beading class

Beading class was fine, I just wanted to be at home instead. I'm working on a multi-strand necklace in purples and blues with some silver and pearls thrown in just because. Not quite sure how it's going to look or how much I like it. The only way to know is try it out. Here's a very dark picture:

I've only managed to get 2 1/2 strands done, so it won't be exactly like this, but this kind of idea.

I think I've officially entered summer hibernation mode. It's just too darn hot out there. I want to be at home with my kitties. Speaking of which, Lily was a most excellent cat last night and slept with my sweetie. Everybody wins.

In answer to ForestJane's question, no, I don't hand-dye my own fabric. Those brightly colored fabrics in my bed quilt leftovers were Bali Fabrications, Kona "hand-dye", Free Spirit, Hoffman Bali, Moda Marbles and numerous others.

Flower Pot

And now for something completely different. This is a small piece I appliqued a few years back. It's bright, but not as neon as it looks in this pic.

The main fabric line was from Moda: a fabric that looks like flannel on one side and homespun cotton on the other. Supposedly sews like cotton (NOT). Works great for primitive applique tho. No pattern, just inspiration from Gwen Marston and Roberta Horton.

I have a beading class today that I am soooo not enthusiastic about. I was excited about the class when I signed up for it, but not in the mood now. Have I mentioned I don't like taking classes - I'm just not classy I guess. he he he.

Siobhan is asking for reading recommendations. Figured I'd post a few here:

Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. This is promoted as a childrens' book just because the heroine is young and it's a fantasy, but it's for all ages. Lyra is a wild child growing up in Oxford, England in an alternate reality. She's accompanied by her daemon, her soul which can take various animal forms. I got so sucked in immediately - just try the first couple of pages and see if you can stop there.

The book happens to be the first in a trilogy. I loved the first one intensely, the second was enjoyable and I didn't care for the third at all. It turned into a big "Paradise Lost" thing and a meditation on religion.

Sabriel, Lirael, and Abhorsen by Garth Nix. Another fantasy trilogy, but I happen to love all the books in this one. Sabriel's father is the Abhorsen, a Necromancer who forces the undead through all seven gates of hell. When he disappears, she has to take on the job. I love the world this is set in. On one side of a great wall is a very WWI-era British community and on the other side technology doesn't work but magic does. Excellent reads.

The Grand Ellipse by Paula Volsky is a great deal of fun. It's like Around the World in 80 Days, only taking place in a different world.

To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis is a time travel novel which starts in a WWII bombed-out cathedral. It's got romance, fantasy, humor. It has true heart.

Tamara Siler Jones has a couple of books that are forensic-intense crime-solving but in a fantasy realm. They get a bit gruesome at times and I skip all the sections from the point of view of the killer (but I do that in all mysteries).

The team of Preston and Childs write sorta silly books that are incredibly readable. They often have fantastic other-worldly events/creatures going on but ultimately have scientific reasoning behind them. Agent Pendergast is very Sherlock Holmes. Start with Relic.

Ian Rankin writes mysteries featuring a Scottish homicide cop. The first several were weak, but they've improved incredibly over the years. I started reading Michael Connelly when Stephen King recommended The Poet as one of his favorite books. I love it as well, but don't start with that one, since it involves all sorts of characters from his previous works. My sweetie even reads both of these authors, as well as Preston and Childs, and he doesn't read some of the so-called drivel that I do. Very high standards.

Those are just a few to start out with. I really gotta get going now. Stupid class.

Lower-Case a e g

Now we have lower-case a, e, and g. Little e is the exact same as little a, so to simplify the instructions, I'm going to just make two a's. These can be a bit confusing, but they're not actually that hard. Here we go.

Make three little c's. Hmm, this seems familiar. This is a basic starting point for lots of these little letters.
Now you're going to add some background fabric - I use a fairly narrow strip here. The background goes on top of little a and below little g.

[Note that on the first a I had a slant going, but I straightened up the top of the background, rather than having that slant as well.] Next step is to add letter fabric along that length of background. This will determine the maximum height of your letter.

And the final step is to add that long bit of letter fabric along the right-hand side (the side that both background bits touch).

Lower-Case t and f

Next up are little t and f.

I like my letters to be a bit wonky, so I like to start out with a slant. You in no way have to do that. You can begin your t with three rectangles - the middle one is the letter fabric.

If you want to play wonky, then start out with one big background rectangle and slice at a slant.

Now you're going to insert the letter fabric - using a strip is the easiest way to do it. Notice how when I lay them down together, the angle of the letter fabric goes higher than the background (if you forget to do it this way, you'll end up with a shorter letter).

This is what it looks like when I lay them right sides together. Notice how the letter fabric bumps up a bit. You need that, or again the letter will turn out shorter than expected. My seam allowance is going to go right thru where the two angles meet, if you see what I mean. I never get this exact, so don't worry much about it.

I opened this up and trimmed straight across the top and bottom. Now I could join the bits together as they are...

... but I decided I wanted the t to taper a bit towards the top. [This is a completely unnecessary step - feel free to skip.]

So I overlapped these two pieces by about a quarter inch and then made another slice. Then I sewed the side piece on (you'll again need to bump up the more angular side). The taper is practically unnoticeable in the final t, but it's there.

Now whether you started with a slant or not, the next step is the same for everybody: slice across the unit. You can make this at a slant or not. The slice should be towards the top (keeping in mind you'll be losing a half inch in seam allowances) unless you want a more radical letter.

And then a strip is inserted, and all the sections rejoined to make your t. Here are some that I made for my bed quilt and didn't end up using. They've all been cut down, added to, or left alone where necessary so that they are all 4.25" high.

The f needs that extra bar across the top, but otherwise it's very similar in construction to the t. I've sewn a background rectangle to a letter fabric rectangle. Meanwhile I've sewn a much smaller rectangle across the top of a letter strip.

Sew those together and trim even.

And now you're ready to make it just like the t.
A couple of little f's.

Lower-Case b d q

Lower case p is made exactly the same as the capital P. And so is a little d - it's just turned upside down. Just rotate your head 180 degrees and check it out - that won't hurt at all...

Little b and q are made similarly.

Here's the start of the little b. You'll notice it looks like a backward c.

Background fabric is added at the top. Keep in mind that this will determine the maximum height of your letter - the taller the bit of background, the taller the letter (although you can always cut it down).

And then a strip of letter fabric goes along the left side. A q is the same as a little b, altho this time I chose to add an extra little dash of character.

And here are all four little letters:

These aren't hard at all. Just think a minute before you add the next bit. And speaking from experience, don't think you've forgotten to make a p and meanwhile you have that extra d.

Patriotic in Progress

When I started working on the new lower-case letters, I chose blue and white, figuring I might make a patriotic quilt. To give me inspiration, and possibly to go into the new quilt, I dug out some blocks that I started years ago.

I was planning on making a large quilt - not bed-sized, but a very large wall-hanging. My plan was to make 8" x 12" finished blocks (such as the one in the lower left corner, which is cut out of one piece of fabric) but I got bored with that quickly and decided that everything just had to be divisible by 2" when finished.

The little bit of red and white checkerboard is a leftover from a previous project you can see in one of my very early posts here.

Detail shots. Here are some skinny letters. Right now this block measures at 4.5" by 12.5"

And some even taller and skinnier letters. This one measures 7" by 12.5" right now and would just need a bit of red at the top or bottom to make it the "proper" size.

This is my America flag block. 8.5" x 24.5"

And even closer:

I love my darling Lily cat, but my oh my, what a pest she was last night. She wanted to sleep right next to me no matter what. Shove her off the bed, she comes back. Pick her up and place her on my sweetie (who loves sleeping with a cat), she comes back. Block her from laying down, she circles around and comes back. Sheesh. Why can't she be that clingy when I want a cat to love on? During the DAY.

El Alamein

The trip to Alexandria was nice. Not spectacular, but relaxing. It was my first time seeing the Mediterranean Sea (flying overhead doesn't count). There in Alex it wasn't so nice, but further west along the coast the water was spectacular shades of lapis lazuli blue and turquoise and everything in between.

My favorite part of the trip was the Roman Catacombs, which we weren't allowed to photograph. The catacombs had originally been dug out for one spectacularly wealthy family and later enlarged to hold more bodies and ashes. It was a huge space underground, large enough to hold horse races and champion horses' burials (after their natural deaths).

Throughout Alexandria there is a blend of Greek, Roman, and Egyptian themes. There's the jackal-headed god Anubis looking wolf-like. And Isis dressed up in a toga-like dress with long curls - that's just wrong. I did like the Medusas tho.

On Saturday we went down the coast to El Alamein, the site of a WWII battlefield. Have to say the museum was horribly out of date and hard to understand - someone translated the signs directly from Arabic so it read terribly. And the transliterations: Mosaleni instead of Mussolini.

I was pleased to see that the Commonwealth Memorial and gravesites are very well maintained. Far too many men are buried here and should never be forgotten. It was serene and starkly beautiful.

Kitty Condo

The kitties do so love their boxes.

Sorry ya'all. I meant to be much better about getting the tutorial in here for you. I appreciate all the feedback you've given me.

I've had some distractions this week and have been off my sewing game. I had a beading class yesterday as well as quilting bee. Plus I've been making arrangements for our trip to Alexandria, which is on the northern coast of Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea. Even tho I knew what the dates were for the trip I still thought it was next weekend. Surprise it's THIS weekend - we leave in the morning at 6:45 and come back Saturday at 11:00pm.

A quick answer to Shellie's question: yes, my lower-case letters really are wide. I love how it looks. Take a peek at Bad to the Bone and read the post if you haven't before. That's one of my favorite quilts I've ever made and one of the things I love about it is the short, wide letters.

It all comes down to personal preference and how you like the letters to look. That's why a project where you make the same letters over and over again (Such as Xs and Os or L-O-V-E or anything else you might want to do) can be so valuable. You play around and figure out your favorite way to make the letters.

Plus you get practise. The more practise you get, the more you will like how your letters turn out. I know I say that over and over for things like the freehand fan quilting, but it's true. Practise. I've been doing these letters for over five years now so don't compare your letters with mine (that means you, friend Nina).

Practising doesn't mean you're working towards perfection (never a goal I endorse). It just means finding your confidence and your own way of doing it (whether sewing or quilting) that suits you and works for you.

Something I've learned over the years: a stick figure drawn with authority looks pretty darn good.

So I may not be back for a few days. Hubby has Sunday off for Memorial Day (working week here is Sunday through Thursday) so I'm not sure I'll even get computer time when we get back into town. Not knowing what week it is (and when our weekend getaway was coming up) really through me off this week.... I'll catch up with ya'all soon.

See, I'm still quilting

I've quilted some more terms of endearment on the quilt of the same name. I wasn't initially sure I was going to quilt terms in this reddy-pink with purple fabric on the other side of Abominables, but I've been having so much fun with this part of the quilting I decided to go for it.

I used the same floss color as on the other side and no, it doesn't show up well, but that's okay. Sometimes I want things to pop out and sometimes to only be noticeable upon closer inspection. You can see my chalk marks still, but not to worry. As the quilt continues to get handled they'll rub off and will definitely disappear in the wash.

And here's another area. I quilted in the big long bit of red. Once again, that wasn't in my game plan, but I wanted "cutie patootie" somewhere and it fit here. Can you see the chalk marks of my initial lettering? I wrote the whole phrase out and discovered that I had loads more space on the right hand side, so I rubbed chalk off and rewrote it, this time moving the letters to the right some.

I don't put many pins in during the initial baste, or at least not as many as I need. I don't have enough safety pins. As soon as I get ready to quilt in an area, I put loads more pins in. You can still see them clustered around the bottom of the block I was working on. I'll take those extras out and move them to the next spot I'm quilting.

Nothing new or exciting of note here. I get to dump out and replace all the kitty litter today - oh joy. My nose tells me it needs to be done, so no more procrastinating.

Revised Lower-Case Tutorial Begins

I got some great feedback yesterday and I'm hoping that maybe this addresses some of the problems. Is this better, worse, or no different from yesterday's edition? Still confusing or better? [Note: I did make a couple of changes to yesterday's edition as well.]

The big difference between this version and yesterday's is that I've put the final letters at the top of the section so you can see what I'm trying to build.

Lower-case letters are generally less complicated than the capitals (you can go to Quiltville here for instructions) . Quite a few are made the exact same way, tho you may wish to make them a bit smaller.

I use the same size strips for these as I do the capitals and that's all in the Quiltville tutorial as well. I know my letters come out pretty small, but I just like them that way.

While you are making the letters, remember your 1/4" seam allowance. The goal isn't to get a great looking letter all on its own - it's going to be sewn into a bigger picture. You may need to add a wider strip of letter fabric (when called for) at the top, bottom, or sides.

For ease in writing I'm going on the assumption you're going to try every letter (which you certainly don't have to). I'm starting out with the easiest.

Before we get started, can I just say the most important part of this process is to think about what you're making. You know how to make letters - you probably write something every day. You can do this. Easy peasy lemon squeezie. Oh, and there are many different ways to make some of these letters so don't think they have to be done this way.

We always begin sewing the letters with the smallest part of the letter, moving to the bigger parts. You'll see what I mean.

The letters c, o, p, s, u, v, x, and z are constructed the same as the capitals. I figure you can make an l. Little k is the same as the capital K, but I make the leggy bit a bit smaller and sew background fabric across the top before adding the left-side letter fabric.

Here's i and j.

You can figure out little i. You'll essentially need two of them (if you're making all the letters) because one is going to morph into a baby j.

I make my little j with a bit of character by adding that bit that swoops up on the left side. I do that by starting with a small square of letter fabric surrounded on two sides by background fabric. (I should have used a wider bit of background fabric on the top.) You can also just use a large square or rectangle of background instead. Sew that to some letter fabric and trim even.

Then you're ready to attach it to an i.

Here are the completed h and y.

You can make a little y the same as the capital Y, but I now like this other version better. You could also just make another h and add a strip across the top (aka bottom) of it to get a y, but I like to avoid seams on the sides of the letters whenever possible.

Both the little h and y begin the same with the "bump out" - a bit of background surrounded on two sides by letter fabric. The h background is rectangular.

The y small and square.
The h gets a wide bit of background fabric on the top, the y gets a narrower bit on the bottom.

And then the y needs the lower bit of the letter.

And both get a wider strip of letter fabric to finish them off. Voila.

Lower-Case Letters Begin

*** Revised 22 May ***

Lower-case letters are generally less complicated than the capitals (you can go to Quiltville here for instructions) . Quite a few are made the exact same way, tho you may wish to make them a bit smaller.

I use the same size strips for these as I do the capitals and that's all in the Quiltville tutorial as well. I know my letters come out pretty small, but I just like them that way.

While you are making the letters, remember your 1/4" seam allowance. The goal isn't to get a great looking letter all on its own - it's going to be sewn into a bigger picture. You may need to add a wider strip of letter fabric (when called for) at the top, bottom, or sides.

For ease in writing I'm going on the assumption you're going to try every letter (which you certainly don't have to). I'm starting out with the easiest.

Before we get started, can I just say the most important part of this process is to think about what you're making. You know how to make letters - you probably write something every day. You can do this. Easy peasy lemon squeezie. Oh, and there are many different ways to make some of these letters so don't think they have to be done this way.

We always begin sewing the letters with the smallest part of the letter, moving to the bigger parts. You'll see what I mean.

The letters c, o, p, s, u, v, x, and z are constructed the same as the capitals. I figure you can make an l. Little k is the same as the capital K, but I make the leggy bit a bit smaller and sew background fabric across the top before adding the left-side letter fabric.

You can figure out little i. You'll essentially need two of them (if you're making all the letters) because one is going to morph into a baby j.

I make my little j with a bit of character by starting with a small square of letter fabric surrounded on two sides by background fabric. You could just use a larger square of background instead. Sew that to some letter fabric and trim even.

Then you're ready to attach it to an i.

An i and j.
You can make a little y the same as the capital Y, but I now like this other version better. It starts out the same as a little h. Both begin with a bit of background surrounded on two sides by letter fabric. (The beginning of the y is upside down in this picture).

The h gets a wide bit of background fabric on the top, the y gets a narrower bit. I hope I didn't make this confusing by flipping the y in the proper direction...

And then the y needs the lower bit of the letter.

And both get a wider strip of letter fabric to finish them off. Voila, an h and y.

Let me know if any of this needs clarification or changes. Sometimes I read this stuff over too many times and it all gets jumbly in my brain.