Avaland's Quilts & other Creative Projects for 2021, PT 2

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Avaland's Quilts & other Creative Projects for 2021, PT 2

1avaland
Modificato: Mag 27, 2021, 7:28 am

Yesterday evening I finished the last few half blocks for this quilt (I should make a few extra) and soon I will sew the half blocks into blocks, the blocks into rows...you know how it goes.

Pics taken with my 35 mm camera rather than the iphone....





It's NOT made to be admired hung, so I have less concern with very light/very dark values...beyond a reasonable distribution of both. I'll take a peek at the B&W of the photos and see if there is some placements that bug me.

It's 128 half blocks, making 64 blocks in an 8 x 8 block arrangement.

2PawsforThought
Mag 27, 2021, 8:27 am

>1 avaland: Looks superb as usual, Lois.
Dark/light distribution looks fairly even to me, maybe a little more light on the left side.

3avaland
Mag 27, 2021, 4:44 pm

>2 PawsforThought: Thanks. I'd like to get it done before summer hits!

4avaland
Modificato: Mag 27, 2021, 5:14 pm

Oh, I said I'd mention what I am reading and have recently read. I log my reading on Club Read.

I'm currently reading a satirical/humorous novel by Lydia Millet titled Mermaids in Paradise. It's about a couple who get married and then honeymoon in the British Virgin Islands and see mermaids.... There's a lot to chuckle about in the telling.

Other books read this quarter are:
Admiring Silence by Abdulrazak Gurnah (novel, 1996 UK/Zanzibar)
Purge by Sofi Oksanen (novel, 2010, Estonia)
Indemnity Only by Sarah Paretsky (crime novel, 1990)
How to Love the World: Poems of Gratitude and Hope edited by James Crews (2021)

5dudes22
Mag 27, 2021, 7:29 pm

>1 avaland: - That's looking really nice.

6lauralkeet
Mag 27, 2021, 9:49 pm

>1 avaland: That quilt looks terrific, Lois!

7avaland
Mag 28, 2021, 2:27 pm

>5 dudes22:, >6 lauralkeet: Thanks, gal pals. We'll see how the next stage goes!

8thornton37814
Mag 29, 2021, 6:25 pm

>1 avaland: Lovely!

9avaland
Mag 30, 2021, 5:54 am

>8 thornton37814: Thanks.

We are having a rainy, wet Memorial Day weekend. I can't tell you how wonderful it is :-) I can curl up with a book or sew for as long as I wish, without guilt over not getting to the outdoor work.

I have sewn together 40 of the 64 blocks in the quilt above. I love to finish the others today and start on sewing the blocks into rows. It would be really nice to have the top all together by the end of Monday.

I also set aside my other reading, to read a short, just-right-for-the-weekend mystery by a Moroccan author—The Final Bet by Abdelilah Hamdouchi (young handsome impoverished man marries rich 70+ woman. She is found murdered in her bed, did he do it?)

10avaland
Giu 1, 2021, 5:43 am

Well, the long weekend has passed and the quilt top is not quite all together. I got all of the blocks put together, then all the blocks into rows, and began sewing the rows together. I have two seams left to do. I can't do the long stints hunched over the sewing machine these days as my neck starts to bother me (for those who don't know, I have two vertebra fused with a titanium disc).

Finished the short Moroccan crime novel, and the mostly humorous, Mermaids in Paradise. I have returned to the latest collection of short stories by Joyce Carol Oates, and at bedtime I'm reading a novel Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy.

11dudes22
Giu 1, 2021, 7:07 am

>10 avaland: - One of my friends has recommended Migrations to me. I'm hoping to get to it later this summer.

12avaland
Modificato: Giu 2, 2021, 5:21 pm

>11 dudes22: If you don't already have the book, I can send it to you when I'm done....(unless, of course, you are only reading digital...)

Sadly, I have not been able to finish those last two seams yet. Too many diversions. Maybe tomorrow....

13dudes22
Giu 2, 2021, 8:23 pm

>12 avaland: - Thanks, Lois, but I can just get it from the library when I'm ready.

14avaland
Giu 4, 2021, 7:16 am

>13 dudes22: Okey dokey.

15avaland
Giu 6, 2021, 6:25 am

So, I got the entire quilt top put together and pinned it up on the wall for a last time (this time I pinned it up on its "side") and lo! I saw two blocks (or four half blocks) placed wrongly! How did that happen! I was not happy as they are not easily accessible.

I have considered letting them stay as is as a testament to my imperfection, or because mentally I am sooo done with this quilt top, but I will probably pick it apart and fix it. First, I have to figure out where in the process the error occurred (I would prefer to pick out two blocks than four HSTs....)

And after, the studio needs a good cleaning, some reorganizing and a nice airing when the weather is right.

16dudes22
Giu 6, 2021, 9:02 am

I hate when that happens. Sometimes I can manage to just pick out the seams around the block a little way, but with all those HSTs, orientation might be a problem.

17avaland
Giu 6, 2021, 11:02 am

>16 dudes22: That's for the moral support. I'm hoping I can just turn the blocks around.

18avaland
Giu 6, 2021, 2:30 pm

So, yes, I picked out two entire blocks and I’m pleased to say that I could just rotate them each 180 degrees. That was picking out parts of three lines of row stitching and pick the blocks out of the rows before placing the blocks again, stitching them into their rows and then sewing the segments of rows together. Bleh. It’s done. It needs a good ironing before going in the ‘to be quilted’ pile.

19dudes22
Giu 6, 2021, 4:40 pm

Yeah! Glad it worked out for you. There were a bunch of pieces there.

20lauralkeet
Giu 6, 2021, 9:32 pm

>18 avaland: I know nothing about these things, but it sounds like it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I'm glad you were able to sort it out Lois. I know it would have bugged you forever if you didn't.

21avaland
Giu 7, 2021, 5:15 am

>20 lauralkeet: LOL, probably would have bugged me forever but I like to think I could have let it go....

22avaland
Modificato: Giu 7, 2021, 5:46 am

Reading update. My reading is beginning to look more old "normal" and, as was/is my custom, I have several books of different types ongoing and are being read as mood and brain space allows. The grandson is here for this coming week and then his parents have him signed up for summer camp.

How Iceland Changed the World: The Big History of a Small Island by Egill Bjarnson (2021, nonfiction, Iceland)
"The (Other) You: Stories" by Joyce Carol Oates (short fiction, 2021)
Migrations: A Novel by Charlotte McConaghy (2020, bedtime reading)
Midden: Poems by Julia Bouwsma (poetry, 2016, Maine history)

--------------------------

As for sewing plans... I've put up the simple batik quilt on the board and will finish putting that together at some point. But the room needs a good cleaning and reorganizing, and perhaps I can let go of some stuff. I might need a new cutting table as my old one is getting very wobbly and the screws will not longer tighten.

23dudes22
Giu 7, 2021, 6:10 am

My friend recommended Migrations to me and I'm hoping to get to it later this summer. I've seen a few mentions of it here on LT lately.

24lauralkeet
Giu 7, 2021, 7:21 am

>20 lauralkeet:, >21 avaland: Lois, I probably should have said that if I were in that situation it would have bugged ME forever. Several years back I made Chris a cable sweater, finished it, photographed him wearing it, and moved on. Much later I looked at the photo and noticed a really obvious cable crossed the wrong way. How did I not see that at the time? It's fairly close to the neckline so in theory I could do sweater surgery and fix it but it's a scary prospect. So the mistake remains, to torment me all my days.

25dudes22
Giu 7, 2021, 7:35 am

>24 lauralkeet: - Maybe he could wear a big broach over the cable - :)🤣🤣

26lauralkeet
Giu 7, 2021, 7:47 am

>25 dudes22: Ha! I love that, Betty.

Annoyingly, he doesn't wear his handknits (sweaters, socks, necktie) much at all, despite having requested them. Between us, I've decided he may not be "knit-worthy" ...

27avaland
Giu 9, 2021, 4:19 pm

>24 lauralkeet: I think I know you well enough to know it would have indeed bugged you! I'm glad you avoided fixing the old mistake....consider it part of the learning curve!

>26 lauralkeet: Will the girls wear what you make?

28lauralkeet
Giu 10, 2021, 7:13 am

>27 avaland: I think they would, if we chose the design together. Much like buying clothes for them retail, where I'd rather buy from a wish list than surprise them with something. I don't have the best sense of what's fashionable for their age group.

29avaland
Giu 11, 2021, 5:20 am

>28 lauralkeet: Makes sense. I wouldn't dare to buy any of my offspring clothes, except possibly T-shirts for Ryan.

30avaland
Giu 11, 2021, 5:23 am

Let the great studio clean-up begin!

31dudes22
Giu 11, 2021, 4:32 pm

I've been making some of those 8x10 rectangles you make for the charity quilt and on the "row" that has the 2.5"sqaures in the middle, I ended up with them on the end for a "few". Except for the fact that I will have to match a seam with the bottom part of the block, do you think it will matter? Should I take them apart and fix?

32avaland
Giu 13, 2021, 1:30 pm

>31 dudes22: I'm sorry, Betty, my mind seems to be blank. I can't think of a charity quilt pattern that I've done which had 8 x 10" blocks in it. The ones I have in process here (with the batiks are squares and rectangles that are only 2.5 x 4.5). This is not to say I haven't done ones but you will have to remind me....

33dudes22
Giu 13, 2021, 4:01 pm

I can't find the post, but it's a 6.5"square with a 2.5"x6.5" rectangle and then 2 - 2.5" squares with a 4.5" square and a 2.5"x4.5" rectangle. Anyway - I decided to take them apart and fixed them. Or maybe it was something like that and I adapted it. Anyway, it pushed me in a good direction for cutting up my fabric leftovers and using them.

34avaland
Giu 14, 2021, 6:13 am

>33 dudes22: Oh,ok, yes, that's the original pattern for the enlarged pattern I have on the wall now (in batiks). Only I'm now working with a 9.5 square. Sorry, I was so dense (I thought the 8x10 you were referring to was a piece not the block itself).

---------

I spent some of yesterday cleaning in the studio and reshuffling rather than reorganizing. I usually enjoy re-organizing the fabrics piles by color but I was rather impatient about it this time. Today, if it rains as it says it will, I will continue. I'm a bit terrified to add up all the quilt tops which need finishing (by me or a machine quilter), but it must be done. There also should be some 'letting go' of stuff...

Apparently a bear went through the gardens (well, one of them) recently. It seemed one of the recently filled (and sifted) garden boxes had depressions in it about the size of bear prints (I don't know what else would make those). I have decorative fencing to go around the garden when I get that last LARGE box filled (the asparagus). Won't stop a determined bear but it might deter one less so.

35avaland
Giu 15, 2021, 4:57 pm

I count eight (!) quilt tops needing to be finished (and I haven't started on the charity quilts yet!). None of the quilts are huge, but still, that will be quite a payout to one quilter or another. I think I might attempt to quilt the three "random scrap" quilts myself, depends on what my plans are for them.

None of these have to be done for any specific occasion but I would like to clean up the backlog.

Thus, still cleaning and resorting the studio (I keep getting interrupted....)

Here's one of those interruptions now!

36dudes22
Giu 15, 2021, 5:34 pm

What a lovely distraction! I too have been thinking about working on getting some quilts finished. I realized that the backings would help me to use up large amounts of fabric. (So I can buy more, of course)

37avaland
Giu 16, 2021, 5:38 am

>36 dudes22: I love how you think!

Do you piece your backings? I have a fair amount of leftover backings scraps and have been thinking about that -- at least for some of the quilts. I try now to be a bit more selective so the leftovers are more usable (i.e. off-white/natural prints scraps I can use in my quilts...the above quilt being an example). Still, I have some that just doesn't seem to go with much else...

38dudes22
Giu 16, 2021, 6:02 am

>37 avaland: - Usually, if I'm making a baby quilt, I buy enough flannel to use the same fabric on the back because I love the soft flannel on a baby quilt. I have pieced a few - one I had two fairly large pieces of coordinating fabrics left over from another project that I pieced. But I haven't done that a lot. To use up some of the fabric on my shelves, I would have to probably piece them. If I remember, you use bed sheets sometimes which I've always read you shouldn't do - something about the thread count, I think. So I've always stayed away from that. Although it never really made sense to me.

39scaifea
Giu 16, 2021, 8:03 am

>35 avaland: Aw, what a cutie!!

40avaland
Giu 17, 2021, 6:31 am

>38 dudes22: I have used 100% cotton bed sheets for the backs of some of the chidren's/teens charity quilts. I look for one that have a lower thread count (they are less refined, feel a bit coarser and hard to find)

You know, I've never made a flannel quilt.

>39 scaifea: Thanks, Sun, green grass, and an 8 month old cutie, what's not to like :-)

41melannen
Modificato: Giu 17, 2021, 8:56 am

My mother (sometimes with my help) makes a lot of charity quilts for a refugee service and they actually recommend old sheets for backing. (They also suggest using a couple layers of old flannel sheets for batting, which she often does.)

Those aren't heavily pieced and are tied rather than quilted, though - they use all
donated materials, whatever they get. (They're often used for things like floor coverings in camps.) I can see why you might care more about matching fabric texture on other kinds of quilts.

What a beautiful distraction!

42avaland
Giu 17, 2021, 7:35 pm

>41 melannen: That's wonderful! All my mother's and Nana's quilts were tied . I don't mind picking up the cost of batting for the quilts, but not the backing.

My husband and I went out to see a bathroom 'showroom' to begin our renovation of both bathrooms in the house (we've renovated two kitchens but this will be our first bathroom!) We don't expect to have any contractors around until November. But while we were in the area, we went to a "Savers" store (for those not familiar, Savers is a for-profit store that resells used items), so I could look for sheets for backings. They need to be full-size sheets to back a 60x60" quilt. I found a set and one single, so that was three; but...I also found 4 yards of 60 inch wide cotton fabric, a yellow smiley icon motif on a background. So, that would work up for two more battings.

We also had a quick lunch INSIDE for the first time since maybe Feb or Mar 2020!

43sallypursell
Giu 17, 2021, 10:27 pm

Catching up, Lois. Finally feeling a bit better. Your quilt is great, and your distraction is top-notch!

44dudes22
Giu 18, 2021, 5:18 am

>42 avaland: - I never think of going to Savers to look for fabric. Good luck with your bathroom renovation. We lived in our old house for 23 years and it had a bathroom from the 50s with pink and black tiles. I wanted to renovate but could never get past the fact that the tile was all in good shape and I hated the idea that they couldn't be taken off the walls and reused.

45melannen
Giu 18, 2021, 2:34 pm

>42 avaland: Savers is a great source of fabric! We live in the area where it's called Value Village, but the selection is about the same. We always go by on half-price days to check their fabric and craft supplies. And books of course!

(Meanwhile my sister has visited the local independent thrift store and bought an entire pile of circular knitting needles that are apparently mine now whether I want them or not...)

46sallypursell
Giu 18, 2021, 7:05 pm

And is the quality good with the fabric from Savers?

47melannen
Giu 18, 2021, 11:14 pm

You have to figure out how to assess the quality yourself on the fly - it's a thrift store, so nothing's labelled by fiber or anything, and the selection is different every time. I've gotten some amazing stuff (like the raw silk last month, and lots of 100% wool suiting, and my mother buys a lot of quilting cotton) but sometimes it's all terrible polyesters or things you don't even want to touch. And you don't go there looking for something to match a project, you look for something to inspire a project!

48sallypursell
Modificato: Giu 19, 2021, 12:04 pm

Thanks for the answer. That is just what I expected. Good quilting cotton feels a little "meaty" compared to lesser stuff, doesn't it?

By the way, I can't imagine doing a burn test in Savers, could you? Funny thought.

49avaland
Giu 19, 2021, 5:07 pm

>43 sallypursell: Thanks, Sally. Glad you are feeling better!

>44 dudes22: Thankfully, there is no tile in these bathrooms for me to deal with it. I'm not sure if I will put any in yet.

>45 melannen: I don't go to Savers expecting to find yardage, but sometimes I can find 100% cotton men's shirting or a woman's garment I can cut up. And the sheets. I feel the need to mix up my scraps --- quilting fabric has a certain look to it, and I like to mess with it. I also like to mix cotton fabric from different eras. The calicos from the 70s and 80s, for instance.

I go to the GoodWill store more frequently as it's only 5 miles away, I go slowly through their linens sections, sometimes there is a table runner, apron or some sma ll curtains that can be salvaged.

>46 sallypursell: Sally, the smiley face fabric I got was the first actual yardage I have found at Savers, so I can't speak for it generally. It seemed they didn't have as much in that section than I remember from 'before". Melannen is perhaps a better advisor on the subject than I.

I do miss quilt shows. I didn't go to many but I liked shopping at the vendor's tables :-) I'm pretty much a small-piece buyer these days, fat quarters and smaller.

50dudes22
Giu 19, 2021, 8:34 pm

I miss quilt shows too. 😪

51sallypursell
Giu 19, 2021, 10:06 pm

>49 avaland: >50 dudes22: I used to go to Paducah every year for the big quilt show by AQS. It's a drivable distance from my house, so I can drive down, see the show, and make it back late the same day. I've taken kids and sisters to it, too. I miss that. I've never gone to a different quilt show. Which ones do you like?

52dudes22
Giu 20, 2021, 5:43 am

The only "big" show I've been to is the one in Houston. We visited my husband's cousin a few years ago and we spent a day at the show. I did meet Lois in Massachusetts for a quilt show but I don't think they have it there anymore. Mostly it's the quilt shows by the local quilt guilds that I attend.

53avaland
Giu 20, 2021, 6:25 am

I haven't been to any really big shows, just like the New England ones that are big enough to have vendors. But I have gone to some local guild show, too.

Betty was that in Worcester?

54dudes22
Giu 20, 2021, 7:38 am

>53 avaland: - Yes it was. I think it might have been the machine quilting one that traveled around. It was in Providence a few years and then I think it moved to Worchester.

55sallypursell
Giu 20, 2021, 6:19 pm

>53 avaland: One year I took my daughter with me to the Paducah show, and she wore a tee-shirt that said "Question Authority" on it. Her hair was blue, too, and she had contact lenses with scribed spirals on them. High School, obviously. We were passing on elderly woman in a wheelchair, when that perfectly groomed woman raised her fist in a salute and said to her, "You go, girl!" It was so charming, and Mali bowed a little to her, and gave her a big smile.

56avaland
Giu 21, 2021, 3:54 am

>55 sallypursell: Great story. 'Question Authority' -- that slogan takes me back...Vietnam, Watergate...etc

57avaland
Giu 21, 2021, 4:16 am

Haven't been in the studio much of late. This past week was our first without have our grandson here four days a week. We had put off a lot of things because of this obligation so I've been cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning. We have the carpet cleaning guy coming this morning. I've also been keeping the excessive gardens alive (seems I'm always behind) and putting up some decorate fencing around the back garden. I've had this project to do for more than a year, but a bear walked through the beds recently, and I shooed a lovely young deer away from it over the weekend, so I made some early morning efforts.

Here is my little front garden:



The obelisk replaced a half dead "gnome" tree (so often used in landscaping, ugh).

58dudes22
Giu 21, 2021, 7:35 am

That's cute, Lois. Lots of watering with all those little pots? Luckily my husband looooves to water, so he takes care of all my pots.

There's a small pond in the back of our house and while this community is being built, not much is being done as they are still dredging sand/clay from the bottom. My husband decided this year to plant the bank in back of our house with wild flowers and plants he's moved from other places. (i.e. daisies). He also dug out steps to get down the bank.

There's always some gardening project, isn't there?

59scaifea
Giu 21, 2021, 8:37 am

Oh, I *love* the pot pyramid! And also the purple shutters with the green door! If only I could convince Tomm to do such a thing...

60avaland
Modificato: Giu 26, 2021, 6:40 pm

>58 dudes22: There is indeed always projects. I'm putting fencing around the back garden (dang bear went through some of the boxes a week or more ago, luckily there wasn't much planted in those). It's decorate fencing so probably wouldn't stop a determined bear, anywho (but will stop the deer, fox and perhaps the woodchucks)

>59 scaifea: I'm glad you like it! The shutters are actually blue-violet, the doors yellow-green...and if I need to add to that, I would add red-orange to complete the color triad. I couldn't do anything about the house color because it's gray vinyl siding.

61avaland
Giu 26, 2021, 6:08 pm

btw, not getting much, if any, sewing done. Still cleaning & organizing, working in the garden...etc

62avaland
Lug 3, 2021, 6:38 am

Still have not stepped into the studio. Now I have a cold (the first since Jan 2020, and I think my immune system is out of practice) so the last few days have not been fun, but when I am up for it I'm researching bathroom fixtures as we plan to renovate both bathrooms this fall.

I still think about the 8 quilts waiting for quilting, although no new projects beyond the charity quilts that need to be done.

Hope the rest of you are enjoying the summer.

63avaland
Modificato: Lug 17, 2021, 11:28 am

Not much going on in the studio these days as I am in the middle of a clean-out of my office and organizing of family data, photos...etc. However, we did drive 35 miles north to visit a favorite used book store, have a nice lunch out and stop at one of my favorite quilt shops. I could not avoid buying some fat quarters, some yardage in the discount area for a backing, and these:



As for the bookshop - "Old Number Six Book Barn" in Henniker, NH. This is the main part of the barn, first floor (there are also all manner of nooks and crannies)



And this is the 2nd floor, all nonfiction, We estimate the shelves to be 11 or 12 feet high (there are an abundance of ladders for the brave). Between the two of us we took away 6 or 7 books.

We had an early lunch at the "Pancake House" as our favorite restaurant wasn't serving lunches anymore :-(

64SassyLassy
Lug 17, 2021, 1:38 pm

>63 avaland: What a great day - sounds like you deserved it for cleaning out and organizing!

Where is the quilt shop?

65dudes22
Lug 17, 2021, 4:29 pm

>63 avaland: - Those are some fabulous fabrics! And I'm surprised you only bought 6 books.

66avaland
Lug 18, 2021, 8:28 am

>64 SassyLassy: Also in Henniker, NH reasonably near the center of town.

>65 dudes22: His books there are not inexpensive. Most modern books are probably half their original price, older books more. The Wit and Wisdom of George Eliot from 1886 went for $12.50 but I bought some Sara Paretsky and Michael bought some SF for $3.75 each. MaggieO, who is sometimes here in the Neddlearts group, bought some old needlework books there when she visited with me.

There is another bookshop next town north, but we only went there once some years back. That one is "Books by the Lake" in Bradford, NH http://www.conknet.com/~bksbylake/

The third shop is south of Henniker in Weare, "Boomer's Books" and he carries military books and science fiction.

67dudes22
Lug 18, 2021, 10:54 am

There's a place about an hour away in Niantic, Ct that is HUGE! Multiple buildings and he'll give you credit for books you bring. If I remember right - I think hard cover's were around $4 so a little bit more than a library sale. I was thinking of taking a trip down there maybe in the fall - I seem to remember that it's not air conditioned.

68thornton37814
Lug 20, 2021, 8:41 am

I'm taking notes on all these big book stores.

69avaland
Ago 6, 2021, 2:28 pm

Just reporting that I'm still alive. I really should get to some of those charity quilts so I have some hand-sewing to do during our vacation in early September. Too many other kinds of projects lately:

1. Scanning all my husband's mother's antique photos and sending memory sticks to his cousin and one to the local historical society. I need to do my families old photos next.
2. Getting my father's WWII uniform (Army Aircorps) into acid-free storage, but first I wish to identify all the medals, pins and insignia. I will offer it to our hometown historical society in Maine when I am there on Tuesday, but I suspect they get a lot of offers.
3. We are completely renovating both our bathrooms this fall, so my head is filled with that...

See what I mean?! I did do a lot of sewing during the worst of the pandemic so it's possible that has affected things....

70thornton37814
Ago 8, 2021, 9:59 pm

>69 avaland: Genealogy/local history projects are always fun. When my father died, we had both his stuff from WWII (Navy) and his father's stuff (Army) from WWI. I think a nephew (who served in Afghanistan (Army) and his father in Vietnam (Air Force)) got most of the memorabilia. I think we all knew he would treasure it. Since he doesn't have his own children, I expect he'll pass it on to his brother's children. (His brother is completing his 20th year in the Air Force. His oldest daughter just enlisted.) I already had photos of the medals, certificates, etc. My grandfather earned a purple heart.

71avaland
Ago 9, 2021, 1:11 pm

>70 thornton37814: Well, the centennial of the beginning of WWII is only 20 years away! I might live to see it. I thought if I put the research into it, it might be easier for someone to say yes as for taking responsibility for it...

The WWI stuff must be interesting.

72dudes22
Modificato: Ago 31, 2021, 6:11 am

Lois - I wasn't sure if you had seen this upcoming exhibition or not - https://www.mfa.org/exhibition/fabric-of-a-nation. I'm hoping if covid doesn't get much worse (hopeful thinking) that I might get my husband to go with me.

ETA: And anyone else who is close enough to Boston.

73lesmel
Ago 31, 2021, 4:46 pm

>72 dudes22: Ooooh, I'm jealous. Maybe it will come down here to MFAH!

74avaland
Modificato: Set 5, 2021, 7:05 am

>72 dudes22: I hadn't, Betty, but I'd not go into Boston at this point.

-------------------------------------

My girls asked me to make masks for their offspring, one is going to 1st grade , the other nursery school. I made 31, 20 for the 1st grader, and 11 for the younger. If I was going to set up to make a few I might as well just make a bunch.

Being out of practice and sandwiching the sewing in between other things that need to be done, I had some trouble so I was glad to see them done and out the door.

However, it did make me a bit nostalgic for playing in the studio but we are at the beginning of complete renovations of both of our bathrooms and the preparation for that (picking out tile, fixtures, vanities, flooring, paint colors/wall paper, tile, granite...etc) has filled my brain. This is the first time we have used a general contractor and they have this scheduled for October: it will take 4 weeks, they say. Who knows, perhaps I will have to squirrel myself in there to avoid sticking my nose into what they are doing.

I am so behind on all your threads, will try to remedy that in the near future!

75dudes22
Set 5, 2021, 7:17 am

Good luck with the renovation. Hope you get everything you want. one suggestion - put in a high toilet now - before you get old.

I'm not sure if I would attend the exhibition either. It will really depend on where we are with covid. Maybe if I've had a booster and things aren't too bad. Taking the train in would be the biggest problem I think.

76scaifea
Set 5, 2021, 8:09 am

Wooof, that's a lot of masks, and a *lot* of total masks for you, right? I feel a little guilty, but I broke down and bought Charlie masks for back-to-school. There's not mask mandate here (ugh), but Charlie wanted to wear them. He's a good kid.

77dudes22
Set 5, 2021, 9:26 am

>76 scaifea: - And a little bit safer. Is Charlie old enough for the shot? I lose track.

78avaland
Set 5, 2021, 10:21 am

>75 dudes22: Thanks. We have "comfort height" already, I think because this house was built for a handicapped person, so the toilets were higher, the doorways all 36", no stairs in or out of the house, and the master shower had grab bars and a fold down seat...etc. And while we are removing many these, we are making sure what we put in is set-up to take grab bars in the future (such as the wood reinforcements on the back of a one-piece shower unit...etc.) I think we have already told him we want grab bars in our shower. We are not filling in with anything permanent the extra spaces in both bathroom that were there for maneuvering a wheelchair. A lot if that stuff came in handy when I had my knee replaced :-)

>76 scaifea: I think that brings the total up to somewhere around 550 or so for the whole Covid era thus far.

79scaifea
Set 6, 2021, 7:29 am

>77 dudes22: Yeah, a little bit safer, although he's wearing the masks to keep others safe (I refer again to that good kid thing). He actually kind of likes wearing a mask - he's a shy kid, and I think it gives him a little bit of security? And yep, Charlie's 12 so he just made it into the vaccine age limit and we got him vaccinated as soon as they announced it, pretty much. Otherwise I wouldn't have him in the brick-and-mortar school again this year.

>78 avaland: 550? WOW! You're amazing.

80avaland
Set 24, 2021, 1:06 pm

I did a little sewing!! Had to condense the studio by 1/3 to move the exercise bicycle in temporarily until after the bathroom renovation is done (it sounds like they will start late October). Had to move the design board and in the process the batik quilt I was working on for charity (so long ago!) fell off it. After picking it up I thought I might as well stitch it together.

Wish I could say "I'm Baaaack!" because I'm not, but once they start the bathrooms, I will need to be as far as possible from them & the noise and that will be the studio!

81avaland
Ott 3, 2021, 5:48 am

>79 scaifea: I don't care if I ever make another mask!

82dudes22
Modificato: Ott 3, 2021, 7:34 am

>81 avaland: - I'm with you, but I think I'll make us some new ones for our trip to Az in Nov.

ETA: How's the renovation going?

ETA2: Happy Thingaversary!

83avaland
Ott 5, 2021, 5:03 pm

>82 dudes22: Renovation start time has been moved back towards the end of the month. There is quite a juggling act because items for the jobs are not coming in predictably, or suddenly available. I don't envy the general contractor. We have approved some alternate fixtures and one shower unit, as what we originally chose aren't currently available. We're pretty good at coming up with alternates.

Thank you re the Thingaversary. I do think the Tim & co created a wonderful thing!

84lesmel
Ott 8, 2021, 10:15 pm

>83 avaland: Supply chain woes? More and more talk about shortages or delays because of supply chain gaps/breakdowns.

85avaland
Ott 19, 2021, 6:42 am

>84 lesmel: Very true. The only thing I am waiting on is the wallpaper. It supposedly arrived in the US on a container ship on the 8th (I imagine on the east coast as it was French company...unless they have it produced in China...). I can't imagine that would hold up the entire two-bathroom job but they like to do everything in a certain order.... Crossing all my fingers.

86avaland
Ott 27, 2021, 5:58 am

Well, the demolition of the two bathrooms began noisily on Monday. It's just been one guy, but the plumber is also showing up today, I think. Thankfully, they have left one toilet functional (!) And someone might be coming on Saturday....

During the day we have retreated to the back room. I thought I'd be in the studio already, but I've been mostly online or randomly napping (it turns out I am fairly exhausted from all the prepwork which included moving everything of of the rooms, emptying closets, and purchasing all the little things from knobs for the vanities to towel bars and wallpaper...). We also had our Covid booster last Saturday.... AND our 6 year old grandson has been home with Covid and doesn't get to go back to school until Monday. But, we made some drops at their front door, the last was a chocolate pie I made on his request. Some of yesterday, I just watched the birds on the feeder.

I don't have any big plans but I have two very simple batik quilts to finish for friends, and I doubt I will get any charity quilts done before the holidays. I feel bad about that, as I have done 10 or so for each of the previous two years.

I did buy several bags of lavender buds from a place on Cape Cod (Atlantic Spice Co.) that I've ordered from before. Perhaps I'll make some sachets. I have a very large patch of lavender in one of my gardens but I can't bear to cut the buds off!

Hope to be sewing again with you all soon. The remodel is supposed to go for 4 or 5 weeks.

87SassyLassy
Ott 27, 2021, 8:59 am

>86 avaland: I have a very large patch of lavender in one of my gardens but I can't bear to cut the buds off!

Same here. I actually have lavender in bloom right now. I will say though, that each spring as I cut the lavender back, I wish I had done something with it the previous year.

Are you having this big wind/rainstorm? A good excuse to stay indoors with the fun projects.

88avaland
Ott 29, 2021, 4:35 pm

I hoped to get in to the machine today, got a row of quilting pinned, when my younger daughter showed up with the two kids and wanted to use my machine to put together a pumpkin costume for the oldster (who is three). Needless to say, only one seam was executed on my quilt top.

89avaland
Nov 5, 2021, 8:30 am

The pumpkin costume my daughter made for her oldest (who is 3 1/2) mentioned in >88 avaland:. Batman is my other daughter's six year old.



And after five months of no time in the studio, I'm back at it. I finished up this simple batik quilt I last mentioned on June 7th; this one for a friend. Wow, I was rusty.



At some point earlier in the year I decided I would use up my stash of batiks and a cache of other fabrics by making charity quilts. I don't expect to get much done for the charity before the holidays, but I know they will appreciate the donations whenever they come in.

I have quite a pile of quilts including the one at the top of this page which still need quilting.

All this while we have contractors here most workdays renovating BOTH of our bathrooms!! (even last Saturday)

90al.vick
Nov 5, 2021, 11:01 am

awesome costumes!

91dudes22
Nov 5, 2021, 12:41 pm

That pumpkin is adorable!

I too have fallen behind with what I expected to accomplish this year. And yet - I feel like I did a lot of quilting. I have 2/3 of the scrap quilts ready to be quilted that I was working on based on that "pattern" that you use. I feel your pain at renovations. I still remember climbing over furniture when we did some renovations at our old house.

92avaland
Nov 7, 2021, 6:10 am

>90 al.vick: Thanks!

>91 dudes22: I made my oldest daughter a similar apple costume hundreds of years ago (1980s), but I used felt. Larissa bought polar fleece. And we brainstormed together how she could get the stem to look like a real pumpkin stem.

It's been so weird not to be in there sewing.

93scaifea
Nov 7, 2021, 8:22 am

That costume is adorable! And as always, I love the color combinations in your quilt!

94avaland
Nov 7, 2021, 2:04 pm

>93 scaifea: Thanks, I'll pass the costume compliment along. There's nothing terribly special about the color arrangement (but thanks!), they are just more or less medium shades. I took all my batiks and separated them into darks, medium/inc. saturated brights, and pastels. I'm cutting them all up to make charity lap quilts. I am also doing the same with non-batiks lights (that have a lot of white to them).

95avaland
Nov 14, 2021, 7:43 am

Working on a 2nd simple batik quilt quilt when I have time and energy. But we are going into the 3rd week of the bathrooms renovation (contractors coming and going) and I have acute bronchitis (it's believed I inhaled an irritant while cleaning and moving things in preparation for the renovation -- everything else has been ruled out). My theory is that it was the garage clean-up (they needed a bay to work from) ...I was in a hurry and swept it without wearing a mask...

BUT the darn cutting table is getting dangerously wobbly. It's one of those white tables one gets from Jo-anns and elsewhere on the web. I calculated that I have had it for 20 years (before that there was a succession of dining tables used, but I am on the tall side and dining tables are lower to the ground) and it did start to wobble early on. I've tried everything to stabilize it. Do I buy another new one knowing it will go the same way?

I might consult my son and see if he can jury-rigg something....

Any comments, helpful or otherwise?

96scaifea
Modificato: Nov 14, 2021, 9:04 am

Ooof to the wobbly table. I have my husband's grandparents' old dining room table, which is really wide and very long with the inserts in, and Tomm fixed the shortness issue for me by getting table leg risers from the hardware store. I feel like it's more sturdy and stable than any Joann table would be. I realize that's not very helpful advice for you unless you have an old dining room table lying around. But This is probably the best time of year to be in the market for a new cutting table - I bet Joann's will have them on super-sale right about now...

97dudes22
Nov 14, 2021, 10:08 am

>96 scaifea: - My mother used to have a huge dining room table that was really wide and I'd go there when I had a quilt to put together.

>95 avaland: - I have a few of those tables too. Depending on where the wobble is, I wonder if those risers that Amber mentioned would help. Or maybe the screws that hold the legs to the top need tightening? My husband is excellent at figuring out those kind of problems. I'd send him over but we're leaving for AZ for a couple of weeks on Thurs to visit friends for Thanksgiving. Ryco's was selling all the furniture from the store closing and I could have gotten you a new cutting one if I'd known. (They were nice and wide too.) I actually thought of getting one for myself, but I didn't think I had the room. Hope you get over your bronchitis soon.

98avaland
Nov 14, 2021, 11:50 am

>96 scaifea: I think we've had this conversation before! How long have we been hanging around here? I think they ARE on sale. Hmm, perhaps minimal squeaky and wobbling for the first 5 years?

>98 avaland: While I appreciate the loan of the husband I think I'm going to just get a new one. I deserve it :-) But I might see if my son could come over an take a look but that would mean I would have to take off the batik quilt that I just put on it to pin.

Thanks for the support! And thanks re the bronchitis; it's a weird thing.

99PawsforThought
Nov 14, 2021, 12:42 pm

Sorry to hear about your bronchitis - I thought I had that a few weeks ago and went to the doctor’s, but it turned out to be Tietze’s syndrome, which is basically an inflammation in the muscle attachments by the breast bone/ribs.
Hope you’ll get better soon!

100lauralkeet
Modificato: Nov 14, 2021, 2:09 pm

>98 avaland: While I appreciate the loan of the husband I think I'm going to just get a new one. I deserve it :-)

A new husband? 😂

101SassyLassy
Modificato: Nov 14, 2021, 3:28 pm

>98 avaland: >100 lauralkeet: A good laugh.

I'd get a new one, table that is, too in those circumstances. You don't want to stop the momentum.

102scaifea
Nov 15, 2021, 7:16 am

>98 avaland: Ha! We probably have had this talk before!

I missed the bronchitis bit earlier - I hope it gets better soon. I had a really severe case when I was in high school and ever since then it comes back with even the slightest cold. So I can definitely sympathize.

103avaland
Nov 16, 2021, 2:41 pm

>99 PawsforThought: Thanks.

>100 lauralkeet: OMG, that's a funny gaff!

>101 SassyLassy: Too funny!

>102 scaifea: Thing is, this is not like any bronchitis I have ever had.

104avaland
Nov 17, 2021, 5:51 am

Managed to clean the studio and sort six bins of scraps yesterday! (the sorting is kind of a zen thing). We are now in the 3rd week of the total bathroom renovation (flooring going in, granite for both vanities comes late this afternoon), so I'm finding things to keep me out of contractors way. The Bronchitis is getting better, but now hubby seems to have a cold.

Am working on a lap quilt using twenty-five 9 1/2 inch Kaffe Fassett blocks, no duplicates (mostly big florals). I think I will do sashing/borders with one of his dot prints but I will need to order it so that will put that on hold for a while until it comes. I should make one for myself while I am at it....

105dudes22
Modificato: Nov 17, 2021, 7:25 am

>104 avaland: - I was just looking at my KF fabrics the other day while stopping by my sewing room. I changed my mind about a project I was planning for them, so now they just sit waiting for more inspiration to hit. I have one idea but I don't think it will use a lot of fabric. I saw a project on Pintrest where the person was fusing rectangles of KF fabrics to notecards and it was really nice looking. Those big prints look interesting when cut against the white cardstock.

106avaland
Nov 17, 2021, 1:10 pm

>105 dudes22: Interesting about the KF and cardstock. I like to toss a few KF pieces into any scrap quilt. I'd like to make a scrappy out of the small scraps from my collection, but I fear the crazy mix will be too over the top....

107dudes22
Nov 17, 2021, 3:49 pm

>106 avaland: - If you want, checkout agilejack1.com and check out some of the quilts she makes with KF and also aboriginal fabrics. And some of the bags she makes too.

108avaland
Nov 22, 2021, 10:25 am

My KF quilt mentioned above is on hold until some fabric arrives. So, I have been sewing together KF scraps into scrappy blocks. This morning I started to place the blocks and sew a few together, but I'm fairly tired (still have the bronchitis, although it's much better; and today we have the plumbers here again making noise....). Really, they are scrappy blocks I should not try to engineer them too much....

109dudes22
Nov 22, 2021, 12:10 pm

>108 avaland: - Sorry you're still not feeling that well. Seems it's been going on a while. Also sorry I'm not home or I could send you some of my KF fabrics. The girl from the website I mentioned in #107 does some of what she calls "crumb quilting" which is similar, I'm guessing, to the scrap blocks you're doing. Maybe I'll give that a try with some of my scraps.

110avaland
Nov 23, 2021, 7:36 am

>109 dudes22: Thanks, Betty. Seems I've picked up the hubby's cold. I hope that it and the bronchitis stay in their own territories.

Re: Wanting to send scraps. Thanks for the thought, but the purpose is to use up all the small scraps I have; but I have cut some bigger pieces to mix into it (it needed it) I still have more of those scrappy quilts I make which need to be quilted. I might need to take out a mortgage on the house to get them all quilted.

111dudes22
Nov 23, 2021, 8:27 am

>110 avaland: - I'm hoping that my new machine will have me quilting more of my own instead of getting someone to quilt them. I still need to practice more just getting used to the machine first, though, before I try quilting with it.

112avaland
Nov 28, 2021, 6:43 pm

Finished the quilt of KF fabrics. It was more or less a two-day quilt. I let my friend pick out the squares she preferred. That border print was a booger to cut and line up....



It's just a 5 x 5' lap quilt and you know Kaffe Fassett makes it so easy.... Now I'm making one for myself!

113SassyLassy
Nov 29, 2021, 9:23 am

>112 avaland: What a great selection of Kaffe's prints. It came out beautifully. No wonder you're making one for yourself too.!

114avaland
Dic 1, 2021, 3:35 pm

>113 SassyLassy: Thanks! Almost done with the second. I did the quilting differently and I don't think that part turned out as well as the first. And wouldn't you know it that they turned out a few inches bigger than a standard lap quilt so I thad to use "twin size" batting! Well, I do save the extra battings and sew them together to be used in other quilts.

115avaland
Modificato: Dic 3, 2021, 5:39 am

Finishing what probably is the last project of the year, the 2nd KF lap quilt (this one for myself). I've made a mess of the quilting, but on the upside, I decided to cut into this bold backing I've been saving (for what? obviously surely a much larger quilt. Decided I likely would not make the larger quilts again and cut into it. I love it so why not use it!)



Maybe I will get several of the unquilted projects to the quilter after the new year....

116PawsforThought
Dic 3, 2021, 6:07 am

>115 avaland: Oh, that backing is gorgeous! I wouldn't mind having that as a wall hanging.

117dudes22
Dic 3, 2021, 7:27 am

I was never a big fan of KF until I saw some of the quilts you did. (And didn't you buy some when we went to that quilt show?) Like Amy Butler, I found them too busy. But I've changed some of my tastes over the last few years and now have a couple of quilt ideas I'd like to try. I've bought a few fabric backings from Backside Quilts since you told me about them and am planning to use them.

118lauralkeet
Dic 3, 2021, 7:50 am

Very nice, Lois! Not being a quilter, I am completely unable to see how fabrics can be used together. I love seeing how you do it.

119avaland
Dic 5, 2021, 7:05 am

>116 PawsforThought: I'll post a bigger photo for you later in the day. It is a joy.

>117 dudes22: I have to say, Betty, that originally I started to collect pieces of KF fabric because I loved the color and patterns (certain ones, of course) but I used pieces mixed in other quilts. I love coming across a piece in a scrap quilt. He (and the collective) design their fabric so they all go together, making it so easy to make a beautiful quilt. Of course, other designers do this, too; but not to the scale they produce. And everyone was/is making KF quilts. I suppose I felt it would not be MY creation, it would be his/theirs, one way or the other.

But, I'd been collecting some of those big prints since the beginning and I came to the conclusion that they would best be shown off with his other fabrics. Color is my drug and KF is one helluva a dealer! (Laurel Burch is another such dealer).

Yes, they can be busy (I would call some of those prints deleriously exuberant), but that's why you mitigate the busyness with, say, the dots.

>118 lauralkeet: Thanks, Laura.

120avaland
Dic 8, 2021, 7:25 pm

The 2nd KF lap quilt. I'm keeping this one for myself.



>116 PawsforThought: Here is a better photo of that large scale backing. It's a Northcott Fabric Print. The name was one word... something like "joy"....

121avaland
Dic 8, 2021, 7:47 pm

I'd like to say I'm done with projects for the rest of the year, but I'm never done. I've probably mentioned we have been completely renovating both of our bathrooms, so that has involved many, many decisions. After tomorrow, everything is done except the wallpaper in the master bath (it will probably be after the holidays for that) and the things I need to finish (window treatments for both rooms, wall decor in the hall bathroom, re-painting a cool stool for the master bath....)

Here is the tiling on the vanity in the hall bathroom. I had a box of 15 of these handmade glass tiles from an artist in Arizona. We had bought some from her when we were using some in the kitchen backsplash in our previous home, and when I contacted her again she offered to sell me all she had left. They've been sitting here waiting for the right project!



He also finished the tiling in the master bath. Tomorrow, there will be installed a blue-framed rectangular mirror and a kind of steampunk 3-light fixture. And we'll mess it up with personal "stuff".



Thinking about making a valance for the master bath window.... here's the wallpaper that will be there....

122PawsforThought
Dic 9, 2021, 2:40 am

>120 avaland: Sigh. That fabric is so very pretty.
And great work on the quilt! You definitely deserve to keep one for yourself. (Says the person who almost only makes things for herself...)

>121 avaland: I'm rather envious of those white tiles - I want ones very similar to that. And I can imagine that the steampunk style lighting will look superb.

123avaland
Dic 9, 2021, 7:10 am

>122 PawsforThought: The trend nowadays are the larger glass "subway tiles" in a similar arrangement, but I liked these tiles better, they were ceramic and smaller, and there is some brown on the edges, which ages the look when using a similar color in the grout. And they were less expensive.

124PawsforThought
Dic 9, 2021, 7:15 am

>123 avaland: Oh, I love the typical subway tiles, too, and would probably end up going with those if I was re-doing a bathroom because it would go better with the rest of the design I'm dreaming of, but the ones you have are very, very nice.

125dudes22
Dic 9, 2021, 7:54 am

I love those tiles you got in Az. And that pop of blue behind them. There was a local couple that used to make tiles that were similar and I always wanted to use them in the bath in our old house, but I could never bring myself to take the old tile off the walls because it was in good shape although not my style (pink & black). Anyway, before I made up my mind, one of the couple died and the other decided to close the business. Here's a picture of a pitcher I have in one of the styles that they did.



As much as a headache renovations can be, there's just something about picking out new things.

I think I bought that same backing after you shared it earlier this year.

126maxbaker24
Dic 9, 2021, 7:56 am

Questo utente è stato eliminato perché considerato spam.

127avaland
Dic 11, 2021, 3:50 pm

>124 PawsforThought: Thanks!

>125 dudes22: That's an interesting piece, Betty. re: picking new things...yeah, even more therapeutic during an isolating pandemic!

>126 maxbaker24: If someone is going to bring me Spam, I request it be fried first....

128avaland
Dic 15, 2021, 6:33 am

Have bought some yardage of Kaffe Fassett's "Caribbean - Ferns Purple " to make a shower curtain for the hall bathroom. I've had a piece of the fabric hanging in there for a couple of weeks and I really like it, so I'm running with it.

And I had a fab idea for a valance for the master bathroom window but am having second thoughts this morning....

129dudes22
Dic 15, 2021, 6:42 am

Looking forward to seeing the finished project.

130avaland
Modificato: Dic 17, 2021, 9:31 am

Well, 2/3rds of the wallpaper went up yesterday. It will take a month to get another double roll from the UK. It was not pre-pasted and I'm so glad I didn't decide to try to do it myself.

131dudes22
Dic 17, 2021, 2:43 pm

very pretty

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