Task of the day May 30

Today I should have been stitching the binding to the back

I should have been arranging my printed silk organza dots onto the surface

I should have been arranging the button embellishments

Today the Whatever quilt has been set aside and instead I have been stitching these together

Grandson has his first sleepover tonight so I made him a new pillowcase. First things first.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

String Fever process

I thought I could share the process that lead to the String Fever quilt top from yesterday’s post.

Unfortunately I don’t have any useable progress pictures as I did not use a design wall, so I have made a few rough sketches for illustrations. They are not to scale in any way.

According to my initial measurements of the long strips of pieced strings, I figured out I would have enough fabric for this layout. The coloured strips are 7 ½” wide (cut 8”), and the light 6” (cut 6 ½”). To make the mid section a square, the length of the strips is 7 ½”*3 - 22 ½” (+ ½” seam allowance).

With the first layout, the strings in the top and bottom borders would go in the other direction than the rest of the quilt, which I did not want, so I changed it to this second layout. As the light strips were about 1 ½” narrower than the coloured, I would need 4 narrower strips in both bottom and top border to fit the measurement of the mid section.

When the mid section and side borders were stitched together

and I started cutting the rest of the strips I discovered that I did not have enough light fabric, it would only take me this far.

So I had to make more fabric and since I had to cut new strings anyway, and substitute all the fabrics I had used up, I cut the strings long enough to make 8” wide strips. I pieced the border strips together

and then the top.

Weird how quick and easy the process looks now compared to the actual time I spent doing this, go figure. I blame all those seam allowances going wild.

Thanks for stopping by!

Festival of Strings

Happy String Day everyone! We are celebrating the humble string today, and I’m sure also some less humble ones. Rachel over at Stitched in Colour has set up a Festival of Strings and this is my festival post.

Whether you are a first time visitor or have meticulously read, memorized and spellchecked every word I have ever posted, I wish you a warm welcome to my blog, Mrs Moen. If you would like to know more about me, you’ll find info in the sidebar and by clicking the “About me” tab on the top.

I was just in the process of starting a new string quilt when I signed up for the festival, but that project took a little detour and I had to start another one. I had recently both finished a quilt using mostly solid fabrics and made a pieced background using light thrifted fabrics and the leftovers were sitting right there in front of me. It was meant to be. 

You can find progress posts here, here and here.

Although I had some measuring problems, the approx 42”*42” top was done, not only in time, but with time to spare. Not bad considering it was squeezed in between a heavy load of deadlines and commitments. It would have been a totally different story if it had to be finished to qualify though; the top is already tucked away in a pile of stuff.

Photographing the top turned yet again out to be a challenge. Wind. Rain. Wind. Wind and a ever so light drizzle (which happened to be the day I picked). The top was dancing cheerfully one minute and pressed against the fence the next. The pressed pictures turned out the best even though the edge between the wall and the fence gives it a little stair-effect. Oh well.

There are curtains and bed sheets and duvet covers and table cloths and curtains and solids. I love how nicely the totally different fabrics play together, no arguing between the old and the middle aged, just showing each other off and making each other look good.

I love that even though it’s just a square with gigant borders, it looks quite different when rotated 90 degrees. If I decide to make it into a wall hanging, I may stitch hanging sleeves on two sides so I can pick and choose.

How I will quilt it? No idea. Yet.

You’ll find the Festival of Strings post at Stitched in Colour here.

Have fun looking at what people can do with the humble string, and thanks for stopping by!

Thread tales

What was supposed to be a few all-alone-just-sewing days has turned into helping-take-care-of-sick-grandboys days.

I did however spend quite a few happy hours with my machine on Saturday, working on the Whatever quilt. It has been quilted, oh boy, how that thing has been quilted.

I collected all my variegated Sulky Gutermann threads, matched them up with close enough bobbin threads and hit the pedal. The look of all those spools together almost make me weep, they are so pretty. What can I say, I have a thing for threads.

Looking at all those spools together, I realized something about my precious threads which even the salesperson at the store did not know. When I bought the 4 different oranges for the Spring in my step quilt, 3 of them had the same number but looked different, so I asked her and she said they must be from different dyes. See?

Well, the colour number is on the top of the spool, not the side.

See, different numbers.. Duh. And yes, I have used all but a couple of threads on the quilt.

Tomorrow is the Festival of Strings at Stitched in Colour (sorry, cannot link from the Blogger app), so do stop by if you want to see my finished solid/vintage string top.

Got to go, it's Tom & Jerry time.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hot and bothered

Today I'm putting the last stitches into a binding. I tried to finish it last weekend, but it was too hot. A fleece backed quilt on your lap is not chilling and stitching with damp hands no pleasure.

Usually I would fold the fleece over to the front and stitch it down as a binding, but this green (which is nothing like the picture) does not go very well with the front. I was making do, using the one I had (patting my back here), those fleece backings take up a lot of space.

The dark blue binding is from the Big Box of Binding; two pieces of dark blue that I stitched together. It was still a little short so there's a little starry night piece in a corner.

If you never have used fleece backings, I thought I could share a few things I have learned on the way:

- Use a high quality fleece, the one with the knitted base and fluff on one side that feels soft and nice. It doesn't matter whether it comes off the bolt or as a hemmed blanket. The super cheap blankets where it seems like the fibers are only pressed together may not hold up in use and washing and feel awful (although the good quality ones can be used as batting).

- The non-fluffy side goes against the back of the quilt

- Both safety pins and basting spray work well for basting. Just make sure you don't stretch the fleece.

- Always prewash the fleece, it will probably shrink. I purchased  88" red fleece for a 80" quilt and it came out almost 12" shorter so I had to add a chunk of white on the top. These things of course always happen when the stores are closed.

- If you hand stitch applique or binding to the fleece, make sure your stitches go into the knitted base and not only into the fluff.

- A walking foot makes a huge difference when quilting with fleece.

- Because of the stretchiness, free motion quilting big quilts may be a problem. I know I wouldn't do it.

That's all, folks. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

Measure once, cut twice

Ok, so yesterday my strips of made string fabric were ironed and measured, and I could start sketching a layout which would work with the fabric I had according to my measurements. My first idea did not work as the quilt would get too big, so I made a few changes and started cutting.

I am quite fond of string quilts, but not so much of all the pinning of seam allowances, changing their direction here and there to avoid bulky seams when possible. This is why I usually prefer layouts with string blocks instead of long sashing-less strips of strings.

The first part went together without problems. A dark centre square with light top and bottom (or side) borders attached. The seam allowances were pressed open, and I was ready for the next borders.

The dark solids and light vintages go surprisingly well together.

Hmm, wait a minute, where did the rest of my fabric go? According to my measurements using advanced math and all (fold the strips three times, measure, multiply with 8) there should be enough light fabric for the last two borders, but there wasn't. Two yards of meticulously pieced strings cannot vanish into the thin air, can it? My measurements must have been wrong ( I know, it is shocking). 

Unfortunately I had used up all the strings and most of my scraps. Not really wanting to change the layout, I had no other choice than start making more fabric from the very beginning. This, I tell you, is no fun when you feel you are almost done and time is an issue. I don't care what Maria sings, the very beginning is not always a very good place to start when you need to finish.

A lot of my lightest thrifted fabrics were already gone, so I had to add some darker ones to be used on the wrong side. It will be fine, two slightly darker borders will add interest to an otherwise very plain design, right?

Just a few seams to go and a little pressing, and the top will be ready. Next time: measure twice, like in two times.

Miles a minute

Usually I find piecing strings quite relaxing, just feeding them through the machine in a comfortable speed, watching them add up into pieces of made fabric. This, however, felt nothing like that, but at the end of yesterday's string sewing session I had 2 long strips of fabric, one solid and one light, and I could barley move.

I love the contrast between the two strips, both in value, texture and the feel of the fabric. The Kona cottons both looks and feels surprisingly rough next the recycled fabrics. This will be an interesting mix of materials indeed.

Now onto measuring the strips and figuring a layout..

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Scraps to you too

I have got two stacks of strings sitting right here in front of me. I signed up for Stitched in Colour's Scrap Attack (String Fever) back in early April, totally clueless regarding how spring would be like time wise. It's only a string quilt, no big deal, right??

Well, a month and a half later and with only a week to go, it's about time to get started. Solid strings from the Spring in my step quilt and recycled strings from the Whatever quilt. Hopefully a match made in heaven, possibly not.

You'll never know if you don't try, right, and it's only the top that needs to be finished.

Thanks for stopping by!

Treasure Box update

I thought it was time to do a little update on the Treasure Box which I blogged about in this post back in January 2010 (really, has it been that long?). The box was far from empty when I revisited it a few weeks ago, but quite a few treasures have been used. Click the links to go to the original posts.

Some of these

became this "Nothing to wear" birthday present for my sister

one of these

became this Little Princess quilt for my book, Gledesspredere

some of these

were made into this travel set for my mother

this bag

turned into these Happy Houses which are also in my book

 

one of these

turned into this small quilt for the Monthly Design Challenge

and these

were used on this "Circle of flowers" quilt which was published in Quiltemagasinet.

 

Not bad I’d say. Now, what to do with the rest of them, what to do, maybe I should search for more treasures to fill it back up, I need a distraction.

Do you keep a Treasure Box with bits and pieces to be turned into something useful? Whether yes or no – happy treasure hunting!

Hipp hipp hurra

A few shots from Friday's celebrations.

Watching the parade. Grandbaby with his new pinwheel. He managed to sleep through most of it, holding on to that thing as if his life was depending on it.

Grandson with his new whistle. Noisy thing which he absolutely loved.

 

Cake back home

Chocolate anyone?

 

MIL's 17. mai quilt made by yours truly years ago.

Crazy morning getting the boys ready, tired feet, too much sugar, tired grandma.

Hip hip hurrah!

Happy Norway Day

Happy 17th of May everyone! Today we celebrate the 199th anniversary of the Norwegian constitution being signed by 100andsomething citizens at Eidsvoll. I have been revisiting this era of our history lately, but I’ll spare you from a history lesson today (even though I’d love to with today being Norway Day and all). You can see my old posts about our National Day here, here and here and our bunads here.

Welcome to my blog, Mrs Moen. This is the space where I share my process and projects and I love connecting with creative souls from all over the world. I am first of all a quilter and I enjoy crafts like knitting and mixed media. I am also a quilt book author, quilt class teacher and quilt pattern designer. If you would like to know more about me, you can click the about tab on the top.

I am participating in the Blogger’s Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side this week and I am happy to share this quilt called “The Reef of Re” with you all after sharing just a little snippet in this post.

The quilt was made for The Norwegian Quilt Association’s (NQF) 25th anniversary challenge: Joys of quilting through 25 years. The quilts were exhibited at their annual meeting back in March and the 25 quilts that got most votes will be exhibited at NQF’s booth at The Festival of Quilts in Birmingham UK in August.

The quilts should be 25”*25” using only the colours of NQF logo’s – red, white, blue and black. It will be fun to see the exhibition in Birmingham, and as far as I know, my quilt will be there.

The restricted colour scheme was the biggest challenge for me, but I knew which technique I wanted to use. I have been having lots of fun with what I’m calling “Painting with fiber”, and I wanted to use only recycled and repurposed materials.

So, my mother’s old Christmas table cloth became the background, and I started cutting. There was no rotary cutter involved, only scissors. There are a lot of different materials in this quilt which has been quilted very closely and hand embellished.

I enjoyed the process very much indeed, but had a hard time calling it done - until the air-bubbles-beads were attached. It was my mother that got me onto the reef idea in the first place, so thank you mom!

The binding and backing fabric is from a recycled duvet cover. This is one of the first times I have cut the binding on the bias, but the stripes looked so much better this way. The re-words were printed onto Lutradur and attached by hand

and the label made in Excel and printed onto a fabric sheet. The artist’s statement says “One of my greatest joys of quilting is transforming the castoffs of others into pieces of beauty. The quilt is made from recycled and repurposed materials only including my mother's old Christmas table cloth.”

Photographing the quilt properly turned out to be a challenge. As the deadline was in January, the light (and weather) was an issue. The one day it was not raining or blowing too much, the sun was shining and turning everything blue, so I had to take it inside even though the rod bended and disturbed the squareness of the quilt. You can see the colour difference between the home print (vintage printer) and the photo place.

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Stats:
Finished quilt measures : 25"*25"
Special techniques used : Painting with fiber
Quilted by : Myself
Best Category : Art quilt

You can check out the rest of the participating blogs here

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a wonderful Norway Day, and see you all later!