Fall (2007) Friday Fives

Pictorial Friday five

Oct 26, 2007

1. Favorite color.
Hmm, I think I have to go with the green:

(This is somebody else's quilt, not mine!)
(NOTE: the picture wasn't showing up and I don't know what quilt picture I posted. But I picked out an example from my stash of Flickr pictures to substitute for whichever one was originally there!) (You can tell the pictures that I've added later because they're GIGANTIC and I don't think I would have used them back when!)

2. Current working project. I started to post the quilt I am going to work on when I get around to actual quilting, but instead I'll show you the current state of the sewing-room-to-be, which is my real project right now:

(The sewing machine is actually there and installed in its table, but I somehow managed not to take a picture of it.)

3. Your sewing machine. Well, here's one that it's visible in:

(That quilt is my mom's.)

4. A very old UFO (unfinished object). I don't think I have a picture of my fragment that's done, but here's what it's supposed to look like:

I have the chevron piece done, which is the hard part, but I bogged down after that. (Mine is green.)

5. Show a project you would love to do. Hmm... well, I've always wanted to do something really massively embellished, like this one:



Celebrity-edition Friday five

Nov 2, 2007

1. Who is your favorite Quilt Celebrity? Well, I started to say either Alex Anderson or Ricky Tims, but I think I will go with Paula Nadelstern instead.

2. Have you ever met a Quilt Celebrity? Yes. I belong to a big guild that has had many of these people - Quilt Celebrities, that is - as speakers at one time or another, and when I was an officer a few years back we would go out to dinner with the speaker before the meetings. So I have had dinner with both Alex and Ricky (not at the same time), and with Becky Goldsmith of Piece O'Cake Designs, and a few other people like that. (They were all extremely nice, by the way.) And I have taken a class from Ricky, also, as well as from Roberta Horton and Libbie Lehman and a couple of other people who I guess would qualify as celebrities!

3. Why are they your favorite Quilt Celebrity? I like her quilts a lot and she has interesting hair! (See below.)

4. Would you consider yourself a groupie? No, I'm not really the groupie type.

5. Share a picture of your favorite celebrity. Well, this is not a great picture but you can kind of get the idea.

(Her hair was sort of a weird variation on a Princess Leia thing - piled up on both sides.)

"Saturday five" just doesn't have the same ring

Nov 10, 2007

But oh well.

1. What are you doing this weekend (quilty related)? Working on getting the sewing room in order, I hope.

2. What was the last notion you used? Probably a ruler.

3. What was the last quilt block you made? A log cabin, I think, and that was months ago.
That would be this one:

Gawd, I hope that one fabric doesn't really read as brown as it looks here!

4. Coffee or tea? I like both. I like my tea iced, though - I do live in Texas, after all! I mostly drink coffee earlier in the day and tea later.

5. What is your dream sewing machine (please share a picture)? I'm not putting a picture, because it's not the machine I care about, but the stitch regulator. I really want a stitch regulator someday. That said, I don't really have the sewing machine jones as bad as a lot of people. I inherited my mother's Janome, which is maybe 7 years old, and unless it starts breaking down I'm fine with using it for a good while.

Cluttered Friday five

Nov 16, 2007

1. If you could pack all your sewing stuff (stash, notions, machines, etc) into boxes - how much space do you think it would take? I just moved, so I know almost exactly. It was a lot. I would say that if you put it into one of those small storage units (what are those, 9x12 feet or something?) it would pretty much be packed solid from floor to ceiling. But I think it would fit, barely.

2. Do you know where all your sewing stuff will go, if (heaven forbid) something happened to you?Knowing my husband,  he would pack it all up and send it to Goodwill if nobody stopped him. I don't have a problem with that, really, then some quilter would get a really good bargain! I think he'd know better than to just throw it away, at least.

3. How often do you clear out your stuff? Not often enough, I'm sure. I cleared out a lot before the move, though, and I'm still working on it.

4. Have you used your stuff for gifts? (meaning you shared fabric, gave an extra notion, etc.) Straight out of stuff I already had? Not that I can remember offhand. I have swapped stuff out of my stash but I don't think that's quite the same thing.

5. Could you today, clear out one box of your stuff? I'm sure I could, given the time to sort through it. Fabric, especially - plus I merged my sewing stuff with my mom's and I haven't cleared out all the duplicate notions and things yet. (Boy, do I have a lot of rulers!)

Friday five, and a list (Oct 12, 2007)

1. When picking fabrics/colors for a project do you rely on the shop's employees or bring a friend along to help in decision making? Neither, really. Well, my mom used to put her two cents in, god knows, and sometimes I even listened to her! - but mostly I pick what *I* want and don't let anybody influence me too much. I have very definite opinions about color.

2. What excites you when walking the first time into a new quilt store? Colors

3. Do you make seasonal quilts? Yup. I'll put a picture of the last one I did below. I have also made Christmas ones once or twice.

4. How many projects do you have going on right now? I'm in the middle of packing up to move, so real quilting projects are on the back burner til that's done.

5. What is this weekend's project? Packing, mostly. I might sort out fabric, some. Also I have an awful lot of fabric that needs to be washed, I could start on that!



Long-term project list (updated)
1. unfinished community service quilt (just needs the quilting finished, and it's ready to go)
2. green triangle quilt - needs pinning and quilting
3. Ohio star sampler - 8 of 12 blocks done
4. t-shirt quilt - start cutting the t-shirts apart and putting stabilizer on them, and then see where it stands
5. Tutti Frutti quilt (from a kit that was given to me - good baby quilt)
6. Two, count 'em, two sets of swap blocks - need to be assembled and quilted (here's one of them - the other is fall colors)
7. Poetry wallhanging (the setting in that picture is probably not what I'm going to do in the end, I was just sticking them up on the wall as I went!) - I think the blocks are finished
8. Indigo log cabin
9. The fabled pink quilt, which is only a pile of fabric right now - enough fabric for several quilts, actually. I think I may start out with triangles again on this one, and go from there. This pile of fabric probably has some Quilt Pink blocks in its future, too, although that's not what started it!

Also, decide what to do with...
- Mom's few UFOs - she only had a couple (she was big on finishing things)
- quilt top from my grandmother's house (I bet my grandmother didn't make it, but I have no idea who did!)
- Cuppaz blocks - I think I still have 20 or so, and I need to make something with the remaining ones
- crazy quilt blocks - I have 3, maybe make a 4th and then finish? or make a table runner with the 3?
- leftover green squares from triangle quilt - I have lots of these! And also some HSTs.

Note that this is not intended in any way to be an October to-do list! It'll be a miracle if I even get the sewing room decently unpacked in October. Maybe in November I might possibly get a reasonable amount of quilting done!

Still more Friday fives

(I was really faithful about doing these for a pretty long time, by my standards!) (Some good pictures in this installment, though - one of karen_d 's quilts, and an IQF Best in Show.)

Friday five, appliqued

Aug 10, 2007

1. Do you appliqué? Not often.

2. What method do you prefer - machine or hand? Definitely machine - although I have to admit that there's a certain... something... to doing it by hand.

3. Are you self-taught or have you been to a class? I did a machine-applique class once, several years ago. Whatever hand-applique I have learned is from watching my mother, or guesswork.

4. What kind of thread do you prefer using while appliquéing? Haven't done it enough to have a preference.

5. If you do hand work, what needles sizes/brand do you prefer? Ditto.

random Friday five

Aug 17, 2007

1. Have you ever done any redwork (machine or by hand)? A little bit. I used to embroider a good bit, back in the day, though.
2. Do you measure your finished rows to be sure they are the proper length? Not usually. It depends on the project. Usually I make sure the blocks are the same size, and if they are I just assume that the rows are going to fit.
3. What did you sew/quilt this week? Not a damn thing, darnit. Some day I look forward to being able to quilt again! (I did buy some fabric, though!)
4. Share a random quilting picture.

5. Why did you share that random picture? I was trying to really be random - I actually closed my eyes and pointed - but this is a quilt I like a lot, just the same. It was made by my friend karen_d, who also has a journal called Hat on Top. She makes some really great quilts.

Theoretical Friday five

Aug 31, 2007

1. What is your less favorite color to work with? White. It's blinding, you can't see what you're doing, and it gets dirty way too easy.

2. Are you starting to feel the "quilting bug" now that summer is about to come to an end? Yes, and I really can't do anything about it right now, either. We are getting ready to move in a month or two (depending on when a 1st-floor apartment comes open) and meanwhile we are crammed into a one-bedroom apartment with all of our own stuff and a good bit of my mother's stuff too. It's complete chaos and I have finally had to accept that there is just no place to quilt unless I sneak over to my mother's to do it. (And there I feel guilty because I ought to be packing up the rest of her stuff.) (And sorry, I know y'all have probably heard this song-and-dance before from me, but I have to vent about it occasionally!)

3. What technique would you like to take a class to learn or improve on? I don't really need classes, I just need to be able to quilt. That will help me improve as much as anything else will.

4. Hand quilting - yes or no? For me personally? No.

5. Do you have a quilty holiday wish list started? I have bought so much stuff lately, and as I said, there is no actual quilting going on at my house at the moment, so it seems silly right now to ask for more. After the move, I may decide I NEED a new sewing machine or EQ6 or something, but not now.

Discounted Friday five

Sept 7, 2007

1. How often do you use coupons for quilting related items? Not very. The JoAnn's nearest me closed, and the local quilt shops usually have sales rather than doing anything with coupons.

2. Do you find coupons for local quilt shops? I don't, particularly. See above.

3. Do you shop online with coupons? Sometimes, if I have a good one.

4. What was the best coupon/sale you took advantage of? On quilting things? 50% off, I guess. On non-quilting things... there's an online bead shop that used to do a $5 off coupon with no minimum purchase, but I think they finally went to requiring a $10 minimum (which is still a pretty good deal!)

5. What would you like to see your local quilt shop often in a coupon or sale? Realistically... either something like 40-50% off one item, or 20% off your entire purchase, or so forth. 10% is not enough to drag me into the store, usually. 15% is borderline. For a 20 or 25% off one, I will often make a special trip.

Moody Friday five

Sept 21, 2007

1. Do you find times where you just don't feel "into quilting"? Oh yes. Unfortunately now (when I haven't been able to work on quilts) is not one of those times.
2. Is there a season that you tend to be more quilty? Winter, maybe. Usually I quilt all year round though.
3. How do you pull yourself out of a funk? Just keep going - but on the other hand, if I'm working on something that I really hate working on, maybe it's time to put it down and work on something else.
4. Do you find that quilting is good therapy when you are down? It can be, yeah. I've quilted my way through some of the worst years of my life.
5. Are there times when quilting is a wee bit consuming in your life? Oh, sure. Especially when I'm trying to get something finished. I want to just not stop til it's done.

Bonus photo: this was made during the years when I was very depressed. Doesn't really show, does it?

Friday five, quilt show edition

Sept 28, 2007

1. Who's going to IQS? Me, me, me! 

(Editing to add that I rearranged my move date so that I could go. I just could not miss it!)

2. What is the one thing you would like to see there? Lots of great quilts. And, I dunno, some must-have notion that we've never even thought of! And fabric to die for! (It's hard to cut it down to just one thing...)

3. Have you been to IQS before? I am lucky, I live close by, so yes, many times.

4. What other shows have you been to this year? None, sadly.

5. Are you considering a future trip to IQS? I (almost) always do - what I am considering for next year is a trip somewhere else!

Bonus picture, last year's Best of Show:

(this is only a detail, this thing was huge)
"Mother Earth and Her Children" - Made by Sieglinde Schoen Smith of Carlisle, Pennsylvania; winner of Best of Show (and a $10,000 prize) at the 2006 Houston International Quilt Festival. (Entered in the category Art-Whimsical.)

Oct 5, 2007

Background, for those of you who haven't heard about this ad nauseum already: we are about to move, and I will finally have a sewing room. The contents of my late mother's sewing room are mostly coming with me.

1. What do you use do your cutting on (do you have a table specifically for cutting)? I'm about to have one, but I'm not sure how much I will use it. My mother had one of those big waist-high folding tables, and I used to use it sometimes. Sometimes I think I would prefer to cut sitting down. This is one of those things I will have to see about as I go.

2. Does your sewing machine has its own table/cabinet? Yes, although at the moment it's sitting right beside me in a Tutto bag.

3. Do you use wall space for hanging things? Um, what kind of things are we talking about? I will probably do some sort of design wall - probably a flannel-backed tablecloth hung flannel-out, that's the simplest way I know of. After that, we'll see.

4. How do you come up with ideas for better use of your storage/space? I just go by what I see at other people's houses, mostly, and in pictures. Or what feels comfortable to me.

5. Can you please show us a picture of some of your storage techniques? I will do more pictures when I have my space, never fear! But here's the way things look now:



All stacked up and ready to go (mostly)! The pile is now even higher than this, though.