More UnRuly Letters from Lajla

Do you all remember Lajla? She's a wonderful Norwegian-Australian quilter who's made two previous UnRuly Word quilts which I shared in this post. Well she has made another pair of awesome quilts. She describes them as "use what you've got quilts." She only bought fabric for the backing - the rest all came out of stash. Both are machine quilted or else, she explains, they'd never be finished. Boy do I understand how that works...

First off is her four letter Word quilt - another take on using just four letter words like we did with Cake.

I love love love this quilt it is so joyous and exuberant. I asked her how she went about making it:

I had a list of words written down and decided to put GIVE HOPE together, somewhat fitting these days with all the drama unfolding around the world. Including Australia where we have had serious flooding this year. Started off with LOVE in the middle and just kept going, making one world at a time. Then I realised I would probably have to increase the size of the words as I went, or I would run out of words, and would maybe have to include the one word most people think about when you say 4 LETTER WORD........Some people look for it, even turning the quilt over to see if I have put it on the back! I sort of made this as a protest to how that word has become part of daily language, at least in this neck of the woods. 

So I had to get my tape measure out; the quilt is 51" x 56" (kind of!) I only measured across the middle to be safe, my quilts are not guaranteed to be perfectly square (life is too short). LOVE block is 8 1/2" x 12" and CHAT letters are 7 1/2" tall (approx). WISH is next to PLAY and it is not a good contrast so difficult to see in photo. But as I said, I used what I had of fabrics, and I am not one to unpick either...

 Unsurprisingly, I love her attitude as well as the quilts. I often list the size of my quilts along with an -ish tacked on at the end.

Here are a couple of close-ups. This is the center, so you can see how she created it medallion style:

I love this HELP. I'm sure Lajla used it in the sense of Help One Another but it looks like a Help Me! as the word goes sliding out of the block. Adds some humor.

This Home quilt is a sampler with houses, trees, hearts, cupcakes and mugs. Doesn't it just glow?

Lajla (shown here on a textile tour of India - my do I have envy) adds:

My quilts are pretty much just whacked together........Not much pre-planning, which lands me into trouble at times, or into a corner. Then I have to problem solve and get myself back on track. That's part of the fun!  ... just tell people DON'T THINK TOO MUCH, go for it!

 

Thank you so much, Lajla, for sharing your experiences and quilts with us. I adore you!

Hope you all enjoyed this too. Pokey just brought a pompom - time to play.

Robots and Rocketships

More of my recent fabric acquisitions. I had a blast (heh heh heh) finding robot and rocketship fabric. I'm really on that kick right now. There's also some alphabet in here too:

Take a closer look at the selvage:

Little rocketships - hee hee hee. Love it. The big robots and this particular fabric all come from Ingrid Slyder's Robotic line from Moda.

Here's a different batch which includes a couple of wonderful white fabrics with bright bits and a cool Day of the Dead cutout fabric.

I picked up my new glasses today.  Self-portrait taken with the webcam in my laptop.

RayBan frames - woohoo. These look so much more me than the last couple of pairs of glasses I've had. I hate the small, narrow, rectangular frames that have been in style for the last, what, ten years? Yuck. I like big round plastic frames so that I can see more. RayBan also had some funny cats-eye glasses and I would have considered them if they'd looked good on me, but they certainly did not.

It's gonna take me a bit to get used to them. Feeling kinda seasick - it's always an adjustment.

I happened to mention to LeeAnn (Nifty Quilts) that I was thinking about going to the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show in July and she offered all sorts of enticements to coerce convince me to go. When someone offers to sleep on the floor to let you have their bed you know they have an incredibly generous nature and maybe really want you to come. So I've bought my tickets and sent in my registration for classes (for Quilters' Affair beforehand) and we'll see what happens. Not a big deal if I don't get classes since I'm get to meet so many folks I've only corresponded with for so long.

Mandatory kitty pictures. Habibi and Howler. Did I tell you Howler now weighs 24 lb? He certainly looks it in this photo:

Howler's too lazy to actually get up during combat operations:

Always love the big bushy tails. I don't think I've ever seen Howler do that. All the other cats, definitely...

I think I better be good now and work on those class write-ups I've been ignoring. Thanks for the feedback that ya'all gave me on it!

Class Homework

Woohoo, I wrote up my biography (tweaking Kathy's version a bit) and actually included the fact that I'd written a book. yes, good call. Can't believe I forgot to mention that. I also had to submit a photo. I pinned The Margarita Quilt (still no binding) up to my design wall, put my camera on a tripod and snapped away. I coerced Lily into participating (initially she kept running away from me, but her curiosity got the better of her). Rather than use the timer I just stuck my arm out and clicked. Thought you'd be amused to see an uncropped photo:

I got an expensive haircut in preparation for this. For the last couple of years I've been going to the cheap places where you wait and I had one stylist who did a really good job. She left and my last two haircuts have been horrible. I felt ugly. So I decided it's time to start paying what a good haircut actually costs and go for it. In order to get the style I wanted, I searched online for "pixie haircut" and was amaazed at how many styles that actually encompasses. I found what I wanted with the Diablo Cody (screenwriter of Juno) haircut. I don't consider it hers, since this is how I've been trying to get my hair cut for years.
I also bought new glasses. Woohoo, so ready for that - I've hated these ones since I first got them. Anyway, I splurged and went for the new HD lenses which are supposed to provide better clarity and peripheral vision. I use my eyes quite a bit (don't we all), so I figure that's an area that's worth spending on. But it takes longer to grind these lenses so instead of one hour, think 10-14 days. I don't have them yet, but I'm excited!!!!

Is that all boring? Sorry. At least it's not me whining!

I got some fun stuff in the mail from Mary C. A hum for you-know-what:

A fun cat's head for Halloween:

and wheee, UnRuly Kitties:

Thank you, Mary!

You know in my last post how one of my favorite things is my TiVo? Well not today! It's refusing to start. Agh, it did this once before, about a month ago, but after several hours (and phone calls to customer service which did no good) it finally started working again. I decided that was just a blip and I didn't buy a new one. Agh. It's been several hours already and no luck. Life without tv? What will I do?

I'm glad I watched the new episode of Fringe last night. If you're not watching the show and you like sci-fi, then seriously, go rent the dvds, start with season 1 and realize that by the time the show hits season 3 it's really got it all together and is lots of fun. Just took them sometime with the world(s) building.

So after the successful biography writing session last post, it's time to set you guys on another homework task. I've been approached by several guilds to teach. It's one of those terrifying/exciting things. I need to have a professional write up of the classes I offer. So hard for me. Is that a left brain task or what. This is what I've got. What have I left out? What is it you'd really want to cover in a class. etc. Ready? Here we go.

UnRuly 4-Patch
An introduction to free-pieced letters. Weʼll cover how to piece just a few letters
and then practice them multiple times to really get the hang of them. We can do LOVE and if folks want to, itʼs easy to throw a few more letters in there too like I (LIVE)  and an H and P (HOPE) and an easy HOME. This is a project that looks great in solids or completely and totally scrappy. Iʼll show different ways the 4-Patches can be put together.
 
Hugs and Kisses
Another practice and repeat project, Hugs and Kisses focuses on the letters O and X. Youʼll get really good at making them! The letters can then be put together in either an easy method (such as the 4-Patch) or more complicated, as in my Fruit Punch
 
An Overview of UnRuly Letters
Iʼll show you all the tricks you need to make every letter. I recommend working with two strongly contrasting solids. You wonʼt get a whole sampler done in a day, and probably wonʼt even finish all the letters, but youʼll have a great headstart. 
 
Crumb Quilting
Anything goes to use up all your bitty scraps. Weʼll cover log cabin style construction, wonky hearts, easy houses, maverick stars and maybe even a few HOPEful letters.

Wonkytown
Wonky Houses aka Liberated Houses ala Gwen Marston. A free-pieced project that can be great fun using novelty fabrics. 

Novelty Flower Pots
This is a design class where weʼll play with paper, scissors and fabric but wonʼt do any sewing. I have a love of Halloween which is why Iʼve made a booquet but this technique works great with a range of holiday novelty prints or something goofy like all cats.

UnRuly Halloween
We'll have fun making spiders, jack oʼlanterns, the letters BOO and a haunted house.

Biography

I have to write a biography for an upcoming magazine article. The article part is exciting, but writing the biography is really hard for me. That's the work I was avoiding in my last post and well, I've managed to keep avoiding it.

I can talk/write for ages about things that I love like quilting, books, tv, my cats. But personal details about myself? Gives me the heebie jeebies.

So I've been trying to think of the autobiography that I would be happy with. I think it would go something like this:

Gwen Marston. Roberta Horton. Gee's Bend. Anna Williams. Susan Shie. Amish colors, simplicity, and quilting. Freehand fan quilting without a hoop. Bright, saturated color. String quilts. Cotton Crazies. Orphan Samplers. Firefly. Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Jane Austen tv adaptations. Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. Cairo. Paris. Florida. My cats. Arrested Development. Tacky Refrigerator Magnets. Starbucks City Mugs. Sudoku. TiVO. Veronica Mars. Kolchak. Columbo. Fabric, fabric, fabric. Sunshine. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (must stop). Indian and Lebanese Food (not at the same time). Books. Quilting since 1988, liberated since 1996. Blogger.

I pulled out the journal I used to be really good at keeping (before blogging....).  On January 25, 2001 one of my ideas was to make a quilt called "A Few of my Favorite Things" to include:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Go Spike). Tacky fridge magnets. Queen. English Breakfast Tea. The 11Thhour.com. DMB's Crash. Star Wars/Trek. Elvis Kitsch. Cobalt Blue Pottery. Risotto. Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies. Pitch Black. Aliens. Terminator/2.

There wouldn't be any more of an explanation. Just the list. I wish I had made the quilt. Would be fun to do one every ten years and see what's changed. I can't believe I left my English Breakfast Tea out of my current autobiography.  Yeah, that has to go on there. Already rewriting me.

I have to drink about 6 mugs-worth (my big old Starbucks mugs) of Twinings or the day just isn't complete. By the way, I have managed to kick my diet soda habit. wooohooo. Now to stop the chocolate and junk food. One step at a time.

Anyway, I've got a job for ya'all. Write a biography of me. You guys won't get bogged down by silly things like the facts. Be creative. Ready? Set? Go! 

And if you want some additional homework? I'd love to know a few of your favorite things too.

How did it get to be 1am? Well, I think I can finally go to sleep now. ya'all take care.

Work Avoidance with a B

I freely admit that I write this post not to entertain you, but to avoid doing the work I'm meant to be doing.  But okay, you might find some of it interesting anyway. First off, what's on my design wall?

I actually sewed something that I can show you on the blog! I made a letter B for Brenda, you can read more about it here.

I got some more fun Bah Humbugness in the mail. Ramona of Ramona's Handwork made the top one and 12 x 12'er Kristin LaFlamme made the lower big red Bah (probably in a brazen attempt to once again get me to link over to her blog. it worked!) Thank you both!

What am I avoiding you ask? Ack, I'll tell you about it another day since I gotta get to PT soon.

I know you need a kitty photo so here's Lily sleeping in her favorite spot on the top of the sofa cushion. I know it doesn't look like a sofa, but that's because I throw a sheet over it - so much easier to clean.

Lily sleeps here so often she's made a permanent hollow - kind of like Homer Simpson on his own couch.

Cheers.