Flying Birds Quilt Update – Part Two

Just for my own learning record, I would like to pick out a few of the key learning points for me so far from my quilt classes. Just as a memory trigger. They all concern how to do the following in an accurate manner:

• prepare fabric and check that its grain is sitting naturally/ straight before it is cut


• cut fabric using a rotary cutter and mat (plus when best to cut the fabrics that you need)


• piece fabric (individual and groups of blocks)


• do and don'ts of handling fabrics during piecing


• folding seams during piecing to prevent clunky seam overlaps underneath the quilt top.

While seam folding is an integral part of piecing, I have separated it out because I'd like to focus on it for a minute. This is one of the learning points that I really do not want to lose (in terms of working out how to approach seams on completely different blocks in the future). While I expected there to be a whole lot to learn on this course, I had no idea how important something as simple as seam folding would be.

I know. You will just have to humour me here. This quilting thing? It is seriously bringing out the neat freak attention to detail in me.

Thinking back, I remember admiring the back of the sample quilt top before I started this class. There was just something about how all of the seams seemed to dovetail together and the how flat the quilt top was that I really liked.

At the time, I did not think for a moment that the back of my quilt top would look anything like the sample. To be honest, I just hoped that the front of my quilt top would look okay. I had no idea that I could ever produce something that looks (almost) as neat and tidy on the back as it does on the front:

The reason for showing you my quilt back is to show you what I mean about how the seams are folded - as an future aide memoire to myself, really. Here is a close up of one of my blocks, marked up with arrows:

Key
Small arrows - half triangle square seam direction
Larger arrows – block building seams
Red – Row 1
Blue – Row 2
Yellow – Seams between rows
Green – Upper to lower triangle seam

Why show you this? Well, in the top triangle there are a whole load of seams that could overlap in the centre of the flying birds (the little dark triangles). If you consider in advance which way to fold your seams when you build your block, you can minimise the number of seams that clash at crucial points, like so:

The arrows show what directions the seams on the smaller parts of the block were pressed (opposite ways). If you do this, it keeps seam overlaps to a minimum. This helps to keep the pieced fabric remain flat and makes quilting a little bit easier later on (apparently).

Just how cool is that?! This would never have occurred to me and eve if I had read it in a book, I would never have got my head around it - my head is just not wired that way.

So my 4^th class is this Thursday. We are adding the border to the quilt centre and we are learning how to do some appliqué. I think that the appliqué part is a vine that runs up the left hand side of the quilt. So I have picked out these fabrics as candidates for the vine stem and its leaves:

Just looking at these fabrics makes me realise that I am really looking forwards to Thursday and spending another evening in class. Not only am I learning a lot, I like everyone who is going to be there. Yep, quilting so far? It jigs, jives and rock 'n' rolls...albeit neatly, of course!

Flying Birds Quilt Update – Part One

Just before sewing club this month, I attended my third Flying Bird Quilt class over in North Vancouver.

Now, I did worry that I might appear to be a bit of a class swot when I showed up with 12 completed quilt blocks, rather than the 9 that we had been asked to complete. However by the mid-point of the class, I knew that I could relax. I realised (as I sat there with temporary basting glue in one hand, pins between my teeth and glaring at seams that refused to align) that I was quietly slipping into my usual place at the back of the class while the people around me romped ahead with their projects!

The objective of our third class was to piece all of our quilt blocks together. Three of the five people in my class finished their piecing and headed home early. The other person started the evening at a slight disadvantage because she had not had time to create all of her blocks before the class. However, she managed to finish all of her blocks AND complete the same amount of piecing as me during our class.

At this point, I would like to show you some of our work in progress:

Exhibit A: hard at work on sand and greeny teal quilt blocks

Exhibit B: quilt blocks in calm, coordinating greens

Exhibit C: quilt blocks in complementary, vivid blues with acid green splashes

Exhibit D: finished quilt centre & block detail in moss and a lemony cream

For some reason, I do not have a snap of the blocks that our tutor is working on. I must remedy that at our next class! As you can see from the above, while we are all working on the same design, our choices of fabric mean that our quilts are all turning out with quite different moods and character. About the only thing that they have in common really that they are all turning out very well and I like them all!

Okay, I know - where's mine? Well, after three hours of class, all I managed to put together was three separate rows of blocks.

(So it seems that the Rare Knits concept may apply equally to my other crafting pursuits - Gabrielle Rare Knits, Rare Sews, Rare Spins, Rare Photographs?!)

This meant that I had quite a bit of catching up to do after class. In fact, it took me a whole afternoon to put my quilt top centre together:

Exhibit E: completed quilt centre

When it was done, I was just so pleased and amazed that it worked out (with a little seam ripping and swearing, here and there) that I had to tell someone.

Straight away. At a run. You know me.

So I raced down the entire length of the corridor in my building (where my craft space is) to tell the people at the other end (who run a business making stained glass). I burst merrily through their doorway, gabbled excitedly for a moment, noticed that they were looking a little bit bemused and then I noticed that they were working on a church commission that was really beautiful plus far more complicated than my quilt top.

I stumbled to an embarrassed halt. After all - piecing fabric and piecing glass? I see a connection (kind of) and these guys are pros, running a business, they are not just noodling about with fabric and fibre like me!

So I jerked my thumb over my shoulder and said rather lamely, "Y'know, my stuff. I just finished an important bit. Learning how to quilt, never done that before. It turned out okay. Kinda pleased. Hope that I didn't disturb anything crucial. Sorry. Going now."

Luckily, all of the people that I have met in my building so far have turned out to be quite cool. Much to my relief, they laughed and even better still, my sudden and excited entrance did not cause any of the professionals to hammer anything sharp into a glass saint.

Can anyone say, "Phew?!"

Sewing Accessories Case

Now my sewing club meets on the 2^nd Friday of every month and I have been sitting on this update because I prohibited myself from posting until our wedding blessing invitations were out. Mind you, this delay has been very useful. It has given me time to use my project and consider how I feel about it.

Now if I were to look over my piece of work with a critical eye, I would say that it really shows that this is the first ever time that I have attempted a bit of free motion quilting. However, in the overall scheme of things, I do not think that this matters because, I have come to realise that each time I see this project?

It makes me feel so happy!

Not only do I like what we made, I love the fabric that we made it in and I am finding it extremely useful. Before this month's project, I toted my sewing accessories around in these two, rather charming freezer bags:

As a result, I have often felt anxious about my sharp objects (scissors, snips, needles and rotary cutter), slicing their way out and damaging someone or something.

Now I feel a lot less worried because I can carry my sharp tools around - nice, safe and securely - in this stylish little number:

I am not quite sure what I love most about it:

• The flowery fabric
  
  
• The scissors fabric
  
  
• The fact that I made it

• The fact that it turned out alright
  
  
• The fact that it resembles the kind of pencil case that I used to have at school
  
  
• The fact that I have a new stylish sewing accessories case
  
  
• The fact that I can now leave the house trailing less plastic behind me!
  

Now I was lucky enough to receive another set of the materials for this project. So, unless you want to persuade me otherwise, I can quietly nurse a vision of having - not one but - two stylish accessory cases and reassign both of my freezer bags to other clutter containment duties!

However, I have not decided whether to make my next case:

• an exact replica of the first case, which might lead to confusion when reaching for tools; or



• switch the fabrics over so that I have the gorgeous scissors fabric on the outside and have a secret flower garden on the inside; and/or



• fold the fabric the opposite way in order to make a deeper but narrower case for different sized accessories.

What do you suggest?

In the meantime, I am going to sit here and daydream about future sewing club projects.

If they continue in the same vein as the past three projects then I think that I might have every chance of achieving a more organised sewing space by the end of this year - oooh, what can I tell you?

There is just nothing like a little bit of stylish organisation to make this person a very happy woman indeed - hurray, hurray, hurray!

Wedding Blessing Celebration Invitations

I am not sure whether it is quite safe for me to post yet. I am about halfway through our wedding blessing celebration invitations. Do not yell at me. This has not been a very easy process – how on earth is a person supposed to pick sensibly between the people that they know and love, just in terms of who to invite and who not to invite?

Our key criteria for our blessing were very straightforward. We thought it would be lovely to:

• celebrate somewhere that is meaningful to us both
  
• hold it on the first weekend in July (which is the third anniversary of when we met)
  
• receive our blessing in the same spot that we met
  
• have an event that is laid back and enjoyable – both for us and our guests.
  

Luckily, we have been able to make arrangements to make the first three bullets a reality. We are holding our wedding blessing in the same place that we met three years ago and our blessing is going to be performed by someone we both know and respect. We are still working on the final bullet.

The good news is that our venue has plenty of outside space and lots of room for children to play and people to camp. However, our venue has a limited seating capacity for the meal after the blessing. While this supports the idea of a having a relaxed event of a manageable size, it has also presented us with a problem. We do not have the capacity to invite everyone we know. My extended families are quite large. In fact, trying to work out how to solve this problem is the primary reason that our invitations are so late going out.

In the end, we decided to make our event a simple blend of our immediate families and the friends who know us both, have been an active part of our lives over the past 3 years and have been a part of our journey together (so far). It's not a perfect solution and I am sure that there will be some hiccups to iron out – we just have our fingers crossed in hope that there will not be too many.

~~~

PS, as I am sure that you are all wondering, I have no idea whether or not I am going to wear the plastic fantastic, white wedding dress. Far from losing weight since I last wore it - I seem to have gained more? So even if I could strap the horrible thing on, I suspect that setting free my bingo wings, even in my cream shrug, is a bad idea. I might turn suddenly and knock someone out? No, I have no idea what to wear instead – a bin liner, perhaps? A darker shade of cardigan over my dress, that goes somewhat with my shoes? I think that I might hold off and make a dash to Monsoon or something when I get back to the UK. Ho hum.

100 Lines...

Dear Fella, family & friends,

I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.

I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.

I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.

I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.

I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.

I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.

I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.

I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.

I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.

I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.
I promise that I will not post again until our July Wedding Celebration invitations are sent out.

Sometimes...

...a weed is simply a flower in the wrong place:

Here, I think that they are the perfect flower in the perfect place - I love how that yellow sizzles against that blue!

Having snapped these dandelions zinging happily against that wall, I am not immune to the irony of coming home afterwards and using one of these devices to pluck them mechanically out of the lawn, one by one. So now, instead of being a happy sea of yellow and green, our lawn is now a sea of green and little brown potholes - it serves me right!

I have not written about gardening at all so far this year - I feel very conscious that this is my first season in an unknown garden, in a different country.

It feels a bit like being right back to where I was over 10 years ago when I first bought my house in London. I spent the first growing season, watching to see what might emerge from the mud and rubble left by my builders. I thought that I should build on and complement what was already there - as it turned out, nothing emerged at all and I was able to plant up my garden completely from scratch.

I feel that I need to take the same approach here this year: wait to see what is already planted and do my research on what might flourish in any gaps. (I am now well equipped with B.C. specific plant books as a result of a lovely gift from Dotty plus some advice on what other books to purchase!)

In the meantime, I will enjoy the nice surprises from the garden and do my best to battle back 12 years or so of gardening neglect i.e. tackle the weeds, prune the shrubs, nurse the lawns back to life (limed last weekend, now need fertiliser) and plant a few annuals to tide me over until next year.

On the other hand, of course - I could just relax and upset the neighbours (who have spotless, astro-turf looking lawns) by letting the dandelions return and take over...?!

Ps, I have not spotted any sheep in or around Vancouver so I have not seen any Spring lambs this year. So instead, here I present some hard Canadian evidence that Spring has finally reached Vancouver!

Mystery of the Missing Knitter & an Unattended WIP!

Unattended WIP, as spotted in a Vancouver alleyway, behind some shops at 14th & Granville.

I am stumped. I cannot think of a single crafter I know who would be separated willingly from their WIP. So is this a case of:

- Accidental loss? In which case, if you recognise this WIP and know the knitter, please can you get them to hurry on down to 14th and Granville as it might still be sitting there! The Fella would not let me bring it home in case its owner attempted to retrace their steps in order to find it - I sort of suspect that his relectance for me to remove it had more to do with the fact that it looked like it had been run over several times?!

- Foul Play? In which case, should I call the police to report a missing knitter?!

- WIP Cruelty and Abandonment? In which case, should I phone the World Society for the Protection of Knitting, then see if it is possible to track down the missing knitter in order to have them banned from the ownership of a WIP for the next 5 years?!

Oh what to do, what to do...?!

Sew, a needle pulling thread

A long time ago (back in the days before I took up knitting again), I used to head off to quilt shops, festivals and craft fairs with my mother (my family's true textile artist) and pick up the odd fat quarter (or ten) of fabric.

I had quite grand ideas about making myself a quilt for my bedroom and over time, I built up quite a bit of fabric. However, the flaw in my master plan was that I really had no idea how to sew, piece or quilt - at all.

So, other than toying with my fabric a bit, making a few quilt blocks (not all shown) and some Christmas presents, I did not manage to achieve very much:

When I came to Canada, I decided to pack my fabric stash as well as my yarn stash. Just on the basis that if there was ever going to be a time that I might get to grips with the 'whole fabric thing', then surely it would be while I was here?!

So in between study and DIY duties last autumn, I did my best to hunt down a reasonably priced sewing machine. I was stumped - the selection of machines, features and prices were so mind boggling that I stalled completely on the whole sewing idea - I simply could not afford or justify the purchase of the machine that I really wanted.

Then, as you know, the Fella and I got engaged! After a short discussion on the topic of engagement rings, I am delighted to say that mine arrived in the format of a large, heavy brown cardboard box containing a sewing machine! This might be considered a little unconventional but as someone who rarely wears jewellry (or remembers to put on her wedding band each morning), what on earth would I do with a diamond ring except lose it?!

Thus equipped, I joined the sewing club run by the people who sold us my sewing machine. Once a month we tackle a small project that takes us through a range of different sewing techniques. I have been going for three months now and this is our output so far:

Month 1 - Test Stitching

Month 2 - Travel Pincushion with Pockets

Month 3 - Thread Catcher

While extremely informative and fun, the focus of these workshops is firmly on how to use your machine effectively rather than on how to approach a bigger project from end to end. The fabrics are precut for us and the workshop time streaks past like someone running naked across the cricket pitch at Lords!

So, after speaking to the sewing club tutor (who has excellent patience and teaching skills), I signed up for her 'Flying Birds' beginner's quilt class. I have attended two classes so far (2 more are scheduled this month) and it's been brilliant!

In the first session, we learned how to cut our fabrics precisely. In the second, we learned how to put together our first quilt block. Here is our tutor showing us how to piece our blocks together (you can see the quilt top that we are aiming for in the background):

Here is the block that I produced (I need to produce another 8 of these before our next class, next week):

Here is one of my classmates holding up a half completed quilt block:

Now, please do not panic mum but, I am really hoping that I can convince this lady to let me adopt her 'in loco parentis' before end of this course! She happens to be one of the most kindly, lovely people that I have met here. If you flip through this slideshow of our second class (which seems to be running in reverse order)? You will see the really cute baby quilt that she has made for her grandchild and bought to class to show us all. Very cool.

So, in summary, although things have been a bit quiet on the knitting front of late (I am having trouble finding my stitching mojo), I am working away in the background on new skills: sewing, spinning, photography and Photoshop.

So far? It's all a very big but enjoyable learning curve!