Bodice of Dooooom!

The bodice of doooom!  My co-workers say it's Easter colors.  I suppose that's true... but NOT a finished product!  Just the test bodice.  Strangely enough, I kind of like it.  It's growing on me - a little like mold, sneaking up and settling in. 

The lining material is stuff we had lying around the studio - heck, everything in this is stuff we had lying around the studio!  I know it will work for workshops, which is all I require of it.

But I do like the bright and cheery colors of it.

Other than that, I've been cutting out skirt panels.  I have two skirts, both circle skirts.  The underskirt is two shades of yellow, the overskirt green and blue.  And trimmed out the ears.  My goodness how they are going to be trimmed!!  This is by far the most trim-laden character I've yet to play.  Oh, Penelope.... how bright and shiny you will be!

On the quilt front, I'm still a little stalled on Boston Molasses Flood.  My weekends are now officially GONE, which only leaves me weeknights.  And since I am still working on costuming... well.... um.  Yeah, excuses, excuses.  I'll get back to it soon.  Really.

We put bird feeders out this week - finally - and filled them with bird seed.  The blue jays love the peanuts, and we're getting hordes of little birds.  Little Attila the Hun birds... invading from everywhere!  The weirdest thing was not the squirrel sitting in the middle of the bird feeder - that's normal.  No... we looked out a window this past weekend and saw a cat picking up a peanut and chomping down.  ?!  Do cats actually EAT peanuts??? 

Quilting and costuming

A friend said recently that I was the only person she knew who both quilted and made costumes.  Apparently, most (at least in her circles of friends and acquaintances) do one or the other, but never both.  I jusr smiled and said something along the lines of "I guess I'm just unusual," which is fine.  But I wonder... am I?  Are there really that few quilters who make costumes (and by costumes I really don't mean no-sew or little sew Halloween costumes.  I mean clothing from another time period, I guess) and that few costumers who make quilts? 

Right now I have a full yeoman woman's garb to make - bloomers, chemise, bodice, two skirts.... and still find a straw hat to go with....  and I am working on quilting Boston Molasses Flood and planning my next quilt (Texas Daycare). 

Took a break this weekend to go to First Monday Trade Days in Canton with a group.  Half of the group had never been.  There was much walking, some shopping, and much fun.  Several of us bought things for our characters at Scarborough Faire, and those that didn't bought other stuff.  I came home with a blue flying goat made of metal, a dachsund cracker holder with a spreader for a tail, and several other small things.  There'll be more trips to First Monday, I know!

Fabric in general....

Tonight I will get BMF on the quilting frame and get started with the hand quilting.  Yay!  And I am pleased with the back - I think the pieced actually doesn't look too bad.  Moreover, I think it will grow on me until I more than like it.  So that's all good.    The next quilt is perking in my brain - I know what fabric I need, I know what I need to do (and this time I will be more careful about measuring for the borders and back!).

And in preparation for Scarborough Faire this spring, since my new character is a weaver, I have started weaving.  I sincerely doubt that I will ever get into it enough to make my own fabric (not to mention that the looms I have are so small it would take a lot of piecing and joining to make a piece sufficient to sew), but it's interesting to watch the weaving go together.  I can now (in theory) go from raw wool to finished piece of clothing.  I find that fascinating - the whole process of sheep (or plant) to clothing. 

As far as planning quilts goes... I am now 21 behind.  I think.  Until this evening, when I think I will be 22 behind, because there's another one working its way up from my hindbrain....  I need to sew faster!

Quilt frustration

Boston Molasses Flood is fighting me all the way.  Entirely and whole-heartedly.  My measurements are off, and I don't know how I managed.  I barely got enough fabric for the borders (but did), and failed miserably in purchasing backing material.  I got half as much as I needed.  HALF.  Seriously??

But all will be well.  I managed to find more of the same fabric, so I can piece the backing together.  But this quilt is getting more and more frustrating.  I know this, too, shall pass.  And it shall be a lovely quilt.  I just have to get there!!

And I need to work on garb.  And clean house.  And... and...

Oh, and exercise.  Seriously.

Of quilt patterns and such

To the stage on Boston Molasses Flood wherein I have to start quilting.  (Have to... more like get to!).  I knew going into BMF exactly what pattern I wanted to quilt.  And then changed my mind.  About seven times.  And now I am down to the wire - and I THINK I know what I want to do.  Since I am hand-quilting everything (not nearly enough money for a longarm quilter, which is what I so much want!), I am making choices.  And in all honesty, my original idea wouldn't have stood out at all - not just wouldn't have added anything, but wouldn't have really shown at all without WAY much work.  And if I really want to do so, I can add it afterwards.  Don't think I will, though.

So, now I am down to stitch in the ditch for most of the quilt, and borders featuring newspaper headlines and information about the Boston Molasses Disaster.  I know it will look good, but there is a part of me that mourns the loss of the original quilting plan.  *shrug*  I know it will be all right, maybe even better this way.

As far as quilts go, though... I have plenty of ideas.  I am up to 24 in my notebook, and I've only finished two... BMF is #3.  I'm getting further and further behind!  One of these days I want to take a day off from work and just... sew.  Quilt.  Piece.    Until then, I will toddle along as I've been doing, working at a randomly decent pace.  (I'm not complaining, just commenting.  I can't do more than I can do in a day!)

Soon enough (like this weekend), I start losing my weekends as far as sewing quilts.  Scarborough Faire (my home renaissance faire) starts getting into prep time soon, which means costuming and character work and all that.  And hopefully living chess match.  We shall see!

Boston Molasses Flood and Ostrich Stroganoff

The newest quilt in the works id the Boston Molasses Flood quilt.  I've finally got all the slivers pieced together and am in the process of stitching diagonals...  With luck, I'll have the top completely pieced by Saturday afternoon (once I get the material for the borders and such...).

The borders will also be brown - I haven't decided what fabric, but it will be a solid or tone-on-tone.  Then will come the fun part - quilting!  I've already figured out how I will quilt it - I just have to find the right picture and such.... more details on that later.

There is another color variant on this one that is done in blues - haven't started that one yet.  Might take a while to get to it, but it will happen eventually.  The blue variant is "Isaac's Storm," after the 1900's Galveston hurricane.

I am hoping to have Boston Molasses done before faire starts (well, before workshops start in earnest) because once faire happens, my sewing time drops dramatically.  Costumes, etc., have to take precendence. 

Other than that, we're settling into the house well.  I made ostrich stroganoff this weekend - easy to make!  I found ostrich at our local Central Market - love that store.  We also bought elk, but haven't done anything with it yet.  Anyway, the ostrich was very tasty, but I had strange nightmares afterwards.  Since I'm having leftovers today for lunch, we'll see if it's the ostrich that does it!  :)  Tonight's dinner will be a stir-fried chicken and veggies in a light cream sauce. 

I do wish the Texas weather would make up its mind.  It is supposed to get up into the 70's today.  In January.  *sigh*  I don't know WHAT'S going on.  Neither do the plants.  My lime tree has blossoms.  It's probably going to be unpleasantly surprised by the end of the week. 

The newest news

Pack pack pack pack.... shifting close dates... I feel like a ping pong ball!  Yeah, looks like we're moving.  The date is still up for grabs, which makes planning a little weird.  (Try impossible).  Also makes crafting a little difficult.  There's still so much to be done, and so little time to do it in with packing and stuff.  Not to mention the craft stuff is getting harder to get to!  (It will all improve, I know it will.  But right now I live in frustration land!).  My boredom craft got buried somewhere - no clue where, so I guess I will try to finish it in time for Thanksgiving! 

However.  The next quilt is long past the stage of planning and fabric gathering and is almost out of the cutting fabric stage.  Only about 80 more pieces to cut and then I can (in theory) start putting them back together!  That may be after the move, but we shall see. 

In the meantime, here's the test piece for Boston Molasses Flood.  I read a book about the Boston Molasses Flood earlier this year, and it made a fairly impressive impact on me.  It sounds silly, especially when people find out it happened in January.  However, when it's a flood up to 15 ft tall moving at 35mph, that's no laughing matter.  The shape of the tesselation is taken from a map of the disaster.  The darker area is the warehouse area of the company which owned the tank that gave way.  The lighter area is the area where the tank was.

On the real deal, the darks and lights will (if all goes as planned) not only be shaded by small and large, but shading from dark to light from top to bottom of the quilt, as a mark of how the molasses spread and the damage lightened as it went.  (If that sentence makes sense).

There is another colorway in my head, with different prints, that could accurately be called Isaac's Storm - after the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which killed somewhere in the region of 10,000 people.  When I am done with Boston Molasses Flood, I may farm out Isaac's Storm to someone else to be done.  We shall see. 

I look forward to being moved and the crafting area - no, really it's going to be a crafting studio - we will have.  A two car detached garage that was used for car care - plenty of shelves, work space, and all nice and tidy.  He kept a clean work area!  AND it's heated/cooled.  Even better.  :)  But until then, it's pack and pack and make lists and organize and stuff.  And try to stay calm.

Ack! Almost the end of the month?!

Really?  Where has October gone?  (Yes, I know it's 'only' the 21st, but um... I have stuff still to do!)  It's been a busy month, not really full of time in which to be bored, as I believe I've mentioned before.  There's any number of things going on in life, from work to house-hunting to those projects which I suppose I should consider scheduled.  And a little socialization, too.



Isn't Baby cute?  (Well, I think so!)



At any rate.  I have now finished my first self-designed quilt.  I've also made the pattern for it, with yardage and everything.  :)  I feel... productive!  So, I introduce to you: Baby's First Steps!

Here is Baby in all his glory: taking his first steps into the big world of humanity - and stomping it flat!  Bright nuclear green footprints mark Baby's path through the city, as do overturned cars and flames.  You never know what kids can get up to once they start walking, that's for certain!  The world will never be the same!

Baby's First Steps is a simple pattern, pieced and appliqued.  The entire quilt is 30"x40", so perfect for a small child or a wall-hanging. 

And just because I could, and because it added to the cute Baby factor, here's a close-up of Baby himself:



Isn't his eye just the brightest?



He's got a bead eye.  I had the right kind of bead just hanging out, so of course I used it!

I think if I ever redo Baby, his skin fabric will be a little less busy, let some more of his details show through.  Maybe a gentler batik... but this is the one I found and liked.  :)  So I ran with it.  And on the whole, I am pleased with how Baby's First Steps came out.

This weekend it's off to a couple of quilt stores with Baby's First Steps to see if any of them would be interested in selling the pattern (if they think there's a market for this style). 

And I start working on the next quilt, which is considerably more "serious" - no wandering giant monsters.  It's a little more tricky - fewer squares and more odd shapes, but tesselated, so there's really only two shapes.  It's got color variants already, but the first one, and the one I am truly looking forward to, is the Boston Molasses Flood quilt.

So, between the Boston Molasses Flood quilt, and house hunting, and all that other stuff, there's not much time to be bored.  I am almost done with the only "I'm bored" project - just one seam left to do and I can post my pics.  It's a stuffed pumpkin from a pattern from... well, it looks like the 1970's, really.  I got the pattern at an estate sale, so there's no telling.