Adventures with Quilts, Computers, and 3D Shapes

Shutting Down

2011-01-23T09:14:00.000-08:00

It is time to close down this blog.

I don't do enough exciting new work to update enough to keep it interesting. Plus, the interesting stuff that I do do (ie. the crazy ideas that just might work) end up buried in a pile of posts.

I am moving over to a good old-fashioned website. If you want to know what I'm up to these days, check out my new 3dQuilt website. You'll be able to check out some patterns, and my newest projects and ideas.

Good luck. I will still follow some other people's blogs, and now you know that I comment because I have a real opinion, not because I am playing the "support blogging" game!

~Kirsten

Finished the baby quilt!

2011-01-01T01:24:00.000-08:00

Things are still moving much slower than they used to, but I finally finished it!

I also made matching baby quilts for Verity's cousins, Max and Khilan. I don't have pictures of those ones handy, though. The back (or what Verity would let me photography of it):

As a reminder: my in-laws found the brown solid when they were clearing out Verity's great-grandmother's cabin. The batik is from a shopping trip while my parents and siblings in-law were visiting. The orange solid was dyed by Kevin, because I was too pregnant to use dyes at the time.

I quilted each block separately and then combined them later. Each quilt has different patterns in each block, although I did end up repeating my favourites. Most of them are free hand, although you can probably tell where I used a walking foot.

It was fun and a good learning experience, but I am pleased to be done!

Kirsten

An Update

2010-12-19T11:56:00.000-08:00

Yes, I am still alive. Yes, I did have the baby, who is now 6 months old and the smartest, strongest, most beautiful baby alive, etc. etc. etc.

Having an infant turned out to be more challenging than I thought it would be, but we survived. Now she's much more independent and capable of incredible feats such as sleeping in her own room for 10 hours in a row. This means I can get back to quilting, rather than spending every spare minute creating more diapers or cloths for her!

To catch up on some quilts that I made before she was born:

This is a little one that I made for my boss' son, who was born 4 weeks after Verity. I got a serger just before she was born, so all of the seams are out and then flattened. It was fun, and really, really quick!

I also managed to finish my shattered dishes quilt:

It isn't laying very flat here, but it generally does. It's up on our wall now - I'm glad I got it done before I had Ver, because I suspect I would never have gotten back to it.

I finished the baby quilts for Verity's two new cousins, but the pictures are still back in Canada. I just need to finish the binding on Verity's, then I'll post a picture.

Finally, over the last couple of weekends I have worked on a sleeping bag for Verity. It's pretty big at the moment (I made the 1-year pattern, as I have noticed she keeps growing!). I quilted a tree onto the back, but the thread blended a bit too much so I traced the lines with a gold pen. On the front, I just made some quick quilting with stars in circles, doodles and swirls.

She is already sleeping in it!

- Kirsten

Still Alive!

2010-06-07T08:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's been a while. I am happy to say that I am still alive, and currently waiting for my overdue baby to arrive.

When it came down to a choice between:

- working

- gestating

- writing / blogging / spending time on the internet researching quilting
- quilting & sewing

I had to eliminate one. The blogging went. And now working seems to have eliminated itself, so maybe I can actually update!

Most of the sewing I have done has been much more boring than previously - various contraptions to keep babies warm and their poo in appropriate places. I have done some quilting, though:

Back in about Jan 2009, I had a baby shower for a friend. We each painted a 6" block (the top right and bottom left are fillers). I promised to put it together into a quilt before the baby's first birthday - in other words, I barely got it done in time!

Another quick project over the Christmas break:

I made this one because I wanted to see if I could quilt the circles. It is just a quick jelly roll quilt. It was my first time playing with batiques - they are really nice to work with!

We ended up giving this one to a co-worker of Kevin's that has a 1-year-old. She gave us tons and tons of stuff (car seat, bath, etc.) so it seemed like the least I could do.

There have been other quilts, which I will add later.

Kirsten

Baby Blanket Re-visit

2009-12-08T23:49:00.000-08:00

The number of babies (new and upcoming) in our family keeps increasing, which means I might have to spread the baby blankets out a bit - rather than 2 4x4 blankets, I will have to make another 4 blocks and make 3 3x4 blankets (but it is important that all cousins have the same sort of blanket, right?)

I have been working on it. It is a lot of fun to be able to try random, crazy stuff without worrying about the overall impression. Plus, I can repeat patterns I really like!

I now have:

For this one, I thought I would see how tight a spiral I can make with a walking foot. Turns out not very. I decided to fill the space with some spirals. Kevin thinks it looks unfinished - I may come back to it and put something in the corners.

I just wanted to see if I could do something really easy to fill the space. I really don't like it - I didn't even bother finishing it when I ran out of bobbin string! At least I tried...

Pointsettas from Leah Day / 365 Free Days of Free Motion Quilting. A bit season-specific, but I really liked working on this one.

Another one by Leah Day. Ok, but I don't like my "beads".

Stomach lining by Leah Day. Sorry that the chalk is so bright - I could barely see it on the quilt itself!

Some fun... I'm considering using this one on my Shattered Dishes quilt. I've done it before, and I really enjoy doing it.

Peacock feathers by Ferret. I really should learn how to do feathers... but I'm still intimidated. Apparently this is how she started.

From Machine Quilting: A Primer of Techniques by Sue Nickels - thank-you for the recommendation, Sylvia! I think I need to work on making really fine squiggles - this is about as small as I can go.

Another one from Sue Nickels. This one is really fun and easy.

An old pattern that I have used before (like 5 years ago, when I first tried free motion quilting!). Now that I know some other patterns, I don't like this one as much!

I am now half-way there. Like I said, I can start repeating patterns, which is nice - at least for the patterns that I enjoyed! I still want to master paisley, as well, so there may be some more variations on that one coming.

Kirsten

Trying to get ready for Christmas...

2009-12-06T11:33:00.000-08:00

I'm having trouble getting into the Christmas thing this year. It could be the nice weather. It could be that there are more interesting things going on in my life. It could be that I just really, really don't want to face the yearly trudge to the Toys"R"Us website to get angry about how condescending toys for little girls are.

We got out the tree. Our cool fiberoptics have burned out.

We tried shopping. It required a 2-hour nap to recover, and we didn't manage to buy any gifts.

Finally, I decided to make Nanaimo bars: a very, very Canadian Christmas tradition. And one of my few skills (making them, I mean).

Since every year someone ends up calling me asking for my recipe, here it is:

Base

1/2 cu. butter or margarine

1/4 cu. white sugar

5 Tbs. cocoa

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

2 cu. graham cracker crumbs (I use crushed digestive biscuits in Britain)

1 cu. coconut

1/2 cu. walnuts (I usually skip this)

Combine everything up to and including the egg. Put it in the microwave and cook (stirring frequently) until it has the consistency of custard. Then mix in the other ingredients, and press into a 9x9" pan.

Frosting

Make vanilla frosting/icing as you usually do, but add 2 Tbs. of custard powder. Spread over the base.

Topping

1/8 cu. butter / margarine

1 cu. chocolate

Melt the chocolate and butter. Spread over the frosting. Let solidify partially, and then cut into 1" squares.

Keep in mind the better the extremes between the bitterness of the chocolate layers and the sweetness of the frosting layer, the better they seem to go over!

To add a bit of a quilting flavour, when I made these for the Cambridge Quilter's Summer dinner, an elderly lady took the last one and wandered around the rooms asking, "Who made this?". I admitted to it with trepidation, but she sat down next to me and demanded the recipe. They really are that good!

Kirsten

The first scan

2009-11-30T11:51:00.000-08:00

I don't want this to become a baby blog (come on, this has happened at least 6 billion times before - so what?), but we had our first scan today.

A. I really am pregnant! Not faking it!

B. It's a thumb sucker. Apparently Kevin and I accidentally doubled up on those genes.

C. It did the same indignant turn over and try to ignore me thing that Kevin does in the middle of the night. Definitely his child!

Some decisions.

2009-11-28T05:13:00.000-08:00

I went with quilting last week. I think I made the right choice (especially since it started to rain as soon as I made it!). I am now done piecing my Shattered Dishes quilt:

I had to resort to the machine for the last bit of it, since my wrists were too sore to do anything by hand!

My next choice is how to do the border. I think it needs some sort of border, because otherwise it's a pretty busy quilt. I think I want to maintain something a bit 3D, especially since I am totally out of the neutral fabric! In that case, should the border come "outward" (or at least it looks like that to me...):

Which leaves plenty of other options (inward, outward, blue or orange, etc.)

The next choice will be how to quilt it. I have been trying to decide whether to quilt based on the original block (as I imagined it):

And then, of course, do something more fun in each of the blocks...

However, I think it could be fun to go "on point" and break the quilt up into 2 different blocks:

This could allow for some fun in terms of treating the blocks differently - ie. something really tight in the "cross" blocks, and something much looser in the broken dishes blocks:

Any thoughts?

Second Trimester Rocks!

2009-11-22T03:56:00.000-08:00

I have now gone through the magical transition from first to second trimester. Sweet, sweet bliss - I can think again! I can eat again! (in fact, I am now constantly hungry!) And, best of all, I can sew again!

For my friends who want to keep track of my measurements:

waist: 30"

hips: 40"

(both down 3% from my pre-pregnancy size - definitely no evidence of a bump yet!)

As for weight, it is hard to tell because I was switching scales and unit systems while I travelled, but at the lowest I lost 14 lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight. I am now at -12 lbs (I have never been so proud of gaining 2 lbs in my life!) The whole experience has made me realize that despite all the pressure for women to be thin, that extra fat is there for a very, very important reason - you may need to go 6 weeks without being able to eat some day!

More importantly, sewing!

While travelling, I managed to visit a couple of quilting stores in various cities. I am pretty embarrassed to say I can remember which stores in which cities (it is all such a blur...) But I did manage to pick up some exciting new supplies:

- glow-in-the-dark thread. I think this will be so much fun!

- a "Clearly Perfect Angles" mat for my sewing machine. I haven't tested it yet, but I think it will be useful.

- some "Soak" to try cleaning some of my blankets and quilts that are too large for my laundry machine. The website says it is for wools, but at the Birmingham Quilt Show they had a stand where they were recommending it for quilts. I may not test it until spring when the weather is nice enough to dry everything outside, though.

- some new marking tools and threads.
- Machine Quilting by Sue Nickels, as recommended by Sylvia. I have tried a bunch of the patterns from it in my quilt-as-you-go project.

- Design Essentials by Lorraine Torrence. A really good book - it has me re-thinking some of my designs. I probably need to re-read it, though, since I read it on one of the days when the nausea and vomiting was at its worst...

Wow. I hope Kevin doesn't notice quite how much I bought, especially considering I wasn't even quilting at the time. At least I have promised that I will make him a baby sling. And maybe some cute towels with bunny ears.

As for actual sewing, I have made some progress on the spheres quilt (remember the one that I was preparing specifically for all this travel? Ha! I have made it about 3% of the way!). I almost have Shattered Dishes totally pieced, but I am out of shape - if I hand sew for 2 hours or so, my wrist gets sore! I used to be able to hand sew for 8-9 hours straight!

I have quilted another 6 panels for my quilt-as-you-go project (the real story is that I am going to make Khilen, Kevin's new nephew, and our baby semi-matching quilts). Again, I could not work on that one to save my life while in my first trimester....

You may be noticing a lack of pictures. In my travels, I seem to have lost our card reader. I am sure we will track it down...

And now, the real dilemma - I have not cleaned or gardened in 2 months. A responsible person would get out the bleach and Comet. However, I have so much sewing I want to do!

Kirsten

I'm back... ?

2009-11-17T11:26:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it's been a while. I have plenty of excuses lined up:

A ton more travel. About 12,000 miles:

Cambridge - Heathrow - Chicago (I think - it's getting blurry...) - Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh - Charlotte - Cincinnati

Cincinnati - Chicago - Edmonton (yay! vacation time!)

Edmonton - Kootenay Bay (yay! at the cabin where I didn't even have internet access!)

Kootenay Bay - Edmonton (a couple more days with family)

Edmonton - Heathrow - Cambridge

and I finally got home last Thursday.

The other excuse is - I'm pregnant. I've been too tired to think. I've been too nauseous to eat. I've been barely able to function as it is - something as complicated as surfing the web has been impossible!

At least I presume I'm pregnant. I should be in week 12. However, the NHS has lost my paperwork, so they won't do a scan. I am unimpressed.

So. There it is. Maybe I'll get my energy back at some point and be able to get back to sewing / posting (or at least cleaning, which I haven't really done in the last 2 months...)

A Rant

2009-10-22T01:45:00.000-07:00

I have been too shattered from the travel to do anything like quilting (or exercising, or reading, or doing anything other than working and sleeping) so I have no real progress to report on that front.

I have come to a decision from this last trip: I am going to make it a goal in my life to never go to Houston again. I don't make such decisions lightly, but I think this one is required.

My reasons:

- missing the quilt show. I know that this is technically my fault, but I have decided to blame Houston instead.

- I tried to go running at 4:30 in the morning (I was still on British time). It was 80ºF / 24ºC that early. The dew point was 79.5ºF. ick.

- One of the lunches served at the company that I was visiting was Southern Fried Steak (ie. breaded & deep-fried steak-like product). The vegetable sides were pasta and rice.

- The course I was teaching didn't go as well as I had hoped.

- My flight out was delayed due to a problem with the plane. This meant that I missed my connection, and they lost my luggage. I got to the hotel in Cleveland around midnight, and I had to go to my meeting the next day in my clothes from the day before, without my notes. I blame Houston.

- My co-worker got stuck in Hurricane Gustav last year.

- Some of the biggest news while I was there was about Barbie's cankles. I know this was a US-wide problem, but really now...

I always thought that I would like Houston. After all, I grew up in Calgary, and at least one kid in my class every year would get transferred there (or at least their parents would be). Most of those kids (that I have tracked down on Facebook) stayed, so there must be some advantages!

I'm sorry to anyone from Houston, or anyone who likes Houston.

Kirsten

Another 11,150 miles

2009-10-19T11:59:00.000-07:00

Cambridge - Belfast - Cambridge (28 hours back home), then Houston - Cleveland - Cambridge.

I got home yesterday, and have been catching up on sleep ever since. Maybe I'll have something more interesting to say once I have caught up a bit. That is, if I have caught up before I take off for the States again next week...

Travel...

2009-10-09T11:50:00.000-07:00

Back from Belfast last night.

Off to Houston tomorrow morning.

So tired I want to cry.

week 1 of insane travel schedule done.

And the travel begins...

2009-10-04T23:19:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow evening I'm off for Belfast, and then Saturday I'm flying out to Houston. Hopefully I'll get some piecing done, but probably not much blogging...

The status of Shattered Dishes:

Two more blocks to piece, and then putting the whole thing together. I'm really happy with how it is coming out!

Only 2 more blocks on my FQM project (had to get courses ready this weekend rather than quilting, like I really wanted to...)

And my sad, sad news... You may have noticed that I am going to Houston next week. You may have also noticed that the International Quilt Festival is in Houston next week. It is not a coincidence, but it is a poorly planned one... I did convince our customers that they should do their training that week with the plan to stay on a couple of days afterwards to peruse the show. I was very, very excited about it.

But I didn't look closely at the dates. I had seen some dates around the 10th and 11th, as well as some around the 15th and 16th. I thought that a show that big would be a week or two long. I was asked to visit some clients in Cleveland on the 15th and 16th, and I thought it would be fine.

And then I looked up the details... The 10-12th are a trade show, closed to the public. The show itself starts on the 15th. When I'm in Cleveland. I'm so sad...

(and a little bit relieved - I find the following exhausting:

- running training courses

- flying back and forth over the Atlantic (two trips across in 3 weeks...)

- quilt shows

- life in general

so maybe this will save a bit of sanity...)

Baby quilts

2009-09-29T23:34:00.000-07:00

Kevin's family is going through a baby boom (welcome to the family, Kailen!) so it is time I get some baby quilts made.

I have been really, really enjoying Leah Day's 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Filler Designs - every day she adds a new filler free motion quilting design. Check it out - it's really cool!

I have never learned how to hand quilt (although I finally know how to make a quilter's knot! hurray!) and I often feel like my FMQ lets me down - I can do a couple of patterns, but it is definitely is my weakest area in quilting (as well as maybe general laziness when it comes to doing enough squaring).

I decided to start a "quilt as you go" project, to try out a bunch of these FQM patterns and to improve my skills. I have cut out 32 blocks:

I have sewn around the orange center to stabilize, and I have started quilting! It is lots of fun (although I have already run out of my selected thread... I'll have to pop into town tonight after work...)

Please keep in mind that I am not nearly, nearly as good as Leah at FQM...

I have tried Sea Oats:

Matrix:

and Flame Stitch:

The orange centres are just some old sheets that I got Kevin to dye, and the edges are some fantastic batiques that I bought while Kevin's parents were in town - it is my first time working with batiques, and I now understand why everyone raves about them! The backing is some old, old fabric that Kevin's parents found in his grandparent's cabin in the mountains - so it really is a family quilt!

** Update: the name has been revised to Khilen, pronounced Kyle-en. The pictures have proven that he is a very, very cute little boy!

Deoxyribonucleic acid

2009-09-26T07:14:00.000-07:00

Yeah, I know I should be finishing the binding on the wedding quilt, or working on a baby quilt, or generally doing something more productive than making a new pattern to ignore... But it's pretty cool, isn't it?

The wedding was fantastic, and they really liked the "starter quilt" - perfect in case it rains on their honeymoon! I managed to negotiate another week's grace to finish binding the quilt, so I guess I have something to do while I watch "the X-Factor" tonight.

A return to being me

2009-09-24T03:28:00.000-07:00

I took Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off to help my friend with her wedding, but the commitments for Wednesday and Thursday have been pretty light. Instead, I have ended up taking the time to recover from the last couple of weeks of insanity.

I got their "quilt pack" started - the central squares are cut and the triangles for the corners are printed. I am giving them enough for 16 8" blocks - enough to get them started and playing, but not as intimidating as a full bed sized quilt!

I still want to write up some instructions, but I will need Kevin to take some pictures for the complete effect.

I also cleaned. I cleaned a lot. I think a lot of my frustration was because my home was so chaotic. I can now use the bathroom without feeling guilty about how badly it needs cleaning! Hurray!

With all the dirt, I managed to clean away my frustration about our guest (who is now gone). His bedsheets are cleaned and the room is back to being my sewing space.

Of course, I baked an apple pie. And I let the neighbour's kitten attack my feet repeatedly. Slippers are important protection.

Quiet Spaces

2009-09-20T23:31:00.001-07:00

I am one of those people who really needs my own space. I hated living in a dorm during my undergrad. I really need time where I don't need to worry that someone wants anything from me - even if it is just friendly conversation.

Maybe the truth is, no matter how "customer facing" I am at work, I am still just a quiet nerd at heart, who just wants to get on with my life in a dark basement.

This is part of the reason I don't mind the insane travel I have to do for work - when I'm travelling on my own, I get the flight, the hotel rooms and the drives that are completely mine!

I didn't have my quiet space this weekend (or in the last couple of weeks, for that matter) and it is starting to drive me crazy. It's sad that I'm so desperate to lock myself in my sewing room for a couple of hours... or take over the kitchen table and do some cutting... or turn on a bad movie and do some stitching...

Obviously, I haven't gotten much sewing done this week. Our guest did leave, but it has gotten to the point in the year where it is too dark in my sewing room to do anything when I get home from work (a new lamp is in the mail!). I did get about 20% of the sphere pattern printed and cut out.

I managed a bit of time in my sewing room to bind the wedding quilt on Saturday morning, but then we went to another wedding, I had a bunch of friends over in the evening, and the following morning I ran in a charity race. By the afternoon I was too tired to think straight (yay naps!) and then it was evening again... and our guest was back (I hadn't realized he was coming back for 2 days), so I couldn't slip away like I wanted to. I hope I wasn't too passive-aggressive with him... but that's what happens when I don't get my quiet spaces...

Quirky

Inspiring Pictures - Buildings with unusual angles

2009-09-16T23:13:00.000-07:00

Going through my folder of photos, I have found a lot of pictures with buildings that don't use 90º angles.

I spend a lot of time thinking about perspective. When you look at a cube close-up, it no longer looks like a cube - the sides elongate and the angles distort:

Every time I set up a quilt pattern with my computer program, I try to chose the right perspective to twist the angles away from the usual pattern, but maintain the correct size to the viewer.

We usually look at buildings in perspective, since we are so much smaller than them! I find it really interesting when architects alter the angles on their buildings to change the perspective, rather than changing the perspective itself.

Take this building in Amsterdam, for example. The door is a proper 90º from the ground. But the entire building is tilted over, even though it looks like I am taking the picture from below it (which, admittedly, I am, but not as much as it looks).

The Dutch are fantastic for this sort of game. Here is another building (I can't remember the city!) with some fun angles.

Tokyo, Japan. I love how this one "spins". Another pattern that I would love to make some day. It also gets smaller at the top (as well as the perspective), so it looks much taller than it actually is.

Seoul, S. Korea. I have a lot of pictures of the curves on roofs of traditional Oriental buildings - it is such a satisfying "flare". I wonder if there is a geometry to it like the "golden ratio".

Finally, of course, a pod hotel (Tokyo again). It seems so dated and 60's now... But it is also a lot like the "inner city" patterns some people make.

Coming Along...

2009-09-13T03:00:00.000-07:00

My last week has been crazy, but a quiet weekend has helped me recover my sanity.

The quilt show went really well. It was the first time I had really shown other quilters my work, and I got some really great feedback (phew!). We got a lot of people through the door, and raised a lot of money for the group and for charities.

We also had Norah McMeeking come and do a talk on landscape quilts on Wednesday night. Her Bella Bella quilts look so amazing, and yet the geometry is so simple. Really fantastic! I want to try out some of the techniques she mentioned one of these days...

Project updates:
- wedding quilt - I did a bit more quilting, and have tied off the loose ends. Just squaring and binding to go (the project for next weekend!)
- wedding project - I have decided to give them enough blocks to make pillow covers. Then, if they like it, they can go on to make a quilt top. I hope that is less intimidating than a huge pile of fabric!
- bulging blocks - I have done some machine sewing, but now I have lost my sewing room, so not much further movement.

As for the next project... As Kevin had the strongest opinion (and, well, I do have to live with him!) I went with the sphere. I have added a background (stolen from the compass idea) and put in some stars around the edges to use up some of the empty space in the print-outs.

I couldn't make the sphere as large as I had hoped, since I only have so much fabric I could use up. The sphere and edge will be 52". The stars are 8", so the complete quilt will be around 72-76".

I got some beautiful, shiny pima cotton sheets from a second hand store a couple of months ago and dyed them:

(so all of the blue in the plan is a great big lie). I am sticking with the "sun" theme, and painted some yellow and red into the fabric, although it isn't very bright. I have no idea what I will do about the background yet - I will think about it when I get there.

I have also put together most of the pattern. All that leaves is the printing, cutting, sewing and quilting!

Kirsten

My Next Project

2009-09-05T23:58:00.000-07:00

Considering:
- I am almost done the quilt for my friend's wedding
- I am about to lose my sewing room for a week
- all my other project is at the point where there is only machine sewing left to be done
- I have an insane amount of travel coming up in October,

I think that I should start on my next project.

I am leaving the compass for now, since it will require a lot of thinking/shopping/dying the right fabrics. I really want to do something geometric after working with bulges for so long.

Up for consideration are:
Another sphere. Note that I did sit down and figure out the pattern from the ceiling in Dali's museum - thank goodness for insomnia! I have tried to make spheres like this a couple of times, slowly iterating towards the right technique. I want to make the sphere itself about 60" wide (which makes most of the pieces about 6" x 9", I am happy to say!

Kevin really likes this option. He wants me to map on "land" colours according to Earth (or a similar planet). I am also considering making it in yellow/orange/red, and quilting it in corona and swirls for a sun. It could be a really fun one!

Second option: A systematic study of rotating cubes. Each rotated cube would be scaled to the same size as a 2" tumbling block cube, and would be in a larger hexagon with a 4" side length, so that everything would map onto a classic tumbling blocks pattern (like I did for my "truly tumbling" quilt).

I would make it with Japanese folding, so that it would be pretty modular and easy. I have big ideas for how to dye the fabrics.

This one makes more sense if I want to post patterns on my website (when will I ever get back to that?). Also, if any of the dyeing etc. goes wrong, I can throw a bunch of bits into a baby quilt for the upcoming niece or nephew.

Any thoughts?

(Off to the last day of the quilt exhibit!)

Kirsten

Cambridge Quilters Exhibition!

2009-09-03T11:13:00.001-07:00

A quick post after an exhausting day - Kevin and I just spent 8 hours putting up quilts for my local quilt group's show. For such a small group there is some really amazing work - I'm so lucky that I can learn so much from the people around me. I'm also really, really lucky for Kevin - at 6'4", he was a hero for putting up all the really high quilts and helping out!

My Inverted Horizon:

And a detail to see just how stressed I was to sit around quilting such tiny spirals for hours and hours and hours... Thank goodness that project is over at work!

And my Exploding Blocks:

Everyone in the Cambridge area should come along! Friday & Saturday 10-5, Sunday 10-4!

Excessive Squiggles

2009-09-01T23:24:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was a Bank Holiday, which was really, really nice. The hen party for my friend (Anna's) went really well , although I was incredibly stressed out about it! Sunday I cleaned and did some shopping, and then Monday I sat down at my sewing machine and worked on Dan and Anna's wedding present.

The wedding is on the 25th, but I have another friend coming to stay with us from the 10th to the 22nd, so I will lose my sewing room :-( That means I really need to get to finishing this guy!

Have you ever sat down and just needed to do squiggles? I couldn't help it... It feels like the last couple of weeks were very linear. Maybe I'm just strange.

Anyway, this has been the fate of my bulging blocks. They are now a throw for the bottom of a bed. It's 18" wide, and probably about 100" long. The squiggles overpowered the bulging blocks, so I tried to enhance the bulges with some shading... which didn't work very well.

Then again, I always dislike my quilts for about 5 years, after which I can look and them and no longer see just the mistakes!

A little bit more quilting (I have to finish the shading now that I have started it!), tying the knots, and then squaring and binding. I am not sure how I am going to get it done in time, but that's life.

I am trying to decide if this should just be part 1 of the gift. When we were talking to them a couple of weeks ago, they said that they were considering making a quilt together as a project for the first year of their marriage. They know nothing about quilting, and Anna has only ever hand sewn! Would it be cheeky of me to use up some matching fabric, and print a pattern on it for them? I'm thinking of something really simple like a snowball pattern (she's an excellent painter, and could paint pictures in the centres).

Or is it lazy to make them make their own quilt?

Anyway, tomorrow I help out setting up the Cambridge Quilters' Exhibition. Hurray! The first time I have put my quilts into a show!

Inspiring Pictures - Looking up part 1

2009-08-28T23:32:00.000-07:00

It will be a crazy day today - I am organizing a "hen party" for a friend. Unfortunately, I am not yet sure what a hen party is supposed to entail. Hence, I am going North American on it and organizing a bridal shower. It should be fun, but I am really stressed about it!

I am happy to realize that I have a lot more pictures of looking up than I have of looking down. Hence, I will split this into a couple of posts.

The first picture is from the Dali Museum in Spain. Everyone must, must, must go to this museum - it is full of his work, work that he liked, and work that was inspired by him. There will be a lot of mention of this museum in the "inspiring pictures" posts.

This glass sphere was in the roof. Now, I have thought a lot about how to break up a sphere into smaller bits. You can see in my first post that I have tried to piece a sphere, but I was never happy with it. This ceiling sphere is cool because it looks like equilatoral triangles, but they sometimes have 5-fold symmetry. I could spend hours trying to figure it out...

Some day, I really want to make a wall-sized semi-sphere quilt, so that it either makes the room larger (if it looks like it is going into the wall) or smaller (if it looks like it is coming out of the wall).

For something a little bit more mundane, this is the ceiling of a ski lodge where I stayed in Switzerland. I could totally make a pattern like that. Someday I totally will.

For something more "artsy", I took this picture while sitting under an umbrella in a cafe on a sunny day. It gives an effect something like that Bushfire Sunset quilt from Birmingham. Mom - we could make something like that together - what do you think?

To bleak. This was last March in Seoul, S. Korea. There was a "yellow dust alert". It is fine sand in the air, blown over from China. My father has been in Bejing during a yellow dust storm and he said he couldn't see the other side of Tiananmen Square! I would love to capture in a quilt the repetition of the buildings and architecture and the shades of grey and beige. Obviously, not a quilt about beauty.

Since I live in Cambridge (and have a magic card that gets me into the Colleges), I must mention King's College Chapel. I spend a lot of time sitting in the Chapel, staring at the ceiling while friends and family go through the displays (which I have seen many, many times...) There are only 4 churches in the world with 3-D buttressing like this. It is truly astounding. I would love to make a quilt of this, and convey just how small you are in the face of God (I may not be religious, but there is no way you cannot feel that way when you go into a large church or cathedral).

Ok, off to do the last-minute party preparations! Then, long weekend! Hurray! So much quilting to do...

Kirsten

Getting into trouble...

2009-08-25T23:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, not really. In fact, the exact opposite.

Kevin (or Canadian Attack Beaver as he likes to be called on the internet) is out of town for work, so I am on my own.

It turns out that I really need him to tell me to stop being anti-social and hang out with him in the evenings - otherwise, I get completely absorbed in random things like math and forget to do practical things like eat.

I have been playing with my compass pattern. I am no longer sure if I want to make it for my future niece/nephew - Kevin has suggested that maybe we should meet this new family member before we start making him/her gifts. As it allows procrastination (and I have a new, totally different idea anyway), I am going to bow to Kevin's superior understanding of his own family.

Anyway, I started by adding some flying geese around the edge of the compass. Not that hard to do... and I really like them, especially when they are pulling the compass against the border. I also tripled the layers the border, so that I can have more fun with the colours later.

From there I thought I would try making the geese go outward. This, of course, ended up being outward and inward. The first attempt came out really "flat"... I really didn't like it. And then the endless math came in.

I spent an entire evening trying to fit a sphere to the inner and outer ring. I finally got it working... and it looked pretty much the same as the flat / cone version.

The next day I realized I should be fitting a torus to the ring (I have never, ever claimed to be cool). This way, depending on which part of the torus I align on, I can get the ring flaring inward or outward. It took an entire evening of calculations, but I'm really happy that I got it working!

I'm still not sure which edge I will use - I still like the regular geese as well... and then there is the background colour. I am imagining things in blues and purples right now. I am not sure if it will fade to black, indigo or purple on the outside. First, though, I have to decide how I will get the colours to "swirl". I think I can handle 8 shades before I drive myself crazy, although I was surprised by how much I like the 4-colour variation. I have had fun with trying to draw the eye to various sections of the edge.

Ok, enough fooling around. I really, really have to get ready for work!

Kirsten

The Birmingham Quilt Show

2009-08-21T23:19:00.000-07:00

I spent yesterday at the Quilt Show in Birmingham. It was a great day out! I don't know if I am allowed to post pictures of the show, but I have scoured their catalogue and website and can't find any advice. Hence, they are here for now...

(From Russia with Love by Christine Russell, in the contemporary quilts category. The catalogue says that it was inspires by the floor in the Summer Palace, St. Petersburg. My in-laws were there a few months ago and I asked for a copy of the picture of that same floor because it was so awesome!)

The Quilts by Hand Yahoo group that I subscribe to recently had a debate about art quilts vs. traditional quilts in shows, so I was especially interested in the comparison in this show.

(New York Beauty by Menal Bridge, in the traditional category)

The definitions of the different quilt categories are
Art Quilts: "Quilts for walls, where the emphasis includes original design concepts, ideas or emotions balanced by quality of execution and visual impact."
Contemporary Quilts: "For quilts made from ideas derived from the traditions of quilt-making, but given a new approach. Use of original designs and contemporary fabrics, using any technique or combination of techniques, to include quilting (hand, machine or combination)."
Traditional Quilts: "For quilts using a traditional design or pattern. Quilts may be wholecloth, pieced and quilted, appliqué and quilted, or a combination of piecing, qpplique and quilting. Quilting may be hand, machine or a combination."
(from the 2010 application form)

(Bushfire Sunset, by Lisa Walton and Nic Bridges, Group Quilt Category)

The discussion on the Yahoo group (if I may summarize), was that quilt shows seem to have a lot of "art" quilts (especially paintings that have been quilted, or excessive use to bondaweb and then quilted). Many of the art quilts have poor technique, or can barely be called quilts at all. As one person put it, "We don't need the fine art world's rejects".

Birmingham had about 2:2:1 Art:Contemporary:Traditional. The traditional quilts were all very well done. The contemporary quilts were generally pretty good, although there were one or two disappointments (great impact from a distance, but when you look at how they were done, it was all cheating). The art quilts had about 15% real disappointment - quilting threads not even tied off, too much bondaweb, etc.

(Hastings by C. June Barnes, Art Quilts category)

However, I found the contemporary and art quilts more interesting. In the art quilts section I encountered a quilt that I had to turn to the woman standing next to me and ask, "How is that done?"

This lead to a great discussion of the technique amongst several people, and the very high recommendation of "Stitching to Dye in Quilt Art" by Barnes. If a piece can create so much engagement, shouldn't it be in the show?

It turned out that Barnes was sharing a gallery with some others, so I got the chance to see some more of her work. It is fantastic! Completely different from what I do, but I can't wait to try it out! Of course, I did buy the book, and read it on the way back.

All of this feeds back into a long-term discussion I have had with my mother. My mother loves art, and has dabbled in it for years. However, she has never found quilting interesting. As the discussion has gone, Mom is interested in the "overall impression" of a piece, where quilting (and I) are more focussed on fine details and how to build up a pattern.

(Stars in the Universe, by Averil Menzies, Contemporary Quilts category). When I showed my husband pictures last night, this one was his favourite. He went on and on about how cool it is. I said, but the technique isn't very interesting - I have the book (One Block Wonders by Maxine Rosenthal) and it is really easy to achieve this effect. Kevin responded, so what? the composition is really good and the impact is really amazing.

I must admit, on numerous occasions I almost walked by a quilt because the overall impression wasn't very interesting, but then some detail caught my eye and I realized the quilt was much more subtle.

I think that the traditional quilters need the art quilts, because there is so much to learn from them about impression. Similarly, there is so much to learn about core technique from the traditional quilts. There will always be entries that do not meet the standard in terms of technique or impression - however, these will not win!

To conclude, a great day out, and I have left the show with ideas for at least 3 new quilts that I want to start now, now, now! Things that I need to improve:
- Technique. Man, quilting is difficult.
- Colours. There were so many interesting combinations!
- Overall impression to fine detail ratio. I need to chose the balance that works best for me.
- Trying out new & crazy techniques. I can't let myself get into a rut!

Kirsten

Some Pictures of Inspiration (looking at my feet)

2009-08-19T22:44:00.000-07:00

Sylvia asked if I find a lot of inspiration when I travel. Admittedly, most of the travel I do is "fly in - teach a course - find a quilting store - fly out", but there is still time to see some interesting stuff! I have also had the chance to visit a country or two on vacation...

I think I will start with interesting sidewalks. Yes, I do take pictures of the ground if I find it interesting. I also feel sorry for the people who travel with me! But when you think about it, tiles and stones can achieve similar patterns to quilters...

Somewhere in Amsterdam. Cobblestone streets seem to use this pattern a lot (we also have some in Cambridge). It always amazes me that they can make so much curvature, but they are still using blocks! I think we definitely need a quilt pattern based on this.

Same idea, still Amsterdam (I think), larger blocks.

Outside a train station in another small town in Holland. I love how they just used a small squiggle to give such a strong impression of water. Again, we could do that with quilting, couldn't we?

In the gardens of a castle (or ruin of a castle, which is now a city park) in Tavira, Portugal:
I took a picture of this one because it gives the impression of a star, but isn't any of the traditional star shapes. To be honest, the pattern was made of tape and I think it was by some workmen fixing the place up rather than anything mysterious or ancient...

Finally, the ground outside a subway station in Tokyo. I was surprised that I have never seen a Drunkard's Path laid out like this!

Next post I will look up a bit.

Kirsten

Success!!

2009-08-17T23:29:00.000-07:00

I have now achieved something that most of my family and co-workers already know how to do. Hurray!

I now have the domain name "3dquilt.me.uk", and have added some files to it.

Considering it isn't even 7:30 in the morning yet, please don't say anything about the poor attempt at a homepage for now!

From the post on the weekend, you can download the pdfs of the pattern from:

Light Turquoise
Medium Turquoise
Dark Turquoise
Light Pink
Medium Pink
Dark Pink

The locations of the files may change as I get myself organized, but I will come back and update these links as needed.

Phew. Off to work and more computers.

Kirsten

Ugh.

2009-08-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

After trying (and failing) to import some data all day and then trying to figure out DNS codes this evening, I need a break.

A pattern that I am considering for a new niece / nephew that is coming in October:

Subject, of course, to approval by my husband, whose side of the family the baby will be on. I am thinking of this in a 27" block, with some octagons and stars around it (+ 4.5" border) to make 36" x 54".

I have run a quick trial of the pattern, and I may even be able to use up some of my jelly rolls with the star and ring!

Ah. Much more fun than networking.

Kirsten

Uploading a Pattern

2009-08-16T03:08:00.000-07:00

has turned out to be more of a challenge than I had hoped. I am currently waiting for my domain name registration to go through so that I can actually post the files. Meanwhile, my flat is about to be overrun by men pretending to be Conan, Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, etc. (it's Dungeons and Dragons Sunday & they play with funny voices...)

So I am going to write the post now, and add in the links later.

Here is the quilt thus far. I wasn't sure what the block name would be - it was pretty close to "broken dishes", so I decided to go with "shattered dishes". I am going to offset two bulging blocks with opposite colours, and fill the spaces with flat blocks.

The Bulges
If anyone cares, the equation I use for the bulges is z= if(0.99^2-x^2-y^2<0,1,w^(0.99^2-x^2-y^2)), where increasing w increases the bulge. I will eventually post for...

w=0

w=3

w=6

w=9

w=12

w = 9

I have been working on w=9. The total blocks are all 18" x 18", and the sides will always align to a 6" x 6" block (geometry is so cool).

The pattern is broken into 7 pdf files:

Overview, with a map of which piece goes where

A Light, with the light turquoise pieces (4 6.5" x 9" sheets)
A Medium, with the medium turquoise pieces (4 6.5" x 9" sheets)
A Dark, with the dark turquoise pieces (4 6.5" x 9" sheets)

B Light, with the light pink pieces (4 6.5" x 9" sheets)
B Medium, with the medium pink pieces (2.5 6.5" x 9" sheets)
B Dark, with the dark pink pieces (5 6.5" x 9" sheets)

And, if I can get it to upload, the Excel file.

Remember, the piece number is in the corner, and the adjacent piece is along the side. You can print directly onto the fabric, or make templates.

I am going to go hide in the sewing room for a while....

Kirsten

The Method

2009-08-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, I can't find the software for my ftp site. So, no patterns just yet - only a description of how I put my quilts together.

Step 1. The program
It's just an Excel macro. I think it's pretty neat. It takes the corners and sides of a 3d object, projects it onto a plane, calculates shading, and then breaks it out into a quilt pattern. I've been working on it for a couple of years. The first step is to make the shape, play with different angles and perspectives, and come up with something I want to make!

Step 2. Choosing the fabrics
I usually dye my fabrics - that way I can get the shades I like. I haven't perfected it yet, but it's fun to learn...

Step 3. Printing the pattern onto the fabric
3a. Make the freezer paper backing
I try to make my patterns from 6.5" x 9" pieces. Hence, I start by cutting about 10-20 rectangles from freezer paper. I try to keep them under some heavy books, as they tend to curl up (which eventually jams the printer).

Note that the freezer paper backing can be re-used numerous times, from project to project. Also, note that I only use a single piece of freezer paper - I tried stacking them up, but that really doesn't work!

3b. Iron the freezer paper onto the fabric
No steam, etc. etc.

3c.Trim the fabric from the edges of the freezer paper
Hey, I never said it is rocket science.

When I'm not playing with a sheet, I try to keep it underneath a heavy book or between its sheets - keeps everything flatter to prevent jams in the printer!

3d. Print the pattern
I'll post about the required computer settings later, but for now, set the paper size to 6.5" x 9" and run it through as if it were regular paper. This step took a long time to get "good" at - but I haven't gotten a jam in the last 20 or so sheets I've run through. Keeping the sheet flat is key, along with running them through one at a time.

4. Cut out the pattern
Pull the fabric off the freezer paper (and store for the next project!) and cut the pieces out.

I promise to post a pattern for others to test out this weekend!

Note: If you want to know more about how to print onto fabric, check out the Inklingo website and read Linda Franz's book.

Kirsten

Norwich and the Norfolk Coast

2009-08-10T23:38:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend visiting friends in Norwich, which meant lots of inspiration but not much quilting. We did the tourist in Norwich thing on Saturday, complete with shopping and visiting the castle. We also visited an awesome Victorian garden... sometime I wish I had the patience for gardening! (at least with quilting, if I put it aside it doesn't do anything!)

We spent Sunday walking down the beach (my husband, the birthday boy):
More sewing and programming will be forthcoming!

Kirsten

Patterns: A Rant

2009-08-05T12:17:00.000-07:00

The Basic Technique
Before I go on any rants, I should explain how I make my quilts.

I wrote a computer program in Excel to generate the quilt patterns. It takes 3D shapes, rotates them, calculates the shading, and breaks them out into patterns. I should also confess that I have no life and enjoy math a bit more than I should.

I then stiffen fabric with freezer paper, and print the pattern onto the fabric using my inkjet printer. I cut the pieces out, and sew them together using a combination of machine and hand piecing depending on my travel schedule, the difficulty of the pattern, and what kind of mood I'm in.

I always quilt by machine. I can't make a quilter's knot, no matter how hard I try.

Some Notes on Patterns

I spend a lot of time thinking about the best way to generate a pattern (note that I have never claimed to have a life...). This is the system that I have come up with:

the bias: I have read a lot of opinions about how to deal with the bias of the fabric, and the conclusion seems to be "don't". Obviously that doesn't actually work. Hence, I rotate my pieces so that the longest side is along the grain.

cross-hairs: I don't know if I can call my corners cross-hairs. I mark the corners and the mid-point of every side with a line that is perpendicular to its side. That makes it easier to check that the sides line up properly.

sewing lines: I like sewing lines. I think mine are a bit thick as it stands, and I am testing out how thin I can make them before I miss them...

numbering: The piece number is repeated in each corner. The neighbouring piece is indicated on the mid-point line. This system makes it really easy to put everything together. I can't bring myself to use any other system any more.

Admittedly, my algorithm for finding adjacent pieces still has a couple of bugs, so sometimes it doesn't find the neighbours. Work is ongoing.

corners: Obviously, my pieces are irregular sizes. Sometimes I end up with sharp corners. They can be really annoying when adding 1/4" edge, so I cut them off.

wasted fabric: it happens. I am never going to be as efficient as Linda Franz, due to the nature of the shapes I make.

wasted ink: considering all the money I spend on fabric, gadgets, books, etc, I refuse to worry about spending some money on inkjet ink. That said, I get my cartridges refilled, which saves a lot of money.

Soon I will get together a pattern that I am brave enough to share.

Kirsten

10,280 miles later

2009-08-02T00:44:00.000-07:00

I am back from an insane trip:
Cambridge
-> Heathrow
-> Houston
-> Atlanta
-> Greenville
-> Atlanta
-> Heathrow
-> Cambridge
in 6 days.

At least I got lots on hand piecing done (the total block will be 18" x 18"). I thought the shading was too pale to get the impression of shadows, but it turned out better than I expected.

I am going to tweak the pattern a bit and then print it out again today (with the inverse colours). If I am happy with that, I will post the pattern.

Kirsten

Trying this quilt blogging thing again...

2009-07-26T03:12:00.000-07:00

Introduction

I am trying to blog again. I tried about 1-1/2 years ago, but I got distracted and gave up... So I have started again.

I wrote a program to make my own quilt patterns a couple of years ago. The problem was that the patterns it makes are too complicated for any method short of hand paper piecing, which takes forever and is incredibly wasteful.

I did make some fun quilts that way:

("Truly Tumbling", 105"x105", took me about 2 years to hand piece the center and outside border!)

("Inversion", 72" x 40". I did finish it (but haven't had a chance to take a picture). It is currently waiting to be in the Cambridge Quilters 2009 Exhibition)

And still in progress:
("Bulging Blocks", 14"x14" each, will eventually be joined together to make a "footwarmer" about 80"x18")

However, I wasn't making much progress this way. I tried some other techniques for getting my patterns into fabric, such as traditional paper piecing:
(UFO, if I ever finish it, it will be 48"x48", but I got fed up with it...)

Or some random other experiments:

The Revelation
Everything changed when I found out about Inklingo on Linda Franz's website and read her book last Christmas. Finally, a way to put together these patterns that I have been struggling with... and even machine piece parts of them! The method involves printing the pattern directly onto the fabric using an inkjet printer. The fabric is stiffened using freezer paper.

I immediately altered my program to create patterns that could be put together this way. Printing off the patterns was a bit frustrating at first, but I think I have it down now. I had several international trips for work over the next couple of months, so I had lots of time to put the pieces together on long flights. The planned pattern was:
And the (close-to) final product:
("Exploding Blocks", 52" x 52". I did finish it (but haven't had a chance to take a picture). It is currently waiting to be in the Cambridge Quilters 2009 Exhibition. I love that the corners of the diamonds still form a lattice of equilatoral triangles!)

I also made a little quilt for the "President's Challenge" at the Cambridge Quilters 2009 Summer Dinner:
("Watched Pot", 15"X13". If you can zoom in, check out my triangle corners - sweet... The ring is rotated 45 degrees around the horizontal axis, and then the purple background is rotated a further 15 degrees around the vertical axis. I think if I did it again I would have left the vertical rotation off...)

Of course, my eyes are bigger than my stomach and I always have more ideas than time. The project that I am currently working on (as well as the bulging blocks) is a play on a traditional pattern:

I have printed off one set of pieces, and I plan on doing another set in the inverted colours so that I can do some swapping. The total block is 18"x18", and the final quilt should be 36"x42". I am doing more international travel (off to Houston tomorrow...) so I should make some progress on the flights!

The Blogging Plan
I do hope to post some of these patterns, and pattern ideas that I don't have time to make myself. We'll see how it goes!

Kirsten