Feathered Dragons

My role as Dragon Lady has come to an end -- the quilt is done.


"Aidan (Feathered Dragons)"
Commission
Sept. 5, 2010
42" x 53.5"


Original design.
Machine pieced.
Hand-guided, free-motion quilting.

The Vault -- Or What Can Happen When Left on My Own

Stephanie and I made an overnight trip to Austin to mark the end of summer.  I go back to work on Monday, and her sons start school the next week.  She's just posted on Facebook that what happens in Austin stays in the vault, but I'm going to tell on myself.  Keep reading -- you'll even see a Far Side cartoon.


Wednesday, we visited two yarn stores, Gauge and the Knitting Nest.  Gauge is smallish and nice with a basic selection of yarns.  The Knitting Nest is located in a larger, airy space with tons of wonderful natural lighting.  The owner was friendly and helpful -- and there was plenty to look at.  We ate dinner at a fabulous (and inexpensive) Mediterranean restaurant called Marakesh.  It's on Congress, about a block from the capitol.  Yum, yum, yum.

We retreated to the hotel to knit -- which is required when you drive three hours to another city for the sole purpose of visiting yarn stores.  Two notes: We stayed in room 908, and we didn't have any alcohol at all.


I did make a trip to the ice machine but got a bit worried on the way back because I wasn't sure about the room number.  It didn't help that my key didn't work in the door of 908.  I knocked, certain that an angry, hairy man in a bathrobe would open the door and yell at me, but it was just Stephanie.  

Interlude: 

Just so you don't get bored because I don't have pictures of the places we visited, here's the yarn I purchased while in Austin:

Undyed merino wool for spinning (8 oz)

Habu yarn (greener than in the picture) made of silk and finely spun stainless steel.  I have grey merino that I'll combine with this to make a scarf.

Two sock yarns to make a fair isle scarf.  Pattern by Kieran Foley.

Return to the Vault

In any case, yesterday morning, Stephanie went to work out and took the good key with her.  I ventured downstairs to check out the outdoor pool and decided I wanted to swim.  On my way back upstairs, I stopped at the front desk and asked for a new key.  The woman asked what room, and I said "308."  Name on the account?  I gave her a name -- nope, not it.  I thought for a while and realized I was in room 908.  The woman was not impressed.


New key in hand, I went upstairs to change and headed back downstairs to take a huge, splashy jump into the pool.  Unfortunately, I first had to use my keycard to open the gate in the (matching) metal fence.  The directions for entering the pool area were very clear: Insert card, turn handle, pull gate.  So, that's what I did.  Nothing happened.  I tried again.


Do you remember this Far Side comic?





Well, a hotel employee walked past and told me I could just reach over and open the gate from the inside.  Again, I turned the handle and pulled.  Hard.  Nothing happened.  The guy leaned over and--Ta da!--the gate flew open.  Why could he do it and not me?  He pulled on the gate......I pulled on the fence.


But wait! The story continues.  I splashed around in the pool, dried off, and headed to the restaurant to order breakfast.  I read the paper, did most of a crossword, and enjoyed a humongous omelet.  The waiter brought the check, and I wrote down my room number.  Room 908, right?


Before we checked out, I made a final run downstairs to check email and look up directions to a quilt shop (The Quilt Store -- fabulous, bright, cheery fabrics) and check email.  I also returned the ice machine on the ninth floor. When I went back to the room, I saw room 910 and assumed I was in front of 908.  I slid my keycard into the lock and saw a flashing red light.  I tried again.  Nothing.  I thought, "Really, why can't this hotel make workable keycards?"  The answer is that the hotel's guest was trying to enter room 912.  Ay ya yai.

Of course, I immediately told Stephanie what I had done, and she laughed in disbelief.  We agreed that I do need a longer summer vacation, possibly involving my being locked into my bedroom.  We then went downstairs to check the bill and make sure everything was in order.  Interestingly enough, no breakfast had been charged to the account.  There were now two people behind the counter: the woman who had made me a new key and an extremely tall man.  The man dashed into the restaurant to check the receipts.  The woman looked at me and said, "You thought you were in room 308 earlier...."  


Yep.  I did.  And when I signed the breakfast bill, I wrote down that I was staying in 308.  Whoever stayed in that room had double the breakfast charges.  The woman behind the counter was still unimpressed with me, I was giggling, and Stephanie kept reassuring the man that she had never walked on a bill.  At least not until she used her credit card to reserve a room that I was sharing with her!


As we exited the front doors of the hotel, the man behind the counter yelled, "Remember, don't drink and drive!"   You, of course, know that I had had no alcohol at all.


All I could stay to Stephanie as we got into the car was this: "Are you glad your son was a student in my class for a year?


In my defense, it's still summer vacation until Monday, Aug. 8 at 8:00 a.m.  The kids don't come back until the 18th.  I have time to get myself sorted out.


Note: I did consume alcohol in the form of Dried Cherry and Pecan Bread Pudding with Bourbon Cream Sauce later in the day.  Try it yourself at the South Congress Cafe, which serves delicious foods during brunch and dinner.  I also had a goat cheese salad, but Stephanie and I both discussed the temptation of Carrot Cake French Toast.

There's Good News and Bad News

I was getting a little saucy, thinking the quilt was finally finished because it was in the wash.  Turns out, a good washing did some un-sewing.  The applique, which was fused and then edged-stitched, came undone in some places.  Unfortunately, there's not a reasonable way to un-quilt a quilt...so I had to improvise.  I did a zigzag stitch around each of the flowers.  The stitching is visible on the back, but I couldn't think of any other alternative.

The quilt looks nice with its binding:

The quilting turned out okay.  I centered the quilted stars throughout the quilt...but didn't think to check the placement of the quilting on all three of the flowers.

The good news:  The applique is firmly attached now, and I'm waiting for the momma-to-be to get home from work, so I can deliver the quilt!

Time for a Delivery!

Fortunately, I am not pregnant and don't have an impending labor pains; however, the Baby McCarty quilt is finished and ready for drop-off tomorrow.  It's in the wash right now, leaving me to wonder if anything will unravel or unknot in the next hour or so....Pics tomorrow.

Baby McCarty

A friend will soon deliver her first child -- a daughter -- and this quilt is for the crib (or floor or car).  I had exactly one month to finish for the shower in April, but I hadn't finished quilting, so I gave Mommy-to-be this photo.   The shower was a month ago, and the baby is due in three weeks.

Now, all the quilting is done; I just have to finish tying in the thread tails (maybe 50 to go?) and add the binding.

The yellow, green, and blue squares are from a layer cake (40 10" squares, precut), and the reddish pink is scrap fabric that I have used many, many times.  The flower applique is from a book called Flowering Quilts: 16 Charming Folk Art Projects to Decorate Your Home by Kim Schaefer.  I enlarged the pattern, then fused the applique to the quilt and edge stitched around the entire flower.

That "H" Sold!

I'm proud to say that "Give Me an 'H'" sold at the school's auction for $450.  To put that in perspective, the fox terrier sold for $2,300, and the year-long guaranteed parking spot at the high school campus sold for $200.  Of course, $450 is nothing compared to the parent who paid for a new school bus....

The t-shirts in the quilt, 14 in all, are from various Hill High School events from 2007 to 2009.  The t-shirt-cutting gods were with me when I brought the shirts home.  Magically, I used all 14 shirts, and they fit together without my needing to add in additional fabric -- and the color balance worked out!


Here's another poor shot of the back.

Fortunately, last weekend, I took a photography class with Franklin Habit.  Now I have a better idea of how to make a shot like this work out.  Next quilt, perhaps?

Here are some close-ups of the t-shirts, post quilting:

Go Hawks!!!

Give Me an H! Part One

Three weeks ago, on a whim, I decided to make a T-shirt quilt to donate to the school's auction, which is this Friday evening.  Zoom, zoom, zoom...and now I am out of gas.  I've worked on it off and on, just a few days worth of work, and I have about an hour's worth of quilting left.  Perhaps I can find someone to bribe me with chocolate or a $500 shopping spree.  Or, an iPad.  That would work, too.

I used some leftover Aurafil thread to piece the quilt--Aurafil hit quilting shops a few years ago, and many people love it.  It's fabulous for hand applique, but I will never again use it to quilt something.  It's too fine a thread; it occasionally breaks and frays when I'm ripping back a few stitches.  From time-to-time, the top thread doesn't catch as I am quilting, and I end up with a long stitch -- probably just over an 1/8th of an inch long.  I've just started sewing over those stitches, which is not a best practice, but that's okay for today.

I think the back looks quite striking in person, but I haven't been able to photograph it well.  In the photos, the backing fabric is quite distracting.

Only twenty minutes left in my break.  More later....

It's Actually Finished (Really)

...er, except that I forgot to make a label to put on the back.  So, it's 99.9% finished, but my sister has it in her possession now, which is what is most important.

Actually, make that 99.7%.  G. has to use a damp cloth to wipe off some of the white chalk I used to mark the border quilting.  I have to have another quilt finished by Friday, and she graciously said she didn't mind doing the clean-up on her own gift.  

The Valedictorian

On the borders, I did two rows of free-motion feathers, which I learned from Philippa Naylor, a master quilter. Mine are still a work in progress. The body of the quilt is covered in flowers, also a design I want to improve upon.

The backing fabric is what my sister picked out for a border, but it didn't match once the quilt was assembled, so it became the lovely backing.

__________________

My sister graduated from Paschal last year, and I made (am still making) this quilt for her. I used the idea presented in "How to Make a Too Cool T-Shirt Quilt," although you needn't buy the book for the pattern if you already have a good idea of how to

assemble a t-shirt quilt. I made thin plastic templates for each possible block size (any size divisible by 4" + 1/2". For example, the smallest template is 4.5" x 4.5"; the largest is 16.5" x 16.5". Another is 12/5" x 8.5").

Andrea Funk, author of the book (new version out now), directs quilters to assemble the quilt based on the size of the blocks, but she never mentions the importance of color. I ignored her suggestion and spent a lot of time balancing color and filling in blank spots with bits and pieces from my scrap bag.

Quilts from the Too Cool T-Shirt quilt company cost $378.00 for 20-30 shirts, including backing fabric and shipping!! I did my own hand-guided machine quilting. I would charge between $500 and $750 to make another. Technology is hard to beat when you're looking for the lowest price.

As of today, I have half the binding sewn down.

(Excuse the hairs in the photos...I have to wash away what my cats left behind!)

Hicks #32

My first t-shirt quilt (and not for me).