String Theory Explained

String Pieced Spider Web block

Several people asked what a string quilt was. String quilting is a very old method where strings or strips and other small pieces are added to a foundation fabric to make quilt blocks.
Here is a tutorial on Craftsy to get you started. Here is a blog post about using this method of piecing to put your scraps to use. Here is a free pattern. for inspiration.

 I learned this technique from Gwen Marston's Liberated String  Quilts.  
Gwen's methods appeal to my no rules, no mistakes sensibilities.
If you'd like to see more string quilts, this Pinterest Board has some lovely examples.
  Our sewing grandmothers didn't waste a single scrap of fabric. Unlike now when we can easily buy whatever fabric we want, it wasn't that long ago when fabric was relatively expensive and hard to get. Our sewing foremothers were very clever at using every bit of what they had to make even utility quilts works of art. Making something pretty out of waste is a very green attitude. We don't give our foremothers enough credit for how they made useful things beautiful, just for the pleasure of it.(One more example of how "women's work" is demeaned throughout history).
  I like making a string quilt using the same methods as our sewing great-grandmothers. They didn't have rotary cutters! No long clear rulers! No computers and printers to print any pattern they might like. No access to millions of fabrics, threads and inspirational pictures. I sometimes wonder what they would think of my pretty room full of fabric and patterns and tools. A whole room dedicated to sewing! I'm sure they would be amazed at how easy we have it now. I try to appreciate what I have, in their memory.

With a Little Help From My Friends

 How do people who do not have cats sew a stitch? Their patterns are uninspected; their quilt backings neglected.

Here is  my January Scrap quilt, above. I decided if I kept waiting for the light to be better I'd never have a picture. I like it - it is very cheerful. (The scrap box is STILL FULL)

I had such a fun time making this I thought wouldn't it be wonderful if someone would just cut up all of my quilting fabric in odd size pieces and just leave them in a huge pile for me to work with..
.
I'm going to see if I can bring some of this piecing exuberance into my garment sewing. Mixing up my sewing genres has given me dangerous ideas.

January Scrap Challenge Finished

Giant pile o' Scraps on Sewing table

You didn't think I would finish my January Scrap Challenge quilt before February? Au Contraire! One way to finish a task is to tell Mr. Hunting Creek that you have a goal and a deadline. He's a professional Project Manager and a huge nag. Whenever I was doing nothing or just hanging out watching aimless TV he'd say, "Don't you need to work on your quilt? How many blocks did you do today?"
The blocks multiplied like Tribbles with his nagging  expert guidance.

 Even though I've been sewing since I was 8 years old or thereabouts  I learn a few things with every project. On this one I learned that SCRAPS RULE THE WORLD. There is no escaping them! They multiply behind your back!
The pile of scraps you see above (I can't make blogger show the picture the right way, get on that Google.) is part of a giant bag of strips that someone gave me. Have you noticed that non-sewists love to unload sewing stuff on innocent sewists? They act like they are giving you a huge gift! Mr. Hunting Creek looks on this with amazement  "They are giving an avowed addict more of what they're addicted to? Why not find some drug addicts and say, "Here's some Oxycontin I don't need any more, but I know  you can use it." He thinks they are aiding and abetting and he isn't far off: It is well -known that other people scraps are in many ways cooler than your own scraps. You already know your scraps. These unknown scraps are new! Different! Sometimes weird colors! (This is how you end up found years later as a dessicated mummy buried in a tunnel of quilt scraps.)

Yet more scraps!

In the past ten years I would save scraps in a big bin if they were smaller than a fat quarter. If you sew a lot, and make baby quilts and Hawaiian shirts and gifts and bags and all sorts of stuff, over ten years you are going to have a lot of scraps. About in the middle of my scrap quilt I realized that I had more scraps than one lap quilt-worth. So I'll have to do another scrap quilt challenge later this year. At first I sorted them by color and size, but that was a mistake- the best way for me, anyway, was to dump them all out and just grab a color/value I needed and use it. I'm very OCD and I tend to over-think sometimes. This was an exercise in being more relaxed. The strips are all sorts of odd shapes and sizes, but my goal was just make it work. Do you think our fore-mothers worried about matching and silly stuff like colors? They did NOT. I own two quilts made by Mr. Hunting Creek's grandmother, and they are so different from contemporary quilts it's like a breath of fresh air. Run out of red? Use orange! Forget about 1/4 inch seams, use smaller, use larger to make it fit!
While taking a break when Mr. Hunting Creek was otherwise engaged, (so he couldn't make me go back to work) I read on Venus de Hilo's blog about a Kitchen sink quilt. This is a ingenious idea! I found three old blocks that I had made ten years ago and added some more to them and worked them in. "I made SIX blocks today!," I told Mr. Hunting Creek. "Wow, he said, impressed by my diligence.."See how well you do when you're focused? "

Stay tuned for the Big Reveal! (Camera battery charging up.)

Artist at Work

Curse you, Red Baron!

Some people don’t like Sundays; they get melancholy and bummed out. I, however, like Sundays, and wish we could have more of them. The chores of Saturday are done, the house is clean, the groceries are bought, and there is usually no schedule. Mr. Hunting Creek brings in the Sunday New York Times, (a pleasure i did not enjoy until after we moved to the East Coast; the L.A. Times is nothing in comparison.) I get to read the best parts to Mr. Hunting Creek while we listen to the selection of the week on Pandora. What’s not to like?

In the afternoons, I get to sew and work on my current project. This month’s (year’s, lifetime’s)  project is to Use Up Scraps, which are taking over the sewing zone. 

The rules I made for using up scraps are like the Rules for Fight Club. Just kidding... they are pretty simple: if it is in the scrap bin, it is available. Second Rule: No Saving. Third Rule: Have fun trying new color combinations. Last Rule:There are no mistakes.
I’m making all of the blocks slightly larger than 12 ½ inches, then I will square them up when I am done.

Blocks I don’t like can be turned into pot holders or cut up and added to a different block. I set all of the blocks aside until the end and then decide what I like and don't like.

Some notes on works in progress: I know from teaching and from my experience painting that it’s unwise to judge a finished work from the incomplete parts. A a good method is to withhold judgement on the separate pieces until you see them all together in context.
Also, never show your work in progress to someone who doesn't understand sewing/quilting/painting/writing. They are not going to understand what they are seeing and thus cannot offer intelligent and useful criticism. Speaking of quilts specifically, seasoned sewists and quilters know that unfinished blocks look...well, unfinished. Lonely and out of context. Experienced quilters can mentally fill in the blanks and envision the entire quilt.

Sarai asked an interesting question on her blog today about how we engage in the world as artists. You’re saying to yourself right now, “But I’m not an artist!”” I can hear you from here. If you make things, you’re an artist. You might be a beginner, or you might be an expert, but either way, you are an artist, and you need to own that. Once you respect that, you will open your eyes to new ways of seeing. Some people would see my bin of scraps, and they would think: trash. An artist teaches herself/himself to see possibilities in mundane things.. Like scraps...or found objects...or marble...or old pictures, or....

Do you think of yourself as an artist? If no, why not?

My Old Addiction

This stuff is like heroin to me

When I read the words "Italian Silk-Cotton Blend", I was filled with that acquisitive desire known to fellow fabric... enthusiasts.
Like an AA member who still walks by liquor stores, I regularly look at fabric  I read about sewing and quilting. Occasionally, I even sew things. But my main passion is collecting fabric  That I have many lovely pieces already is not the point. I am always interested in having more. I have tried to be rational about this. But as any addict/collector/hoarder knows, these things are not rational.
I went for a four year period in which I did not buy ANY fabric at all. Last year, I bought some lovely pieces on my birthday. Of course I have not made anything out of them yet...they're Too Nice.
When my daughter asked me what my New Year's resolutions were, I told her I'd have to think about it. Then when I was working on a fabric banner for our Christmas Party, the Resolution presented itself to me, as J.K. Rowling says, "with the force of a stampeding troll": No Saving
I was selecting the background fabric from my Christmas Fabric Collection. I found the perfect one - white with silver stars. I am ashamed to admit that I then thought, "this is too nice, I'd better save it." and then my rational brain spoke up and said, actually yelled: SAVE IT FOR WHAT!!! 
Yes, reader, I used it. What was I saving it for, but to use for our family celebrations? Then I realized: THAT was my resolution: NO SAVING. Don't I deserve to use all of my nice things? My daughter doesn't sew. When I am gone, this stuff I have "Saved" will all be donated to a worthy cause (I hope) so I'd better enjoy it now.
I couldn't decide what lovely piece I wanted to sacrifice on the altar of No Saving, so I decided to use up all my my small scraps in a scrap quilt. Part of my Saving Problem is that I will save Scraps Too Small To Be Saved. And I noticed yesterday that giving up "saving" isn't going to be easy. I'm happily taking sewing breaks, making little scrappy log cabins and courthouse steps blocks, and I caught myself thinking, "This scrap is too pretty to use now, I'll save it for something else". I made myself use it.
What are your sewing resolutions? I'm NOT Saving. I am recklessly using the good stuff, and trying to UN-hoard. It's a constant battle, because my first impulse is to save. But I guess all resolutions are like that, amirite?

p.s. My collecting habit isn't just manifested in humans. My little cat, Miss Etta, has a collection too. Every day, she drags these three things out from my sewing room into a special spot in the living room. When Mr. Hunting Creek puts them back, she fetches them again.

I snapped a quick picture on my iPhone: they are a little lambswool duster that I use to clean computer screens, a bag of wool felt scraps, and a package of Angelina Fibers.The bag of wool felt scraps is bigger than she is, but she loves it and drags it back every day. It's pretty bad when your cats start hoarding too.

Ninja Strikes Fast

File your patterns now

Not later, ninja strikes fast

Avalanche in sewing room

Transportation Baby Quilt

Finished: Transportation Baby Quilt
Finished size - about 48" square

Here's a close up of the baby announcement, added to the quilt by scanning and printing on Transfer Artist Paper

I've been working all week to finish this baby quilt in time to take to a party, and I finished at least four hours before the party- I'm getting rusty, because usually I finish things and the situation is: Mr. Hunting Creek has the car running already, we're running late, and everyone in poised for takeoff. I even had time to wrap it nicely, watch the Preakness with a glass of cold iced tea, and write a nice note in the card.

The quilt is my own design, if a square in a square log cabin can even be said to be original. I was inspired by a quilt in Modern Log Cabin Quilting, but mine is made differently. Let's say it's my own interpretation. If you'd like to make something similar, here's a run down of what I did.
We went to the Variety Store nearby; they have a large selection of quilting fabric, and I had a specific theme in mind. I bought half yards of the green road fabric, the black and white airport, the yellow train print, one yard of the plain blue, and two yards for the back of a pretty yellow train themed stripe (I didn't need all two yards, but it is nice to have some extra in case the quilt grows.)
The blue road map and classic car print was from stash, as were the red and white dot fabrics and everything else. It's nice to have options. My rule was - no two blocks exactly alike, but everything will go together, and one block will have the baby announcement.
I chose 15 4 1/2 inches squares for the centers (and one saved for the baby picture. So there are 16 centers. I framed those squares with the blue, cut 1 1/2 inches wide. The second round was the same prints as the squares, cut 2 1/2 inches wide, with a few calming blender prints thrown in for a place for the eyes to rest. Then I used the red and white dots as sashing, cut one and one half inches wide - I wanted it the same width as the blue. I quilted it very simply to frame the blocks. There's a lot going on here. so no fancy stitching needed. I love how it turned out and when I was done, I imagined it all soft and faded and dragged around all over as little kids do, as a treasured wooby blankie.
If you've never worked with the Transfer Artist Paper, here's what I did to transfer the inage. First I scanned the baby announcement, and then in my HP Image Manager (the software that came with my All In One Printer) I reversed the image and crapped it as necessary. Then I printed a couple on paper to make sure I had made it the right size. Then I printed it on the Transfer Artist Paper, and transferred the image to plain white cotton using the instructions included in the package.I was glad that I had made two copies (one for practice) because I learned that the iron has to be HOT. My first one wasn't perfect, but my second one was. Save the trimmed parts of the TAP, you can also paint or draw on it and transfer those as well, so I save my scraps for a future project.
The new parents loved the quilt so everyone is happy. Now to clean up my sewing area and plan my next project.

The Modern Quilting Bee Block Party

It's always a happy day when the new books arrive from the publisher for the website. They are all fresh from the printer, crisp and new and it is always exciting to sit down and read every one and see what new ideas I can steal...I mean, borrow from them. My hands down favorite was this unexpected jewel: The Modern Quilting Bee Block Party. There are twelve projects with illustrated directions, and short biographies of the twelve women who participated in a virtual quilting bee and created the quilts. This never happens: I loved all twelve projects and wanted to make my own version of all of them. As a quilter I am very improvisational. (As a garment sewer and cook as well. Maybe in life too.) Some people might say that is because I am incapable of following directions (and those people might be right) but I prefer to think of myself as a Free Spirit. An Artist. (Rules? we don't need no stinkin' rules! Did Monet follow directions when he painted? I don't think so.) The directions in this book appealed to my rebellious free-spirited way of working. I start with an idea of where I want to go and let the fabric give me direction. And that's just what they did! With lots of pictures to show how they ended up with a beautiful quilt. I don't keep every book that I sell (and a good thing too, or there would be no room in the sewing room) but I am keeping one of these for my very own. If you like the improvisational style of quilting, you might like it too.

Sidelined

Even though my new sewing studio is not yet completed - I need some new blinds for my window to block the afternoon sun, and a new desk and a pattern storage solution- I can't stand not sewing anymore, and decide to make a simple quilt. This suddenly presented almost insurmountable difficulties. Mr. Hunting Creek had "put away" my rotary cutter, and finding it required a good 45 minutes of searching. Had he put it with the scissors? No.(That would be too easy) I had to channel my testosterone brain, and finally found it in a drawer in my office that held my steam a seam and some traced Burda Patterns. I only found it there because I was looking for a pencil. Then I looked for my 24" x6" ruler - which I discovered had been broken by the movers (Mr. Hunting Creek)! Sigh. So I had to get a new one, but it didn't have the sticky stuff on that kept it from sliding on the fabric. Mr. Hunting Creek had peeled that off the broken ruler and KEPT THE BROKEN RULER instead of my vinyl strip. SIGH. I had no idea where he put the rest of the roll of the sticky vinyl stuff. Anyone who is married can imagine the exasperated conversation that happened next. The Little Hunting Creek Company will now be selling that stuff by the roll. Maybe by the truckload. And those little dots of sandpaper. (Why would you keep a broken ruler? Why would you store it but carefully peel of the intact backing and throw that away? I ask you.)
I decided to make the Sidelines Quilt by Maple Island Quilts.
My son and I liked the lattice pattern. He picked out the fabrics for me. They look very cool and summery. The quilt has partial seams, but don't let that intimidate you - it's really a modified log cabin design and isn't really very difficult at all.
When I make a quilt from a pattern (I usually make up my own patterns, but this one looked fun) I don't cut out all of the fabric at once. I cut out some of it and make a couple blocks and see how I like the fabrics combined. That way if I change my mind I haven't done all of that work and have homeless pieces. I have enough of those already.
I had to find a solution to the new ruler sliding on the fabric (until my new rolls of Invisigrip arrive) and I discovered after experimenting that half inch strips of steam a seam on the ruler provide enough stickiness to keep it stable while I cut the strips. I don't know how long it will stay sticky, but it only has to last a couple days. Which is fortunate for both the fabric cutting and Mr. Hunting Creek.

Summer Reading

Those of us who sew would not be surprised to learn that working with your hands is the new black. Last week I read in Slate that Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work " was the best self-help book that I've ever read" Buddhists have long felt that physical labor helps clear your mind, and the Shakers argued (gently of course) that honest labor was a form of prayer.
Sewing for me is a form of meditation, plus problem solving, with the satisfaction of a job well done. Most of the people that I know who garden or sew or paint are happy people. Yet those people I know who are mainly 'cube dwellers' without outside interests are often very cranky or cynical. I'm sure there is a connection here. Modern philosophers argue that the source of modern anomie is that we work in jobs that have no tangible results. But when we sew or quilt or knit or crochet, when we cook or garden or clean or paint, we have something to show for our labors. It makes us happy and it contributes to our mental health.

When I went to college, we were supposed to learn how to think. We didn't learn anything practical, like how to build furniture, or houses, or repairing machinery. It would be interesting if in the future students could have combined degrees that taught, say, French Literature or Architecture, or whatever, but also a little plumbing or woodwork as part of their education. Don't you think people would be happier if they learned a productive skill alongside a "thinking" one? That's why Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work is on top of my summer reading list. And since we are in the worst recession in our lifetimes, it might be healthy to reflect on the power and meaning of work, and what we bring to our work, and what our work gives back to us. I'd like to add more creative pursuits to my week. I've resolved to add more sewing time, and less "non-happy work" time to my schedule. Also as a nation it would be healthy to think about work as well. Keeping work local. Valuing our workers. Stuff like that.(That's the Berkeley girl coming out.)

I am reminded of those bumper stickers that say "I'd rather be fishing," or skydiving, or sailing. Notice how no one says they'd rather be making a power point presentation or backing up the system, or writing a report?
I'd rather be working in my sewing room. I like making things. It makes me a whole person (and now I have a book to back me up)
What would you rather be doing?

Material Obsession (book review and personal condition)

It's a Happy Day when I have new sewing books to read (preferably in bed). Yesterday brought two new books for my collection and for the Little Hunting Creek Store.
First, Material Obsession. Anyone who sews has this condition. (Blessing or curse? Depends on who you ask.) The authors, who run a quilt ship in Sydney, Australia, present patterns that have modern twists on traditional quilt designs, all photographed in color. The inside cover says. "Owners of the renowned Australian quilt shop Material Obsession share 23 fresh and modern quilts inspired by traditional designs, and explain how any quilter, novice or seasoned, can create striking variations of their own." Excellent eye candy. The quilts are all ranked by degree of difficulty. There are detailed, well illustrated instructions that will walk the beginning quilter through the whole experience. I'd recommend the book for the pictures alone, but the text is very informative and full of helpful tips.
I find quilting very Zen-like. If you've sewn garments for many years, curved seams will hold no terror for you. Applique can be easy or difficult depending on your method, but I find nothing in quilting as frustrating as garment sewing can be. For example, quilters do not have to attempt trying to cut silk chiffon correctly (it slithers all over the table, defying you to keep it on grain. Cotton is much better behaved.) Quilters mostly sew cotton, which is the most pleasant, easy to sew fabric on earth. It doesn't stretch! It is easy to press, and stays where you put it. The colors and designs available for quilters nowadays are so beautiful that the quilts pictured are almost good enough to eat.

The second book is Freddy and Gwen Collaborate Again. This book is by Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston, both well-respected quilt teachers and authors of many books. Their book is full of pictures of quilts and quilt blocks and explains their collaborative quilt process in detail. The cover says, "Award-winning authors Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston reunite for a follow-up to their successful Collaborative Quilting. This time the duo uses historical quilts for inspiration and collectively gives them their own modern interpretations. Separately, Gwen offers unique insights about historical formats, while Freddy imparts her extensive knowledge about color and pattern. Then the two join forces, often using well-recognized historical quilts as inspiration for new, bold, and modern interpretations. Each author shares 20 of her own creations, along with an additional 30 collaborative quilts -- and every project comes complete with patterns for shapes, pieces and blocks."
(I have to confess that Freddy's color schemes are not quite my cup of tea. Her mantra is "Red is a neutral", hmm, maybe so, but I find too much color is a quilt distracting. I like the book and the directions, but I think if I attempted a quilt in her color schemes my head would explode.) The point of the book is how to develop a design and color system that works for you in designing your own original work. That's a good example for anyone to emulate. Thumbs up for the text, great illustrations and explanations. Plus both books inspired me to make a play date with the sewing cave and design a quilt soon.
Happy Quilting!

Patience is a virtue

A couple years ago I had a great idea: I would make everyone in my office custom Christmas stockings for my team's gift exchange. I designed special themed stockings for each person and sewed them up. It didn't take long, and it was easy and fun. Pictured is one of the special stockings. Everyone loved them and hung them up in their offices. Some people took me aside and said, "Oh I wish I could sew. I just don't have the patience." And I would respond that it took no special patience to make a stocking, but they would claim this lack of patience prevented them from any creative endeavor: quilting, painting, cooking, sewing. No patience! Can't do it!

I am not an especially patient person. If you were to ask anyone in my family to list my virtues, I am pretty sure patience would not even make the top ten. But I hear the same statement over and over again whenever I make a baby quilt, or a dress or blouse or pillows. They just don't have the patience. Is it that some people consider sewing complete drudgery?

As sewists and quilters I think we have a small mission. We must rid the world of this myth that making something yourself requires patience. No patience is required. The truth is making your own anything is fun. I had fun making those stockings. Quilters and sewists are the most generous people; they even make things for strangers, just because they care so much. So I'd say that it doesn't take any patience at all. All you need is love.