Saturday, July 30, 2016

Somewhat Asian

My current project is sort of Asian. The center section is various blue fabrics light to medium to dark, some of which are real Japanese fabric and some that have some Asian theme such as ginko leaves and some that are simply blue. The outer border is a brown and blue and white plaid that both my husband and I thought looked like Japanese yukata fabric although it is a reproduction of American fabric from the mid-nineteenth century.  The applique motifs on that outer border are sort of Asian--with ideas borrowed from Japanese kamons.

The center is the apple core pattern. I hand pieced it since I hate sewing curves on a sewing machine. Even with the half-speed function I always go too fast.  Although that pattern is pretty much true blue American it still looks sort of Asian to both of us.

Monday, July 25, 2016

Zdrazvitye

It's funny that a huge number of Russians, or at least Russian  computers, perused my site yesterday. Probably not quilters since they didn't go to any of the entries that had quilt pictures or quilt information.

I had a Russian uncle once, named Kulik, which I gather is a common name, nearly anonymous. He married my mother's sister. The family joke was that he was a Russian spy. As he worked in the aerospace industry this might have been true. He disappeared off the coast of Long Island during the McCarthy nonsense so once again the spy rumor might be true. He took one of the family boats out at night and it was found empty but neither he nor his remains were ever found.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Another Big Name Gone

Seems as though every time I turn around some other well-known quilting entity goes out of business. First it was one of my favorite local quilting shops, then the best known shop in France, then Hancock Fabrics local stores, and now Quilters Newsletter Magazine. Does this mean that quilting is less popular? I don't think so and I certainly hope not. Not having fabric stores around is a real pain since part of the experience is feeling the fabric and those little thumbnail shots don't give a true view. Buying certain items online seems wasteful in so many ways. What if all I need is a package of quilting needles?

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Valedictory Quilt Completed

Commencement is still many months away but I have finished the graduation present for my young friend. I don't even know all the struggles she went through to get to this stage but I do know she deserves a pat on the back. I hope she enjoys her quilt. Some of the various symbolic meanings in the quilt are cherries for sweet nature, laurel leaves for achievement, roses for virtue, lilies for idealism.

Unfortunately, I made the wrong assumption that an old piece of red fabric (the vases and some of the flowers and cherries) had been pre-washed since I had had it so long. As it turns out there was some minor bleeding. If anyone has a fix between now and next May, please let me know. I tried the washing sheet put out by Shout that works pretty well but it didn't do much. I am not going to obsess over it though.

Saturday, July 9, 2016

Quilting Complete

The valedictory quilt is 45 inches square so finishing the quilting isn't that remarkable. The quilting itself isn't very elaborate, no feathers, no  fancy motifs, and everything is about 3/4 inches apart. I will trim it tomorrow and start the binding process. After that a photo will be posted. That looks like it will be Tuesday at this point.

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Give Me A Break

Fourth of July is tomorrow. Rather than celebrating the ideas and ideals behind what happened in Philadelphia in 1776, people around here want to blow stuff up and celebrate wars and weaponry. I just saw a local  news program warning people about the dangers of even those safe fireworks that are sold locally, but they didn't say anything about how to report dangerous and illegal use. My neighbor's grandson has already been throwing exploding fireworks in everyone's yards, where no fireworks are allowed at all, but omitting his grandparents. If I call the non-emergency police line they always act bored and disinterested.

Yes, I have called the non-emergency line in the past, once for three drunk teenagers who drove their car into a local pond but were clearly not hurt, and once for a car that was abandoned in a place where cars weren't allowed. Both times the responder acted as though I were the problem.