It's time to play: Finish! That! Quilt!

This quilt was made for my husband, who will remain nameless, by his grandmother when he graduated from high school.  It's a wonderful quilt - comfy, and it fits my nameless husband to a T.  And when this quilt replaces our big comforter on the bed, I know it's really Spring.

It's also seen better days - there's a tear in the top that I'm not sure I can adequately mend, and it's starting to wear down.  So we need a new quilt.  What a coincidence - I need a project to document on this here blog to keep me posting regularly, and delusions of Knitty grandeur are keeping me from sharing my current knitting project, for the time being.

So I'm taking bets:  How long will it take Sasha to finish that quilt that she started...um...over a year ago?  :-D

Other People's Babies

Over the past month, I received news that two of my friends (ok...four, two couples) were expecting. They're all wonderful people and great parents. Both couples already have sons of about the same age, though they don't know each other, and both boys would make great big brothers. Both couples very much wanted their pregnancies, although one hadn't been sure it was possible after a bout with cancer, and everyone was excited for them.

Then, within the span of about three days, I received news that both couples had lost their babies. I am now much closer to understanding what the word "heartbroken" really means. It's shocking how something so absolutely and energetically good can just vanish. And it's frustrating not only because I have no idea what they need right now, but because even if I did, both couples (one of whom I'm very close friends with) are in Texas. There's only so much comfort that can be sent over the internet, and...it just doesn't seem a gift-sending occasion, so for now, I'll stay my knitting needles. I am, I think, going to mark the passings by lighting a candle...or something...in my own fumblingly pseudo-religious way. I don't believe that life begins at conception, and I certainly don't believe you have to be loved to have a soul, but...I think perhaps it may speed things along. These little people were very loved during their brief time in the world, and they still are.

In considerably happier news, my boyfriend (who will remain nameless) and I will be picking up his son from the airport next Saturday! He'll be with us all month, and we've decided to spend most of our time at my place, with a detour down south to the family farm (his family, not mine, but they're great). This has meant kitting out the "guest room" in the basement into something a little more kid friendly and less, well...basement-like, which has been a lot of fun! It's also involved a couple of new projects. Last summer, the incredible blond lightening bolt was quite attached to his army of stuffed animals. This summer, my boyfriend, who shall remain nameless, speculates that he may not have room in his luggage for any, as he's flying alone for the first time. Thus, currently, there is a pile of knitted, unstuffed rabbit parts. Soon there will be a rabbit. I figure if he thinks it's lame, I can foist it on my 8-month-old roommate. :-)

There is also (very nearly) a quilt (pictured above with my baby, Harlot)! I must admit, I'm making this quilt for myself because I absolutely hate my comforter. But it's occured to me that when my boyfriend, who shall remain nameless, and I finally get around to shacking up, it'll probably wind up on the incredible blond lightening bolt's bed. The overachiever who lives in my rian thinks I can have this done in time to put on his bed in the basement. The sane person who cohabitates with the overachiever in my brain is not so sure, but isn't worrying since there's more than enough bedding to go around...it's just not quite as snappy and hand-made. At any rate, it's coming along really nicely, and we'll just see when and for whom it comes out.

Chipping Away at the Quilt

This is what the quilt looks like right now. There's a system, trust me.

I've laid out the quilt top and am getting started sewing all of the squares together. Once the top is put together, I'll start thinking about backing and batting and whatnot.

I think the colors look more garish in these pictures than they do in real life. They're really a bit deeper and richer than what you get here.

Mongo approves!

Have I mentioned that I hate sewing? As I suspected, this isn't as bad as sewing frequently is, when I'm involved. Straight lines. I can do that. My sewing machine, however...I can't believe I haven't thrown it through the window yet. That's all I'm going to say about it right now.

In a fit of procrastination, I went and priced similarly-sized quilts online to see if I'm actually saving money in this little endeavor. Based on what I've spent so far (got the fabric on sale), and what I estimate I might spend on backing and batting, the grand total will come to about the same price as a similarly-sized quilt on clearance at places like Bed Bath and Beyond or Linens 'N Things. Meh. I guess that's not so bad. Clearance quilts are kinda ugly, and mine will be glorious. I'm keeping a mental list as I go, however, of ways I can cut down on the cost next time around.

I feel the need to have a knitting love fest here before long, so I'm gathering pictures of FOs and WIPs and yarn and will revel in those here once I have what I want. I have several projects to show off, several that I can't show you yet (sniff), and some really yummy yarns to rave about. So stay tuned!

Oh yes. There will be a quilt.

LOOKIT I HAVE FABRIC!!!

I obviously went with cotton over silk or velvet because I am rather fond of my kidneys, thank you very much. I'm also aware that cotton is quite a bit easier to work with than silk or velvet, and given that I suck at sewing, I thought I'd spare myself the angst.

My boyfriend, who shall remain nameless, was very helpful in picking out these fabrics. Having someone whose taste I trust to bounce ideas and possibilities off of helps me overcome the paralyzing indecision that tends to strike me in fabric stores. Also, he helped with the math.

I am nearing the point of project-saturation. Right now, I have 3 knitting projects, two of which have deadlines (albeit not for a while), one of which is not my design (so it's very much at the bottom of my knitting basket). Then I have another very simple sewing project (also with a deadline), and this quilt. Meanwhile, school must continue to come first. Knitting is portable - I can get knitting done on the bus, or sitting around waiting for class to start (I tend not to knit during class. Only when we're derailed on particularly inane tangents will I knit surreptitiously under my desk). Quilting will have to stay at home, obviously, and I really just need to bang through this other sewing project...maybe today.

Right, so deadlines. I've decided to submit some of my designs to publications to see what happens. So obviously, I'm not going to tell you about them for a while. :-D I have two designs to submit at the beginning of March and two to complete by June. If nothing comes of the March designs, I'll post them here, but my fingers are crossed.

I'm going to make a quilt! I swear!

I mentioned earlier that I thought I'd make a quilt. I still think I'll make a quilt. I've always been interested in quilts - they're nice, they're cozy, they're homey, they can be quite beautiful, and they seem like they have the potential to be a staggeringly creative undertaking.

Until recently, I had never even considered making one. Not because quilts are something that "little old ladies" make (although I still find myself stifling a defensive response to that imagined objection whenever my intention to quilt comes up). Rather, quilts have always struck me as impossibly intricate. As a child, the mother of my best friend was a quilter, and I remember seeing her...quilting apparatus. She had this...rack of some sort with her quilt arranged in a certain way stretched out over it. There are...patterns to understand, construction methods to discern, ways of doing things to divine, traditions to bear in mind...add to all of this the fact that sewing has never been my forte. I can sew a garment, but there will be much yelling and flinging of fabric before all is said and done (I've stopped short of flinging the scissors...for now).

Quilting is one of the topics discussed in Jane Brocket's The Gentle Art of Domesticity. She doesn't offer patterns or step-by-step guides, but she presents it as something that's accessible. She makes it seem simple, she lays out the theory behind it, and she encourages you to just go out and try it. I have to tell you, I got really jazzed and excited when I read through this. I've worked out in my head what I need to do, what materials I'll need, how I'll construct and assemble my quilt. I haven't gotten started yet, but I'm no longer intimidated by the mechanics of quilting! I can do this!

So the other day, I went fabric shopping. I didn't get anything - it was more of a reconnaissance mission. Now I'm intimidated again. Jane Brocket is an avowed color person. She likes bright, contrasting colors, that's what gets her aesthetic juices flowing. I like color as much as the next girl, but I'm much more of a texture person. When I knit, I'll go with cables over stripes. Give me one, rich, lovely color and then let me drown in the subtle variations that texture creates.

So, of course, quilting is all about color. Go to the quilting section of your local fabric store, and you'll see bolts upon bolts of bright, loud, colorful cotton prints waiting to be sliced up and jumbled together in a cacophony of comfort. It makes my head spin. I love color - I love what people do with color, but it's just not how my brain works.

What about a velvet quilt? Or a silk quilt? Can I find enough complimentary solid colors of silk in one place to make a quilt? And can I then acquire enough of said silk to make a quilt without selling a kidney?

Things to think about before I begin. I'd like to get started soon, as I'd love to have a nice, new quilt on my bed in lieu of my comforter when the weather starts to warm up. I just...need to get better at fabric shopping.

*(The images in this post were created by my boyfriend, who shall remain nameless, based on images I chose that represent colors I like. It is his talent you see, and my awesome taste in individual colors).