Pay It Forward!

Winnah! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Kim is doing a wonderful "pay it forward" give-away, and I was picked! (Time for truth in advertising: she picked all of the eleven people who wrote comments, whatta gal!) But here's how it works: She has 365 days to send me and the other ten lucky ducks something handmade, and I will "pay it forward". I can't equal Kim's energy, plus it's my first time at this kind of thing, so I'll only be able to gift three of you.

If you would like to receive a handmade gift from me, and are willing to make and send a handmade gift to three of your blog readers, please leave a comment to let me know.
Once you decide to be a part of the fun, and if you are picked, you will receive something from me within 365 days. In turn, you will have 365 days to make something handmade and send to your blog readers. The first three commenters (commentators?) will be the winners!
You may also be interested to know about Lila Tueller's giveaway of her not-yet-released fabric line, Eden.  A jelly roll and a layer cake.  Yummy!

True Confessions

Two dark deeds to confess this morning:
1.  I disabled the link between Flickr and Facebook, where FB would show my recent posts to Flickr, so that my FB friends, which include some of my colleagues and students, wouldn't know how much quilting I have been doing.  I have had a number of "where do you find the time" comments, which can only truly be answered by "by not doing all the other things that need doing".  I think the only point of overlap now is my friend and lab manager, Lindsay, but, as well as being my enabler, she has her own time-sucking addictions.

2.  I was so distracted by other things that I forgot to register for Run for the Cure this year.  Only, this year, it would have to be Shlep for the Cure, since my knee is still too wonky to do any sustained running.  To mitigate this failing somewhat, I donated to the Australian Breast Cancer national fund via Julie at Bush Baby Jag.  Julie is also giving away some awesome fabric and other stuff, so virtue may be its own reward or it might get some help.

Getting There

My brain goes to sleep when I'm fasting on Yom Kippur, but I did manage to trim and true all my blocks for the Whirlygig quilt without nipping my fingers off. There are 72 blocks at 7 1/2" square, to make up into 56 x 63" quilt top. So it will be twice as wide as the blocks in the photo and a bit longer. I'm trying to decide whether I want a border or not.

Last night we broke the fast at the home of some friends. I headed straight for the coffee, and boy did it hit me like a kick from a mule! My headache vanished immediately, and I paid elaborate compliments to the blintzes, kugel and smoked salmon. But I paid the price of that java jolt later by not being able to sleep at all. The battery from my laptop ran out at 3.40am, but not before I had spent a small fortune ordering fabric online. Oy!

Another Day of Quilting

Southern Skies blocks, originally uploaded by Shadrach Meshach & Abednego.

The last day of our Square in a Square workshop saw us making these Southern Skies blocks. As I mentioned in a previous post, I really had no idea what I was going to be making when I prepared the materials for the workshop. I'm not sure I would have chosen this fabric had I known more about the pattern these blocks make up. On the clothesline, it's hard to see the blocks side by side, but it is striking how different the red and blue blocks appear. The Square in a Square method seems like a good choice for making long, skinny points without stretching or otherwise losing shape. Overall, I was pleased with the workshop, although I overbought in massive amounts, due to the poor directions on the materials list. Never mind, I now have enough fabric to make at least lap quilts from both of the patterns from today and yesterday, and I like them well enough to do it.

Square in a Square Workshop

Prairie Claw block, originally uploaded by Shadrach Meshach & Abednego.

Here's one of the blocks we made in the workshop today. Fortunately, the materials list from hell did not predict the quality or content of the teaching! This block is about 12" square. Here's what we learned:
How to make a million half square triangles with perfect points in a flash.
How a stiletto is better than pins.
How to use a little scrap at the beginning and end of chain piecing to eliminate snipping threads
How to construct just about any block starting with a square and adding strips to the sides.
It was cool enough for me to buy the book and ruler. Those half square triangles alone are worth it!

Old Quilt

old quilt, originally uploaded by Shadrach Meshach & Abednego.

I forgot one! And what a one to forget - it's on my bed right now. I made this one while I was pregnant with my daughter. Pin-basting that [expletive deleted] on the floor at seven months pregnant was a real feat, and quilting it at the machine wasn't much easier! It's from a book by Mary Ellen Hopkins that was all the rage back in the day. 1992-1993. The colours on this have faded over time somewhat, and the binding is fraying. I need to retire it. But I can't do that until I make another one, now can I?

nine-patch detail, originally uploaded by Shadrach Meshach & Abednego.

Here's a closer look at the centre of the quilt. I still love the colours.

blue roses on the back, originally uploaded by Shadrach Meshach & Abednego.

My husband often makes the bed with this side up. It makes me insane, since it isn't a pieced back and the fabric is nothing special, and besides! I worked so hard on the front!

Materials List from H-E-Double-Hockey-Sticks

Last night I spent an hour in my LQS, getting help with a materials list for a couple of workshops scheduled for the weekend.  A quilt maven who has developed a specific technique for making those pesky  skinny points and stars is coming to town and offering workshops for two quilts.  I scanned the materials list when I first received it by email a couple of weeks ago.  List of what equipment and supplies to bring.  Precutting fabric and sorting into bags for the various blocks is required.  No problem.  But when I sat down in earnest to figure out what fabric was required, it was a different story entirely.  I couldn't for the life of me figure out how much yardage I was meant to buy, nor how many colours or how much of each, since none were listed specifically.  I had to deduce it from the cutting instructions, but these weren't clear, either.  "Cut Z squares of your light or background" would be used in one place, then "cut X of the light and cut Y of the background" would be used in a different place.  So are there lights AND background?  Or are they the same thing?  And reading farther, I realized that the bagging instructions were also incomprehensible; you would end up with two bags or twelve bags, depending on how you read the instructions.  And to make matters worse, the only photos that were ever given were tiny, highly pixellated ones of two quilts draped artfully over a chair, where it was very difficult to see what the blocks looked like.  I realized that I didn't even know what I was making! To make a long story short, here's what I came home with:

The fabric above is to make a quilt called Southern Skies.  The fabric below is for one called Prairie Claw.  I was a bit more cautious and restrained in my fabric choices since I don't know what I'm aiming for.  If I like it, I can probably add to the range of colours a bit.  With any luck, I'll like at least one of these enough to expand it for a wedding present in the spring.  Wish me luck!