Meeting My BFF....

I've talked before, often, about my quilting mentor & dear friend, Jules, over at And Sew On... She is the friend for whom I did my first ever quilt block, a true Labor of Love (and worth lots of laughs, now...), when she needed a few more signature blocks done so she could complete her President's Quilt (she was president of her quilt guild one year). 

She is the friend who encouraged me to go ahead and try quilting. The friend who didn't laugh, too much, when I called or emailed with mistakes and silly questions. The friend who I sent all my quilting questions to, knowing she'd have the answers. She has been my long-distance, via email & you-tube videos (that she has made just for me), quilting mentor.

But even before that, she was my friend. And over the past however many years (neither one of us can quite pinpoint when, exactly, our friendship started) she has gone from "on-line acquaintance" to "email/blog buddy" to "dear, dear friend." I rather dislike using the term Best Friend, because I feel badly for the other good friends I have -- there are about three ladies in my life who I would love to claim as my Best Friend. I feel pretty equally attached to all three of them, I think/hope they all three feel the same way, and so I hesitate to say "Jules is my best/dearest friend" because even though she is, so are these other two women.

But. Hopefully these other two women know that they are also loved & cherished, and won't be jealous when I say, Jules really, truly has become a very dear friend over the past few years. She and I email daily. We talk on the phone sometimes, though not often, due to conflicting schedules. We know each others' secrets, for the most part, and keep them. And yet, until this trip to Texas, we'd never met in real life.

Jules was brave enough to get on a plane and fly from Illinois to Texas, just to meet me in person. We were both rather giddy over the prospect. To have a several-years-long connection with someone, and finally meet in person.....it was a dream come true for both of us. She prepped by sewing a tote bag to serve as her carry-on/personal item on the flight. I prepped by packing up all of my "works in progress" quilt stuff, plus my red white & blue quilt, so she could see these things in person. And in case we had time to sew. (we didn't, but it was important to me that she see my projects in person, so she could give me her honest opinion, not just thoughts based on photos).  I was the eager student, proud & nervous about showing my teacher what I'd done. It was a little bit hilarious as I kept her up late the first night she was in Texas --- I kept pulling out fabric and half-done projects and just babbling on and on and on until I finally realized she was maybe a little bit tired. Oops. What can I say, I was excited!! My mentor, the person who taught me everything I know about quilting (even if it's all been via email) was finally there, right in front of me!! Of course I had to show her what I'd accomplished!! Right??? Right.

me, showing the partly finished Argyle quilt top to R;
this is pretty much what it looked like when I showed it to Jules, but a repeat the next day ;)

I picked her up at the airport, waiting patiently at the bottom of the escalator I thought she'd come down. She did, we saw each other at exactly the same moment and I'm pretty sure there were tears in 2 sets of eyes right then. It was surreal. Out to the car we went, she met The Chemist and The Boys, we went and dropped them at my mom-in-law's house and wound up eating dinner there and then.....Jules & I went off to our hotel! Yes, not only did I get to meet my BFF in person, finally, but I got a few nights away as well. Sweet!!

Our first morning together we got up early, ate breakfast and took the boys to see my other very good friend who happens also to be mom to my boys' best friends. She reads Jules' blog and also quilts (she is the one who encouraged me to start with a jelly roll & jelly roll pattern, as it would minimize the cutting I'd need to do) and was delighted to meet Jules as well. So fun, colliding worlds on purpose like that. We had a blast together! For dinner that night my Mom met us for Mexican food, which was a treat. Love introducing my favorite people to each other!

R, me, Jules

The next day we did some touring around --- I took Jules to Galveston Beach, as she's rarely been and wanted to dip her toes in the ocean. I did clarify that it's just the Gulf of Mexico, not the actual Ocean, and that was fine.

umbrellas at Stewart Beach

Jules & me at the beach!

Then she came with me to the Lego Store with The Boys -- what a friend to tag along on that! From there, we went by NASA. I forget that NASA is a big deal, but our hotel was on the same road as the Space Center, and we passed the outdoor rockets on display. Jules wanted a photo, so I turned into a driveway/street that led to a parking lot and asked the security guard if we could just park and take photos. He directed me to Rocket Park, a small parking lot that lets the public access, free, the building where the Saturn 5 Rocket is kept as well as a few other rockets. Sweet! We wandered around, took photos, read the signs that tell about the Apollo missions, and just enjoyed the day.

Jules' first visit to NASA

one of the outdoor rockets that prompted us to stop in the first place

For dinner that day I dragged Jules to a local legend burger joint, Tookie's. Originally opened in 1975, then closed for a few years after Hurricane Ike, Tookie's reopened in 2011 (I think). Best burgers in the area, if not the entire state. As Jules' husband is a pig (and corn) farmer, she was delighted to try The Squealer (my favorite as well) which has bacon mixed into the ground beef before the patty is formed. YUM.

The Squealer, a Tookie's Special
plus their world-famous onion rings
for perspective -- the burger is 1/2 pound of beef.

On Jules' last day, we picked up my sewing machine! She took a few photos of me having my lesson, wandered the quilt shop while I played, then we shopped some before heading out for lunch, a stop at the local park and I took her to meet my grandparents. I had to show her all the things, places & people I'm most proud of, and the Gallery is one of those places; my grandparents, some of those people. I was thrilled to introduce my dear friend to some of my dearest family; sadly, we both forgot to take pictures of that.

me & my new machine :-)

getting my lesson

Galveston Bay, as seen from the park near where I grew up

From there, the long sad drive to the airport. Boo. That was not fun, and there were tears again. Not the happy kind this time, either. I do not enjoy goodbyes. At all. BUT. It was amazingly wonderful to finally meet my dear friend in person, and I am so so so so glad we got to have those few days together! What a treat!!! Cherished memories, for sure.

Houston skyline

Tomorrow, I'll back-track and show off more pics of our visit to see 3M and their mom and then...finally...the rest of the fabric finds! Stay tuned!

One Giant Leap....

As I mentioned in my last post, while the boys went on to the second cave tour, Kim & I took The Adventurer, who was surprisingly all "adventured out" by then, to get ice cream. We stopped at a small quilt shop on the way, where we browsed a bit and I bought a little fabric. Not a ton, not at this shop. Some fun fat quarters (quarter yards of fabric, cut differently than a normal quarter-yard) and that was all.

From there, Dairy Queen for an ice cream treat for my patient sweet boy. Grandma Kim is pure genius when it comes to kid-appeal. She has set the bar high for birthdays; already my Artist is lamenting the fact we won't be at her house for his birthday this year, and wants to know can't I make a cake as good as hers rather than buy one from the store. Sadly, no; pretty sure if I tried to bake and make my own frosting it would still not turn out quite that well.

Back to the ice cream, this was Kim's genius idea. She very stealthily told my sweet boy that if he'd sit quietly in the quilt shop, we'd get ice cream after. This was announced to me somewhere around the time we walked out to the parking area when we were finished shopping. Here I'd thought my plan (let him take his hand-held video game in the store) was the reason he'd stayed so quiet; nope. It was all for the ice cream. Does she know how to "Grandma" or what?? (yes, yes she does.)

After our ice cream break we headed back to the campsite. Only, we got detoured past a 2nd quilt shop (HeartSong, in S. Dakota). And that.....that was a little stroke of destiny, or fate, or serendipity, or something. Because I wasn't planning to buy stuff. I knew that once we got over to Texas, I had a very large purchase to make (a new machine, already reserved for me) and that I had very little room in my budget to actually buy fabric. Plus I knew that once I got to the TX shop, I'd surely find fabric I needed to buy; that store is huge and amazing. So, I wasn't planning to buy very much at all.

Until I walked in and saw this:

This quilt stopped me in my tracks. Jaw dropped. Mouth, hanging open. One syllable escaped my lips -- Wow. Actually, I think I actually said "Holy Cow....." and then just stood there. Gazing. Van Gogh's "Starry Night" -- in fabric. Wow. Even now, I can stare at the photo and just be mesmerized. This quilt....this stunning beauty....would not let me out of its grip.

Starry Night Quilt -- HeartSong Quilts, Hot Springs S. Dakota
http://store.heartsongquilts.com/stores_app/browse_item_details_photos.asp?Shopper_id=7776913624557776&Store_id=811&page_id=23&Item_Id=2281&Photo=One

I glanced at the pattern package; pattern and the templates for cutting those curved bits. Not a bad price, $30 or so, but more than I wanted to spend. Add in the 16 fat quarters needed, plus the border fabric....this would eat up my entire fabric budget for the trip. Only, I knew I'd still buy fabric in Texas, so what this really meant was it would put me over budget by a significant amount.

See, per my request, The Chemist gives me an allowance. This is really just a line in the budget that designates how much I can spend freely each month without worrying I'm impacting the need portion of things, and is an easy way for me to be sure I'm not overspending. The Chemist, being the generous guy he is, gives me a pretty good amount. And, being the understanding guy he is, he accepts and allows the boys and I to overspend on our US trips; i.e, he gives us an advance on our allowances. Still, I didn't want to go too far into the future. He wouldn't care, this was my own personal limit.

So, I tried to ignore the quilt. I wandered the store several times. I probably walked the perimeter, staring at bolts of fabric, three or more times. Without truly seeing a thing. I sat with The Adventurer who was getting a little bored. I watched Kim shop. I looked at all the other quilt samples on the walls, which I'm pretty sure were beautiful as well, but I don't remember. I didn't really see anything. I begged for something, anything, to grab my attention away from the quilt, which was money I didn't want to spend. And on a kit. A kit of all things!

Now, my friends assure me that this was not truly a kit. The fabric was not pre-packaged with the pattern and templates. It wasn't. I got to choose my very own fabric. But. Something in me -- perhaps the artist or designer side of me, perhaps just the part of me that has always rebelled at being the same as everyone else -- really rebelled at the idea that I was going to buy a pattern, and make it in the same colors as the quilt on display. I was going to copy a quilt. A quilt that, so prominently displayed, probably a lot of other people were copying as well. I was going to make something just like everyone else. I shuddered, cringed, and figuratively ran from that idea. It was this, even more than the money, that I fought against as I walked through the shop, trying so hard to find inspiration somewhere else, anywhere else.

Eventually, as The Adventurer's patience wore thin, I gave in. I picked up the pattern. I shopped for the fat quarters. I decided I would do some moons and some suns, so I chose half of my blues as daytime sky colors and half as nighttime sky colors, and half of my yellows as bright noonday suns and the other half as silvery midnight moons. I assured myself that this was enough of a tweak so as to not be doing the exact same quilt. I browsed the dark blues looking for a border fabric, and while the helpful attendant cut my fabric for the border, I gave one last glance around the room.

the pattern, and the fabrics I chose
the border fabric is on the bottom

And then I saw it. Clay roof tile fabric, perfect for my Brazil quilt. I had walked past that fabric at least 10 times and yet I never saw it; that is how distracted, how hypnotized I was by the Radiant Suns pattern, the Starry Night quilt. I quickly requested a yard or yard & a half, I forget which, of the clay tiles fabric as well. And then I stopped looking and paid. Even more than I thought it would be, but I knew if I left that store without that pattern and fabric, I'd spend the rest of my life trying to recreate it anyway. I knew that I'd regret not buying it way more than any regret about over spending, and I was right. Even as I came home and entered my purchases into our budget program, even as I calculated when I will next actually get an allowance, I sighed a happy sigh that I did, in fact, bring home my Radiant Suns/Starry Night non-kit.

It was a small step; something most quilters wouldn't bat an eye over. And some quilting friends have assured me that there is much to be gained from following a pattern -- knowledge. Tricks. Tips. Skill-building. And I know they are right. They've shown me photos of block-of-the-month and quilt-along projects, where everyone really is doing the same thing and yet the finished projects all still show the mark of their maker in their uniqueness, whether subtle or bold differences. And I am reassured, even though for me, it was a giant leap.

Have you ever experienced a "must-have" situation like this? What gripped you so hard you had to buy it?

The Argyle Quilt Gets Its Argyle Trim...

I've hit a point in the Argyle Baby Quilt that I wanted to update and post pictures. I have finally finished the 2nd of the three panels, including adding the trim that  makes the "argyle" look, and with that addition I now, finally, love the way this quilt looks.

Since my original design had been inspired by totally different colors, I was slow to warm up to the lavender & purple of  this quilt. I still really want to do the pink & black version, I just need a good excuse, but meanwhile I've added the sweet floral criss-cross and now....now this quilt sings to me.

As I still have one more panel to go --- eighty more pair of triangles to cut, pair up, sew into rows of 20 pair each, join those 4 rows into a panel, add the trim and, finally, join that 3rd panel to these 2 panels --- it's good I'm loving the quilt so I stay motivated to finish. I am WAY past my self-set deadline, which means I am going to have to fly on the quilting portion, but so be it. Either that, or the recipient will get it at the end of my US visit instead of the beginning. Time, and my ability to focus and get to work, will tell. Wish me luck; I am going to need it!

Oh, and cheer me on, 'kay? Isn't it looking lovely???

the 2 panels all laid out on the dining table.
No, I have not squared it up yet. Yes, I will before I add binding. 

close-up of it all laid out, before the 2 panels were sewn together

and a closer close-up of the focal section, once the 2 panels were sewn together.
the 3rd panel will be identical to the one on the left, completing the argyle look. 

The Reader Tries to Make Art....

I've been sewing away on a baby quilt (updated pictures coming soon, I promise...) and watching some quilt show DVDs while I sew. A technique featured in more than one of the DVDs is fabric collage, where the quilt artist layers fabric in an interesting way, using glue or basting stitches or even fusible iron-on stuff to hold the fabric in place before quilting over the top of it.

As I sat home on the 4th of July, with The Chemist away on a business trip, I did a lot of reminiscing about past 4th of July celebrations we've had.

There was the time that The Chemist, The Writer and I (while pregnant with The Artist) went with my dad to watch the fireworks over the St. Louis Arch, and had quite an adventure driving home. I adore the pictures I have of The Chemist and The Writer, a wee little toddler at the time, watching the fireworks together.

Or before that, the time I watched fireworks over the river in New York City, the summer I spent there during college. I have a picture of a young family -- mom, dad, daughter -- watching together. The father has his daughter on his shoulders, and all their faces are pointed at the sky watching the splendor explode above us. I look at that now and then look at photos I have of my Chemist and Writer from that first 4th of July in St. Louis (visiting, not living there) and it makes me smile that the same scene that so warmed my heart when I was but a young college girl was later duplicated in my very own life with my very own husband and child (and later, children). Such joy.

Then there was the time we went with friends, our last US 4th of July before moving to Brazil, and it poured. I'm talking soaked us to the bone, drenching, pouring, rain. The pocket of dry weather that  a certain someone said would be over us during the fireworks? Apparently the pocket didn't get the memo. We sought shelter under a thatched roof structure, watched through the pouring rain, and laughed our fool heads off all the long walk back to the ferry that took us back to the car and back to our friend's house.

There was a bittersweet memory of the first 4th of July living here in Brazil, when homesickness swept over me totally unexpectedly. And then a very dear friend called, her laptop video camera rolling, from the fireworks show she & her kids were watching. She laughed with delight to realize just how huge a gift she was giving me, I cried with joy to realize what a precious friend she was, and then she turned her laptop so that the fireworks were front and center and for 15 minutes the boys and I were able to watch fireworks with some of our best friends and for just a moment to feel like we were home again.

There was also the first 4th of July after losing Kelly, when I sat down to put on 1776, a musical on DVD that Dad & Kelly gave me as it was their traditional viewing choice for the holiday, and had since become mine as well. Except that year I couldn't watch it and instead went to my room and cried.

After that, we worked harder at making memories for the boys so that despite growing up here in Brazil, they'll still have a fondness for this celebration of American Independence. Last year we made strawberry/blueberry pancakes for brunch, and every year we put up random decorations that the boys color, draw, create. All year long we have various red, white & blue tributes to Texas in our home, but for The Fourth we remember we're celebrating the USA, not just Texas, and try to shift our focus accordingly.

So this year....with The Chemist away on business, what could I do? We decided our celebration would wait until he returned, but I wanted to somehow mark the occasion. Which brings me back to the beginning -- fabric collage. I pulled out  my bucket of scraps, a small piece of scrap batting, and some washable elmer's glue sticks and I just began layering until the emotions of remembering seemed to be properly expressed before me.

Ode to America, original fabric collage
approximately 8" x 11"

I was going for a general fireworks kind of feeling, not representational but abstract; the general idea being splashes of color lighting up the night. I layered, and glued, and stitched, and just did whatever felt right. Then I put some fabric on the back and began to quilt through all the layers, tracing various lines through the fabric (which completely don't show up, but that's okay). Then I wrapped the edges in binding, surveyed my work and smiled. 

My boys asked what it's supposed to be; I gave them the only answer I could: "Pretty."  Hard to put into words all the abstract feelings that went into the piece, but there it is. I like it, and while my original intent was that it would become a permanent part of our "4th of July Decorations" stash, I decided I like it year-round so now it's on the mantle over the fireplace where it will live, until. Until when? Until I tire of it or make a new one, I guess.

So, what about you? Anything ever move you to create something just on the spur of the moment like that? 

And now, for some fabric....

The day I took my machine to the machine doctor, I also got to pick out some quilt fabric as my Mother's Day surprise. I wasn't expecting The Chemist to pay for my selections, so I was a bit more conservative than I might have been otherwise.....maybe that was his plan all along!

I got a few "just for fun" fat quarters (small pieces of fabric that are a quarter-yard, cut wide instead of long) (or something like that....), but the fabric I'm going to show you today I got meters and meters of!

First, I chose this for the back of The Writer's quilt -- perfectly fun & funky for a teenage boy, I think, and busy enough to hide what I'm sure will be imperfect quilting stitches when I reach that stage of things.

The Writer loves it.
Said it reminds him of puzzle pieces. Which makes him think of Lego. Which makes him think of Minecraft.
Which all makes me smile, because my brain makes the same seemingly random jumps & connections.

And then....then I saw this. My eyes nearly popped, my jaw hit the floor, and I knew I had to have it.

The sidewalks of Brazil, in fabric.
Which just so happens to be what inspired my entire "coming soon" Brazil quilt.
The sidewalks, I mean, not this fabric.
Match made in heaven, I tell you. 

This, my friends, is a rendering in fabric of the sidewalk pattern that is so famous here and seen alongside nearly every street I've ever walked in all of Brazil.

This, my friends, is the exact pattern that inspired my Brazil Quilt design. This, my friends, is serendipity at its finest, the perfect fabric to back my Brazil Quilt, when it ever gets its turn to be made.

I will likely tea (or more likely, coffee) dye it so that it becomes off-white/beige/tan instead of stark white, but other than that it is absolutely perfect. I was, am, so excited to find this! My crafty-sewing-quilting friends will get it; I hope all of you understand.

Have you ever found something that you knew you "just had to have"? What was it? How did you know? 

Can't stop yet....

I have finally finished the first section of the baby quilt I'm working on -- yay!!!

The sewing machine doctor was unable to get my sewing machine up and running, or, at least, not in a sustainable fashion that continued working once I got it home. I think my machine doesn't like me very much, as it tends to work fine for other people. I'm following all the instructions in the manual, but clearly I just do not have a way with this machine. It was working at the machine doctors; he showed me. But once home, it was back to Broken/Breaking Thread City again.

I've temporarily given up, will wait until I can get her to an authorized Bernina dealer and try again, and meanwhile will keep on sewing by hand. I actually enjoy working by hand, as it is so much more portable. I can bring my sewing to the dining room table and stitch while the boys do school, or while the family watches a movie I'm only half interested in. I can bring it out to the sun room and sew in the sun when I'd otherwise be freezing (there are no outlets out there, so I couldn't take my machine to the sun room). I can come to the empty desk in the computer room and hang out and chat with the boys while they compute. In fact, when I do get my machine up and running, I will likely take over the empty desk as the perfect spot for my machine, here with the family rather than off in my sewing room in the back of the house.

Still, going by hand is slower. I'm not complaining, at all!, because I do enjoy the hand work. I did my whole first quilt by hand, right up until I had Kim quilt it for me. So, I can do this. It means that The Writer's quilt is on hold until I finish the baby quilt, as I have an August deadline on that one. To finish the top, get  it backed and get it quilted. By hand. But I think I can do it, if I stick to my schedule.

And here, in its internet debut, is the first third of the top. Four vertical rows of triangles, each row consisting of 20 pairs of triangles. All identical, except the 8 triangles that make up the purple diamond. Just two more sections just like this and the top will be done! I can do it.

"Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend" -- or, in this case, just one diamond so far!
(and, no, triangles are NOT a hand quilters/piecers best friend! LOL!)

close up of the 1st diamond.
I am grateful that 1 - the recipient will not notice that even the lines of the diamond
don't line up exactly straight all the way around, and 2 - the rest is all one fabric and the
print hides the seams very, very well, and the quilting will hide 'em even better.
'Cause hardly any of those seams line up properly. Triangles! Sheesh!! What was I thinking?!

It takes me about a day's worth of sewing to go from a stack of 40 triangles to a row put together. And then about a day or so to get the 4 rows joined together, and I'm guessing another day to get the 3 sections put together once I have the other 2 sections done. Which is NOT to say that in a mere 10 days I'll be done with the top, because of course real life interrupts and all, but I do plan to, hope to, finish the top no later than June 15th. That will give me 2 months to quilt it.

Wish me luck, and keep me accountable. Ask for progress pics. Often. By Monday I should have the next third. And the Monday after that the last third. And the Monday after that, it had better be all together and quilting started. Come here and check, 'kay?

Christmas in May

Some people who love me (they know who they are) sent me a package last week. I knew the package was coming, and what was in it, and I was anxious for it to arrive. When it did, I disappeared into the computer for a few days, coming out only to feed and clothe my family (or so they tell me) while I played with my new gift.

Two days later I remembered to call the gift-givers and let them know the package arrived safely and I was having fun with it. Not the most prompt thank you ever given, but it's not my fault I was distracted.

What did they send me? Only the most amazing quilt designing software ever, called EQ7 (Electric Quilt 7).

This software is amazing. Let me just say that again -- Amazing. Basically, this program takes all the math and technical aspect out of the equation and just lets me create. I can even draw my own blocks and designs, with never a care to "If I make this piece this big, then what size does this need to be?" and so forth and so on. No maddening graph paper and pencil and calculations. Just drawing, and pointing and clicking. From my heart and head to the computer, in a few clicks. And from there, all the information I need to go from drawing to sewing, all the fabric calculations done for me. Amazing.

To put it another way, it lets me do this:

...And Read All Over
the final layout for The Writer's comic strip quilt
(except the red parts of the border will be centered...)

Flora and Fauna
a design I played with for a website challenge

and, last but not least, The Brazil Quilt
I'm not 100% sure of the final coloring, but this is the quilt I've been drawing for ages,
based on the cobblestone sidewalk designs here.

Like I said, amazing. I've never been so happy to receive a Christmas gift seven months early. Thanks again to the gift givers!