Thursday, July 31, 2014

Border and Corner

I have completed three of the four borders of the newest project. Once I get the fourth one done I can attach them to the center and miter the corners. Below is what everything looks like now, unsewn, with my idea for the corner treatment inserted.

The leaf is the same as on the antique blocks but with a reverse applique center to allow the insertion of another fabric. That's why I am adding acorns to the corner as well since I want to bring in the foulard print fabric from the sashing.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Begin Again Finnegan II

I finished the picking apart, new applique, realignment of blocks, etc. This square size (52 inches so far), makes it easier for me to design something for the next go round. I think it needs a smaller border before the outer border, probably something simple like strips of the reproduction fabrics, although some research has shown me that flying geese and dogtooth or feathered strips were common, too. Research also shows that antique quilt makers were more likely to add more in ways that modern eyes might see as intrusive to the design.



The previous iteration was 2 x 4 and the difference between width and length bothered me.


The center block has that enticing inner square so I am thinking about inking an inscription. It will probably be "Anonymous Was A Woman" since I have few clues about who made the original blocks. I suspect more than one person as the stitches varied widely, some small, evenly spaced, professional looking, while some were almost toenail catchers they were so big. There were three different colors of thread in the applique but that could simply have been a matter of supply. The applique varied in quality as much as the stitching did. Some of the blocks were so skewed they looked as though a child had made them. Even if I hadn't had to remove parts that were worn to the point of having holes, I  had to cannibalize one of the blocks to get these to where they at least looked symmetrical even though they aren't.

Despite all the flaws and my own stupidity at not thinking this out ahead of time, I think it is looking good. You can compare this to the first version and let me know--not that at this point I would change it back.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Center Section Finished (Well, Not Quite)

As I wrote before, I purchased nine antique blocks but not all of them were in good enough shape to use in toto. So I cannibalized one of them and ended up with eight useable blocks for this quilt. The problem now is that I have to figure out how to make this long narrow shape into something a little closer to the regular shape of a quilt since this is just too narrow.

If you have read other postings then you know I am old fashioned in my quilt tastes. I like this so far but I have to figure out where to go from here. Uneven borders were common back in the day, but this would need some major unevenness.

Update: So I was arguing with myself after I posted the above about where I would go next with this quilt. I decided that I am neither clever nor talented enough to make a long skinny section look balanced so I am going to take this apart and turn it into a 3 x 3 quilt rather than a 2 x 4 quilt. That means I not only have to unpick some of these seams but I have to make a new block to be the center block. I have chosen a design that will allow me to use the fabrics of the sashing that are also very old-fashioned.  I will make a few more sashing pieces as well to make everything fit together appropriately. This will take a few days so look for more posts later.

Friday, July 11, 2014

Don't Be Reductive

Today was another session with one of my current tutees. The primary reason students come to me is for help in learning how to write an essay for the AP English Literature exam.No one who isn't part of the planning process and being paid by the College Board knows what will be on the exam in the coming school year, but there are some basic writing and critical thinking skills that help regardless of what they are asked. The essays are expected to be formal, critical essays examining a writer's skill at using the elements of language. The prompt the student worked on today was directed to a specific short story but it was so basic it became a model for how to read the prompt, think about what was asked, respond fully and elegantly. All the question asked was, "How does the author use the elements of language to characterize the protagonist?" Characterization is a common topic for AP English Literature essays so understanding the uses and purposes of characterization is an important skill.

All these students who come to me want the highest score possible, that elusive "5". The students are bright but they specialize in math and science with little interest or exposure to literature and far too little exposure to critical thinking skills applied to language arts or other areas of the humanities. So when the question asked looks so simple, they think that answering in a reductive fashion will work. "Imagery brings pictures to the reader's mind." "Characterization makes the characters more real so readers understand them." Well that sort of answer just won't score well. Simply telling the readers that characterization amplifies meaning may answer the basic question but the higher scoring essays need more. So if imagery is an important literary element, how the reader reacts and responds to the images is a deeper answer than simply that pictures develop in the reader's mind.

So don't let your students be reductive in their responses to the prompts. Encourage them to talk about what they read for class. Do you like the characters? Why? Why does the writer want you to like this character? How does liking the character add to the message the writing implies? If you don't like the character why might the writer want that reaction? How does the imagery in the passage add to the tone of the passage? You get the idea. It isn't just about knowing the literary elements.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Appliqued Sashing

The most common type of sashing is a simple strip of contrasting fabric with the next most common being a simple pieced design. I considered both of those for this restoration/reproduction project and drew out a flying geese sash as an option. But I also drew out an appliqued sashing, one that uses the reproduction fabrics since I clearly could not match the antique fabric. I like applique better than piecing as well, both in the process and all along the process including the quilting since quilting over seams is never satisfying.

The fabric behind the antique applique is a piece I bought a decade or more ago so I not only have no more, I cannot get more. The sashing, and the border that I will also add, are just Kona cotton in a similar ivory color. The design is one that was used often in the time period of the applique pieces (1840-1860),but the border that will go beyond what is here will be my design, based on ideas from all over the place.

I bought nine of the antique applique blocks, saved a total of eight of them cannibalizing the ninth to repair the most worn areas. The blocks are now 16 inch squares (15.5 finished size) so with a 2 x 4 layout, sashing, and border the finished quilt will be pretty big, at least a large twin size. I think it is looking nice.

Friday, July 4, 2014

Woe Is Me

I don't know if the students I work with are representative of American students or not. They tend to be very good in math and science with high grade point averages and good test scores. Many of them have been identified as "gifted" during all of their school years. So why, oh why are they so weak in the humanities? I can understand focusing on a subject or area in college as a major, but only after truly investigating other subjects. I do not understand how a rising junior in high school can not know vocabulary, topics, people that even when I was a teenager I took for granted. I don't necessarily expect this rising junior to have read Paradise Lost , but I expect him to have heard of John Milton, have at least a vague idea of his time period, know his nationality, etc. I guess that the College Board expects, or expected, that as well since a prompt assigned within the last ten years included Milton in a poem by William Wordsworth.

I can't imagine a less inviting future than one that is dominated by technocrats who have no background at all--not even at the high school level--in the great ideas that the humanities encompass.