Hawaiian Quilting

Sewing isn't something that I really do very often (knitting is more my thing), but occasionally I'm inspired to try my hand at it.  Last fall when I went on our Misery in the Mountains Retreat I decided to bring along a hand-quilting project instead of my usual knitting.

Well, to be perfectly honest, I should say I brought it "along with" my usual knitting.  It's not really possible for me to travel without yarn.

I just can't. 

I start developing nervous spasms.

Anyway, regular American block quilting doesn't usually appeal to me due to it's geometric configuration (geometric shapes make me cringe; give me swirls and loops any day over sharp angles), so I much prefer the organic fluidity of Hawaiian quilts.

To begin my king sized quilt, I used some beautiful batik fabric for my top design, which would be stitched onto a cotton background.

The pattern I ordered was printed on both sides of the paper, which meant I had to first transfer it onto pattern fabric before I could use it.  I've never done this before, but I can imagine it would be very useful to transfer other well-used patterns to this sort of fabric, as it's much more durable than the thin paper that patterns are usually printed on.

After lots of painstaking folding and ironing, I had my large "sheet" of fabric folded into a triangle with the pattern placed at the center triangle fold.  Hawaiian quilts are basically cut out the same way one cuts out snowflake patterns, with the fabric being folded several times from the center and the design cut through all the layers.

Cutting it out was a bit nerve-wracking, because if I made a mistake it would ruin the entire top fabric.

Once I got it cut out (thankfully without any errors), it had to be pinned exactly center onto the bottom background fabric.  This also took a good hour to pin, as it had to be precisely centered in order for it to work. 

You can't quite tell from the photograph (I had to stand on a chair in order to get the entire quilt into the frame), but I then thread basted each and every section to the background with bright red thread.  I had read that using an ugly thread helped keep the sewer motivated to get the top appliqued on so that the ugly thread could be removed.

I have a feeling I'll be looking at ugly thread for several years.

Quilting

Quilting isn't really something I do all that often.  For one thing, I'm not a fan of geometric shapes, which most quilts seem to be comprised of.

Geometric shapes are too orderly.  Too precise.  Too boring.

Yuck.

However, when we were given a set of bunkbeds for the kids, I knew I needed to make Miss Boo and Peter blankets.  It's not exactly easy getting blankets that work for both boys and girls, so I opted for the always stylish Hawaiian print.

The last time I was in the Islands I had bought a few yards of aloha print cotton that I had planned to turn into matching outfits for our family.  As we were only a family of three at the time, I no longer had enough fabric to cover our entire family, unless we decided to don "official" local wear. (Don't you just love how we Hawaiians call it "The Islands" as though any other island is merely lower case i), 

I also bought a bunch of squares of differing aloha print fabrics, all pre-cut into matching squares.  Very convenient, and very cheap.  I love Kam Swap Meet.  Awesome place.

Finished project photos are coming soon.  I would have them now, but the stars have to be aligned just right in order for both kids to have their beds made neatly at the same time.

A Little Bit of Love

We had a bit of oops and uh-oh's around here yesterday. After suffering needlessly for long enough, I decided to go to the doctor for some relief (my friends will be astonished. Yes, I actually went to the doctor. And yes, I do have friends. I think.) The doctor diagnosed a severe sinus infection, and prescribed blessed healing in the form of Amoxycilan. I have to take it three times a day, so by yesterday evening, I was already starting to feel a little better. This morning, I felt REALLY rested, but the reason for that was revealed when I rolled over and got a better look at the last pill I had taken - Vicodin.

Yes. Vicodin. I wouldn't recommend it for colds or sinus infections. Or for pregnant women.

This little case of major oops occurred because I asked Handyman to bring me my medicine from off of the piano, and he got this stuff from who knows where. Then, doofus me didn't think to actually read the bottle to insure that my dear Handyman wasn't trying to kill me. Right now I'm desperately trying to remain calm, and wait for a slightly more decent hour so I can panic for real and call my midwife. (If there is a silver lining to this, it's that I only took one pill. 500 milligrams, yes, but only one pill. Must. Think. Positive.)

However, I'm sure that the rest of you out there don't want to hear more convoluted whining, so here's a cute picture of my slightly ill little boy. While I don't ever want my babies to be sick, Peter is such a good little thing when he's ill. He just sits on the couch and stares off into space, no doubt dreaming about dinosaurs or sharks or some other ferocious creature. (He's actually staring off into nothing right now . . .)

My wonderful plans for knitting on Tuesday night came to naught, as grocery shopping took me too long and I was too tired when I came home, but yesterday morning I got a little start on the Zig Zag Socks that I'm going to test-knit for Anne. The cat really got a kick out of my yarn swift!

I really exercised a HUMUNGOUS amount of self-control, and determined to finish Banna-Boo's quilt before I started another project (winding the yarn doesn't count as starting another project. It doesn't. Really.) I got it done! Woo-hoo! I'm very, VERY pleased with how it came out, too.

Did you hear that? I'm actually happy with something I finished! Ack! (Hmmm, I must be suffering after-effects of Vicodin.)

Little Miss Boo was very happy to snuggle into her plump quilt, and I actually got her to go to bed an hour early, because she was so enamored with her new blanket!

Well, Happy Valentine's Day to all of you out there! Hope your day is a special one, filled with lots of love from the people who care about you!

Swimming Along

I finished tying Peter's quilt together this morning, and now it's ready for use! Peter just loves it, and calls it his "Squishy Fishy Quilt". The "squishy" adjective comes from the thick batting I used (at least, I hope that's why he calls it "squishy" . . .). On the whole, I'm pleased with how it came out, especially as I just sort of threw the whole thing together without a pattern.

Before you give me any glowing comments of "wow, you did that without a pattern?" (hee hee, I'm assuming a lot there, aren't I?), let me just add a disclaimer; one bad thing about winging a quilt, is that after it's done, and you look at it with a jaundiced eye, you realize, "Hmmm, I don't like how much brown I used there". This is especially apparent as lack of fabric forced me to use a smaller width of brown on the pillow shams, and I found that I liked the result MUCH better. *Sigh*. I suppose it's too late to change the entire quilt, huh?

Banna-Boo's quilt top is finished, and now I just need to run to JoAnn's to get some more cording so that I can sew the back and front together. I really am sick of having to run to JoAnn's for one little thing at a time . . . (another result of "winging it").

It's a bit hard to tell, but there's three different squares going on here: floral, eyelet, and very pale pink.

So, how soon till her quilt is finished? I'm not sure, to tell you the truth. Right now my back is just KILLING me from three prolonged days spent hunched over a sewing machine, and I'm feeling a lazy spell come on. My usually clean house is starting to slowly deteriorate, but I have determined that cleaning up anything below waist level is so not worth the effort of bending.

Hmmm, I think a nice hot cup of chocolate and a Ferrero Rocher is in order . . .

(So what if that's a lot of chocolate? One's for me, and the other is for the baby!)

Of Snow and Quilting

Since, Lord willing, we'll be having another addition to our family sometime in May, I figured that I should probably get the other two kids settled into their new sleeping situations before wee one arrives. Basically, everyone (except us two bigger folks) is going to hop to the next biggest bed; Banna-Boo get's Peter's toddler bed, and Peter gets . . . .

. . . the double-sized guest bedroom all to himself.

*Sob* My little boy is growing up too fast! We're talking a minor "mommy moment" here, so, in order to combat feelings of nostalgia and gloom, I threw myself into an expensive and entertaining project, namely, quilting. (Okay, most women shop under stress. I have nowhere in our pokey town to shop other than Walmart, so that option of wanton indulgence is closed to me. Therefore, I was forced to spend ridiculous amounts of money in different ways.)

With new beds to sleep in, my two babies must have new quilts to sleep under. (We won't mention the fact that it would have been cheaper and less time-consuming to just buy new blankets. Uh-uh. Nope. We will also hope that Handyman doesn't flip out when he sees the bill from JoAnn Fabrics.)

Can you believe, in the short 10 minutes (alright, alright, 30 minutes! Fabric stores are time-sucks, and space and relativity don't really have any bearing there. You know, I bet Einstein was in a fabric store when he came up with the theory of relativity . . . anyway, onward . . .) that I was inside the store, the parking lot was covered in snow. It wasn't even snowing when I went in!

I squelched feelings of panic (although the sales clerk eyed me as I quite rationally tapped my nails against the counter in a quick staccato) and calmly proceeded to drive home. When I pulled into the drive way, I had a major epiphany - (isnt' that a great word? I just love great words. Onward . . .) I HAVE NEVER BEFORE DRIVEN IN THE SNOW WHILE IT'S ACTUALLY STILL SNOWING. I've lived in the Frigid North for 5 years, and as far as my seive of a brain can remember, this is a first for me.

Anyway, leaving epiphanies and back to quilting . . .

I haven't done much work on Banna-Boo's quilt, yet, but I couldn't resist doing a few squares to see the affect.

I've managed to complete the top of Peter's quilt, but I still have to do the backing (I hate doing the backing) and binding up, as well as the pillow shams.

Please don't gasp in horror when you see Peter's quilt. You must understand that my little four-year-old boy wanted scary, ferocious fabric. Nothing frou-frou for him, no sir. He wanted scary dinosaurs, man-eating sharks, terrible sea creatures, etc. (I think the lady at the counter thought I was nuts when I showed her the fabric I was buying for my little boy.) Since JoAnn's had a dismal amount of ferocious fabric, this was the best I could do. Peter seems to like it, so I guess that's what really counts.

I had a moment of inspiration when it came to the edge. After the ultra-busy center panel (yes, I over-complicated it again. Of course, what else did you expect?), the green edge looked a bit boring. Since we can't have boring, I cut out individual fish and embroidered them every 12 inches or so. I think it adds a nice touch to the edging.

I did space the fishes evenly, but there's a fold in the fabric that makes it look otherwise. Just squint, if it bothers you.