I understood why, working in the basement studio in the winter, standing on a heating pad, wearing Dickensian gloves, and a down vest, the iron’s heat proffered so much comfort. Well, it turns out, even upstairs in the glare of morning light, with a fire going and heat on, I love the feel of warm cloth.
This is square five. I have to tackle, earlier rather than later, what to do about my aversion to uniformity measuring. Three of the squares are roughly the same size. Two are a bit bigger, and by “a bit”, I mean enough to matter.
I am thinking of marking the top of the green bookcase in the living room to use as a template. Turns out it is exactly as wide as the three same-sized squares.
Which leads me to this. A couple of goals emerge as I piece: I want to avoid the use of rotary cutter and mat, and I would like to use fabrics already in my possession. The latter commitment may be difficult, because I am also going to be picky about keeping my blues and greens in the right value family.
Finn and I walked and made it back. It’s not so bad out. Growing up in Upstate New York, it was often this frigid. As kids we called it, “booger freezing weather”. Rarely happens around here.
But don’t get me wrong – I am super grateful to have the luxury of spending the rest of the day inside, at home!
P.S. The above picture from Sketchbook Project efforts a couple years back, reminds me that I will NOT be participating again… it turns out that letting the booklet go at the end, even knowing that it is (sort of) circulating, is not satisfying.
oy vey, measuring is the reason I gave up quilting and became a very good quilt admirer. Can you wing it larger than needed and then cut each “wung” square to the smaller common size? Or must you piece it to the template? I don’t know if that’s very clear :-/ Anyway, it is going to be beauty of a quilt, that is apparent.
Cutting to size is always an option but sometimes doing so sacrifices some balance of color and form. You are a very good knitter. How do you explain that ?!
I have a vintage (almost antique, now) Ruby McKim quilt that was made from a kit. It’s meant to be a combination of pieced and appliqued, but the quilter clearly hated to piece, so everything is appliqued, which creates an interesting 3D effect I really like. I also really like Denyse Schmidt’s quilts. Maybe you can find a way to make the size not matter?
I like denyse schmidts quilts too. I do want to attach these and be able to use the log cabin patterning so I kinda have to commit to a size. I put a line of tape on the bookcase. It will be easy to use as a reference.
Ah, yes. This is why I’m not that quilter. (sigh) Never a corner shall meet is my story. I ended up on this site when I checked out the quilters mentioned in the comments. And it reminded me that I have an antique (I think) quilt. My favorite patch is the one with little tiny buck knives! Haha Fits in with your desire Dee. I’ll photograph it soon. I like the Gees Bend quilts, partly because of the non-perfection! Here’s the link. There are many you may find interesting. http://www.laurafisherquilts.com/shop/Quilts/SPECIALTY-QUILTS/p/1967-ARABISRAELI-WAR-STAR-OF-DAVID-VINTAGE-QUILT.htm
it is an interesting line of thought. perfection in piecing vs. synchronicity of fragments. the life and joyous dancing of color and form that emerges in your quilts is a testament to the latter. your life living outside the box is an inspiration to us all. sometimes, for one so unfettered, trying to climb into the box is a frightful struggle simply because it is now the unknown. but what is known, is that you will prevail with great style and celebration! it is in your nature.
the comforting element of warm cloth. yes! and i just have a quilt finishing up in the dryer. now to rescue it and curl up beneath its dreamy, radiant heat near the fire. the cat is stirring. he must have heard my thoughts and is eagerly awaiting the warm cloth as well!
namaste’
What wonderful paragraphs to wake to yesterday. Thank you. Not just for the compliments but for the sharp insight that getting into the box is MY working outside of the box. I am thinking anout that now as i produce somewhat uniform squares.
you will make it work Dee!
NB I use a strong piece of string with a knot in it if I have to measure the same distance repeatedly, using muscle memory & the tactile quality rather than trusting these old eyes
I drew a five inch square right on rhe ironing board for the central piece. A line of tape on the bookcase serves as the final size. I like the string idea tho!