7/28/14

Halfway House

Yesterday I was able to finish the quilting and machine sew the binding on the Where Angels Walk quilt.


It ended up okay, although it is more loosely quilted than I'm accustomed to doing. I quilted a straight line grid by stitching on each side of the middle "bar" of each quilt block, and then again on each side of the sashings. You can get an idea what I'm talking about in the next image.


There are lots of fabrics in this quilt, but really one main floral, and I used that for the binding. Here's how it looks from the back:


The back was made from a 105-inch wide piece of fabric, and that was really slick. I've never used extra-wide fabric like that before, and I was thinking I would need to sew at least one seam for the back. But no. All I had to do was cut it to the correct width, and I was ready to sew.

This morning, I got a good start on the hand-sewing, and I'm now about halfway around the quilt. I love the neat and tidy look of a freshly sewn binding, and it improved the looks of this quilt significantly.


I have the label made, although I haven't printed it off yet. This quilt is a gift for our friends Greg and Jan, and I'm using the same image on the label that helped me choose the name for the quilt.


Our warm weather has returned, and so I need to do some watering this morning. Also, I have a few errands to run. I was set to make some zucchini relish today, but I might decide to wait until tomorrow. My jars aren't washed, and I like to wash them in the dishwasher so that I know they're really clean. And since I just washed the dishes, it doesn't seem prudent to run a whole load just to wash five jars, now does it?

Next on my sewing list is to quilt the Happy Campers quilt. I want to have it ready so that we can hang it in our fifth wheel before we take off on our trip to Minnesota in September.


It's a small quilt, and so it shouldn't take very long.

Also, I'm leaving for the 2014 Association of Pacific West Quilters Symposium on Thursday. And doesn't the word "symposium" make it sound all high falutin? Just now I Googled "symposium" to see what its technical definition is. This is what I found:

sym·po·si·um
simˈpōzēəm/
noun
  1. a conference or meeting to discuss a particular subject.
    • a collection of essays or papers on a particular subject by a number of contributors.
    • a drinking party or convivial discussion, especially as held in ancient Greece after a banquet (and notable as the title of a work by Plato).


Okay, so I suppose they named it as "a conference or meeting to discuss a particular subject", but I kind of like the "drinking party" part of that definition. What do you think? So if you want to know what I'll be doing in addition to drinking, you can scroll down to the bottom of this post from back in April. I imagine the level of "imbibification" (I just now made up that word from the root, "imbibe") will have something to do with my success or failure in my classes. And just now, I wanted to check and see if I really made up that word, or if someone had already beaten me to it. Here's what I found upon the Google. From the Urban Dictionary:


imbibification 
A fancy name for the process of getting righteously (and discretely)plastered. Frequently used by those with inflated perceptions of themselves.
Did you see them pull ...(name of mindless celebrity, pompous senator, or sanctimonius pundit HERE) out of the Tidal Basin. He and his "friend" were definitely in an advanced state of imbibification.

Okay then.

This morning I was looking at the supply list. For one of my classes, I'm supposed to bring one yard of "Wonder-Under or your favorite fusible web" although it specifically says NOT to bring Heat-n-Bond. And since Heat-n-Bond is my favorite fusible web, I'm wondering what the problem is. It's always worked great for me, and so I've never tried anything else. I guess this will be my golden opportunity to try Wonder Under. Maybe the first thing I'll learn is that Heat-n-Bond is a terrible product and I'll be wishing I hadn't bought a 75-yard roll of it recently. And thank goodness for Amazon Prime. I ordered some Wonder Under this morning, and I'll have it by Wednesday. 

Have I said recently how much I love the internet?

So that's my day, and my week for that matter. I'll be writing some posts ahead that you'll see while I'm gone, although I'm not ruling out blogging while I'm gone. I'm staying in the dorms at the University of Puget Sound where this whole shindig is taking place. (Now that I know it's a drinking party, I figure it's been unmasked for the "shindig" it really is. And, hey! It's a college campus, for Pete's sake, in Washington, where marijuana is legal now! Why wouldn't it be a shindig?) 

But now I'm getting ahead of myself because I have more blog posts to write before I go. I feel them brewing inside of me as these particular words are laid down. Anyway...all of that to say that the July NewFO Linky Party and Giveaway goes live on Thursday. Are you ready?

17 comments:

Linda M @ Pieceful Kingdom said...

Where Angels Walk turned out lovely. My husband likes "poofy" quilts, so anything I make for him or for the house needs to be less densely quilted. I like the way more densely quilted quilts look, but for snuggling, your quilt is going to be great. Wonderful job!

Christine M said...

Your quilt looks lovely, Barbara. I love the camper van one too.

Lee said...

Love your Where Angels Walk - from the floral scrappiness, to the faintly dotted background, to the backing and back to the binding - beautiful. Happy Campers is a fun-cute little thing too! Have fun at the symposium, but stay safe.

sophie said...

I have never seen symposium used to mean drinking party ... but I like it. Both quilt projects are lovely--love the campers!

Cath said...

haha Barbara....that 'drinking party' is what caught my eye in the definition of symposium!! I have my NewFO all organised and post half written....heading of to continue sewing now! Have a great time drinking....er...sewing!

crazy quilter said...

Love your quilting on Where Angels Walk, and you are so right the binding really puts it all together. I think you are in for a shindig, and I can't wait to hear about it. My favorite fusible is soft fuse, it is not new to the market but I really like it better than any other with stream a seam( original) a close second. I really do not like steam a seam II, it is a problem for me. Have a great week at the symposium....

Vroomans' Quilts said...

I think a comfy quilting is perfect on a home gift quilt - says snuggle, comfort, friendship. I don't do a lot of fusing, so can't help with suggestions there. I think a shindig is called for if staying in a college dorm.

Kate said...

Where Angels Walk turned out great!
Enjoy your symposium!

Tami C said...

Your Where Angels Walk quilt turned out just lovely. I love the fabric you chose for the binding. I really like your Happy Campers quilt. That will make a great quilt for your new camper. I'd like to know what you find out about Heat-n-Bond vs the Wonder-Under. Have a blast at your shindig!

Dana Gaffney said...

The quilt came out beautiful, that fabric was perfect for the binding. Have a good time at the sym-shindig!

Michele said...

You really did a fantastic job on the quilt. I'm sure she will be thrilled to receive it.

Diane Wild said...

Sym-shindig. I like that,Dana. Your Angels quilt is beautiful and so comfy looking. Looks like all the fabrics could have come from little girl dresses.

Heidi said...

Gorgeous finish Barbara! The colors in your quilt are so beautiful, and the quilting will be very cozy.

Sounds like you may be the entertainment for the weekend! I say go for it, enjoy campus life (when in Rome, right?). Alcohol IS a De-inhibitor after all. haha, Have a great time, and thanks for the laugh - too funny!

Brown Family said...

To me, Heat n Bond is heavy or thick, especially if you are doing hand work. I know when I take an appliqued quilt to the professional quilter, he will refuse it if Heat n Bond was used. He said it breaks needles. O have used Wonder Under, Handler 4000 and Misty fuse. I really loved Steam a Seam 2. It is no longed in production. The company that made the paper backing went out of business and The Warm company has been searching for a replacement.

Brown Family said...

P.S. back story on Steam a Seam

http://warmcompany.com/sas-update.html

quiltzyx said...

A-1 job on Where Angels Walk! Snuggles waiting to happen. I just this morning saw that Hawthorne Threads got some new wide quilt backs in with cool prints! http://www.hawthornethreads.com/search/do_search I really like the look of the text one.

Do you have a spot picked out for the camper quilt? It is so cute!

I know you will have a terrific time at the sym-shindig! Always learning new stuff. I hadn't realized that Steam-A-Seam was temporarily off the market until I read the comments!

I remembered to email my pics to myself so I can work on a NewFO blog post tonight here at work. (I'm here until 8pm) Yay me! lol

Michelle said...

Those two definitions cracked me up :)
I hope you have a nice trip.
Looking forward to reading more posts.