Tuesday, April 07, 2009

This and that

This is a little peek at what I am working on right now. I seem to be in a mood to try some new ideas. Not that I am going to change my style completely, but I just have these ideas that seem to want to be tried. This is the geometry that was in my head when I started the "spring fever" piece and then the fabric just didn't want to go in this direction, but the idea stayed.
The big project for this week is finishing up the pieces for the "Line Dance" show. Last weekend I made arrangements to meet a bunch of the members at a conveniently located Starbucks to pick up their pieces for the show, which are now neatly stacked in a laundry basket in my back hallway. On Friday I am taking them to Eugene and meeting the other two members of my committee to jury the show. Now that everyone else has met the deadline, I am finally finishing up the last details of my pieces! I had the hardest time naming two of the pieces. Both were made using the 2" squares I have been making from my scraps. I didn't want to name them "scraps"—ugh! I looked up synonyms and definitions and came across "residual matter" which had a kind of ring to it, or maybe I was desperate. Anyway, meet "Residual Matter 1" and "Residual Matter 2."

Today I worked on one of my least favorite jobs, which is putting a hanging sleeve on each of these quilts. Normally I would have sewn it on by hand, so it doesn't show through to the front of the quilt, but that really is a tedious job and you really have to be sure to stitch it well, so the stitching doesn't come out. I had an idea to use my tagger gun to attach the sleeve instead.

These things were originally made for attaching price tags to clothing, but they are sold to quilters for basting quilts as well. I have found all kinds of uses for mine. The little short "tagger tails" that I use are pretty strong and it seemed like I could work each tail through the sleeve, into the back layer of the quilt and back out the sleeve to tack it along each edge. It seemed to work. The sleeve seems pretty secure and the quilt weighs almost nothing. It will have a flat rod through the sleeve. Think this is a mistake?
Tomorrow Gerrie is having lunch for the STASH group to celebrate my birthday. I love when I can keep celebrating my birthday for at least a week. My son-in-law keeps promising a birthday present is coming that he is still working on. Woo hoo—don't stop the party!


7 comments:

  1. I spy with my peeking eye, little houses! And speaking of houses, my mom will be back in Eugene on Thursday and wonders if you need a place to stay? Also, where will the Line Dance show be again? Eugene? We need to know! ;-)

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  2. Oh, and Happy Birthday!!

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  3. Your use of the quilt tack works for me. I use it that way if I don't want a permanent sleeve.
    Happy Birthday again! Del

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  4. Happy Birthday! So you are one of those who celebrate birthday for a week? Me too. I have an astrological explanation for this: in April 1949, Mars, Venus, Sun, and Mercury were standing in a line around the middle of the month, having about 1° space between them. This means, the sun hits a conjunction most every day, and I feel it! Maybe you have something similar in your horoscope.

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  5. Oh, I forgot: the new quilt looks promising, I'm quite curious. It will be a challenge to top the green line series.

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  6. I have enjoyed the green line series.
    I probably would not have compromised on the sleeve. The quilts are too nice. I would have been tempted to compromise since I too HATE the sleeve and the binding part.

    Great work.

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  7. Residual Matters are really inspiring - I love the stark graphic-ness (?) of the fabrics and the quilting really sends it skyward.

    Basting tacks? Yet another brilliant idea - thank you for that!

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