Return to the Studio

After teaching a class on Saturday, and then a different one on Monday, there were a lot of things to put away.
In other words, my studio was trashed!

Oh, my!

I had to root through almost everything just to get the supplies ready for the classes. That is bad enough, but the other consequence is I find a lot of interesting things and start thinking about new projects.
Can you say "distraction"?  (I knew you could!)

The Saturday class was for The Art Center. I had been thinking about artists using fabric, but not wanting to sew. "Fabric Art Without Needle & Thread" included lots of information, products, and playtime. Most of the students are painters, so the part they liked best was painting on Wonder Under (fusible web) and then ironing it to fabric.
I think I'll re-title this class to go along with another I'm thinking of. They will make a nice pair: "Your Iron as an Art Tool" and "Your Sewing Machine as an Art Tool".
As usual, I was too busy teaching to take any pictures.

Monday's class was for my quilt guild, in response to the need to finish Community Service quilts. I call it "Utility Quilting", which basically means using the walking foot and getting the work done! Quilts made to give away and be used do not need a fancy heirloom quilting job, but they do need their layers to be well quilted so they will last as long as possible.
While you can just do long lines of stitching in one direction, most of the people in the class decided a grid works better. I would agree...both for support of the layers and for a nice texture.
One of the main problems with a class in machine quilting comes from the set up . It's impossible to get ideal chair or table height, though we talked about it so changes can be made at home. Another problem is getting table support on the left side, without making everyone bring a card table...and I solved that problem at long last! It uses more tables, so the class has to be smaller, but staggering them in pairs length-wise provided just what was wanted.
And the third problem is most classes practice on a small sample. If you want to really learn machine quilting, you have to start figuring out how you are going to handle all the bulk of the quilt as it goes through your machine.

Perfect over-the-shoulder technique!

Everyone in class had to bring a basted quilt that was no smaller than 36" square. They did a great job learning to "Fluff & Stuff" among other techniques.

What was the most important thing we learned in each class?
To let go of that idea about Ideal Perfection and just do something!
And is it an old saying, or can it be attributed to Richard Bach or someone..."You best teach what you most need to learn!"


BTW: I did get everything put back in place, and am now ready to mess up my studio again with some new projects!

Quilting Black-on-Black, Part II

After trying several ways of marking...or not marking...on black fabric, I bought White Marking Pen from Clover (is there a fat one???). It is like a ballpoint pen.
There are many warnings to read the instructions before using, but not much new...four statements: one a sales pitch, one CAUTION (try it first, of course), one about how it works, and one about how to get it out.
The strange thing with this product is the "ink" goes on clear and then turns a fairly visible white. So if you were drawing free-hand, that could be a problem.....the same problem I was having with free-motion stitching black thread on black fabric!
Here's a sample of how it looks as a line, and then I scribbled a LOT on, to see if it would come out:


This is about as in-focus as I can make my own eyes right now!
The way to get the mark off is by washing or ironing, and I am pleased to say both worked on my sample scrap. So I marked right on my quilt:

When you need a template, there's no place like the kitchen! My dinner plates are immortalized in many quilts. This is a melemine plate from the dollar store!
I decided to stay with the process of marking out large areas/ shapes, and then filling those in by eye.

A very nice cresent Moon, though my eyesight for making even lines is laughable.
Still, at this point, it is 10 days until the quilt show Turn-In, and I still have another basted quilt waiting!

It seems counter-intuitive to IRON on your quilt, but I did it just to see how the lines would come out.
They came out...it flattened the area. But I usually give the quilt a ride in the drier for a bit to freshen & fluff before it goes anywhere.

When I am pushing & shoving & rearranging a big quilt through my machine, I remind myself that it's that process making the quilt soft. It is very much softer and nice after the quilting is done (unless you have stippled it within an inch of its life and stiffened up the whole thing).
Washing has the same effect, and I have been doing that more often, but this one I don't want to wash before the show...mainly a time constraint.
I might change my mind, though, as the washing and drying gives it the puffiness we like to see (and fills in the little odd spots we hope the judge will miss!)

Why do we also like the flatness when a quilt is just done? We think we are able to appriciate all that quilting we just finished! But 9 times out of 10, the puffiness is more pleasing.

I did continue on and quilt all the flower blocks with a totally free-stitched bumpy flower petal effect.
At least, I hope that's the effect! It's definitely bumpy.
It was nice to just be quilting pink thread top & bottom, knowing there would be no odd color thread showing on each side.
I stopped worrying about on the back...I am sure the judge will mention it. She will be correct to do so, but I would be highly suprized to read a comment that says anything I don't already know about this quilt!

Except for a black thread glob here and there, the back looks pretty good.

So, here I am down to the wire, and the thing is that the quilt still needs more quilting!
Some quilts are demanding that way. This one has been like that from the beginning, which is how it got as much as it has now! But it doesn't really have any quilting in the black background around the blocks, and it should.
I determined that I can add the sleeve without any trouble, so that's going on next. Maybe (ha, ha) if I have time, I'll go back and try to do some more quilting (who AM I kidding???).
But for now, this will have to do.

My belief is that quilters, once they are beyond beginner level, do about the best they can at any given time. Anything that is not quite right is because they decided not to do it originally, or didn't go back and fix it.
I know the right way to do almost everything, but I seriously lack the patience to perform like a champion quilter. And that, of course, IS the difference.
Those Big Award Winners don't necessarily know more than others, but they buckle down and don't let anything get get past them but their 100% best work...and so they deserve all the awards they get.
Meanwhile, as always, I am off to my next project!