Category Archives: Stuff to make

WIP–My First (Endless and Ongoing) Quilt

Posted in Quilting, Sewing, Stuff to make by

When I refer to the abbreviation WIP, I mean Work In Perpetuity. Sure, there’s progress, but it’s so slow. Who knew sewing a quilt would involve so much sewing? Maybe I should have guessed as much after dutifully cutting 278 4″ squares of fabric. Here are the squares “chain-pieced” into piles of pairs:

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For newbies like me, chain-piecing means sewing two patches right side together and then just lifting the presser foot and feeding in the next pair to make a continuous chain. You cut the pairs apart later. Two other rookie things I’ve learned: there’s no backstitching in quilting, and quilters really dig a 1/4″ seam allowance (so if a pattern doesn’t give an allowance, bank on that one).

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Now I’m sewing my pairs into strips. According to Alicia Paulson’s Ollalieberry Ice Cream quilt pattern, the squares should be random. Tell that to my brain! I can’t stop myself from trying to create patterns from the chaos!  Order out of entropy! Here Captain Wonderpaws overlooks my work:

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Autumn Projects

Posted in Fabric printing, Quilting, Sewing, Stuff to make by

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Nothing cheers me more than a VW bus parked on my block. This belongs to my neighbor’s son. It used to be completely green but has since evolved into something weirder–and more autumnal, don’t you think?

Kind of like this:

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Autumn colors and old vehicles bring to mind two projects I want to tackle this fall. First, I’d like to try my VW bus pillow freezer paper print again, but this time on a throw pillow backed with groovy vintage fabric.

Second, I really, really need to return to my abandoned quilt project. The pretty picture below is actually not a pretty picture. I had to dust the fabric off in order to snap the photo–that’s how long these fabric squares have sat on my table.

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I’m afraid that I may need to actually count each individual square to make sure I have the right number. So, stay tuned as I make myself some coffee and contemplate a whole lot of counting.

Jessica Brilli at Salvage

Posted in Boston, Home Design, Things to see by

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I’m not sure how the very hip store, Salvage, found its way to my neighborhood (a happy one, but not particularly hip). Nevertheless, we are blessed with a store front full of mid-century teak and things the shape of kidney beans. I like to go in and gawk at the old-timey artifacts of my (recent?) past–cameras, typewriters, telephones with curly cords.

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Last time, I wandered in, I found these Jessica Brilli paintings on display. She likes the old stuff, too.

I’d love to buy a Brilli–or a whole pod of them (a gaggle? a flock? what’s the word for a horde of paintings?). I’m short on cash but maybe we could make a trade.  Jessica, how about I’ll paint triangles on your staircase in exchange for the typewriter on red?

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Flight o’ fancy

Posted in Home Design, Stuff to make by

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Pop the champagne!  If you’re wondering where to find me, I’m in the back hall, hanging with the cat. Just looking. Resting on my laurels, as they say, while the cat rests on his kitty butt. The job is done.

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Or almost done. There’s the matter of polyurethane, but I’m thinking of hiring that one out. So I can keep resting on my laurels.

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If you stare long enough, you will see triangles in your sleep.

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Stairs in Progress

Posted in Home Design by

Hmmm. Should I have made this project less complicated? Maybe.

So far, there’s been a lot of taping. I’d say about three parts taping to one part painting, not the happiest ratio. Not to mention the significant amount of time I’ve spent cleaning paintbrushes.

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If you can’t tell what I’m up to, let me summarize: triangles. So far, I have red, pink, and yellow, but soon I’ll add orange and white. (For Benjamin Moore acolytes, I’m referring to Red, Strawberry Sorbet, Sun Kissed Yellow, Tangelo, and Simply White.) By the way, these are my back steps–used mostly for grocery schlepping, muddy boot stomping, and kitty box visits. So does it really matter how it turns out? Well, after drawing all those little triangles, taping and painting, I can honestly answer: Yes. It really does matter how it turns out.

Wish me luck and a steady hand.