LIfe in Ohio...

Hello blog.  It's been a while...

I moved to Ohio.

I started a new job.

REPEAT is over.

I am not quilting quite as much as I was a few months ago, but getting into the groove of life post-grad school has been less painful than imagined.  For example, I actually am capable of waking up at a normal hour, staying awake all day, and not sewing every few hours.  Sigh...

Turns out Maybe and Also got a bit spoiled with their momma home being a sewing slob for two years.  They HATE spending the day alone.  So much so that Also spends her days at doggie daycare bonding with her manny and the other pups.  Maybe whines at home all day.  They need to get real.   

I have done some sewing.  Had to break in the old sewing room...I've had two awesome quilt finishes since I got to Ohio.  First off, I finished a quilt that my grandma and I pieced last summer.  Grandma just recently celebrated her 90th b-day, so she deserved a quilt, and then some!  This massive chevron monster is hopefully keeping her warm as she watches Dancing with the Stars.  She may be 90, but this lady knows what is up in the world of celebrity gossip.  My classy brother and sister got her a subscription to US Weekly, so she can read that from under her quilt.  BONUS - It has 90 quilting lines to match her 90 years...cliche! 

The next big finish was my Backbone quilt.  A Carolyn Friedlander quilt, this bad boy is one of my favorite quilts I've ever made. 

 

Too many quilts, not enough space.  Hence the quilt ladder.  I've always wanted one, but the reality of this one isn't quite right...

And here are the little pups.  I haven't had a couch in two years, and while I may have one, I usually don't get a spot on it.  

Some More Finished Quilts!

Since school let out, actually since much before that point, I have been quilting away.  Piecing is my go to activity, however I lit a fire under my ass and SWORE I would finish many quilts since I didn't have a job.  There are two positives here.  First, I did finish many quilts, the two from the last post and four more highlighted below!  Second, I got a job...like a real job.  I am in the process of relocating to Lakewood, Ohio!

I made this quilt while studying abroad in England.  Ironically, most of the fabrics in the quilt are historic reproductions, a genre of fabric I am most definitely over at this point...

Except that one tan, pink, and black bit that looks like some sort of brain/root combination.  In an attempt to make the quilt somewhat more exciting to make up for what it lacks in color, pattern, etc., I used a bright yellow for the binding.  I actually love it, however certain members of my sewing club questioned the collision of modern and traditional:)

Right before my house was warm enough to spend time outside of my quilting/homeworking/sleeping room, I started making a postage stamp quilt. Using the amazing tutorial from Rita at Red Pepper Quilts, the process was actually painless.  Postage Stamp quilts are my new go to mindless sewing activity...

Many thanks to Natalie for giving me this awesome resist printed denim from her surface design class.  It worked perfectly as the backing for the postage stamp!  Well, visually it worked perfecting, in terms of sewing through it with my dull needle, it was a bit of a struggle!

Another quilt from another time.  This is the third quilt I ever made...during what I called my "Black, White, and Bright" phase.  I hand pieced this in England too, and it has graced the walls of each of my apartments since. Threads 'a hanging, just the top, velcroed to the wall.  Classy.  It is finally quilted, and ready to hang in my next home...

The Swoon Quilt.  Probably my favorite quilt I've ever made.  I am in love with the color combination.  It might be too much for some, but it's just right for me:)

Detail of the Swoon center.  This will be the first quilt I've made myself for my bed!

Here's the new place in Lakewood...after two years without my furniture, I am very excited to have a couch, bed on a frame, and more than four forks.  The blog will probably soon be inundated with nerdy home decorating photos.  And hopefully more finished quilts...

Someone has been busy...

I have been in some sort of post-graduate school haze.  Quilting, quilting, quilting...I literally can't stop.  Here's a snippet of what I have been working on...

This was a super fun quilt to make.  In fact, this was my piecing obsession for most of the winter.  It was so fun...that I have all the blocks pieced for another one!  The pattern and tutorial is generously provided on Oh Fransson!  This quilt was a gift for Mary, the amazingly talented superstar who spends her days at the front desk of the International Quilt Study Center and Museum. 

Another quilt I have been working on is below.  Mary and Deb were extremely generous and got me a Go! cutting system by AccuQuilt for graduation...It took me about ten minutes to cut all those little triangles, AMAZING!  While I am not generally a huge user of solids, I really like the effect of the flying geese floating in a plane of gray...This quilt is on its way to Deb!

I have several other quilts that are in varying stages of completion, from binding to a little bit more quilting, many more finished quilt reveals are coming!

Also, REPEAT continues to roll on!  Lots of excitement on the blog today...

Quilt Tops

I am a piecer.  I rarely actually quilt things.  But, like last summer, I am challenging myself to get real and finish some quilts. 

So, I hit the Joann's Memorial Day sale hard today, my batting stash equals my fabric stash (well, not quite, but closer...)

I have been doing some pattern testing for Carolyn Friedlander, and I just finished piecing together my Palmetto blocks today!  I LOVE this pattern.  It was really fun to work in a smaller scale, and I am in love with the perks of paper piecing. 

Lovely

I think they look like origami birds...flying away...

THESIS COMPLETED!

Modern Quilting: DIY Discourse is finished!

I've spent the last year and a half researching and writing my thesis on the Modern Quilt Guild!  It has been a really fun experience - I got to meet 26 pretty cool ladies who told me all about their experiences as members of the MQG.  Mega-thanks to everyone who was part of this journey.  From the participants, to my committee, to the dogs, and to those who encouraged me to keep on trucking, it's much appreciated!

Huge thanks extended to the University of Nebraska, who in addition to my degree (fingers crossed, I guess since I haven't technically graduated yet), provided me with this token of their appreciation:

And all sarcasm aside, this thrilled me.  I saw Ms. Madeleine's pin last year and knew that nothing could stop me...It's the simple things in life (two years of work = pin = happy)...


If you are so inclined, feel free to read the beast HERE.

Swooning

The weather in Lincoln has been to die for lately.  If 90 degrees in March doesn't mean global warming is happening, I am not sure what does.  Regardless, the warm weather has been a welcome change for residents of Lincoln living in quarters without insulation (me). 

je t'aime

 I finished the Swoon quilt the other day.  I LOVE IT.  The colors are pretty rad and the design is a cross between vintage and today.  I am petrified to quilt it because my usual wobbly lines don't seem like they will do it justice.  I am going to practice free motion quilting and hopefully tackle this bad boy sometime over the summer. 

Tiny squares, coming right up...

 Since I am scared of quilting, I started another piecing adventure today.  I am making a legitimate postage stamp quilt.  I generally refer to any quilt made of squares, regardless of size, to be a postage stamp quilt.  This is simply not true.  But, following in the footsteps of Rita over at Red Pepper Quilts, I am going for it!  This is a small sample of my fabric for the quilt...

Pretty fabric

Everything over at The Printed Bolt is still in full swing.  We just got our yardage of Michele Rosenboom's fabric the other day, and it's gorgeous. 

Quilt Retreat

Many thanks to Susan Brown of TQM Products for welcoming me and Madeleine to her quilt retreat in Okoboji, Iowa!  'Boji as it is referred to by those in the know, is a vacation lake spot in Northeast Iowa.  We stayed at the Okoboji Lutheran Bible Camp (my first bible camp experience). 

Packing up all my supplies was pretty stressful. Even for a quilter like me who tends to avoid a lot of tools, knick, knacks, etc, but the time you get your machine, cutting supplies, ironing stuff, and fabric together, it's enough to pretty much fill the Prius.  Especially combined with Madeleine's sewing accoutrements. 

ready to sew!

We arrived ready to roll.  After setting up our gear, we went to bed.  Nothing could prepare us for the reality of quilt retreat...

In the zone.

We got right to work on Friday morning.  As our fellow sewists arrived, we remained focused, not yet disrupting the quiet peace.  Slowly, as we became accustomed to our new environment, we let loose and chattered the rest of the weekend.  Surprise, surprise...

Swooning

Little did we know, but at quilt retreats people stay up sewing all night.  Literally all night.  The champion quilter stayed up until 5am and was back at it at 8am.  Whoa.  Madeleine and I created unattainable goals the first night and stayed up until 4am, however we slept in.  The Swoon block above was my goal for the 4am night. 

Also is very helpful

The Six Swoons

 The following day at retreat, I continued to pound out the Swoon blocks.  All the cool kids have been making this quilt for months, so I figured I should too.  I used to be one of those quilters who proudly proclaimed "I do NOT use patterns."  I was a graph paper snob, but realistically my creations for variations on incredibly common pieced quilt patterns.  That said, the lack of patterns in my quilting life was a point of pride (wow, I am so LAME).  Over the last few months, as I continued to perfect my procrastination skills through the thesis writing process, I began to gravitate towards quilt patterns.  It was easier to have mindless sewing while watching trashy TV to distract myself rather than have to pretend to exert creative energy while reinventing the nine patch again and again.  I started with some free patterns on blogs, and luckily I found one that I LOVED which resulted in me mass producing the blocks for it.  Due the the unfinished gift nature of one of these quilts, I cannot reveal the pattern.

Another step in my new found love of patterns was helping Carolyn Friedlander by testing one of her new patterns.  Again, no pictures or identifying information, but it was super fun, and I learned a new skill, paper piecing!   

So, that gets me to Swoon.  In order to become complete social media junkies, Madeleine and I got a Twitter account for The Printed Bolt.  Like quilt patterns, I used to be against Twitter.  Well, I pretty much still am against Twitter, however, I have found both a sociological crater and some quilting inspiration on Twitter.  Although, I do feel like a bit of an outsider looking in to all these weird personal conversations, but in a sort of Nancy Drew/Carmen San Diego investigator sort of way...Anyway, someone had a link to a Swoon quilt with something other than a white background, it was a black newsprint.  Since I don't really understand Twitter and just click around, I have not been able to relocate said image.  I was determined to make the Swoon quilt and not do the whimpy shabby chic color combination in the picture for the pattern.   

I bought the pattern online, and I'm sorry, but even in my limited pattern experience, I was not impressed.  Yes, I did figure it out, and yes it is super EASY, but there were a few fatal flaws that caused me to almost drop F-bombs every ten seconds at Lutheran Bible Camp.  Not a good situation.  For example, there are two square sizes that you need to cut out, however they are both the same size in the drawings, WTF?  Second, there are two colors used in addition to the background.  Color 1 refers to the secondary color with fewer pieces.  That does not make sense.  Color 2 is the main color, but it is second.  There is a giant 1 floating above something that is supposed to go with Color 2, FML.  Let's just say it's a good thing I wasn't using the minimum fabric requirements since I effed up cutting a million times. 

Many of the ladies questioned my color scheme for the Swoon, but as I had already named it the Greatest Color Combination in All of Quilt History, there was no turning back.  And I am glad I didn't!  I LOVE IT! 

Many thanks to the sewing crew around me for literally swooning over the quilt, motivating me to stay up too late, and keep going.  We met a fellow quilt blogger, Tasha from Ric Rac and Ribbons, who kept us laughing all weekend.  She's going to start her own Swoon soon, so I am anxious to see another interpretation!  While the quilt was originally going to just be four blocks, I increased it to six, and then after careful consultation with Rita, she convinced me to go for it and make three more blocks to balance out the colors. 

Really bad picture of the fabric that will help me make three more Swoons.

Momma Rushman was in town the last few day with her dog Lola.  Fortunately Maybe and Also were good hosts in the sense that they didn't eat Lola.  Maybe almost accidentally ate Also though...I think she mistook her for a bunny, but she definitely scared Also.  Maybe *might* be showing some signs of aging...

Modern Quilt Relish at the IQSC

The IQSC is housed in a ten million dollar modern masterpiece.  I jokingly call it MOMA of the Midwest, however there is an odd disconnect for me between the architecture of the building and the presentation of historic quilts.

Museum = art.
Quilts in a museum = art.
Art = visual experience.
Visual experience = look at quilts.

Sometimes I feel like all the other material in the galleries gets in the way of the visual experience...which is why I LOVE the modern quilts from Modern Quilt Relish that are hanging in the atrium right now.

Modern building = modern quilts = perfection.

Modern Quilt Relish Quilts

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!

Color!

Busy Bee

Between The Printed Bolt/REPEAT, school, and work, it would seem I might not have time to quilt.  Thankfully this has not been the case...However, for many reasons, my quilting pursuits of late are top secret.  Here are some hints...

Lincoln was graced with A LOT of snow last Saturday.  The desert dogs were pissed, but I was thankful I had power to fuel the Bernette for the day...

If this is any measure of my productivity, I threw away three grocery bags filled with these little guys.  Sadly I didn't bag them up before the dogs distributed them throughout the house...

Also's ear is finally (knock on wood) better!  She has been bandage free for almost two weeks.  Her recovery also means that her mischievous streak is back with a vengeance.  And for unknown reasons she has started humping.  A lot. 

TPB/REPEAT is hosting a launch party at my ghetto fabulous home.  In an attempt to make up for its nasty interior and somewhat haunted aura, I cleaned up my sewing area.  WOW. 

Creating

Generally when I think about creating something, I think about making quilts.  In order to finish my graduate degree on time, I am reconceptualizing creating to also include WRITING.  My thesis is focused on the Modern Quilt Guild, so it is totally awesome and fun, but it isn't quite the same as making stuff...Today I pieced together a few pages of my literature review while continuing to transcribe away.  I almost have 200 pages of interviewing transcribed.  And I have several more to do.  And then I need to whittle it down to a much shorter thesis...

After a few hours of that, I felt the need to reward myself with some quilting.  Apparently the reconceptualization is still taking hold...

So I did some cutting...and from this angle it doens't even seem like I spent too much time on it. 

But a few episodes of an unmentionable television show and several pots of tea later, I had these towering stacks...

And...these sheets from the mega-sale at the Garnet Hill outlet really want to be used as backs, so I guess I must continue to quilt...AND WRITE.

Time

Life is a balancing act.  Lately I have been adding twists and turns to the end of the semester drama by putting everything off until the very last moment.  Case in point: I woke up early this morning to finish up the paper that is due today and now I am writing this...

Yesterday someone said to me, "but you have to ask yourself how much time should you be quilting in graduate school?"  The implied answer to the question was something along the lines of "you probably shouldn't be quilting at all as you are on a scholarly journey of epic proportions."  In my sleep deprived, hungry, mildly bitchy state, I almost exclaimed, "I am studying effin' quiltmaking!  I should be making bajillions of of quilts!"  Instead I did a face scrunch, mini eye-roll, giggle, and I wandered off before I lost it.   

And that event provided me with my avoidance-of-homework mind suck of the evening...People have all kinds of hobbies.  Some don't really seem like hobbies, like watching TV.  People go to the gym.  People are in book clubs.  Are these activities ever put on the chopping block in the face of graduate school?  What is it about a craft-based activity that calls into question its legitimacy as a use of one's time?  Should graduate school be conceptualized as an activity that requires total focus for the duration?  My program has not required that investment of time or mental energy, so quilting seems like a better alternative to fill my time and occupy my mind than other more traditional graduate school activities: drinking, drinking, and whoa, I'm drunk!  (As a general rule, drinking and quilting don't mix. That rotary cutter is sharp...)

Anyway, I hate to use my blog as a platform of sorts to bitch and moan about life, but, in conclusion:  I AM A QUILTER. I SPEND A LOT OF TIME MAKING QUILTS.  AND I'M PROUD OF IT.  I am also a student, and somehow I do finish my work in that realm too...

Is it really almost Christmas?

I am not prepared for the holidays.  Heck, I am not even prepared for the end of the semester.  But, my priorities are definitely straight, and I am making serious progress on the gift front.

So, I offer some small hints as to my productivity over the weekend:

PROJECT ONE: This might be a cliche Christmas tree...

PROJECT ONE: I am becoming a thread snob.

PROJECT TWO: my new favorite color scheme.

PROJECT TWO: What's a quilt without polka dots?

PROJECT THREE: Quilt me...

PROJECT THREE: Almost out of a favorite print.

Thanksgiving: A Time for Crafts

As could be expected, I spent a lot of my Thanksgiving time off working on various crafty projects.  And when I wasn't doing that, I was eating.  It has been a glorious weekend.  

I swore that I was not going to participate in Black Friday activities.  As a general rule, I like to support local businesses, but even the best of us get sucked into capitalistic greed.  I went to Target at 9:10 on Friday morning.  It was not even busy.  I bought a black shirt.  It was not satisfying.  As the bargain filled weekend continued, tragedy struck on today when I ran out of black thread in the midst of my final project for class.  I headed to Joann's, one of my least favorite places, expecting the rush to be over.  WHOA.  I was totally wrong.  I had to park like three rows away from the front door.  There were hundreds of people in the store.  The cutting line wove throughout the entire store.  The check out line was everywhere.  I went to the thread section, where I discovered "Buy One, Get One Free."  How could I resist?  I nabbed 12 spools of thread and elbowed my way to the cash registers.  During the 25 minute wait, I discovered I could get an additional 25 percent off.  This was exciting for about three seconds until the child in front of me started screaming.  His parents were practicing the ignore method of dealing with him.  This continued for about 20 minutes until his dad totally lost it.  I am not sure if it was due to his psychotic child or the abundance of fleece in all the other patron's carts.  So even though I am kind of excited about the thread, I am trying not to be because shopping at Joann's is gross.  

On Thanksgiving morning there was a minor disaster because our Trader Joes Thanksgiving meal did not come with gravy.  After debating between buying a small bird to roast only for the drippings or buying jar gravy, we picked jar gravy.  MISTAKE.  Gross. Thankfully Winter Woodchuck was about as good as real gravy...

Whoa.  It looks so good...

Without being asked (or trained) the dogs spent the Thanksgiving meal sleeping on their bed.

Sneak peak of another project I started.  Will I ever finish it is another question.

I am in graduate school.  I am weaving nylon strips into this fence for a final project.  I don't know what to say. 

In an attempt to legitimize this project to myself, I spent many hours zig-zag stitching the edges of the nylon, even though it is ripstop nylon.  That's dedication.

The cheap ass thread.

Maybe modeling my new scarf.  Her good looks are so editorial.