2014 In Review

Posted in News

When wedding planning took over all my free time during the spring and summer, I didn’t expect to finish many quilts this year. Once the day had passed and life settled back to normal, however, I found myself manic with quilting motivation. In the end, I finished two more quilts than in 2013!

In January, I posted about wanting to improve my skill at binding. I ended up only hand binding one quilt (Stars For Lennon) and feel much more comfortable machine binding. Yay!

Quilt Finishes

Four of the quilts were made with specially-purchased fabric, three were entirely from stash, two only required a purchase for backing, and one was an even mix of stash and new purchases. Additionally, three were long-time works in progress which I’m happy to be done with. Better yet, I didn’t start any quilts that weren’t finished this year.

Sartorial Projects

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Despite purchasing fabric lengths for a few different dresses, I only finished one, and never managed to blog about it (or take blog photos, for that matter). It’s a second Tiramisu that I have worn so often that the cheap jersey is starting to pill, and needs to be taken in from stretching out. I guess that is a good thing, in this case?

Crafty Things

The unofficial theme for crafty projects this year was embroidery, evidently. I embroidered a few things for the wedding that went unblogged (a lingerie bag for me, Carl’s pocket square, and jewelry bags for my bridesmaids). I also made tea towels, potholders, keychains, and stockings in addition to the typical mix of doll quilts and stuffed animals.

Samplers, Meetups, and Exchanges

None this year! Now that we’ve started an official Modern Quilt Guild here in VT, perhaps that will change in 2015.

One of those quilt finishes was from a previous sampler, though.

The Backlog

For once, I didn’t add to this list. I even managed to remove three things from it (well, technically I only remembered to add one of them to the 2013 Year in Review, but the other two should have been listed).

These are projects in progress for which something is cut out, at a minimum:

Farmer’s wife / EPP Crosses
Organic Spins
Altar steps
Miniatures 9-patch
Witches Bubble Brew
Drunkard’s Compass
Double Wedding Ring
High-school t-shirt quilt
2013 Samplers
Meta history quilt

I have one or two more with all the components sitting in a box, waiting to be cut.

And, on the blogging side of things, I should probably finish up this site redesign!

A Resolution

I don’t know what 2015 will bring. I would like to continue making quilts for our nieces and nephews (six down, seven to go), and there are a few other people in our lives I’d like to create something for.

The one resolution I will make is that by this time next year, I’ll have done something with every unfinished quilt project listed above. Something might be progress, might be finishing, might even be officially giving up and repurposing/donating the completed parts—there just will be momentum of some sort. And, I won’t add to the list.

Sounds like a good way to start, at least.

A Difference in Values

Posted in Quilting

We’re heading off on a week and a half-long vacation, first delivering this quilt in NY and visiting Carl’s family, then on to MO to visit my family. Forgive the photos, as we took them the night before leaving on our trip. Hope you’re having a wonderful time celebrating the holidays!

If I’m going to stick to a formulaic fabric selection, I thought I should at least mix up the shapes I’m using. However, a condensed timeline dictated simplicity, so I stuck with squares and rectangles. This stack of six fat quarters from Daisy Cottage; fat quarters of a generic pink solid, Kona Sunflower, and Fairy Frost in snow; and a yard of Essex Yarn Dyed in Flax went together quickly, but the values in the fabrics didn’t work out as well as the stack of blues and greens for the layout I used in Mustang Summing, so I mixed up the layout.

A message for baby V in Morse code — “V’s Morse Message” (sideways, top is on right of photo), Rachael Arnold, December 2014, 48″x56″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.

The result is a message to our new niece spelled out in Morse code, with the yarn dyed serving as spacers between letters and words. The whole thing is built on a 4″ finished grid, as I started with 4.5″ strips cut down into squares, 8.5″ rectangles, and 12.5″ rectangles. It finishes at 48″x56″.

A message for baby V in Morse code (detail) — “V’s Morse Message” (detail), Rachael Arnold, December 2014, 48″x56″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.

I feel bad admitting this, since the quilt became a gift (sorry, V!), but I had such a hard time focusing on this quilt. I cut the fabric into strips soon after finishing Mustang Summing, but kept procrastinating on starting. Originally, I was going to make an equilateral triangle quilt. Then we found out a new niece was being added to the family, so it became her quilt. It took until the day she was born for the idea of Morse code to inspire me. Maybe I was just holding out for the spark.

The back is nice and soft, courtesy Minky in the Dynasty pattern, oyster color (although the quilting hides the pattern). There’s low-loft cotton in the middle, as usual. I quilted it in an all-over swirl using Aurifil thread that I picked up from the local quilt shop. I forgot how much my machine loves this thread. The binding is a print from Brambleberry Ridge by Violet Craft.

Dogs love quilts — “V’s Morse Message” (back), Rachael Arnold, December 2014, 48″x56″. Photo by Carl Pfranger. Moof decided the back needed a little something extra for the photo.

Since I didn’t expect to finish any more quilts in 2014, I didn’t have any labels to put on this one. For now, there’s a handwritten one on the front. Perhaps I’ll have to add another in the coming months once I order more.

I hope the size of this can grow with her and keep her warm for years. Now I need to get started on quilts for her siblings!

Quilt Formula à la Mode

Posted in Quilting

A handful of prints + a few coordinating solids + one textured solid ‘neutral’ = my current style, evidently.

More on the pink and yellow one after Christmas!

Just the Right Size for a Lump of Coal

Posted in Crafting

It’s right around this time every year that I remember how much I dislike the season of giving. I love giving presents when I find/make just the right thing for someone; I dislike having to buy something just because it’s xmas. I hate, hate, hate being on the receiving end when someone clearly felt required to give me something—it takes all the fun out of being able to appreciate the thought behind the present.

Moof by tree, photo by Carl Pfranger — Moof is only sad because he’s not allowed to eat the ornaments. Photo by Carl Pfranger.

Growing up, giving holidays were always followed by a series of trips to the store to exchange all manner of things that didn’t fit or really weren’t my style—that, or trying to find a way to donate things that couldn’t be exchanged (which generally didn’t happen, so they became clutter in a mini-hoard). So, that’s the long-winded bah-humbug excuse for why my tween and teen niblings are all getting gift cards this year—instead of having to go return things from us in the days after Christmas, perhaps they can go to the store with us while we’re in town that week and use their gifts on things that suit them best.

Gift cards are boring to unwrap, so I made a few gift card stockings as well. I personalized them with embroidered initials, and topped them with a bit of stashed fleece. Really, I was procrastinating on working on a quilt that I’ve lost the drive to finish.

The easy way would be a single layer with pinked seam allowances to stop potential fraying. I made mine with a lining, because it means neat insides and I wanted to experiment with ordering of seams (that is, sewing the lining, cuff, and outside for one half together, then to the other, rather than some complicated nesting process).

Charm squares are the perfect size for these if you want to make a few of your own—you’ll need four per stocking. The cuffs are 3.5″x5″ rectangles (quilting cotton can work there too, or stash bust some fleece/Minky scraps). You can download the template I used if you want to muddle through construction on your own.

Despite my current lack of Yuletide gaiety, I am looking forward to the vacation time and chance to head back to MO to see my family! What’s your favorite part of the holiday season?

A Key to Gifting

Posted in Crafting

I’m absolutely the worst at remembering to pop gifts in the mail on time for my various niblings’ birthdays. I think they’ve all come to expect that Aunt Rachael’s cards come sometime in the general month, likely mailed on their birthday or a few days after. Take these, for instance. Two of my nieces recently celebrated their 16th birthdays, one this past week, the other in September (to be fair, I didn’t have a mailing address at the time).

Urban Threads embroidered lace key with Danforth pewter charms — Charming lace key keychains, November 2014, Rachael Arnold.

For birthdays, I usually drop a gift card in the mail, but since this was a special one, I added a small additional gift as well—a keychain composed of a free-standing lace design from Urban Threads and a pair of charms from Danforth Pewter (made here in Vermont).

This is the first time I’ve tried stitching out a free-standing lace design, and it was a little rocky. My first attempt failed compeltely. The second time, I doubled up the water-soluble stabilizer and it turned out okay but the top thread broke about ten times, and it skipped a ton of stitches. The final product seems okay, despite all that.

Stitching out Urban Threads embroidered lace key — There are quite a few skipped stitches in this area.

The third time, I used three layers of stabilizer, and didn’t have to fight broken thread, however the stitches pulled the stabilizer apart, scrunching and mis-stitching a part of the key. It still came out okay, but I definitely have room for improvement.

Now I just need to remember to make it to the post office tomorrow to send them on their way!

Have you had much experience stitching out free-standing lace designs?

Mustang Summing

Posted in Quilting

Two things burrowed their way into my subconscious during six months of not quilting this year: all the plus quilts floating around blogland / Pinterest and the new kids on the fabric block, Cotton+Steel. It shouldn’t surprise me that I brought home a fat quarter pack from the local quilt shop comprising prints from Cotton+Steel (and coordinating solids, a coordinating Cloud9 print), nor that my brain immediately thought “plus quilt”! Add in a yard of Olive Essex Yarn Dyed linen/cotton blend, et voilà: Mustang Summing.

“Mustang Summing”, Rachael Arnold, October 2014, 48″x56″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.

I sketched out the layout in Illustrator, aiming for something in the 50″ range on each side, moving things around until I was happy. The arrangement that looked right used 4.5″ unfinished squares, making the quilt 48″x56″. In hindsight, I could have used 5″ squares with the fabric I had, but I have a serious problem about miscalculating the number of squares from fat quarters.

Mustang Summing front — “Mustang Summing”, Rachael Arnold, October 2014, 48″x56″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.

In software engineering, we say that good programmers are lazy programmers—good code doesn’t have tedious, repetitive sections because we generalize things to save typing, and automate anything we can. In quilting, I often think the adage is inverse—a good quilter is masochistic and likes using as many small pieces as possible in repetitive ways. More often than not, the engineer in me wins out. I used two 4.5″ squares and a 12.5″ rectangle for each plus rather than make them entirely from squares (except for the three that I cut wrong, which are five squares). Less cutting and less seaming makes piecing more efficient. If only I could automate the cutting with technology I have at home.

I love the warm brown/olive tone in the Essex Yarn Dyed (and how it blends into a warm gray from a distance), and let that guide my choice of quilting threads—a heavyweight russet Gutermann poly thread. I kept the quilting simple, echoing the seams, with Nature’s Touch White batting in the middle.

Mustang Summing back — “Mustang Summing” (back), Rachael Arnold, October 2014, 48″x56″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.

It took a while to solve the problem of backing and binding. The first backing yardage I purchased was too cool, the scraps from the top too few, and nothing in my stash inspired me. I finally settled on another yard dyed linen, mixed with a column of strips leftover from the top. I settled on a plain blue solid (Kona Nightfall) from the stash to bind it.

Mustang Summing label — “Mustang Summing” (back detail), Rachael Arnold, October 2014, 48″x56″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.

With this finish, I’ve completed more quilts this year than I did in 2013, despite not quilting for six months. Things go so much more quickly when I actually complete everything I start! As of now, the only unfinished project I’ve started this year is a corset that I spent a few hours on back in May. Not too shabby.

“Mustang Sally” was stuck in my head the entire time I worked on this quilt. Thus the name, if you can make the same mental leap I seemed to do.

Just The Thing

Posted in Quilting

Sometimes, you just need a quilt to lay on, and your human doesn’t understand.

Moof on Mustang Summing — Moof appreciating “Mustang Summing”, October 2014

And sometimes, the human needs to spend an evening playing with scraps.

Mustang Summing scrap piecing — “Mustang Summing” impromptu scrap piecing, October 2014

A post on the full quilt will come sometime next week…

Carissima / A Snapshot of HC 04’–08’

Posted in Quilting

Thine arms are ever warm,
Thine arms are ever warm.
Memory still shall close enfold,
Bringing us joys of days of yore;
Faith shall thy constant fame uphold,
While years, Carissima, grow cold.
We love thee evermore, We love thee evermore.

— M. W. Stryker, 1901
Excerpt from “Carissima” (The alma mater of Hamilton College)

Like most residential college students, I lived in school t-shirts while pursuing my undergrad degree. Then, as I moved along in my professional career, I found myself wearing them less often (hastened by the fact that I lived a mere 15 minutes away from my alma mater). When we packed for our move to Vermont (downsizing in the process), I refused to move the bag of shirts yet again so, I spent some time one afternoon fusing on interfacing and cutting the shirts into future quilt pieces. Those took up far less room in packing boxes.

Now—eighteen months later—it took just a single evening to piece them into a quilt top. All told there are 21 shirts represented (some with multiple squares depending on their print design).

Hamilton College ’04-’08: T-shirt Quilt — “Carissima / A snapshot of HC 04’–08’”, Rachael Arnold, October 2014, 58″ x 60″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.

It’s a partially-complete capsule of my four years—music, dorms, publications, social justice, just plain social, and a summer internship that set me on the road to my career. I even designed a couple of the shirts (and countless posters, event invitations, and publication layouts). It’s oddly lacking in reference to my major (I still wear our hoodie) or the on-campus internship that ate up over 20 hours of every week (and a few summers).

For backing, I spray-basted two layers of fleece in the school colors (“buff & blue”, or in this case Joann Fabrics Anti-Pill Fleece in Camel and Navy Blue Tartan), then sewed the outline of an ‘H’ shaped after the official logotype. After cutting out the top layer inside the ‘H’, I zig-zag stitched around the cut out to secure it before basting the top to the two layers of fleece. Eagle-eyed readers will notice it’s slightly narrower than square; I trimmed off an inch from both sides so that I didn’t need to piece the 58″-wide backing fleece.

Hamilton College ’04-’08: T-shirt Quilt (back) — Carissima / A snapshot of HC 04’–08’” (back), Rachael Arnold, October 2014, 58″ x 60″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.

I chose to hand tie the quilt rather than machine quilt it for no reason other than wanting to tie a quilt. Again, I went with the school colors, using embroidery floss I had at home (DMC colors 842 and 823, inherited from my grandma). It was not easy pulling two full-thickness strands of embroidery floss through the layers, but a few TV marathon sessions (a habit started in college) and a few large tapestry needles got me through.

In my haste to finish it, I made a rookie mistake of using unwashed cotton binding (Moda Bella Solid Royal), which shrank in the wash. It’s usually not an issue—I don’t prewash fabrics so they all shrink together, but well-worn t-shirts are another matter. The result is a slightly rumpled edge and corners that like to turn up. It just adds more character in a memento of four years full of it. I’m looking forward to cozying up with this during my second Vermont winter. With two layers of fleece, it’s quite warm!

I hope you’ll forgive me for delaying this post for a couple weeks for photo purposes. It seemed fitting to wait until we drove back to Utica for a weekend, giving us a chance to take photos on “The Hill” where it all started. The weather didn’t cooperate, but it certainly brought back memories. Also, there’s no small amount of irony that the Dark Side tee anchors the quilt (as well it should, considering my dorm choices for three years), yet we took all of the photos on the light side of campus. It fits.

The Bird’s Nest Quilt

Posted in Quilting

Early in my quilting adventures, I was guilty of starting many more projects than I finished. Case in point: this quilt started life in April 2011, but a block disappeared as I was piecing them into rows and I quickly moved on to newer, shinier projects. In the 43 months between then and now, the almost-completed top and its scrap fabric have migrated from box to bin to box, apartment to house to apartment. So consigned to oblivion, it wasn’t even mentioned in the unfinished projects lists in my yearly review posts of 2012 and 2013.

Bird’s Nest Quilt (front) — “Bird’s Nest Quilt”, Rachael Arnold, October 2014, 38″×50″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.

I started the top shortly after buying a Jellie roll and the book Two from One Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott. It’s made from alternating 6″ nine patches and snowball blocks, using 2.5″ strips and a background fabric for the snowball (in this case a Target cotton sheet set clearance buy). After one of the blocks went missing, I bought a charm pack of the fabric with which to recreate the stray block, but never followed through on piecing it.

Bird’s Nest Quilt (detail) — “Bird’s Nest Quilt”, Rachael Arnold, October 2014, 38″×50″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.

The host of unfinished projects in my sewing closet has lately become mental as well as physical clutter, demanding commitment. I unboxed this one while considering co-opting the backing fabric for another quilt you’ll see soon. Instead, I finished piecing it while waiting for a different fabric to ship for the other quilt. When I opened the box, the missing block was there on top—found and again forgotten at some point over the years. A few seams, two borders (most of which were already pieced), and it was done in the span of an hour. I’m glad it was a simple quilt design; I de-stashed the book a year or two ago.

To fit the bird nest theme, I used a stashed embroidery quilting bird motif to quilt some of the snowball blocks and two of the corners. The rest of the blocks are quilted with an all-over swirl design, the borders feathered. The sheeting fabric was somewhat difficult to quilt as it didn’t glide over my machine like quilter’s cotton does, but my free-motion skills aren’t perfect anyhow. All the free motion made for quick work—it went from basted to quilted in a single evening.

Bird’s Nest Quilt (back) — “Bird’s Nest Quilt” (back), Rachael Arnold, October 2014, 38″×50″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.

And so my sixth quilt start became my thirty-second quilt finish. Working with the older piecing, I could tell how my skills have improved—small betterments became a substantial change that I hadn’t otherwise noticed. There’s also something to be said for ease of working with high-quality fabric instead of the cheap stuff this is made of.

In the end, I didn’t need that charm pack at all, although a few charms made it into the binding when I found myself short on the brown texture. Perhaps I’ll make a pillow or two to match—I still have an entire twin sheet plus scraps of the background and backing fabric. Regardless of its future, it feels great to recover the storage space and knock another unfinished project off the list.

In the realm of quilting, this is hardly an “old” project to finally finish. What’s the oldest project you’ve ever dug out of a box and finished up?

Slow Crossing

Posted in Quilting

The last time I mentioned my english paper piecing project (blocks from Lucy Boston: Patchwork of the Crosses), I’d sewn together about fifteen pieces—not even half a block. That was two years ago. Unlike many of my once-mentioned (even twice-mentioned) projects, I have continued to work on this one, albeit unhurriedly.

Farmer’s Crossing piecing detail, a Lucy Boston Cross block partially finished — English paper piecing blocks, Rachael Arnold, October 2014.

I go through phases where I’m content basting the individual pieces to their paper foundations, and make a bit of progress that way.

Then, I go through phases of piecing some together, building blocks a bit at a time.

This is where it stands after a bit more work while we traveled to New Jersey to see family last weekend.

In another two years or so, I may even finish an entire block.