Chillax

On Sunday morning at 4 am precisely, I woke with a jolt and realised I was having a serious anxiety attack.

So I got out of bed, turned on the central heating and pottered in my sewing room. I listened to local ABC until 5.30 am when Macca came on (can't stand Macca) and then switched over to Radio National where the spiritual program was on, and they had on these amazing yogic musicians called Edo and Jo.

(I didn't know there was such a thing as a yogic musician until then.)

I was listening to their music and their stories and it was so beautiful and ethereal and I got to thinking about whether quilting is my equivalent of yogic music.



I should add that quilting was the reason for the anxiety, but not for the reasons you might think. Last year's show was extremely hard for me, for a number of reasons completely unrelated to my quilts, but mostly to do the the fact I was president, and therefore a Responsible Person who was Concerned About Other People and How They Felt. I got way more stressed than I should have, to the point where I was actually quite unwell. This was compounded by the fact I was genuinely concerned about losing my job when journalists started calling me at work. So yeah - the 2013 exhibition is one I would much rather forget.

But it all seemed to come back to me at 4.00 am on a Sunday morning the week before the 2014 exhibition started. I don't know why. Perhaps it was because this year we got some really positive media coverage and my subconscious started dredging shit up.

So back to the quilting. Hold on tight. This story meanders.



I was talking to my favourite stroopwafel purveyor the previous morning at the farmers' market (he's Dutch, she's a quilter so of course I adore them both) and we talked about quilting and the quilt show and how expensive fabric is here in Australia. And I said "ah - but a psychologist costs $165 for 45 minutes (because I know this after what happened last year) and you can buy a lot of fabric for $165 even at $25 a metre" and we all nodded and my husband laughed and said it was so true. And then as I walked away I said jokingly "if only the Medicare rebate covered quilting fabric. The mental health system would be in a much better state. You could include quilting in your Mental Health Plan". And it was like a lightbulb went off in my head.

Quilting has been my friend. A sanity saver. I need to quilt. I love to quilt. Quilting is the only time I'm truly happy being alone. I meditate, relax, enjoy.

Just breathe.

Take a chill pill.



This week I've been home alone while the other half is visiting family, and I've had extra room on the sofa to spread out. Don't hurry back honey - I'm getting heaps done and besides, there's no room for you to sit. Although I miss your cups of tea, and you cleaning up the kitchen after I've made a mess.



This morning I helped out with the opening of the exhibition. It is a spectacular exhibition and my friends are exhibiting with me, and it makes me super happy that some super fine friends are hanging with my rainbows (that's Jenny Bowker's and Gemma Jackson's spectacular (and award winning!) quilts to the right of the photo). I ran into some old friends and they inspired me with their stories of old quilts and I'm going back every day to see the quilts, catch up with friends and also check out the trade hall. I've already bought some pretty special quilt books which I can't wait to crack open and check out. And my anxiety is mostly gone. I'm back to my happy self and I feel I can sleep for more than 4 hours tonight.

Quilting. It's therapy. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.

Rainbows and unicorns

In the not-so-distant past when I was still on Instagram, I spied a special little roll of fabrics that Polka Dot Tea Fabrics were selling in their Etsy store. They recommended that it be bought with some black chambray and never having used chambray in quilting before, I thought why the heck not?




There were 18 rainbow colours in the roll. What else was I supposed to do but make a rainbow quilt?



Bron and I took these photos up at Mt Stromlo last weekend before we dropped our quilts in for the Canberra Quilters exhibition. There didn't appear to be much of a wind when we headed up to the Walking on the Moon sculpture, and yet there was. It was so frustrating while we waited for the gusts to die down, but Bron got to work on her core muscles again so it was all good.



I quilted concentric 1/4 circles on this quilt. I knew I wanted to do that the moment I started putting the blocks together, but it didn't work the first time. So I unpicked, unbasted, got new batting, rebasted, marked a centre 1/4 circle, and started again. The lines are 20 mm apart and I used my walking foot and the guide. The Bernina walking foot guide is a total pain in the arse - it is far too long and gets in the way of the quilt you are trying to feed through the throat space. In another life I might buy a spare set of guides and then take to the extra length with a hacksaw.



The thread I used for quilting was a 40 wt, rather than my usual 50 wt. I wanted the stitching to sit on top of the quilt a bit, to add another texture layer. I think I achieved that.

I got a little whiskering with the quilting lines, but not enough that I don't want to put this on the bed. It certainly won't win any prizes though, but I honestly don't care - I absolutely love it.




These photos happened because we were defeated by the wind.





I wanted to show the back because I think it is pretty cool. I used four different Candy Dot fabrics for the back, and used the excess for the sleeve and the label. I was going to write directly on the back of the quilt with my pigma pen, but the quilt police (MY HUSBAND OMG WHAT JUST HAPPENED THERE?) said I "should go to the effort of a proper stitched-on label" (those were the exact words he used too. He scares me sometimes).




So yeah. I love this quilt. A lot. It's just so ... happy. While I was making it I was thinking about rainbows and unicorns and how sometimes people seem determined to a) not believe in rainbows and unicorns and/or b) kill your rainbows and unicorns with their misery and negativity. I work really hard to be happy and to lead a full life. I don't need negative nellies. No one does.



The working name for this quilt was "Don't f- with my rainbow" but I decided to keep it clean because yeah. Presbyterian.



So please allow me to introduce you to the family- and exhibition-friendly name of this quilt "Don't mess with my rainbow (or with my unicorn)". *quilt takes a bow*.

Pattern: My own design, using the traditional half-square triangle block

Piecing: courtesy of Rasant thread and a BlocLoc ruler

Fabric: 18 different Michael Miller Colour Couture solids, sold in a 5 inch roll; and black chambray. Backed in Candy Dots.

Quilting: Machine quilted, echo style, using Aurifil Mako 40/2 thread in grey (2605)

Batting: 100% cotton

Started: June 2014

Finished: August 2014 

Empty hands

One of the problems with working so hard for so long on quilts that are then just finished, is that you suddenly find yourself with empty hands. And for someone who is always sewing something, that feeling is a little bit weird. And I get really twitchy.

Sure I have heaps of projects I could start, or continue (and let's not talk about the amount of dress fabric stash I have waiting to be sewn!) but this time I've decided to concentrate on just one or two quilt projects at a time. Outstanding projects.  L O N G outstanding projects! In fact this year for the Canberra Quilters' UFO pledge, I pledged five quilts to be finished by the end of the year.

Of that list how many have I finished so far?

None.



I started solving the empty hands problem by pulling the Grandmother's Flower Garden out of the UFO pile. Rita from Red Pepper Quilts started it, then she gave it to me (in what may be the best trade ever) and now I get to finish it. I really want this to be a large wall hanging in the spare room, hanging opposite the beautiful painting that Cathy gave me.



I've been making lots of extra blocks, and side filler blocks to make this quilt a little longer and square it out on the sides. Give me a few weeks and I reckon the top could be done. My main problem here is knowing when to stop. The design wall does come in handy when working this out, so at least I know I have a finite number of blocks to make.



And the second project is something I can do when I don't feel like hand sewing. It's a quilt made from Oakshott cottons. I think I finished it almost two years ago, and now my husband would love to have it quilted and hanging in the study.



All I have to do here is mark out the quilting design, make the backing, baste it and get quilting. Should be a doddle. You know, except for that basting thing.

Lee is back from her summer vacation (ah summer - how I miss thee!) and so I'm back on the WIP train at Freshly Pieced.

Across the Universe - the official photoshoot

Over the last week I have worked really hard to get the last of the quilting done on my second quilt for the Canberra Quilters' Exhibition.



By Tuesday night very late I was done, and then I spent the next couple of nights binding, adding a sleeve and a label.



And I'm pleased to say that it's all done! Both quilts were handed in early this afternoon and I'm really looking forward to seeing them exhibited at the show in two weeks along with the quilts of my friends.

Before we handed our quilts in today, my trusty photographic assistant Bron came with me to Mt Stromlo Observatory to take photos of both my Across the Universe quilt (which I had never photographed before! Probably because I wasn't blogging when I finished it), and my second exhibition quilt.



If you don't know Mt Stromlo, it's an astronomy and astrophysics research facility in Canberra's west. It was pretty much destroyed during the 2003 Canberra Bushfires, but the Australian National University is slowly building it back up (although without research telescopes), and they've also kept some of the ruins there. This telescope was built almost 100 years ago. It's just a shell now, and it's incredibly sad to be reminded of the devastation of that terrible day. However it also reminds you that some amazing skies have been seen through the telescope over the years, and also that from destruction can come new life.



Photographing "Across the Universe" with it's zooming planets inside the old telescope was kind of perfect.

Bron performed incredible Pilates moves to hold up this quilt. At only 151cm in length, it is far shorter than both Bron and hairbun and we also seem to have acquired an aversion to shoes showing at the bottom of our quilts since we started to do our on-location quilt fashion photography! Talk about best photographic assistant ever.



(Don't worry - the other quilt we photographed required her to stretch her arms up way over her head and battle the stiff wind while holding a heavy quilt. Photos soon...)

Clams in the City

A couple of weeks ago I took some photographs of my friend Bron's amazing Finding Formation quilt for her blog. We had so much fun down by the lake that day taking photos, that we decided that all our finished quilt photos from now on should be on location.



Enter Tocumwal Lane in Canberra's CBD.



While we set up this photo, two policemen drove into the alley and came over to make sure we weren't tagging the fence or taking drugs or something.  Yeah - two ladies with quilts. We such trouble.




This is my Manhattan Clams quilt. I started this quilt straight after the Canberra Quilters exhibition last year - I'd purchased a clamshell die from the Sizzix stand, and finally I knew how I could showcase my prized half yard collection of Jay McCarroll's line "Center City".  I loved this collection from the moment he started releasing teasers on the web. It is just so busy, and chaotic, exactly like the large American cities I love so much.



I decided to intersperse it with some solids. The only solids I had on hand at the time were red, grey and maroon. The green was included much later - after a bit of time out, it went back up on the design wall and it really was missing something. So I added a little green here and there.  My clamshell versions of Madison Square Park, Central Park, Riverside Park and all those other little surprise parks you come across when traipsing across Manhattan.

The clamshells were appliquéd by hand. I did the first row of clamshells using papers, but appliquéing over paper hurt my arm so badly I changed the technique to using starch, Mylar and glue. I'm pretty proud of how I came up with the technique. One day I might share it here, but everyone then has to promise not to steal it, make it their own with their own photos, and then publish it in a magazine. Promise? (Yeah - that's happened. No I'm not at all bitter about it.)



I knew from the moment I decided to make this quilt how long and wide I wanted it to be, and how I was going to quilt it. Of course sometimes I can be so stubborn that it's hard to sway from the dream when the reality is something isn't going to be feasible (like when clamshells start veering to the right), but other than the length (it's about 20 cm shorter than I wanted it to be) everything is exactly as it was in my head. Actually it's better than what was in my head. I LOVE this quilt.



I matchstick quilted it. It took me 12 hours, eight bobbins and a one hour massage.I love the texture of it, how there is another dimension added on top of the clamshells. Like smog. Or smoke billowing from the bus headed down 42nd St. There is also something about doing really close, tight machine quilting on something that is completely sewn by hand that thrills me. It's like a flip of the middle finger to the stalest of quilting traditions.



I struggled to find the perfect binding fabric in my stash. The plain grey totally dragged the quilt down. I didn't have enough red, green or maroon. And the Center City fabric was just so busy the binding would have looked like a hindrance rather than a petite frame to the quilt. I found this Kei fabric in the grey section of my stash - it's so fine it's almost like lawn, but the geometric design looks a little like chain link fencing, and I thought that was perfect.



The backing fabric is a mix of newsprint and Sketch in black and white. I think the quilting makes the newsprint look crumpled ...



... and I like how in the late afternoon sun, you can see the shapes of the clamshells through the back.



I had some leftover clams, so I have used them for both the quilt label, and the mandatory address label for entry into the Canberra Quilters exhibition. (As an aside, I think appliquéing a label on something after matchstick quilting is too hard. Binding was bad enough. The label and sleeve is just ridiculous. Ridiculously ouch, that is.)



This is my favourite photo of the afternoon. I used painters tape on all the graffiti murals as I didn't want to destroy anyone else's work with regular clear tape. And I placed the quilt right next to one of my favourite sayings "Look Up More" (we shall ignore the "pimp" tagged right above it). I think at this point on stepping back I actually went "wow". I love how this quilt turned out, and I think the amount of work that went into it was totally worth it.

Thanks to Bron for this photo.  Love it!

Pattern: My own design, based on the traditional clamshell shape

Techniques used: Needle turn applique using Superior Threads Egyptian Cotton

Fabric: Center City by Jay McCarroll, and various solids in my stash

Quilting: Machine quilted, matchstick style, using Aurifil Mako 50/2 thread in grey (2610)

Batting: 100% cotton

Started: August 2013

Finished: July 2014 

Quilting Disasters (with a capital D)

I have a second quilt entered into the Canberra Quilters Exhibition. Entries are due in 8 days, and I'm trying not to panic. I was on schedule - I had already pin basted it, and then started quilting it on Wednesday night.



Holy moly did that sucker pucker! I did about 12 lines before I realised that was a lot of unpicking to do. I went to my fave quilting peeps, the Southern Cross Quilters on Facebook, and asked for advice. I received extremely good advice, but most of it I was already doing. Some I won't do (like spray baste). And some I could take on board.



And then in a fit of impatience I did something I really shouldn't have done. I changed the quilting design. I figured I would try some straight line diagonal quilting at different intervals. Like matchstick quilting, only bigger. Chopstick quilting, perhaps.

Another 14 lines and I realised that it was also puckering. I could have cried, but you know, it's just quilting. There are children in Gaza and Ukraine who have more reason to cry.*

And then I remembered I had purchased a straight line quilting class last week on Craftsy, presented by the wonderful (no really - she is wonderful. I'm not exaggerating) Jacquie Gering.  I went to the patchwork store after work, bought some 100% cotton batting (because it's stickier than the wool batting I was using), and when I got home I made a cup of tea, cracked open the Dairy Milk Block, and watched Jacquie while she re-educated me in the gentle art of straight line quilting while I unpicked the mess I made.



Six hours later I was done (I kept getting distracted watching Jacquie, and then our internet blew up because of the weather, and then I got distracted watching The Good Wife (how GOOD is that show? If the Diane Lockhart character isn't one of the most fascinating female characters on TV, I don't know who is. Complex. So complex)).



This morning the internet finally came back on, so I watched Jacquie while having breakfast, drinking coffee, getting dressed for work, and yes, even in the bathroom while putting my makeup on.



Best class EVER. Yes, even ribbon-winning quilters ( ha ha) can forget stuff they learned 15 years ago. Things like the fact it's a WALKING foot, not a running foot!  Ooops!

I shall be re-basting my quilt tonight. Fingers crossed for my second time around. I really want my quilting idea to work! I absolutely love this quilt - it has become my new favourite.

Oh! My blog turned 10 last Monday! And I missed it! Ten years! That's a whole lot of nothing talked about right there! Perhaps I should celebrate - after next Saturday perhaps!  A tutorial? A giveaway?

I'm joining in on I Quilt again today. Check out the other I Quilters on the Pretty Bobbins blog! 

*I'm not trying to be light hearted about the stuff that is going on in Gaza and Ukraine and elsewhere in the world. The truth is that this world has become a truly horrible place for so many, and I feel so helpless. So, so helpless. But all I can really do is pray, and (nicely) educate those who don't understand about the history. Even I didn't understand it fully until recently. So go - educate yourself. Pray. Protest. Despair. Think kind thoughts of others and say nice things. Appreciate this life that you have. Work to make the world nicer.