Warmth, you're right on time.

So I did finish this quilt, at the beginning of the month actually, just days before the first meeting of the NYC Metro Modern Quilt Guild.

This was a very interesting project for me.  I learned a lot about myself in the process and as result I have strange feelings towards the finished quilt.  So, let's review:

I started this quilt at the end of January and it consumed my thoughts for several days. It was the kind of project that I lie awake at night thinking about and couldn't start fast enough. I had just found the NYC ModQuilters and while updating "my page" I realized that I really didn't have any quilts "modern" enough to showcase. This was of course before the MQG discussion about what "modern" really means. So, personal revelation #1: I like how I quilt, no matter what anyone else says about it, and I don't have to change my style or interrupt my creative process to make things just to fit in with the crowd. Yeah, so that whole "what is modern" discussion resulted in me not liking that I was making this quilt..

But, back to the actual making of it... I used the fabrics I bought at Portsmouth Fabric Co. in NH last fall, so the fabrics are ultra-special for me. Several times as I was piecing I caught myself saying "this is my favorite fabric in the whole quilt!" (to a different fabric each time, of course). I also added a healthy dose of stash fabrics, one dating back to my time in Kyoto in '99, a few others from college, and even a few from the scrap bag Jude sent me before we moved to NY. Three of the fabrics on the back are from my stash (pink calico from the ATL guild ugly box, bunnies from my '07 trip to Japan, Erin McMorris wildwood trees that I got at Purl with Amber) and the heart batik came in a scrap bag from Shannon a few months ago. I had one tiny scrap of that fabric from my time in Atlanta and I was sooo happy to see it again, I knew I wanted it in this quilt.

I foundation pieced (not unlike this method) my blocks to a draft of one of Costas' economics papers, keeping my blocks 8.5"x11". I left all the papers on until I had stitched the blocks together and added the border because I was scared the bias edges would stretch and distort my rectangles. I enlisted George's help to finally remove the papers and the stitches did pull a bit as I ripped them off, but thankfully everything stayed intact and I didn't have much trouble quilting it. I based my quilting pattern off this quilt and revelation #2: I LOVE wavy-line quilting! I immediately wanted to quilt every other top I have with easy, carefree wavy lines. But I didn't. Maybe I will in the future..

So that's it.  I love the quilt, I just don't like why I made it.  And now I don't know what to do with it. As usual, Costas hated it during construction, claiming he doesn't like quilts that are "all one color," but after it was done he said it was nice. It totally doesn't go with anything in our house, and although it is cheerful and warm, it just looks out of place here. So I think I'll give it away, and I have in mind someone to give it to, but I'm not 100% convinced. I wish I knew if she liked it first, you know? This lead to revelation #3: I have a lot of special people in my life that I would like to give quilts (or quilted items) to, so I better get on that. And as I thought of each person, new quilt ideas started flowing. Unfortunately, this quilt isn't right for any of them, but nearly perfect for the one friend I've been thinking of.. but then, with all these special fabrics in it, it's kind of hard to part with, especially knowing that I may never see it again.

So that's the story. Glad I got the chance to write it all down.

(btw, this is not the post I eluded to in my last post, that one's still brewing..)

Thinning my stash towards Iraq

By now a lot of bloggers/quilters have heard of the Iraqi Bundles of Love project (I heard about it through Jan's link to Kristin's blog). My sewing room is literally jam packed with supplies, a lot of which I'm sure I'll never get to use.
So I picked up some flat-rate boxes at the PO, filled them with love:


and tied the bundles.

Don't forget the lovely customs form!

Iraq, here they come!

My bundles contained mostly non-quilting fabrics-- cotton/poly blends, some silky stuff, a piece of pink waterproof fabric with fruit on it. I also put in a pack of needles, a thimble, some tulle, buttons, fake flowers, ribbon, and several skeins of yarn. I was ready to send off all of my knitting needles (because now I'm sure I'll never knit), but they didn't fit in the box.

If you (or your local quilt guild) want to join in the fun, just leave the IBOL Guy a comment and he'll send you the address. Imagine how much fun it will be for the recipients to untie each bundle...I hope it makes them smile for a long time.

Quilters in the park

So Travel Quilt #2 now has 153 stars.
I am actually quilting again, yay!

On Monday I packed up little George and my sewing box and we headed into Eisenhower Park where a group of women meet three times a week to sit together and quilt. I heard about this group before we moved here, but didn't have a chance to check them out before George was born. I've been having a bad bout of cabin fever lately, so I decided that it was time to go over and introduce myself.

I didn't know if I'd actually be able to get any sewing done, but George was a real sweetheart and slept most of the time, so I did have a chance to piece a star and a half while chatting with the ladies. the group seems very nice and they were quite welcoming, but I found out that it actually started as a group for senior citizens, so I don't know if I'll be allowed to stay. It was cute though, they assumed I was new to quilting and every time they used a quilting term they'd tell me what it meant. I want to try to go again next week and bring Travel Quilt #2 in progress, and maybe then they'll know I quilt for real.

The outing made me feel pretty good, I mean, to get out of the house, meet quilters, and sew again. I did feel a bit self-concious with George though-- i remember other quilters in other quilt groups complaining when members brought their kids. I think my old guild would have been more accepting of me toting a baby along, but when trying to break into the new crowd... somehow I feel like I'm starting off on the wrong foot. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
I also felt like maybe this was the wrong group for me to try to join. It would be really convenient to have a quilt group meeting 3 times a week, right down the street from my house, but maybe i should test out the other quilt groups in the area, see if I can't find some younger quilters. I also thought I should try to find the La Leche League meeting, and go to the breastfeeding support group at the hospital, to meet some other new moms. Hmmm.

Gone Sewin'

Last week while we were in Long Island, Costas had an all day orientation at the university so I dropped by Gone Sewin' and sat and quilted for a while. The more times I drive to this shop, the more I realize it is totally in walking distance from the house, provided the weather is nice. I really really lucked out on this one..

The shop is nice. Small and cozy but not cramped or over crowded. At one point there were 5 or 6 quilters in there working on projects and we all had enough space to do what we needed to do. Everyone was so friendly and I felt instantly comfortable when I got inside. Apparently there are a LOT of quilters on Long Island.. while sitting in the shop for a few hours, I was invited to 3 different get togethers, one being a thrice-weekly meeting of quilters in the park right next to my house!!. I'm really hoping I'll have the chance to attend at least once or twice before the baby comes..
Speaking of baby... that day I drew my quilting lines on Baby Quilt #2, using the Baptist fan template I got at Quilter's Stash. It's a bit tricky to line up the template, but I think I did ok.

After I had a portion drawn out, I started quilting. It's ok, but this quilt will take a lot of quilting, and right now my energy is not at that level. I'm pretty sure I won't get in done before the little one arrives, but I'll do my best anyway.
The worst thing about hand quilting these days (which I noticed again last night while quilting on the couch and watching the DNC) is that I usually curl up against the corner of the couch with my feet up, and hold the quilt on my knees.. now when I try to get into this position, I have this huge belly in the way and i can only stay in the position for about 2 lengths of thread. I will keep trying though...

Quilt Show!!

Wow, where to start?
I just completed an exhausting, exhilarating stint as the volunteer coordinator for my very first quilt show. The show was fantastic, bigger and better that I could have imagined. It took place in a middle school gym and cafeteria about 30 minutes from home (the drive back and forth added to my exhaustion, of course), but for our first show, it was perfect. 200 quilts, 500 guests over two days. Excellent door prizes, auction baskets, vendors...
Here are two of the pieces I submitted: It was so strange to see them outside of my home..
I finished quilting (almost), binding and putting the sleeve on the Winding Ways last Tues, Weds & Thursday nights after work, so my fingers were sore and I wasn't getting any sleep. I wasn't very pleasant or coherent during the show set-up on Friday and I was so nervous about the show all day Saturday that I forgot to eat. Saturday night I came home and collapsed on the couch. Today I felt much better and got to spend time really admiring the show and talking to people. The guild is still so young that many of us don't really know each other yet. It was great to sit and chat with people. I'm looking forward to having a good year with the guild.
Here are some of my favorite quilts from the show:
Tessellating Stars by Thelma Nuttall.


Red Radiance by Diana R. Annis
Skyrockets by Joann Borges
So much inspiration, so much fun. All our hard work was definitely worth it. I'll try to upload the rest of my pics over at flickr later this week, but it just occurred to me that I've got my first ESL classes tomorrow, and a house that has been sorely neglected as I scrambled to finish the quilt.. so maybe I won't get to that right away..

Garan-Pi-Poron

It was a good thing that I got up early after all, because on the second day we ended up having a lot to do. Do you like to volunteer? I do, and apparently so does Mrs. K, though I never knew that about her. At 10 am Mrs. Usa came over to make packed dinners for the performers of the childeren's theater group that would be putting on a show at the Tomakomai Cultural Center that night. They tried to explain what type of performance it would be, but I'll admit I didn't get it. That didn't stop me from wanting to help though.. (Mrs. K is on the left)

so we made sandwiches and onigiri, veggies on skewers, and sliced fruit for dessert. While chatting my Japanese started to come back a little more naturally, and I don't remember when exactly, but at some point it hit me-- woah, dude. I speak Japanese. Ahh, these little skills we forget we have while we're off doing other things..

The performance ended up being Roba's Garan-Pi-Poron and it was really neat. Before the show we helped out by collecting tickets and reminding everyone to go the the bathroom (most of the audience were grade-school kids). It was great to be "the foreigner" again and have all the little kids whisper about me. Some even tried to use a little English they learned at school. I had a great time, I forgot what it's like to be instantly popular...

You couldn't take pictures of the performance, but here are two of the little girls that befriended me.

These elephants acted as road blocks to mark off a pedestrian walkway. Too cute, needed a picture. I collected a lot of animal stuff on the trip, fabric, trinkets, pictures. Mostly elephants and owls-- you'll see them popping up in future posts, I'm sure. The first week kept getting busier and busier, the next day we left for a shopping extravaganza in Sapporo...

(p.s. Thanks to everyone for your sweet comments! I want to reply individually, but if you've got a blogger acct, blogger doesn't give me your email address. Please leave me a way I can get in touch with you..)

Winter?

We've got one heck of a storm blowing outside. I went into the quilt meeting and it had just started coming down, I come out not 3 hours later and the car has 3 inches of snow on it. It's thick wet snow too. I think I would like playing in it if I weren't wet, tired, and wearing high heels. Oh yes, and it being 9:30 p.m. on a Monday didn't put me in such a playful mood either. Still, I couldn't go in without getting some blurry nighttime photographs.
Lastnight I found this cool tutorial on Craftster.org and just needed to try it out. The outside is a canvas-weight indigo print I bought in Japan 5 years ago. I didn't have enough to make the bottom of the bag 14" deep, so I think it came about about 12" or so, but I like it. The lining is a pillowcase from the set that Costas had when we first met. It's possible that I fell in love with him because he had tiger-striped sheets... Anyway, it's one of those super sentimental fabrics that I just want to include everywhere. This was a good project to use some of it up. I even took the RL tag and incorporated it into my tag on the lining. The button is wooden, I think, with some coating on it. The pattern is made by carving into the coating, and that's why one of the petals doesn't show up so clearly, I guess the coating got rubbed off somehow. The button came from a friend in Atlanta who happened to help an artist clean out her studio when she moved. Lucky friend.

So that's what I've been up to. The SCQGuild meeting went well. It seems I'll be nominated for next year's president. I think I put that idea in Marie's head and now all the ladies running the show have it practically decided already. Thankfully there will be elections in June, I would hate to be appointed, much rather be elected. I do have some qualms about taking the position, but nothing too serious. Mostly I worry about 2 things= what if I get pregnant? (they have assured me they'll hold the baby while I run the meetings) and will the 80+ members respect me/trust me even though I'm younger than most of their children? If nominated, I'll run. I've already got some fun ideas for activities floating around...

My first Charity Sew

This year our guild is making lap quilts for veterans in wheelchairs. The VA Hospital in Brocton, MA, has requested 500 quilts, but ours is not the only guild participating, thank goodness. I have never made charity quilts before, always feeling a little too selfish with my time, but I'm glad I participated this time.
On Saturday, 9 of us gathered at Marie's home for a Charity Sew. Some people donated fabric, some cut blocks and made kits, others pieced tops. I had several good ideas but no "manly" fabrics from my stash to donate, so I just showed up with my machine and notions, picked up a pre-cut kit of 3"x6" blocks, and started piecing without really thinking about anything. it was a lot of fun. Four of us sat around Marie's kitchen table and made each other laugh while we sewed like crazy. Then we took turns at the ironing board, and hollering back comments to the 4 women in the other room who were doing the cutting. (Marie has turned her dining room into a quilting classroom and has a long arm machine set up on the open second floor room above her living room, I love her house!) We all had these kits but no one had a pattern. Eh, we figured it out though, each person ended up doing something different. This is how mine turned out. I tried to use the red & beige striped fabric to create a piratey feel.
Tonight at the guild meeting we all held our tops up, and other women volunteered to quilt them. I really love how it's a collaborative project among all of us. Of course some women are completing their own, but for me it just isn't feasable. I' m looking forward to seeing how they all turn out in the end.

The quilt meeting went well tonight. There was a speaker who showed her watercolor and landscape quilts. I didn't know much about either technique, so it was nice to learn. Highlight of the meeting= I won the door prize~ (two fat quarters, a tiny book about quilts, and a Christmas quilting magazine). There's no meeting in December, but hopefully I'll have something to show and tell by January.

In other news, I called the Japanese travel agency this morning for work (my boss and I will go to Toronto next week for recruiting) and asked if I could call her back for personal travel advice some time soon. Of course she was willing to help, now i just need to find the time to call. I know if she quotes a good price I'll want to buy the tix right away, and I really should wait a little while longer.
Oh oh, and tonight I found a chubby package in my mailbox! the sweet and thoughtful Lucia sent me some Gutterman thread after reading my rant. Thank you darling!! I was so touched that you'd send me such a package to cheer me up. I'll sew happily now and think of you.