Last Chance for a Slow Stitch Sunday with the Dowager Countess

Slow stitching on Sunday evening while spending an hour with the Dowager Countess of Grantham and everyone else at Downton Abbey has become my habit.

It sounds silly, but today I have been thinking about my need to create a new slow-stitch Sunday habit to replace it that feels as much of a perfect match. I am thinking about Sunday afternoon listening to classical music while stitching ... wonder if I can make that habit stick?

I haven't posted many Sunday slow stitching posts, because I have been slow knitting instead of something quilting-related and I appreciate that most of the followers of this blog are interested in quilting ... my current project is this hat, which is double knit on tiny size 2 needles which I also refer to as "toothpicks."

Double knitting is a curious technique where you knit one stitch on the outside then one stitch facing the other direction on the inside.  if you are using two colors, as I am here, then you can easily see the outside/inside stitches alternating on the needle and you switch threads for each stitch ... like I said, it's slow-knitting. The result is a two-layer piece, which is only connected at the edge and wherever the yarns are switched to create the color-work pattern.

If you have followed this blog a while, you might guess that this project came out of the 365 Feathers project, and it did, but I ended up waiting until I was prepared to try something new and challenging.

Because I used the 16 inch circular needles prescribed in the pattern, I really can't tell if it is actually going to fit my 23-inch head when I'm through. It's a long, slow, leap-of-faith project for me.

The pattern is called Feather in my Cap.  There are only a few projects for it on Ralvery, including mine. Because I am knitting the cloche version of the pattern, I refer to this project as Feather in my Cloche.

Although I am knitting it gold-side out, to make it easier to see the stitches, I will likely wear it the other way 'round, brown with a gold feather. You can get a peek from the other side here.  I have a long, down filled brown coat and a camel-colored wool toggle coat and picked colors that I thought would work with both of them.

I still have quite a ways to go and after the color work for the feather is done, it's going to be VERY BORING KNITTING which always slows me down ... maybe it will be ready by the time winter rolls around again. 

Does anyone else have a Downton Abbey habit they need to replace or a good idea for me of an anchor that will keep me slow stitching on Sundays? 

Feather Pillows - A Lovely Goal for July

Last year, when I made this quilt . . .

I made four extra feather blocks with the intent to make pillow covers. 

My goal for July is to, first find them in the aftermath of my move, and then turn them into pillows. 

I have moved into another "previously owned by an artist" house, this one with wall colors in soft shades of peach, lavender, cream and pale olive. I think this quilt will look great on my bed, a room that is painted peach with olive trim. 

I'm joining the goal-setting party for July (and hoping for a better result for me than the past few months). 

An Optimistic October Goal for A Lovely Finish

Remember these blocks, begun earlier this year at a guild retreat?

My goal for a Lovely Finish in October is to finish the quilt.  (I did say I was being optimistic, right?)

Parked on my Design Wall

In the last few weeks, I seem to have lost my will to sew ... and the projects parked on my design wall reflect that.  But since there are a few new blocks (and a new block pattern), I've decided to share.

Fabric is cut to make more of the traditional feathered star blocks ... but I have made only minimal progress.  I joked with a friendly a while ago that I probably should re-label The Daily Feather blog as The Occasional Feather, unless I get back on track soon.

The pieced curve bird blocks are still waiting for the design idea in my head to be translated to paper.

The recently ordered charms to be used with the drunkard's path panel have arrived and  so the only thing holding me back from making progress is ... myself.



The tall variations of the traditional Oklahoma Boomer blocks are for the September Block Lotto.

I had a lot of fun dressing the Boomers in back-to-school clothes.

You can download the pattern from my Block Patterns page and find the guidelines we're using for the block lotto here:

September is Boom Goes-Back-to-School Month

Will I find my creative mojo in September?  As much as I don't feel like sewing, I am missing it ... so I'm hopeful.  What do you do when you just don't feel like quilting and want to restart the create urge?

An Appliqué Adventure

Here's the result of my Sunday night (and Monday night) slow stitching.

It is #50 of my 365-project and will likely become a cover for a throw pillow.

The large size of the appliqué and the many seams in the crumb-pieced black and white made fabric, gave me the idea of using a new-to-me technique for securing/marking the appliqué: back-basting.


The leaf silhouette is the same I used to produce the tiny pink feather pincushion which was my first project in the series of 365 feather-related efforts.  I enlarged it to 8-by-16 inches and then used it as a reference when putting together the small scraps from my black and white scrap bin.


Earlier this year, a friend explained back-basting to me in a way that I finally got it ... but didn't actually try it until this week. Although the feather shape was lightly marked with a chalk pencil on the front and not the back, I used the back basting technique to stitch along the marked line to secure the two pieces of fabric together (with red thread).

Rather than attempt to turn under the edges of the black and white crumb-pieced fabric, with all those seams and the extra fabric in those seams, I used reverse appliqué and needle-turned the teal batik background and stitched it down to the black and white fabric underneath.


I removed the basting and cut away the background fabric a few inches at a time, revealing the black and white fabric underneath, a little at a time. after all the applique was done, I turned the piece over and cut away the excess black and white fabric from the corners.

I loved how the back-basting technique held the fabrics in place–especially that skinny little feather spine–and, although it added to the time to prepare the piece for appliqué, I know I'll be using it again ... and I'll be using more made fabric in appliqué, too.  As an experiment in trying something new, this project was a win-win for me.

I'm linking this post to the lists for Esther's WOW (on Tuesday in the US) and Angie's Appliqué Tuesday ...  on Wednesday and WIP Wednesday on Freshly Pieced.

(I confess that one of the reasons I think that appliqué appeals to me right now, is that I'm brushing off my skills and finding the courage to begin Esther's fabulous Love Enwined BOM).

More of the Same (on the Design Wall)

Some things have been moved around, but little has changed since last week on my design wall and several projects are waiting there this morning.

I made one more of the foundation pieced feathered star blocks from the book, A Flock of Feathered Stars, as one of my Daily Feathers, making five blocks ... and a reason to see how they would look if put on point.

The curvy-pieced bird blocks are waiting for one more for their flock ... and a design in which to live.

The I-spy lotto blocks are waiting for the end of the month when a winner's name will be drawn.  I really liked the idea of using simply house blocks as frames for I-spy fabrics ... when, over the weekend, I saw the quilt that Brenda is making using this idea, I saw proof of the possibilities of this approach.

The house blocks also serve to remind me that I need to add the explanation of the approach I used to the Block Patterns page ... which I'm going to do as soon as I finish this post.


A few days ago, this crib-sized quilt top came down from the design wall–although I have shared the photo on the Block Lotto, since the design elements came from bird, house and flying geese blocks we've made this year and on the Daily Feather, but forgot to include it here.

I was going back and forth in my head about what I wanted for the back. Over the weekend, I picked up a black and white print with the idea of using lots of colored quilting threads that will show nicely, front and back. I think quilting this is going to be a lot of fun and want to get started soon so that it will be a Lovely Finish for July.

I'm sharing my design wall with the linky party on Judy's blog.  Are you?

My Design Wall Today and Making Do

Here's how my design wall looks today.  I'm sharing with the list of quilters on Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday.

I've made a few more I-Spy Houses for the block lotto.  I really liked the idea of using a basic house shape to frame I-Spy fabrics as doors and windows, but I didn't like my first couple efforts so well.  I think, after making more, I have developed a feel for the proportions that work best.  For more details on making these blocks, visit the Block Lotto.

The bird blocks are parked, waiting for me to move the quilt design I have in my head onto something more concrete, so I can continue. 

I've now made 4 of the 12-inch paper-pieced feathered star blocks from A Flock of Feathered Stars as part of my Daily Feather project.  My plan for fabrics for these stars is to combine green fabrics with low volume fabrics and to work only from stash. While the overall quilt I make from these blocks will be scrappy, each individual block is not ... until recently, when for the second time in as many weeks, I thought I had started with enough background fabric for something and ... ran out.  I wondered if the universe was trying to teach me a lesson about being a better planner :-) 

It felt like a tragedy at the time because more than half of the block was made and there was no opportunity for a planned mix of the two prints, but, even in person, you have to look close at the green polka dot star block to see that a second pale blue fabric is used as background for some of the feathers.

It made me think about the concept of making do, and how that applies to today's quilter.  For me, in this block, I made do by finding a similar fabric in my stash.  

Not long ago, on a modern quilter's blog, I read how she was making do in a quilt when the fabrics she had from a single line of fabrics weren't enough.  She needed more and added a fabric from  the same designer, but a different line.

Making Do seems to have a much different meaning than a few decades ago, when our predecessors made quilts.  I started thinking about a museum exhibit I saw years ago at the Henry Ford Museum of improvisational quilts made by Susana Allen Hunter.  Many of her quilts were made from all kinds of fabrics.  The mosaic medallion quilt below was made between 1960 and 1965, from cotton prints and solids, corduroy, flannel and seersucker.  The back pieced from fertilizer sacks.  This tenant farmer from the rural south was really making do ... and created some pretty interesting quilts.

You can see more of Susana Allen Hunter's quilt and all my photos from that exhibit in my Flickr photo set Quilting Genius 2.

July's Lovely Progress ... and Today's Plan for Slow Stitching

Here is where I am with Tweet, the crib-sized quilt that is my project for a Lovely Finish this month.

 

The bird blocks and a large flock of flying geese were made as part of my Daily Feather project.

What's next:

• Miter the corners of the borders (they are pinned in place now)
• Re check my match ... I made a large flock of flying geese units, but, although there are more than you see in the photo, I don't think that I have made enough.  
• Make more flying geese if needed.
• Make the corner blocks for the flying geese border
• Add the flying geese border
• Add/stitch appliqué elements (perches and doors for the houses)
• Mark the quilting designs.  I plan to use a mix of marked and unmarked free motion quilting. 
• Layer and baste the quilt
• Quilt, bind and label it. 

It sounds so quick and easy, doesn't it?  The appliqué will be sewn by hand--my plan for today's Slow Stitch Sunday. 

Order from the Chaos on my Design Wall

Lately, lots of ideas have been bouncing around in my head and around the studio.  They are reflected by the chaos currently on my design wall.

Much of this mish-mash of projects comes from my Daily Father project ... the rest are blocks made so far for the Block Lotto.   Starting from top left and working my way down, I have: 

• the first 12 inch feathered star in a series of blocks from Carolyn Cullinan McCormick's book, A Flock of Feathered Stars: Paper Pieced for Perfection.
• three blocks (one embroidered drummer, two foundation pieced feathers) for a Yankee Doodle quilt idea.
• my pieced bird from Judy Dales' book on Curves.  I mentioned a while ago that I wanted to try hand-piecing this block and that is my plan for Slow Stitch Sunday tonight. 
• three I-spy House lotto blocks.  I don't like the proportions of a couple of these blocks ... I'll definitely be making more of these–I'll post more about them and share the block pattern later this week

On the right side of my smallish design wall is the birdie crib quilt in progress.  I haven't yet cut into the newly dyed fabric to see how well it's going to work and I have some open design questions about borders, but I feel on track for a Lovely Finish in July.

I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy ...

OK.  I'm not really a Yankee Doodle Dandy in any real way, but the song (and the nursery rhyme on which it is based) is stuck in my head.   It all started when a migraine–my first in years–sent me to a darkened room yesterday and I stitched this.  (FYI, it worked!  I woke up migraine-less and feeling great).

The original, a gift from Gay's Sentimental Stitches site for the Fourth of July, made me think of Yankee Doodle and, although the original didn't have the feather in his cap, I couldn't resist adding one for my Daily Feather.  You can follow the link to read more about the project, the nursery rhyme and WHY he stuck a feather in his cap and called it Macaroni.  I was happy to learn more about it's origins ... it makes my Yankee Doodle feel even more appropriate for today.

Curiosity about Yankee Doodle and Macaroni aside, Happy Independence Day to Americans, where ever you are and however you celebrate.  I'm off for breakfast at Pancakes on the Plaza, the Santa Fe tradition ... and hoping that this year, I managed to arrive before the lines stretch all the way across the plaza and through the crowds like last year.  Last year, it was a short walk from the adobe casita ... this year will involve driving and finding a place to park, but I know it will be worth the trip if only to hear the music and drive Yankee Doodle out of my head :-)

I'm also hoping the potter whose work I bought there last year (in addition to pancakes, there's an art fair and an antique car show) will be back.  I love my "pancake bowl"–which is basically a mixing bowl with a handle and a spout–and use it all the time.  I want to acquire another beautiful, functional piece.

The Beginnings of a New Project for July

The flock of five bird blocks were made as part of my Daily Feather catch-up after a most unproductive weekend.  I am planning to add more feather-y design elements, but first I am auditioning fabrics and moving things around for the quilt's center.  Right now, I am thinking it will become a crib-sized quilt.

If you participate in or follow along with the Block Lotto (or this blog), you already know how to make the bird block and the basic house shape.  The block pattern I developed for the Bird Block is available on my Block Patterns page–it's free, if you'd like to download the directions and make a flock of your own. The house shape is being used to make I-Spy Houses for this month's Block Lotto.  I'll add those directions to that page and post my row of houses soon. 

After being overwhelmed by life and real and self-imposed deadlines last weekend, I wasn't sure I was going to join the July goal setting party for A Lovely Year of Finishes, but ... it has become a good way for me to focus and finish things ... or at least move specific projects forward in a significant way, so I'm in.  It's definitely been a case of the journey being the reward for me, too.

I'm also joining Esther's WOW (Wips on Wednesday) linky list and WIP Wednesday on Freshly Pieced. 

Is it Luck or Synchronicity?

Lately, I've been lucky and won some wonderful things from blog giveaways.

The latest is the Feathered Stars book and add-a-quarter ruler, from Quiltmaker. When I entered the drawing a few weeks ago, I knew I had committed to, but not yet begun the #365-feathers project. I plan to make my first paper foundation pieced feathered star from that book later today.

But, as for the rest, some happy instances of synchronicity have happened. I was thrilled to win Judy Dales ' class book on designing and sewing curves from Angie's Blog. Until it arrived and I was flipping through it, I had forgotten all about this bird ... which became my project number 8 of the Daily Feather.

I love this bird so much ... but am a little less than happy with my curved piecing.  Next, I plan to hand pieced another–I hope that by slowing down, I'll be able to really see how the pieces need to go together.

Then one day, as I was looking at fabrics with a future feather project in mind, I noticed the color palette I was thinking about was very close to those colors in the beautiful Pat Sloan fabrics in the fabric tassel, won on her blog ... so you can expect to see those beauties turning up as a daily feather in the future, too.

Those itty bitty paper pieces for making a miniature Dresden quilt have NOTHING to do with feathers, but I expect they will provide a necessary break if the feather theme starts to feel stale ... and what better fabrics to use than that pretty tone-on-tone rainbow, provided by Kathy.

I don't know if I'm looking at the world through feather-colored glasses or if the universe is, in it's way, providing the support to keep me on this feathered path.  Either way, lately, I'm feeling like a lucky girl and the feather-themed ideas just keep coming.

I'm joining Esther's WOW list–her new BOM starts Friday! and WIPS Wednesday on Freshly pieced, because sometimes, progress is made, simply by deciding on fabrics or patterns and getting it organized in a way that it suddenly becomes do-able.

Seven Days Done ... 358 Days To Go

This week, I've played with paint, food, yarn, an iPad application and ... a bit of fabric as part of my #365-Feathers project. (Blogged on The Daily Feather) ... and I have to confess that it's been fun.

After choosing feathers as a theme, I started seeing them everywhere ... even the arugula in my salad bowl seemed quite feather-y and became the basis of this project/lunch.   A search for feather patterns on Ravelry returned not only the expected feather-design lace patterns, but a pattern for a knitted feather ... of course I had to make one.

I have already tried a few new things (which was one of the motivating factors for me), like making a large freezer paper stencil to paint on fabric for a pillow and sketching (a feather cat toy) on my iPad.

   

OK, I admit that I HAVE played on the ArtStudio app before ... just never shared my sad efforts until this week :-)


Of course, there were (a few) quilt-related projects--here's my itty bitty pin cushion with appliqué feather and the first two in what I hope will become a series of feathered star blocks.







    

Aside from the monthly Block Lotto, I am not very good at creating and producing on a schedule and so I view even seven consecutive days of feather-related projects as a victory.  Can I get a whoop whoop for creating seven feathers in seven days?  I'm also joining Glen's Linky Party for 365 projects.

If you were to begin a 365 adventure of your own, what theme would you choose?

I warn you, once you answer the hypothetical question ... the idea may persist until you decide, like I did, to start a 365 project of your own.

Breaking Down the Feathered Star

As part of my #365-feathers project, I've been making–among other things–feathered star blocks.  I hope that with each block, my technique will improve: there will be fewer mis-matched seams and chopped off feathers ... and that I'll get faster.

It's probably too soon to tell ... yet.  So far,  I've only made two blocks.

With the second block, I broke the process into manageable pieces, to make it easier for me to break up the construction of a single block into smaller chunks of time.  It somehow makes the block seem more do-able for me.  Here's my breakdown:

1. Select and cut fabrics. I prefer choosing fabrics for one block at a time, so I select and cut fabrics for one block.
2. Make the triangle square feathers. There are 56 half-square-triangle units in each block.  Making them is the most time consuming step for me, and rates a session of it's own.  There are a lot of ways to make these 1 inch (finished size) units.  I created a downloadable tip sheet that you can find on the Tips, Tutorials and Projects page if you're interested. For these blocks, I use a printed grid that I created that will make the 56 HST units I need from two 9 by 15 inch rectangles of fabric. The photo above was taken after step 2 was complete.
3. Sew the strips of feathers with added background triangles and diamonds.
4. Sew the 9 sections.  I am using Marsha McCloskey's pattern and technique, where the feathers are first added to the eight background pieces (4 squares and 4 triangles) and then the star sections are added and then joined.  It feels a little inside-out, but it works best for me. 
5. Assemble the star block, like a 9-patch.  

Here are my first two efforts.  They are Feathers # 002 and 005 for my Daily Feather. 

  

I plan to make more and hope that with each block, I improve :-)

I'm sharing this post on Esther's WOW and WIP Wednesday on Freshly Pieced.

Transitions on my Design Wall

These are the border blocks for my Lone Star quilt and yesterday's daily feather for my 365 project, a feathered star block.

As often happens, the transition between projects can be jarring because of shift in colors and scale. The border blocks are for a 60-inch throw/wall quilt, my June project for a Lovely Year of Finishes.  The feathered star is 19 inches. It's the first in a series I plan to make for the Daily Feather.

Feathered Feather–Finished

Two posts in a day because ... I finished the feathered feather table runner.

It measures 15 by 27 inches and is a perfect fit for the tall little table and chairs in the studio ... photos later after the weekend clean-up in the studio.

I super-sized half of the feathers block pattern that was offered on the Shape Moth blog as part of the Forest QAL–I described the process earlier in this blog post–and added a simple border. All the fabrics,  except the FQ I used for the background, came out of my scrap bins.

I had all kinds of silly fun when I decided to put quilted feathers inside the sections of the feather and added a large scale McTavish-ish fill pattern in the background.

I added the piped binding because it seemed like a perfect opportunity for more practice with the technique and, as we all know, practice makes perfect  ... or, at least, more perfect with each iteration..

Here are some detail photos of the the feathered feather, the swirly girly (my term) free-motion quilting  in the background and the piped binding.

Tomorrow I begin a new creative adventure of creating something every day. Glen blogged about it here: 365  At first, I thought it was an interesting idea and would be fun to follow along.  Then I downloaded the free peek (kindle version) from Amazon ... and before I knew it, I KNEW what my theme would be and I bought the kindle version of the book, 365: A Daily Creativity Journal: Make Something Every Day and Change Your Life!

My super-sized quilt block seemed to be a perfect image for the header of the new blog I've created for my #365 project.

(Now that it's quilted and bound, there may be a new banner image on The Daily Feather soon  :-)

The idea of creating something everyday is a bit daunting.  I know that I may fall flat on my face.

If you want to follow along, I'll be posting recaps here or you can follow the Daily Feather at http://365-feathers.blogspot.com

If you have a #365 project, I'd love to know about it ... and if you don't, it's always a good time to start. I suspect most of my projects will be quilt or fiber related, but you never know where something like this will lead you ...

I'm joining lots of linky parties today, including:

Can I get a Whoop Whoop on Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Finish It Up Friday on Crazy Mom Quilts
FMQ Friday on The Free Motion Quilting Project
Forest QAL on Shape Moth
Link a Finish Friday on Friday and Tanya Quilts
TGIFF on Quilt Matters