Back to Work

I feel like it's been forever since I've posted but I think I have some pretty good excuses for being away from the computer...

My sister came up from Portland for the weekend and we went out to see Darling Daughter and the Delightful Granddaughters. I played with Miss Margaret in ways my body is not accustomed to anymore and I'm paying for it now! I can hardly stand up straight today ;- )

"I wonder if I can get Grandma to swing me one more time?"

Before my sister arrived I had a brainstorm for the Fabric of Life challenge quilt. I had to go out and buy some beads for it (oh darn!) but then got right to work yesterday and finished it up. (I don't seem to be able to take a straight picture of it however. I am just not a photographer.)

I bought what I know as antique African trade beads. The label on the strand calls them "Venetian Bead Mix, 150-200 Yrs." They are a mix of sizes and colors and even shapes. I had to supplement them with a few new seed beads to make the more expensive beads extend all the way across the width of the quilt twice. I also picked up four cowrie shells to accent the center of the quilt. I ended up doing more machine quilting than I had intended, but it's all in the ditch so it's not really visible.

Overall I'm happy with the finished product. The only change I would make if I could would be to make that slant of the striped print along the bottom edge of the center medallion more pronounced. Tonya recommended leaving that bit alone when I originally showed it but it had such a curve to it I wasn't comfortable working with it so I whacked some of it off. As it turns out, I whacked off a little too much. In a perfect world I would have had more of that stripe to play with! Oh well; live and learn. All it lacks at this point is the sleeve and label. I could have turned it in on the original deadline afterall! It sure feels good to get things done. Now I have to be careful not to lose my momentum and get back to my monthly journal quilts...

By the way, thank you for all the positive comments lately. I've been a little lazy about responding personally but I do appreciate every one of them. Keep up the good work! I enjoy hearing from y'all :- )

Remember This?

The other day I realized the Fabric of Life quilts are due next month (now that it's September!). After a moment of panic I dug out the top, my notes, and the pile of fabrics I was working with at the time. I wasn't feeling particularly energetic at the time so I put aside the idea of free piecing blocks to go at the top and bottom of the panel and just cut my mask print into strips. It took some doing to preserve the slant on the bottom edge and still please the eye with a level top line but I think I managed it. (Although it makes it look like I took this picture at an angle to the design wall rather than directly in front of it.)

I hated trimming off the orange/purple/white/green stripe at the top and bottom edges but it was the only way to make the masks look like they belonged with the medallion. I'm pretty sure this is the end of piecing the top. The indigo will be used to bind the quilt. What I'm struggling with now is how to quilt and/or embellish the piece. There are lots of things I'd like to do; I just have to decide what is most appropriate for this piece. (And what I can reasonably accomplish before the due date!)

UPDATE: The due date for the Fabric of Life quilts has been pushed back to early December - whew!

These quilts will be displayed and then sold to support the Here Je Center in Mali, West Africa where young girls are given skills and education that will help them generate income and become micro-entrepeneurs. The two fabrics in the center of my quilt were made by the young ladies at the Center.

Adventures in Shopping

So this is how my life works: because I'm planning to go with my friend to a bead shop about 30 miles away on Friday I know I have to allow myself Thursday (today) to recover from anything I might choose to do on Wednesday (yesterday). And because I cannot get the Fabric of Life challenge out of my head - even though I'm feeling the pressure of the journal quilt deadline - yesterday (Wednesday) I decided to go to a different town nearby to see what I could find in the way of African prints. Before I even got to the quilt shops I ran into something toxic at the Post Office. It didn't smell like a perfume, but it was strong - too strong for me. I was surprised that I didn't feel worse than I did when I got to the first quilt shop but by the time I was done at the second store I was in a world of hurt. Fortunately this town is right on the coast and I was able to go to a park where Reilly and I could take a walk and have the ocean breeze blowing on us. I didn't think to note how long we were there; it was long enough that I felt better for the drive home (thank Goodness). After a good night's sleep I'm feeling pretty normal today. If I can just avoid doing something stupid or thoughtless today I should be okay for tomorrow!

This is the print I'm trying to work into the Fabric of Life piece. The one I only have a fat quarter of. What I want to do is make a border for the top and bottom of the quilt that incorporates this print. I was a little disappointed yesterday in that I didn't find the African prints I'd hoped to, but I did find a couple of batiks I think might work.

So now I have four fabrics to choose from to use in making the borders: from left to right, a blue and white I found in my stash (it looks like something someone gave me judging from the shapes of the pieces I have), a muddy orange I bought here in town on my first foray for additional fabrics, the mostly brown batik I bought yesterday, and another blue and white batik I bought yesterday. I was trying to duplicate - or imitate - an indigo blue with white dots in the first border I put on the quilt and to find something that would blend with the mask print. The muddy orange looked too bright; I hope the brown won't be too dark. I think the blue batik is actually going to work better than the leaf print. (The photo doesn't do either the brown or the blue batik justice.)

At this point I may be able to set this aside to begin work on my next journal quilt. Or not. I might have to get the rest of this top constructed before I'll be able to change my focus. Once I get started on something I tend to want to stay with it until it's completed to my satisfaction or I get stuck, whichever comes first. (If I don't get started on something soon it will be a moot point as there won't be enough time to get anything done!)

So, the last time I posted I did try to put up an image at the end of my post. I think it was a Blogger issue, not me, and hopefully my pictures will load today.

Hurray! Here it is! This is how far I have come with the Fabric of Life challenge quilt. The rectangles are bordered with the second fat quarter of fabric from the Here Je Center (an orange tone-on-tone stripe). The border is cut from another single fat quarter that I had in my stash. The two side borders were originally close to the same size as the top and bottom borders but had such a dramatic curve to their outer edges that I felt I had to do something about it. There's actually more tension or movement now that they are smaller too. They may get narrower yet; we'll see. I rather like the slope at the bottom edge but it may also be too steep for me to cope with. At this point I just need to find some more prints that I like with what I've got. I have one more fat quarter in my stash that I'd really like to use but I have to be sure of what I'm going to do with it before I cut into it because that fat quarter is all I've got. There's no room for mistakes or miscuts or for changing my mind midstream! So I have been making experimental pieces in other fabrics and trying them out. I'm close to finding the look I want but not quite there yet...

In the meantime, I have put the binding on the commissioned dorm quilt. It will be picked up this afternoon if all goes well. It's a very lovely quilt, due mostly to the efforts of Heather at Quilted Designs who did the machine quilting. The intended recipient apparently has very minimalist taste. The piecing consists solely of five strips of fabric sewn together in two alternating colors: black-green-black-green-black. I hope she likes it!

We had a rather chaotic day here yesterday what with DS#2 coming and going and DD and DGD coming over to spend the afternoon. Also had to take the dog to the groomer. Just walking into the grooming salon gave me a headache for the rest of the day. Then when DGD dragged me out into the yard to watch her run the circuit she had created for herself I apparently was exposed to some other invisible toxins. (I didn't think to put my mask on. Someday I'll learn!) I had to lay down when we came in and then I also had to send my children out to pick up the dog from the groomer's. {sigh} Aside from the slight headache leftover from yesterday's exposures I feel much better today. Unfortunately, DD#2 ate some bad food yesterday and is now on the couch trying to recover from an extended bout of vomiting. What a way to spend his vacation!

If I Had A Camera...

I could show you the progress I've made on the Fabric of Life challenge quilt! I have pieced the two fat quarters into a central panel for the top and added a border made from a single fat quarter of another African print already in my stash. I fooled around with other fabrics for additional borders but nothing has really worked so far. I made some wonky Hourglass blocks and tried those in various positions around the top. I went out and bought two more fabrics I thought might work. Now that they have been washed and pressed and a few pieces cut I'm not so sure they will work afterall. (Naturally!) This has been two days of effort. I've enjoyed every minute of it but I'm tired and done for today. I will look at it again tomorrow (or the next day; my menfolk are due home late tonight). Hopefully some wonderful solution will present itself at that time.

I have been trying to create this top in a completely improvisational or intuitive way. I ripped rather than rotary cut fabrics when I could. I have used a ruler to guide my rotary cutter but have refrained from measuring as much as possible. In the past I have tried scissor-cutting but found my hands too wobbly (or my scissors too sharp!) to get the results I desire. I'm going for mostly straight seams here, not curved piecing. ;- )

An interesting phenomenon has occurred over the last few months. I have been doing mostly crazy patch blocks/projects or other intuitive piecing when I have not been engaged in finishing off old projects. (I piece onto a foundation - usually - when I am piecing a crazy block but I don't use a pattern for the patches or the placement of the patches.) Now I find that I have no desire whatsoever to make traditionally pieced blocks. No more precision cutting or sewing for me! Not for the time being anyway. (Never say never!) The Perfectionist in me still wants things to line up just so and be as neat as possible, but at least the child in me has a stronger voice these days and gets to play more. I call that progress.

All Quiet in the Magpie's Nest

...a little too quiet.


I was so looking forward to having the house to myself this weekend. Unfortunately my body seems to have the upper hand at the moment and I have been unable to take full advantage of the opportunity. I finally feel like I am beginning to regain control but only time will tell.


I have been receiving the June issues of my favorite magazines in the mail this week. Too bad I can't read them. Each day I put the newest one on the dining table and page through it while standing up. I can feel the fumes from the inks permeate my nose and sinus cavities. Sure enough, I soon have a new headache, followed by the rest of the exposure symptoms. DH is going to have to engineer a reading box for me. Something the books and magazines can go into with a clear top and some kind of mechanism that will allow me to turn the pages. I've learned that my carbon-filter mask is insufficient to protect me from this kind of exposure. We may have to buy new cartridges for the paint respirator mask so I can give that a try (while DH is building me a reading box). {sigh}




On a happier note, I am participating in a project called "Fabric for Life." This is a fabric challenge that will become an exhibit and eventually an auction fundraiser, the proceeds of which will benefit the Fabric of Life Foundation and the Here Je Center in Mali, West Africa. Each participant has purchased fabric that is produced in Mali by girls and women who are using micro-loans to start and operate businesses that will allow them to support themselves and their families. Since I was unable to attend the meeting where the fabrics were first presented, I asked for and was sent three fat quarters "that sort of go together" to play with. These are the three I received and I am delighted with them! I have chosen to keep one fat quarter for myself (the one with the wavy diagonal lines) because I like it so much (and I may try to buy more!); the other two will go into my challenge quilt. I have already cut one print up into roughly rectangular pieces. My thinking is that I will use the FQ that reads as a solid orange (but is actually a kind of tone-on-tone stripe) around these rectangles somehow. They may get built up into Log Cabin units or I may just use the orange as a kind of sashing. I pulled some of my African prints out of my stash the other day so I can play around with them and see what works with these two challenge fabrics. My first thought was to just surround the rectangles with the orange and then use a narrow inner border and wider outer border to finish it off. Seems too easy though. There's also the internal debate about whether to make something with fabric only or to make something I could bead embellish. The finished quilt has to be at least 18" square but no more than 48" square, with the challenge fabric(s) comprising 25% of the top surface of the quilt. I think I'm more tempted to go Gee's Bend with this than bead embellishing...