handwork, spring and fall

 

when i dreamed up "cheery" quilt, i envisioned doing some white handstitching in the yellow boxes. i plan to do a sun in one block and have the rays spread out through other blocks. i've already machine quilted between the blocks and around the yellow squares for some structure and stability. now i need to add those handquilting details.

not too long ago i got the idea to also do some handstitching in the colored frames. but rather than stand out, i wanted these stitches to blend in with the quilt top. therefore, i'll decided to get colored threads to match each of the frame colors. this will add texture, interest, and detail, as well as stability to the quilt. i also think all the stitchy colored boxes will look cool on the mostly solid curry colored backing.

 so i placed an order from hawthorne theads for some other colors of aurifil 12wt to match the colors in the frames. i was ordering from digital color swatches online, so i wasn't too sure how close i could match colors.

when the threads arrived, i was pleasantly surprised to see most of them were quite close to my fabric colors. the blue isn't as bright of a light blue - it's more dusky, but i think it will blend quite well once stitched in. the raspberry color was the furthest off, but i think it will also look okay once i get stitching.

the thread i had the hardest time selecting was the coral/melon orange color. there were several colors that seemed like they could be close, so i just ordered them all. 

when they arrived, i found i could have gotten any one of them and been just fine. look how close they are to each other! nearly indistiguishable. yes, they do all have different numbers on them and are technically different colors, but you really can't tell just by looking.

we're heading to the beach for spring break and i plan to take this project with me. let's hope i can get a lot done while lounging and listening to some books on audible. as i already have the quilt bound, if i can get the handwork done, i'll have it ready for spring and easter season this year.

once the "cheery" easter quilt is done, i can turn my focus back to handquilting my fall log cabin quilt. i'm working my way around each side of the log strips in all the blocks.

i have one block done, eleven to go.

winding my way like a snail around and around the interior of the block covers a lot more ground than one would imagine. but i don't mind. i do handwork because i enjoy the slow, methodical rhythm of it, not because i have to do it.

this quilt is also already bound and machine quilted with aurifil 12wt in brass in the sashing. i wasn't sure i wanted to handquilt the blocks, so i did all the sashing by machine until i could make up my mind. the handstitching in the strips is much more subtle, but i think it will add a nice texture to the quilt overall and will increase the stability with the added stitching together of layers.

or i could stay in the spring mode with this lovely avocado green work i haven't touched in ages. i'm still working away at "mildred and ethel," now working on the insides of the green diamonds. 

and i will have my latest liberty+chambray church lap quilt ("liberty blues make do," which is the most fallish in palette of the series) basted very soon; so the queue for handwork is pretty full.

spring, fall, spring, fall.

if i had time, i'd handquilt them all.

i have also considered handquilting my "crossroads" and "aunt bet's mother's day" quilts, but i don't know that i should wait that long to complete them. at the rate i'm going, i won't get to them for another decade. then again, it's not like i've been quick about machine quilting them, either. i suppose if i manage to get these projects handquilted before i get the others backed, basted, and machine quilted, i can reconsider. 

for now, i've got my hands full of stitching with these projects and rarely find the time to work on them. i think i should commit to something like 15 minutes a day or one thread length. either one would add up quickly and seems quite doable.

one hand stitch at a time, quilts get done.

needle notes

sunday afternoon i walked into my sewing room to locate a new needle for handquilting "beauty for ashes" quilt. as i looked around the room i recently (but not completely) rearranged, i realized i was looking in the proverbial haystack for a new needle! i have no idea where the particular orange box containing my tulip betweens was hiding in that vast and convoluted space. so i grabbed some sashiko needles from the same maker and quickly shut the doors behind me.

i've been using the same needle for several of my handwork projects for months now and figured it was a good idea to replace it, like you do with the machine periodically. it wasn't giving me any trouble, but it just seemed long overdue since i've handquilted a few quilts and bound several others all on the same little needle. it's slightly bent after all it's use.

i had the sashiko needles around because last time i was at the sewing store they didn't have the sharps i wanted in stock. sashiko is a handwork tradition so i thought it might be a good bet for my handquilting. i know absolutely nothing about sashiko other than what i just said, so i knew nothing about it's needle's dimensions or properties.

well, the needle is larger and longer. it's easier to get a grip on than my tiny little sharp was. and the eye is more compatible to 12wt thread. but it didn't allow me to make my stitches as small as i was used to doing. and it was difficult to push and pull through the fabrics. i felt like i was punching holes in the fabrics. perhaps this is all my inexperience or because i'm using it in a way not intended. who knows? obviously i need to research that more.

either way, after struggling through one row of stitches, i located my warped old friend and got back to work. despite it's age and extensive use, it still slides through the fabrics quite easily and oh so daintily. yes, the eye is still a challenge to thread, but it's manageable (with my readers on and a little patience) and i feel like it leaves less of a mark behind than the large needle did.

i don't have time to trek over to the fabric store across town, but i did locate more of the needles i want online. until then, this trusty little fella is working for me just fine! i'm curious to see if a new one feels any different at all.

liberty makes do quilt, a finish

last april, i did something completely crazy/brave/reckless - i cut into my precious liberty of london tana lawn stash without much more than a very loose idea of what i was doing. liberty fabric is something i had been collecting in small bits and pieces over the years, but i had yet to come across the perfect project worthy of my liberty stash.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @hydeeannsews on Mar 30, 2017 at 11:45am PDT

then i saw this strips quilt made by ashley at film in the fridge and thought it might be a way to get me feet wet at using liberty without investing too much of any one fabric, a simple way to showcase some liberty pieces alongside some crossweave (chambray). i decided i wanted it to look as if it was made of vintage clothing scraps, so i would use randomly sized pieces to make up the strips. and i would use three printed pieces per strip rather than two.

i chose two heights for the fabric blocks: 3.5" cut and 4.5" cut, then cut those strips at various lengths from 5" to 13". some moda crossweave in blue chambray was added to each end to achieve the final finished length of each strip.

the color palette is mostly reds, blues, yellows, and pinks. honestly, there are a few prints i'm not partial to included here. i don't love liberty just for the sake of it's being liberty. there are plenty of prints i don't like. a few made it into my collection because i ordered them online and they appear differently on screen than in person. once again i've learned that if i don't like a print, it won't be disguised when mixed in with prints i do like. it devalues the appearance to me. some people can look at fabrics as colors alone. i can't. prints matter to me.

its a nice lap quilt size at 51" x 63". i used 22 strips in all and kept its width small enough that i could use two yards of liberty (54" wide x 36" each) pieced together on the back (with room to spare).

the backing is made of mitsi valeria in red and capel in blue (i think it's capel in C).

i had the immense pleasure of handquilting it at my leisure with some white auriful 12wt thread. originally, i quilted down the center of each strip. this makes for a very soft and snuggly quilt. i've decided to go back and add some more quilting in the seams (ditch) for a little more stability. and for the pleasure of handquilting, of course.

overall, i like the quilt. it has a lovely vintage feel that continues to grow on me. all the different fabric contrasts make it a yummy tactile experience. my girls are all drawn to cuddling with it. on sundays, it's the favorite quilt to take to church with us to keep warm. for some reason, because we live in the desert, it's always kept rather cold in the church building. but we're not going to complain about an excuse to bring some pretty quilts with us.

the name? "quilters make do" is a concept i've always liked, the idea that quilters of old were using up clothing scraps or whatever they had to make something beautiful. since i wanted this to resemble one of those vintage, "make do" quilts, and because i used my liberty finally, that's the name.

this is the first liberty + crossweave quilt i've made, but it won't be the last. for one thing, i cut way more strips than i needed at the onset. that's what happens when you just go at something without doing any math first. but as it didn't use much of any one fabric, i'm not complaining. i look forward to making more variations on this theme.

at the end of my spool

i have been working with the yummiest fabrics in shades of peach, red, sand, cinnamon, petunia, and navy on this "mary, mary star contrary" quilt. i bought the prints for the backing separately, at different times, but i think they are all cotton + steele prints. originally, i was going to use only the two florals, but they fell short of the size i needed, so i added those adorable raccoon and circus prints.

something about the stripes on the border ends makes me think of chocolate wrappers and gets me drooling! the two border sets are in slightly different colors, with 3 stripes chosen from the center star selection of eight, and a flying goose block out of the other two colors set in each border. i really should have used the two blues, which i used as highlights not full colors in the center star, as a thin strip to separate the border from the peach background, but it seemed like too much work at a time i wanted to be finishing a quilt top. i think using one as the binding color was a good second choice.

 i chose to quilt this one in chunky 12wt auriful thread in Brass, at a larger 3.5 stitch length. i love how it resembles handstitching and stands out so nicely on the simple quilt design.

this is the 3rd "stella grande" quilt i've used brass on, so i wasn't too sure how far i'd get with what remained on the spool. surprisingly, i got almost to the end of my quilting on just the one spool! i had to guesstimate how much bobbin thread to spin on three different times at the end. you can see in the middle photo above that i got nearly done with my last complete bobbin, with just a few inches of the border left to go. i could have stopped quilting there completely, but i wanted to do a few more vertical seams for added stability. the last photo shows where i was when i finished one of those lines! talk about cutting it close.

after searching for more brass at the two places i normally get my aurifil 12 wt and not finding it stocked anymore, i was able to locate some at hawthorne threads. thank goodness! i got a few spools, which allowed me to complete the rest of this quilt and leaves me enough for several more in the future.

i don't like playing it so close with my threads, but it can be a little exciting, too.

in a "quilter home on a weekend night by herself" kind of exciting way.