Cat video, quilt update

Hello faithful reader, it's a new decade!

I have all these quilts I want to make, but sometimes it takes me a long time to get the composition right. I did an art exchange with my friend Tom, because I really like his drawings and decided that might be a good way to get one to put in my house.

Here is what he sent me (I got it framed here):



And here is what I sent him (the composition was tricky and took me longer than expected):



Right now I am working on something where the composition is easy, it's a quilt for my nephew Jack, and it's about my chaotic life in New York and a search for pattern:



Bonus: here is a video (!) of my cat. It might as well be a photo, she doesn't do anything:

Inspiration - old clothes quilts

Via this blog, but really they're from Gees Bend.

The baby quilt from the last post is almost done--well, it needs to be layered and quilted--maybe this weekend I'll finish it.

Blitz

This quilt is remarkable in that I have had zero compositional crises while making it. The layout is pretty much finished (this photo not up to date) and I think I'm ready to sew, barring some minor minor changes.

In other news I have some weird spots in my vision that my eye doctor said were because some sack of gel has pulled away from the back of my eye---but not in a bad way.

Also I planted seeds on the weekend!

Interlude quilt - true blitz (?)

I have plans to start K&T's wedding quilt in the near future---however, this little baby quilt looks like it will happen first. I need a warmup project, it's been a while since I've really made anything.

A true blitzquilt by my definition should be done in under three weeks. Can I finish by April 25? It's going really quickly so far...

The extra thing in the top right is a nascent pillow cover (made with leftovers from Daniel's quilt), perhaps I'll finish that one up too. I love spring, it makes me want to make things again.

Cat interlude, some random photos

I think I might make this! The baby kitten can always use something else to scratch.

Speaking of the baby kitten, did I show you this pic? A friend of my roommate Molly took it before Christmas sometime. It captures one of her usual expressions (mild impatience?).


Also, I am working on some pillow covers for the couch, using up some leftovers. And I will be, it seems, making a quilt for Kate and Tim for their wedding! I am waiting to hear whether they will give me carte blanche on colours (all white? Hm).

Merry Christmas, finished quilt, some snow

Dear everyone, merry Christmas!! I am in Ottawa with the fam. It's always a bit strange being home, because it's at once extremely normal, since this is family and we've been this way forever, but also completely not normal, since my regular life is far away in a very different (and wonderful) place.

Daniel's quilt is DONE (I finished it just in time to give it to him), and I'm overall pleased. My dear sister was kind enough to take some actual photos of it so you can see the colours (when I took it out of my suitcase she was kind of surprised that it was so bright).

We have also included some snow in the picture, for your entertainment. Man I'm glad I live somewhere that doesn't have weather like this (also where I don't have to drive).

What to work on next??

The quilt is shrinking

So many tiny pieces means the quilt is shrinking A LOT as I sew... I might add a border to it, if I have time, or... maybe not.

I saw these tiles in my friend's apartment building, I really like this:

I'm going to start sewing this tomorrow

I changed the quilt

This is now the correct design direction. I am so relieved.

The quilt is at a different tricky stage, where I like so much what I've done so far that I'm worried about screwing it up. I feel like I need to keep the same colour progression but just broaden the areas... We'll see what happens.

Quilt update + some random photos

Daniel's quilt looks basically like this right now. Am trying all sorts of different things for the in-between parts. This one below is just for colour trial, I'm not convinced though. (The actual squares I bought at Melanie's Closet when it was still in the old Lettuce Knit space in Kensington.)

Responses

You are all kind! I love it. I really like one of the links posted by Anonymous so I'm putting the picture up:



Modern stained glass is one of my favourite things; here are some shots from last summer in Germany (the War destroyed a lot of the original stained glass, but I like the replacements way more):











My true favourite modern stained glass is Marc Chagall's Jerusalem windows; someday I will see them in Jerusalem ("next year"):



Note that photo from this guy's flickr.

Visual thoughts on new quilt

These colours are not right yet, says my instinct, but here is what the current quilt now looks like:



Bear's paw on a giant scale. It's going to be a twin size for my nephew DANIEL:



(seen here in earlier days with his Christmas dishcloth.)

I am currently inspired by this quilt from Quilt Otaku, I might incorporate some of this design somehow:





Here's a today picture from Bryant Park, does anyone else remember that episode of the Cosby Show where they played petanque?

New quilt, ESB, a picture I like

Inspiration: orange and blue zigzag

I like these colours and this design (also reminds me of Charlie Brown -- the shirt) from the Purl Patchwork blog. (PS Purl Patchwork has such wonderful fabric, I am so happy to have a good quilting store in my city.)

Searching for inspiration

"my circles" making progress
Originally uploaded by stitch n' knit

In the midst of composition angst during that last quilt, I remembered that a good thing to do when out of ideas is to look at other people's art. The solution ended up coming from a picture of another book inside this quilt book I have (I do not have enough quilt books and would love love to have some of Japanese quilts particularly...). Totally ghetto picture but totally solved my problem.

Somehow I lost all my good quilt bookmarks switching computers when I moved, but I'm on the hunt again. I'll post anything I find that's interesting. I like the circles above, esp the mix of broken-up and whole; the colour scheme is kind of 70s (I don't know whether that's good or bad).

Toronto and back again, including blitz finale

Ok everyone. I went to Toronto this past (extended) weekend, and saw all sorts of wonderful folks in the correct sort of doses (meaning I could actually talk to most of the people I saw, instead of seeing them all in one go and talking to no one at all in a satisfying way). It was good to see you all! And it's good to be back home in New York too.

And also, I DID FINISH the blitzquilt in time to go! My boss, who is extremely kind, gave me my birthday off work, so I stayed home and quilted. Perhaps a strange choice for a birthday but I did finish making something beautiful.





I am very happy with it and am happy to report that the new owners (well, the baby isn't born yet but the parents) are too.

Also had crazy dreams most of the time I was there. And, got pictures of the cross in my Manning Ave backyard, odd that I never took any while I lived there for 3+ years. Here's the one at my current apt. Wonder if this trend will continue with whatever my next apt is (no, I'm not moving).

Slow blitz & my apartment

I just had lunch with Kate and Tim, who are the latest in the growing ranks of Toronto people who are not just engaging but ENGAGED. Crazy!

Current blitzquilt is above, though "current" is a bit of a misnomer since the quilt is off the wall (literally) and packed away, and the sewing machine is in a box. No, I am not moving. Some nice men are giving my apartment some new ceilings, which should last a couple of weeks (at least...). When I left home my roommate's ceiling was coming down and the poor baby kitten was hiding deep inside some shelving (she was so hidden that I actually thought she had somehow got out of the apartment and went all the way up to the roof to look for her). When they do the living room I'm going to bring her to live at the office.

"Blitz" is also a bit of a misnomer, this one is taking a while. I keep changing the composition, and it keeps getting CLOSER, but it's still not done.

Bonus -- you have to look closely to see the message from my drycleaner:

P.S.

One more to go?

blitzquilt4 (leftovers)

I am making a blitzquilt using the blocks rejected from my past four quilts. The one rule is that I'm not allowed to cut any new pieces. It makes for a strange but very fast project.

It's also a very satisfying project. I feel psychotic and hyper and unrestrainedly excited these days, since I'm moving to NEW YORK CITY really soon (but I'm not sure exactly when). (I am thus purging a lot of my stuff so if there's anything in the world that you want, ask if I have it, and if I do you can have it for free.)

This quilt is so low pressure and so quick that I feel like I'm accomplishing something. Also I'm sure I'm not getting enough exercise so it's burning off a lot of excess energy. (Maybe I should cut back on the coffee.) Furthermore, it's distracting me from all the waiting I'm doing right now. I'll let you know how it all (ALL) turns out.