At Piece (or Top That)

Pardon the (bad) quilt humor after my long absence. More than a week ago I finished piecing the twelve blocks and assembling the quilt top. Oddly enough I had two very different feelings at this point. I felt at peace for having conquered a major portion of my first quilt. It was very similar to the feeling I have after leaving the perfect yoga class. The other feeling was more akin to the end zone dances seen in football. Take that quilt top! You’ve got nothing on me!

Well, that feeling of cockiness was shortlived. It was replaced by dread and fear. I spent most of last week avoiding the actual quilting of the layers. I was a bit paralyzed by the fear that this might be the step where I ruined everything. Dramatic? Well, yes. However, this often happens to me the first time I attempt a new project.

With only a few hours left in the weekend I sat myself before my sewing machine with pinned quilt layers in hand. Quilting in straight lines in 1.5" increments I worked from the center to one side and then worked from the center to the other side. I'm happy, and relieved, to say it worked easily and perfectly. I didn't even have to stay up past my bed time.

Friday archives: inspired by Loobylu

I'm quite the joiner these days. First the celebrity sightings meme and now the Friday Archives. Sadly, many of my early projects were archived under the category "To Be Finished Later." I'm pretty sure I still have a few not quite complete projects from my high school days packed away in a box somewhere. I'll get to them all in turn, but this week I want to tell you the story of this pear pin cushion and how it changed my life.

Soon after discovering the Blogosphere I happened upon Claire Robertson's wonderful website Loobylu. Quickly a world of craft blogs was revealed to me through her posts and links to other sites. Although I hadn't used my sewing machine for anything more than a quick mending job in almost a decade, after a few weeks of reading Loobylu I decided I needed to make a Softy. I was totally infatuated with these pear pincushions and decided I would attempt one myself. But I had no pattern and had never really made anything without a pattern before. So I went out and bought some pears and measured their dimensions and starting cutting out paper templates to make my own. A few iterations later and I had the shape I wanted. I stuffed it, embroidered on a face using Claire's as a guide and - voila - my very own pear pincushion. I haven't stopped sewing since.

Thank you, Claire, for providing me with the inspiration to start making and creating again.

Brief encounters with the semi-famous

Loobylu has a fun meme up today about meaningless celebrity encounters and I thought I'd play along for fun. I am lousy at recognizing people out of context and usually have to have people pointed out to me. Also, my definition of celebrity is pretty broad as you will shortly see.

When I was in grade nine my mom and I met King Juan Carlos of Spain at a reception at the BC Museum of Anthropology. My mom was quick to note that he was ogling the women in the Haida dance troop performing at the event. We even made the local paper when we got back. Let's just say I grew up in a small town.

At university, I had a part time job as an usher at the university theater and worked an event where David Suzuki was the keynote speaker. He ordered take-out Chinese food but refused to eat it until someone brought chopsticks to the Green Room. During his talk the fire alarm went off twice and we had to evacuate the auditorium. Karma?

Also while at university I saw the Barenaked Ladies play at a local bar. This was before they had their first record deal but they had a demo cassette that they were selling for $5 between sets. My friend and I went up to the stage and tried to get Ed to give us 3 for $10 but he wouldn't do it. As I recall he was rather indignant about it. Good concert, though.

In 1992 I had a summer job in Montreal and was subletting an apartment right downtown just around the corner from the Ritz Carlton Hotel. One Sunday morning I saw Boris Yeltsin get into a car. There was a small crowd of people and we gave him a round of applause and he waved at us.

Also at the Ritz, I bumped into the Prime Minister with a bag of bagels. My roommate and I were walking home loaded with groceries and the aforementioned fresh bagels (this was in my pre-celiac days). There were a lot of people standing in front of the hotel doors and I had to push my way through to get by and ran right into Brian Mulroney. I don't think he or his bodyguards even noticed.

Finally, to round out my six most meaningless celebrity encounters, I saw Philip Seymour Hoffman at a restaurant while having brunch in Manhattan a few summers ago. He was wearing a baseball cap and looked like he hadn't shaved or showered in days. I wouldn't have recognized him if my friends hadn't pointed him out.

So who are your six most forgettable run-ins with the rich and famous?

In season: blooms and bags

Ah, it feels like Spring is really, truly here. The back garden has started to bloom with flowers that I didn't even plant and have somehow evaded the greedy bulb-eating squirrels. They look so delicate but are very hardy. I've lived here four years and they keep coming back. I'm always so delighted to see them pop up, they seem like little miracles because I definitely do not have a green thumb. One of my colleagues is splitting some plants and offered to give me some. My first question was "Do they need to be watered?" She looked incredulous and replied "Yes, Elise. All plants need to be watered." Hmm, maybe that's my problem? The whole watering thing has always seemed so daunting.

Here's a beauty that doesn't need any tending. I've been hoarding this piece of Freshcut for quite a while and finally managed to cut into it. I had barely snipped the last thread before I filled it with my daily essentials and put it to use. See it sagging under the weight?

These twin tulips are my favorites this year. Just lovely.
Speaking of pairs, here's my second new spring bag. Yes, last Friday night was a late one (2 am to be specific). I actually made three Frenchy shoulder bags, but one was a repeat at the request of a dear friend. I have been intending to build up a stock of bags, scarves and little softies so that I'll be gift-ready like Tory, but so far the gift closet remains bare while my wardrobe bulges. I've definitely honed my technique on this last trio, so I'm sure there will be more to come. But first there's the small issue of a baby shower next weekend and a pair of gifts that need to see the light of day by then. Stay tuned.

Washed and Ready

I finally made my fabric choices. After two previous (and failed I might add) attempts last week to pick fabrics I've managed to purchase the perfect fabrics for the Hop, Skip, & A Jump quilt.

With that all important first step out of the way I was able to officially start my quilt on the weekend. Saturday found me up early washing and ironing the fabric so that the rest of the day could be spent enjoying a long awaited spring girls' day out. Then on Sunday I could be found stooped over my kitchen table cutting 96 assorted fabric strips for assembly into 12 quilt blocks. It certainly required more cutting skill and patience than I thought might be needed to produce such random shaped strips. I guess that is the genius behind Denyse Schmidt's modern quilt marvels.

Now my goal for the week is a completed quilt top. If I can manage that I'll breathe a little easier. But only momentarily....like Elise I need to both start and finish gifts for a baby shower. The craft list is never ending. Thankfully I like this sewing thing.

A girl has to eat

Is it just me, or is time moving at warp speed these days? I was in Chicago for work earlier this month and actually managed to take my embroidery with me, work on it and take a photo for a blog post and then never managed to post it. I even had a great anecdote about how my scissors were nearly confiscated during the security check, but now that it's two weeks later it's not as interesting. It was pretty exciting there for a few minutes when I had to go into the little cubicle to have my bag searched, trust me.

The Stitchettes continue to keep me busy and I might even end up with enough to make a quilt. Have you seen the tulip fairy? Love her. I have a couple of sewing projects in the works but I've got a final exam in three weeks so I've had to push things to the back burner. Except for the gift I have planned for a baby shower that I'm attending in two weeks, I have to get that done in time. Actually, I have to start it and then get it done. Yeah, I shouldn't really be blogging right now.

As usual, having too much on my plate makes me think about what should be on my plate. Food, that is. I recently bought Bill's Open Kitchen and am finding it very inspiring. Everything is so fresh and simple. Tonight I made the chickpea stew and it is now my new favorite. So, so good and it only took 30 minutes from start to finish, including putting some rice in the rice cooker and a piece of salmon in the oven. I also made a quick marinade using parsley, garlic, olive oil, salt and black pepper in my mini food processor. I slathered some on the fish before cooking and used the rest as a sauce. Yum!

Gathering....

....supplies, inspiration, courage.

I'm preparing to undertake my biggest project to date, my first quilt. It's not just any first quilt either. This quilt will provide color, comfort, and warmth to Little Miss Lou's new big girl bed. It's a big deal for both of us. That is why I find myself obsessing over its necessary perfection.

Gathering the right supplies for the job was the first order of business. Over the last week I've been studying Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts and Denyse Schmidt Quilts with an intensity not seen since college. I ended up with quite a list. As luck would have it, though, the shopping stars had aligned. Joann's started a 50% off sale on all quilting supplies yesterday. (It runs until Saturday...go, you must need something!) I picked up bias tape makers, binding clips, curved safety pins, extra-fine glasshead pins, a pinking rotary cutter and replacement blade, a 12.5 x 12.5 inch ruler, batting and thread. I also picked up a huge 24 x 36 inch self-healing cutting mat. All I need to get now is a walking foot. I've toyed with the idea of skipping this and making do but something tells me I shouldn't. Any thoughts?

Gathering inspiration just may be the easiest part of this whole process. Making a decision about a pattern though is another story. It was after much deliberation and fretting that I finally decided to go with Denyse Schmidt's Hop, Skip, & A Jump quilt. It was seeing this beauty on flickr that provided the final push I needed. I love how young and fresh this quilt feels. It's just the feeling you get from being around her. I just wish I could bottle her energy.

I've already purchased the perfect backing and binding fabric. You can just catch a peak in my first photo. I intend to pull colors from her existing curtains to round out the 7 or so additional fabrics I need. I'm hoping some of them already live in my stash.

Now all I have to do is gather the courage I need to start and finish this project. (Deadline: May 23). I'm sure the perfectionist crafter in me will struggle at points along the way. When she's threatening to take over the project I'll just try remember the most important thing. I'm making this for a little girl whose only request was that it be made by Auntie J.