Well, OK, I haven’t exactly been the ‘best’ student in Karen Ruane‘s class. It’s not that her stuff isn’t completely and wildly inspiring or that she doesn’t share well. Not at all.
But, I was busy with CB2 over at Spirit Cloth and I struggle to create all-white or even monochrome pieces, and I am still mildly obsessed (can one be ‘mildly obsessed’?!!) with cloth weaving,
and there were summer activities, and I got my first indigo vat going… and… and… In any case, nobody is yelling at me, and I WILL get to the Chinese knots (can’t wait) and the cut outs and the nontraditional use of hexagons… and my supply of antique lace and linens. It’ll be fun. (Did I mention that I’m looking for a job?!)
But for now, I am very happy to have just watched the lesson on damp stretching. The first photo and the one below are the Noah’s Ark piece…
Pressing a finished quilt that will hang on the wall is not as perilous as trying to apply heat to a two-sided piece, like Karen’s. And, I don’t, here, have to worry about scorching antique, white, irreplaceable linens, the way she does.
Nevertheless, pressing a finished wall quilt squashes the batting, ruins the irregularities so lovingly applied with hand-stitching, and can be a bitch to do uniformly, even if willing to make those sacrifices.
So I have pinned the unbound quilt to a piece of foam core board and spritzed it with water. It is out on our huge yew, to dry in the sun. I can see already that this will even things out nicely.
In the meantime, Son No. 1 is now home (though not at this moment) and we are, for a few short weeks, a family again! Messes converge – backpack on sewing supplies, dirty clothes everywhere, shoes piled up near the back door, wet towels accruing at a hotel-pace. Their having been gone makes me feel uncharacteristically tender toward their strewn things, and anyway, my preferred strategy, even when annoyed, is to deal with MY mess (which is generally sizable). Today my paper mess is demanding some attention. I’ve laid everything out, and left it there. Not even a handsome face makes me want to touch the stuff. But, I will. I will.
oh yes. karen has convinced me that damp stretching is the way to go. i have a variety of different sized cork boards that are used constantly…even for some of my crochet and knitted pieces.
Thanks for the idea. I’ve wanted to take up quilting for a while now but there are so many other things. I will get to it eventually though! Lovely piece.
If you want, you can check out my giveaway for an Eco Dyed Flat Crepe Silk Scarf that I made. The draw is on August 31.
http://dyefeltsool.com/2012/08/01/win-my-scarf-one-of-a-kind-all-natural-wearable-art/
That’s what I like doing with my crap too – put it all into lovely neat piles… and then watch the layers accumulate into teetering chaos again 🙂 Nice to see the Ark finished: that rain is so convincing!
deanna – I think I’m going to be a fan, too! I’ve damp-stretched knit things before, but never quilts…
Beth – thanks for stopping by! entered my name (I think)…
Hi Chloe – I am attaching the piles RIGHT AFTER THIS comment… will have Olympics ping pong on
the quilt has turned out beautiful! good luck with the sorting and how lovely you’re back together as a family
Hello Saskia! thanks for the feedback and yes, although the boys are running in and out quite a bit, it’s nice to all be ‘here’ again…
I am obsessed with weaving cloth strips, too. Your weavings are quite fetching and make me want to rip me up some cloth and get to weaving again. Moving the mirror? Funny. And good idea.
the strips have a way of multiplying!!!