact yarn called for in the pattern, Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride worsted, which is 85% wool, 15% mohair. The recipient requested black, but I want to be sure the cable shows up so I got the dark charcoal. It's practically black but has some silvery bits.

Like a good knitter, I got out my needles and got to work on a swatch to test the gauge. Hmm. According to the pattern, 17 stitches and 28 rows should produce a 4-inch square. As I was knitting I could tell it would end up being longer than it was wide. Well, my swatch measures 3.5 inches wide by 4.5 inches long! The best solution I can think of is to go down a needle size and try to knit a little looser and see how that turns out. So that will be my next step.

Looking More Like a Quilt

2005-12-28T23:02:00.000-06:00

I honestly don't know how many more pseudo-sepia photos of the brown & gold quilt this blog can stand... maybe a couple more. I'm really enjoying the quilting process, but it's slow going so there's not much to update on. Now that a greater portion of it is quilted, it folds up so neatly, and I can't stop running my hands over it.

Edit: I meant to mention the quilting method. I'm not doing any fancy patterns, just outline quilting. This means that I am sewing around the inside edge of every "L."

In Progress

2005-12-24T20:46:00.000-06:00

I've been working on the quilt today. When I got started last night, I put the hoop on to see how that would work:

That didn't last very long. In order to do the running stitches, I have to be able to bunch up the fabric in my left hand, and that's not possible when it's pulled taut across the hoop. So I took the hoop off and dove in.

It's going to take a while, but I made some progress. Here's a shot of what the stitches look like:

Quilt Sandwich

2005-12-22T23:28:00.000-06:00

Tonight I put the three layers of the quilt together. On the bottom, we have the backing:

Good thing the floor of my living room is big enough to spread it out! A hard flat surface would be ideal, but that wasn't available.

For this project I've elected to use plain muslin for the backing. Especially since this will most likely end up as a wall hanging and the back won't be seen anyway. But I also thought it seemed a little more authentic. Plus, plain muslin is cheaper than printed fabrics! If you look closely you can see the two seams in this piece. The fabric is 45 inches wide on the bolt, and I needed a 68x68 inch square. The batting and backing should both be about 4 inches bigger on each side than the quilt top during this part of the process.

Once the backing is spread out flat, you're supposed to tape it to the hard flat surface to hold it in place. I didn't tape it to the carpet. I smoothed it out as best I could. Then I laid the batting (I'm using a low-loft polyester batting-- didn't want it to be too heavy since I had a feeling it would end up as a wall hanging) on top of the muslin and smoothed it out and trimmed it to the same size as the backing.

In this picture you see the quilt top laying on top of the batting and backing.

A close-up look at the three layers that make up the quilt sandwich.

I didn't take pictures of the next step, which was basting all of the layers together with safety pins. My instructional book recommends basting with thread for hand quilting, and using safety pins for machine quilting. I didn't see any reason why I shouldn't use safety pins for hand quilting, and I had no desire to baste it together with a needle and thread.

Next step is the actual quilting!

Superstitions

2005-12-22T13:21:00.000-06:00

I found another reference to intentional mistakes in handwork. This is from The Complete Book of Quilting by Gianna Valli Berti:

One unusual aspect of the world of quilting is the superstition linked to quilting. For example, it was thought that God might be offended by the beauty that some quilts attained, as if their creators had wished to compete with God for perfection. This reverential fear caused women making the quilts to voluntarily insert an error in their work. Another superstition is linked to the binding that often appeared on the borders: it never could be broken, even in the corners, because this was thought to cause a premature interruption in the life of whoever used the quilt. Nor, in the many designs on wedding quilts, was there to be any lack of hearts. At least one was required to be appliqued or embroidered somewhere, since the absence of a heart would make it impossible to look forward to a happy union.

Only God Is Perfect

2005-12-18T23:05:00.000-06:00

Whenever I am making something by hand, I often think of the philosophy of Persian rugmakers:

It is often said that Persian rugs are ‘perfectly imperfect’. Slight inconsistencies are the proof that a rug was not made by machine. Even if a rug is coming out perfectly, the weaver will usually make an intentional mistake, in line with the belief that only the Supreme Being can make something that is perfect.
(source)

However, I never have to intentionally make a mistake, because there's always a few true mistakes in there to prove that it was made by imperfect human hands.

Here is a photo showing a few of the places where the blocks just don't quite match up:

But, regardless of the imperfections, I'm still pretty pleased with the way the finished quilt top looks:

I also took a picture of the back, for posterity:

By the way, almost everything that I know about the technical aspects of quilting, I learned from this nifty little Leisure Arts leaflet, I Can't Believe I'm Quilting. Incidentally, I also learned a lot from I Can't Believe I'm Knitting, also from Leisure Arts. I bought the knitting one because the title was so fun, but I've since learned that I can always depend on Leisure Arts to give clear, concise directions, with plenty of instructional pictures. I love them so much that I even once applied for a job at their headquarters in Little Rock.

Instructional leaflet is on the left; on the right is the picture of the original pattern that I slightly modified for this project. Here's a close-up shot of the original block layout. You'll notice that there are a few blocks that are constructed differently. I decided to make all of mine the same.

Piecing Update

2005-12-17T20:00:00.000-06:00

I worked on the quilt some on Thursday night, and quite a bit today. Here's a picture of one of the blocks that's in the process of being pieced. Each time I sew a strip on, the hem has to be pressed to the side before the next strip can be put on.

Here are the finished blocks, 18 of each:

Then it was time to start sewing the blocks together. I used the chain piecing method once again, so I ended up with 18 of these:

This is where precision goes out the window. At this point I probably should've been pinning the blocks together, which is something I didn't do when assembling the blocks. A few of them came out perfectly lined up:

Most didn't:

The usual way of assembling a quilt top is to make each of the blocks, then sew the blocks together into rows, then sew the rows together into the finished quilt top. Because of the way that two sides of the blocks need to line up moreso than the other two sides, I decided to do it a little differently. I took each of the rectangles of two blocks sewn together, matched them as best I could with another rectangle, pinned it together, and sewed them. That resulted in 9 of these:

That's as much progress as I've made so far.

Piecing

2005-12-11T19:13:00.000-06:00

I finished cutting out all of the pieces that will make up the blocks:

Well, all except for the smallest ones, the squares. But I had a better method for cutting those, called strip piecing. Here's how I did it.

* Take one strip of each color

* Sew them together

* Press the seam to the side with the darker fabric

* Measure 2.5 inches, and cut!

Much quicker and easier than cutting all of the squares and piecing them individually. Because of the way the blocks are assembled in this particular pattern, I could only use the strip piecing method for the smallest squares. Then it was time to start assembling a block:

Keep adding a strip on each side until a block is complete:

I am now in the process of piecing together all of the blocks. I am saving a little time by using another method called chain piecing. Each block has to have its seam pressed before I can add the next strip, so I can't just sit at the sewing machine and sew an entire block. But what I can do is something called chain piecing. I add one strip onto each block in a "chain" on the sewing machine, without stopping. Then I cut them apart and press each seam. Then go back and add another strip to each block. Here's a picture of the blocks before I cut them apart (although you can't really see the thread):

The Pattern

2005-12-08T23:32:00.000-06:00

I found a pattern I liked in a book, then modified it slightly. Here is what I came up with:

Time to Start Cutting

2005-12-06T22:45:00.000-06:00

I ironed the fabric and cut a few strips tonight. I can't find my square ruler, but as long as I have my big ruler with the lip, I'm getting by. I did find some type of square in my tool box, but it doesn't lay flat so it's not useful for this project.

I checked the pattern and it calls for 6 yards of muslin for the backing. But I think 5 yards will work, don't you? 45 inches wide by 180 inches long... say you cut it in half crosswise, which gives you 90x90. The finished product is supposed to be 60x60. So I can't imagine why on earth I'd need 6 yards.

Stocked Up

2005-12-05T19:43:00.000-06:00

I went back to the fabric store today and stocked up on--I think--everything I'll need to make the quilt. I got another half yard of the gold for binding, an extra 1/4 yard of the brown in case I come up short, 5 yards of muslin for the backing (I didn't remember how much I needed, and that's probably too much, but I can always use that!) and some low-loft batting. Oh, and a wooden hoop, which I think is a 14-inch circumference. I haven't quilted with a hoop before, and I'm hoping that the cheapo version will do just fine, rather than the plastic "non-slip" hoop. It won't matter what color thread I use for piecing, since it won't show, and I have some standard quilting thread which is enough to get started anyway, and hopefully enough for the whole project. The fabric is now being washed (along with a load of laundry-- two birds with one stone!) and I might iron it tonight, too. I have a tentative goal to have the piecing done by December 23.

Fabric for Small Quilt

2005-12-04T17:52:00.000-06:00

I found a pattern that I think I like, that requires only two colors of fabric. I was ready to do about 4 colors, but the pattern will look best with just two. I'm making a slight change to the block layout from what's in the instructions, but it's a very slight change. The finished quilt will be 60x60 inches, which is pretty close to what I was going for.

So today I went fabric shopping. I wanted to start with something kind of gold. The idea is for this quilt to be a throw to be kept on or near the couch. My couch is a greenish brown, with gold and maroon accents. So I was thinking I'd go with maybe a dark gold, maybe with touches of black, and some kind of dark red. I picked out the gold first. Then when I went to get the red, I ended up with this brown instead. Gold and brown? Sounds kind of like a nightmare. Hopefully it will turn out nice though.

The pattern calls for 2.5 yards of each color to make the quilt top. I figured I'd wait and buy the backing later, but I didn't think to get an extra half yard for binding. I asked for 2.75 of each, but the brown was one inch short of 2.5 (I hope I can eke it out!) and I only got 2.75 of gold. So I might be going back to get another half yard of the gold. Don't know yet what the backing will be. Or the batting, for that matter.

So, with that being said, here are pictures of the fabric, with the couch and close up.

Small Quilt

2005-12-02T13:54:00.000-06:00

I've been in the mood to quilt lately. It started when I bought a bedspread that needed a duvet cover. At first I thought I'd make one. Then I started thinking, if I'm going to make something for my bed, I'd really rather make a quilt. So that idea has been idling in my mind for a while, but it's a rather large project for someone like me. I've made a couple of small quilted projects, but nothing nearly as big as a queen-sized quilt! Then yesterday it hit me that I can make a smaller quilt that can be used as a throw! I think these are called "lap quilts" although I'd like it to be big enough to cover up with. I've been searching the internet for free patterns. I found one that I think I like, but I'm not sure about it yet so I think I'm going to look through some books before I decide for sure. But I'm getting pretty antsy to get started. If I don't make it to Jo-Ann Fabrics tonight, I'm pretty sure I'll be there before the weekend is over.

Ali's Blanket

2005-11-07T23:17:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures of the finished blanket that I made for my friend's baby, Ali. This blanket was crocheted from a Leisure Arts pattern using sport weight acrylic yarn. It's a lightweight ripple afghan using double crochet, and every fourth row is a thin stripe made with slip stitch.

Without flash (easier to see differences in color)

With flash

The pastel colors are very light, making it almost impossible to distinguish the colors when looking at a single strand. I think you can tell the difference in the stripes a little better 'in person' than with my photography. For some reason the green is much brighter than the rest of the colors, even though it's the same brand and type as all of the others. The pastels are called powder pink, powder blue, powder yellow, and powder lilac, but instead of continuing with powder green, Red Heart went with LIME green.

Things I didn't like about the pattern:
1. With the double crochet, the edge doesn't come out as straight as I'd like.
2. Double crochet also makes it hard to conceal the loose ends when they're woven in. (And with so many color changes, there were a lot of ends to weave in!) Some of them I was able to hide fairly well, but others popped out right away. I have a feeling they'll all pop out eventually. I instructed the recipient to trim them off when that happens.

Good Enough to Eat

2005-11-01T21:06:00.000-06:00

My name is Sarah. This is Needles, my blog about things I manage to create using a variety of needles: knitting needles, quilting needles, the sewing machine, and crochet hooks. This is my second blog of this genre. Feel free to take a look at my old blog, which is now retired.