Hi there dear people who have been following along.
About three months ago I made the decision to move to a different and self-hosted domain. Please feel free to follow along at:
Also available on Facebook (be among the first to follow along… the page is literally hours old…):
Sometimes I Quilt Facebook page
Happy New Year 🙂
Katie
Slowly, but surely, I am making my way back to quilting.
Taking large pieces of fabric and turning them into small pieces of fabric and then back into large pieces of fabric has been what I have done to keep myself sane and together for the past couple of decades. It has seen me through a great many things in one way or another, it has given me focus when I needed it, it has been a distraction from the bad times, and a way that I have forced myself to look at and sometimes go out into the world – but for the last few months it hasn’t been enough.
The hexagons I am working on at the moment seem to be very hard to complete. Which I am finding frustrating, as they are generally the thing I go to first to try and come back again (I have the ongoing My Happiness project for this task). But this is a challenge. One that I am going to meet. After all, I made a commitment.
I am a sucker for a sampler quilt. I have actually finished a couple of them too… they aren’t all like the Dear Jane WIP that is languishing in a box somewhere, there is one on a bed in Eldest’s room (confession, it needs binding), there is the original sampler quilt I made as a beginner (confession, it is hidden away and will never see the light of day)… okay so I am crap at finishing sampler quilts (confession, there is a reason why I call this blog Katie Quilts Sometimes).
So in an attempt to A) finish a sampler quilt, and B) continue my year of redefining by connecting with the online quilting world… I have a plan (confession, I thought this up while I was very sick so it may be a tad questionable and is subject to change).
Enter: The Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt (I got mine from The Book Depository during the 48 hours where the stresses of work had lead me to a period of “buy all the things”, which then led to three weeks of “waiting for all of the things to arrive”)
Now there are 99 blocks in this one, all of them 6″ in size… I *could* try and work with one of the quilt-a-longs that is going to be happening (Angie is running one starting at the end of September, and Kerry’s starts on September 14th), but honestly, I don’t know if I could commit to making all of them. I did think about making one that is more lap sized, just something for me to have for myself, but I have a few of that sized quilt about now and I really need something new for my bed… so I had an idea… I am going to go big.
I want a new king sized quilt for my bed. I was planning to make a Swoon Quilt using some Tula Pink Moonshine I picked up from Massdrop, but I think I am going to change that plan a little.
My Farmer’s Wife Sampler quilt blocks are going to be upsized a little… to 20 inches (I think). There will be 13 whole blocks (I think), but I am not sure if I am going to do the half blocks to make up the other parts, or leave it plain (one of the mysteries of life I suppose).
To make this something of a challenge for me, I want to upscale the blocks using EQ7 – I say a challenge, because while I open the program often, I don’t get to the bit where I am happy with what I have designed.
So there we are, I am kind of going to participate in the quilt-a-longs, but I am also going to do something which *may* be more achievable for me.
Of course this could also become a series of cushions, so I guess time will tell.
A few years ago I started a disappearing nine patch quilt for my youngest offspring. The year was 2008 and the top took me a day to put together, so decided to hand quilt it… fast forward to 2015 and it is finally done.
The child has sometimes been a little impatient with me about this, his older brother is the one who has gently reminded me that I needed to get it finished. In hindsight, I should have either overcome my dislike of machine quilting things for myself, or sent the thing to be professionally quilted.
I have even put a label on it…
This year seems to be the Year of the Swap; and it continues. Just above here is my #handpiecedminiswap run by Jo of Life in Lists. It has been received by its new owner, and I loved making it (but then I do love me some hand piecing).
Next up was the #superherominiquiltswap, I am not saying anything about this one – it has’t arrived as yet… so still in the secret squirrel basket… but it was loads of fun to make (I hand pieced this one as well).
And last, but not least is the #theanimalinyouswap. I have blogged about this one before, I wasn’t sure if doing the swaps is good for me and people having a sense of what it is that I do… well except that if I was honest about it, I love hand work – and the sharks are appliqued, so it is kind of me… but it is more my partner’s (and apparently I totally nailed this one).
How about you? Do you swap?
I love fireworks. There is something about the colours against the night sky, and the bang and the flash and the rain of colours that happen next. So it isn’t surprising that I also enjoy the light shows which have become popular over the past few years (here I am thinking Vivid in Sydney, and Enlighten in Canberra).
Last night I tried to enjoy myself at Vivid.
But we abandoned the tour following a walk through Martin Place, and taking in the sights at Customs House.
Next year, we try for midweek. Because not even being able to make it into the crowd in the Rocks or Circular Quay (even the train station was closed due to the crowds), made for a challenging evening.
Coming out of the night was a new reference point – it was busy at the shops, but it wasn’t Vivid busy… 😉
Something occurred to me last week, and it has taken a but of time bouncing about in my head for it to come out.
Given that most of my quilting time is currently taken up with swaps – is my Instagram feed really me? Or is it me channeling my partners?
Take The Animal in You Swap (#theanimalinyouswap) that I am currently involved in.
This quilt is something I am proud of (currently it is waiting to be quilted), but the style of it isn’t what I would go for myself, it isn’t “me”, which is making me think… if you were looking at my IG feed expecting to find a snapshot of my life – would you?
I think I shall continue to ponder this some more (while figuring out if I am going to be doing any more swaps this year, or if six is enough…).
One of the things I have been thinking about while I go through my whole what am I doing here thing… (possibly mid-life related?) …is what kind of quilter am I?
There seems to have been quite a bit about of late relating to the whole Modern Quilter v Traditional Quilter stuff. Not sure where I fit on the whole spectrum though.
Of late I have been working on the minis for the swaps, and they have fallen mostly into the modern camp. But, when it comes to things for me, or for what I tend towards when left to my own devices, I don’t actually have a preference for what kind of quilter I am. Perhaps that it is, I am a quilter and I like what I like, and I don’t like what I don’t like (kids novelty prints – can’t stand them).
If we have a bit of a look at the list of things I am working on for me…
I have a tendency to make quilts for queen sized beds, and at least one of the ones currently under construction (Winter is Coming), I have plans to make bigger than that. Limiting myself to the minis has been really good for me, I am trying different things and working towards different goals (they also have timelines… mostly my quilts can hang around forever).
But then there is the Modern Medallion – or Stargate Quilt – it is something of an anomaly. The modern quilt made with traditional fabrics. Really should quilt that one.
Towards the end of last year I decided that I needed to sew more, one of the ways I have been motivating myself is to sign up for some swaps on Instagram. Fun times have ensued. Not only am I finding my groove with being creative, but I am also coming to use these as an opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and work with some styles, colours and methods that I wouldn’t ordinarily do.
Take for example the first of these… the Kitten Mini Quilt Swap, run by Marni of Frankie’s Fabrics.
My swap quilt was made from Elizabeth Hartman’s “The Cat Quilt”, which I have admired for quite a while, but given my dislike for machine piecing, I have avoided like the proverbial plague. But I gave it a shot (and then promptly forgot to take a photograph of it before I sent it on its merry way… thankfully Instagram is photo based and so thanks to Melissa for the below)
Next was the Rainbow Mini Swap, run by Kate Basti. This was a whole lot of fun and I have already blogged about it here. I improvised – which I actually do quite a bit, but this time the magic worked and I was very happy with it. AND then I machine quilted it (again, something I don’t generally do) and I remained happy with it. So… two lots of surprise happy in one mini.
Enter the Spring Fling Mini Swap… which when you are participating in a Northern Hemisphere theme (spring in April), when it isn’t spring here in the south… I am not going to reveal this one yet. It is wrapped in brown paper getting ready to depart from this place to another place tomorrow. But I am over the moon with how this one turned out. Particularly the quilting – which I again did on the machine.
I have signed up for the next lot of swaps for me, and I will be writing about them in the fullness of time as well.
Because sometimes I really enjoy this whole quilting thing 🙂
Yesterday (Sunday) I went to one of the Canberra local wineries for lunch. On the drive, to the “shores” of Lake George to Lerida Estate, we stopped to take in some of the scenery.
I enjoy photography, and love the opportunity to take some photos that are usually out of my comfort zone – which yesterday meant me getting up close with some bees…
For Christmas a couple of years ago I bought myself a Lensbaby lens kit, which had as part of it a macro attachment. The bees came under my close scrutiny, the spider didn’t.
Being a winery there were, as expected, grapes – although in this form I prefer to think of them as wine eggs. Because hatching from the eggs will be some lovely wine in the coming years.
The drive home after a lovely lunch of platters (no photos, for whatever reason I have stopped taking photos of my food… go figure), there were storms in the distance, right over where Canberra is… this wasn’t a problem until I thought about the washing that was on the line.
Watching the storms in the distance reminds me of home in some ways. Being able to see the storms as they come over the mountains and knowing how long it was going to be before you got rained on.
I do love the rain.
Katie Quilts Sometimes 