Oh Sweet Joy!

The other night all four of us were gathered around the dining room table, post dinner.  Hubby was using his stupid new contraption to roll up the change from the piggy banks. (Hello college fund!) The girls were enthralled with his efforts and the contraption.  To keep my hands busy I pulled out a quilt that needed some hand stitching.  Suddenly, what I was doing was far more interesting to The Monster.

Sadly, my tiny little #8 needle and the need for small stitches made it difficult for her to actually be of help. So I promised her that we would go on a special shopping trip the next day and gather supplies for her to start sewing.

 
Last night we sat down on the couch and started sewing.  I bought a medium sized hoop, some plain white cotton with a loose weave, and some large (but very real) needles.  I also let her pick out a few colours of basic embroidery floss.  Really I just wanted her to get the idea of pulling a needle through fabric while still getting a chance to see her results.

My little girl was in heaven.  We discussed the need to push the needle through front to back and back to front.  And how we had to pull the thread all the way through.  To make it easier on both of us I doubled up the thread and tied a solid knot.  I did not want to be constantly rethreading a needle! Besides, this was about process, not results.

After Smilosaurus unravelled the remaining embroidery floss and sucked the spools of thread I had also purchased she decided she wanted to learn sewing as well.  So she climbed up next to me and tried her hand at needle pulling thread.  Enthralled and impatient.

I should mention that this was actually my first time embroidering.  Seriously, I've never done it before.  This is despite the fact that my Baba was one of the most impressive cross-stitchers I've ever encountered. I worked on a little piece that had The Monster's name on it.  And honestly, I could really get behind this kind of hand work.  Look out!

This was the end result.  I moved the fabric in the hoop a few times because The Monster complained that the fabric was dirty whenever we switched colours.  That is, she wanted a fresh slate. Then she got irritated with me watching over her so I let her at it.  That's when she forgot the front to back, back to front lesson.  But isn't it perfect?

Giveaway Day

It's Giveaway Day at ! I had such a good time in the spring, so I knew I had to sign up again. I've actually got two giveaways here.

First up is a quilt.  I made this wall hanging to celebrate the launch of 350.org. And with the big meeting starting in Copenhagen next week I thought it a perfect time to highlight local and global efforts to address climate change.  I won't step on my soap box but I will say this:

I believe climate change is happening.

I believe humans are having a discernible impact on the world's climate.

I believe that if climate change is not proven to be real we have done no harm in taking action.

I believe that real change will come from both the individual and the political.

This quilt reflects the Prairie Landscape in its choice of fabrics, the layout to mimic the fields, and the quilting details. I made it without buying a thing.  It is machine pieced with fusible applique, machine quilting, and a handstitched binding. It is 100% cotton and comes with a hanging sleeve already attached.

Leave a comment here for one entry.  I don't believe in forcing action, insincere action, on people so there are no extra entries for signing up at 350.org. But I strongly encourage you to at least check out that organization and the many others.  And rather than enter here, make one small commitment to yourself and the next generation to reduce emissions - change a lightbulb, shut off the car, shop at the farmers' market, or turn down the thermostat.

As quilters there are many ways we can reduce the impact of what we do. A key way is through the use of scraps.  This is my daily scrap bin.  From here, I sort according to colour and selvages. I'll be honest, I used to throw out these pieces, but I use them now.  Except, I don't use the selvages.  However, I now know that other people use these with gorgeous results.  So I am giving away my relatively recent collection of selvages.  Close to 50 unique selvages from Amy Butler to Denyse Schmidt and everything in between.

I will use the random number generator to pick two winners.  Please, leave your comments and note any commitments you are making to tackle climate change on the homefront.  The giveaway is open until December 6, midnight MST. And yes, I will happily ship internationally.

Quilt Along Week 5 - Assembly

So you have all your blocks cut out and sitting in a neat, untouched pile, right? Okay, I hope you've at least had a chance to cut them out so far. Today we are going to assemble them in to a finished quilt top.

The layout for this top is quite easy. All you have to do is remember to alternate horizontal blocks with vertical blocks. That is, your stripes go side to side on one block and up and down on the next. If you have a design wall, great. If, like me, you are in a constrained space you use whatever is handy - a fence, a bed, or the living room floor during what you hope is a very long nap.

I just pick a corner or the center of the quilt and start throwing down blocks. To be honest, I don't think about it too much at first except to ensure that I don't place two blocks side by side. Rather, I just want to get a feel for the layout. As I go I will start to notice whether I've got too many of one type of fabric together. Or might try to put some fabrics together to create a mini rail (of the rail fence) in the quilt.

Overall, I'm looking for balance of a couple of elements when laying out these tops:

• My accent pieces aren't heavily weighted in one area over another - disperse the thick and the thin strips or the colours if you used more than one accent.
• Variation in the angles of the strips - some should go right, some left.
• Disperse the background fabrics as much as possible.

Looking both close-up and stepped back allow for you to see your quilt in the big picture. Another trick is to take a photo with your digital camera. This helps you see the layout at a distance. You can also go to the hardware store and buy a door peephole. Looking through this makes everything appear at a distance. I love my peephole (when I can find it). For a reminder of the finished layout check out the picture in the sidebar or the finished Gratitude quilt.

Once you are happy with your layout I like to stack my blocks in columns. Start at the top left corner of your layout. Take the corner block in your hand and place it directly on top of the block directly below it in layout. Do not rotate it or any of the blocks at this point. Continue to stack each column.  I also label the top left corner of each stack with a pin and a sheet of paper. Just to minimize confusion.

To piece the top I sew column 1 to column 2, in one continuous strip. At the end of each block I simply sew a few stitches and then I start on the next set of blocks.  

I sew the entire column together then press.  To press I sew one row to the right, the next to the left.  On this particular quilt I press towards the vertical strip.  This will make the top lie quilt smoothly.

The top goes together quickly by sewing one column after another. I keep the next stack of blocks to the right of my sewing machine and grab a block as I go. Do not cut apart the completed rows. Once you've sewn all the columns together you are left with pieced rows.  Your columns, strip pieced, create finished rows. See the picture below if that doesn't make sense.

All that remains is to sew your rows together.  This is the one point where I pin. Because I pressed towards the vertical strip on each block and I alternated vertical and horizontal blocks in the layout my seams will lay flat when I match them up. I pin two rows rights sides together and sew. I repeat this until all the rows are together and then press all the seams in one direction.

Et, voila!  A finished top.

Here is where I apologize for not having a picture of the completed top in the yellow/grey/navy. It is finished, but I haven't been able to take a picture because a) Hubby can't lift his arm for the picture b) even if I was home during the day to take a picture when it is daylight there is now snow on the ground. Soon, I promise.

When I Turn My Back

There are two school of thought on welcoming your kids into your quilting habit.  On one hand you can have a sewing room with a closed door and they are not allowed to touch your fabric. On the other hand, you can let them play with the fabric and make a giant mess.  I will fully admit that some days I wish I had a design wall and a door to close (and lock). But most days the girls are knee deep in scraps and helping me pick fabric.

This is what happens when I turn my back on a pile of fabric.

Where do you stand on kids getting involved with your quilting habit - the process, the fabric, the inspiration? I'm working on an article on creating and quilting as a family, so I'm curious as to your habits.

Who Moved My Cheese?

If you're ever looking for party ideas I've got a new suggestion for inspiration: the business section of the book store.  I'm serious.  We had a great party in the office today and I came up with the idea after reading this book.

There is no need to bore you with the details of the office, suffice it to say there's been more than a bit of upheaval lately.  We have a good group of people with some pretty strong convictions.  Perhaps more importantly, we all have a pretty wicked sense of humour.  Even the senior folks were entertained by the party idea. A little chat about finding our cheese when it comes to work, combined with an ongoing mouse problem in the building gave us the idea to have a cheese crawl in the office.

People set up a plate of cheese and accoutrements in their office.  Then, individually or in small groups, we wandered the halls visiting and tasting.  And yes, we hid the cheese of one boss so that he was forced to yell, "Hey, who moved my cheese?" Hmm, maybe it's an inside joke.

Quite surprisingly to me everyone totally got in to the idea.  We had a great variety of cheeses from an amazing triple creme brie to a heavenly honey goat. Winner of the most unique cheese was the gjetost, or Norwegian brown cheese.  It looks like fudge and does have a caramel taste to it.  We ate it on mini rye with cucumber.  I don't think it was very popular, but I really liked it.

My contribution was the Seckel pears with blue cheese, honeycomb, and hazelnuts. We were served something very similar on our trip to the Okanagan in September (The dinner is gloriously summarized here.)  The difference was that the pears we ate there were still warm from the sun and the blue was local Poplar Grove. I've taken to eating the pear, blue, honey combo as a frequent snack so I passed that on today. The consensus is that they would also make a fantastic holiday appetizer, or perhaps as an alternative to chicken wings this Sunday for the Grey Cup.

And, of course, there was just a teeny bit of wine. Served in our glorious reusable plastic cups.

Quilt Along Week 4 - Carving out Your Niche

Another video!  My apologies for the bad lighting and my apparently rosy cheeks. (A total aside - I love when The Monster says 'apparently', it is a totally overused word in our house.) It's week 4 of the Quilt Along.  How are you doing?

Start with your strips sets, well pressed and 1.5-2 inches wider than the desired finished size of your blocks. You can see below what I mean. I am aiming for a 9.5 inch unfinished block.

Take your ruler and start rotating it. Aim for an angle like below - just a little bit off center. One important thing to keep in mind is that you want to avoid teeny strips on the side. Ensure that you have at least .5 inch strip from the last seam to the edge of the cut.  Conveniently, the ruler is your cutting guide so you can watch this. 

Cut the right side and the top.  If you are left-handed it might be more comfortable to cut the left and top first.
Flip around your fabric strip.  Generally I do this by rotating my entire cutting mat instead of lifting the fabric. Line up the bottom left corner (bottom right if you're left handed) with the 9.5 inch by 9.5 inch (or your desired size) marking on your ruler.  This will create cutting lines on the edge of the ruler for your side and top to finish of the block. Cut.

And there you have a finished block.  It can be used in any direction when it comes to laying out your blocks.

Now you need to cut out the rest of the blocks from the single strip set. How many you get will depend on your desired block size.  You should get 6 if you want 6.5 inch blocks, 4 at 9.5, and 3 at 12.5. The process is the same as above, but you start above your last cut as opposed to the top of the strip set.  You can fiddle with the rotation of the ruler here and there.  All your blocks can be cut in the same direction or you can rotate the ruler in the opposite direction.  I tend to do two in one direction, and two in the opposite.

The next two photos are examples of one strip set cut.  One for the original Gratitude quilt and one for the current one.

Notice the varying angles.  This will give you even more opportunities for dramatic movement in the final top.

Next week will layout our quilt top and get it together. Remember, try not to play with your blocks too much once you've cut them.  The seams are not finished and you don't want anything the loosen. See you next week!

Does it count?

Back when I was full of energy and vigor and swiss chard I entered my Frico recipe in the Safeway Cheese Champions contest. To be honest, I saw the ad on Facebook and was bored.  Yup, I actually noticed the ad, that's how bored I was. 

So I entered and found out recently that I won something.  Sadly, it was not the grand prize.  That means no Mama/Daddy time in Lake Louise for free.  But I did get a grocery gift card and it will buy our dairy for a couple of weeks. No complaints there.

And, if you are in a Safeway in the coming weeks, probably only in Western Canada, pick up the Safeway Cheese Champions book.  You will find my recipe and more in there. Oh, and a teeny tiny picture of me and The Monster.