Hand-dyed Results ('n link to 2014QR giveaway)

If you're looking for the 2014 Quilty Resolutions Check-in Giveaway and Linky Party blog post, click here!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...Here's what's been going on in my life while y'all have been checking in and linking up!

Despite a flooding stationary tub crisis and dyeing my hand a rather funereal shade of blue (which, actually, was partly related to aforementioned flooding crisis)...

I finally managed to get my most recent set of hand-dyes rinsed, washed, dried, pressed, and photographed!

If you recall my previous blog post, I started out by redoing some of the gradations I'd done in Frieda Anderson's dye class while I was in Lancaster. I wanted to be able to more closely follow the process and take notes on recipes and so forth. Somehow I hadn't managed to bring home the handouts from class, so I was going by the recipes in her book Fabric to Dye For.

The gradation at the top of this photo was the first one done in Frieda's class. The one on the bottom was the one I did at home this weekend. Most look more or less the same, but a couple are slightly different, and others are very different. There are several possible reasons for that--variations in recipes, variations in procedure, variations in water...

In any case, I'm not sweating it. I'm keeping samples of the ones I did here at home as representative for my notes with the recipes I used and all sort of other useful-for-the-future factoids.

And then, just for fun, I'd thrown in...

...some bamboo socks (PFD from Dharma Trading). These were dyed in straight Fuschia, Turquoise, and Lemon Yellow dyes (ProChem names). You can see that, due to aforementioned flooding crisis, I had to fast-track the rinsing process and thereby ended up with some color migration. Minor-league frustrating, but since these socks are for me and I'll only be wearing them under jeans, no one will see that. So shhhh...keep it just between us.

And then...

A pareo (I finally remembered the word!) for myself this summer. A pareo is the cloth you wrap around yourself when you're wearing a bathing suit. I couldn't get the whole thing in one picture, so this is one half of it...

...And then the other half...

I mostly took this second view because you can see more of the tangerine dye in this one (upper right). That was one of the new colors I was experimenting with. It looks very brown in powder form, so I was gratified to see what a beautiful orange it turns into. This was ice-dyed, by the way. It looks a little less mottled because there was a whole lotta fabric and only a little ice, so it doesn't have quite as strong an ice-dyed effect as others.

I may do more of these--they're fun. Anyone want a pareo? Tee hee.

And then--because who can resist?--more baby stuff!

I'm so pleased! These turned out great! And ya gotta love the little caps too! Don't you just want one? Again, it's all bamboo. The one on the left was ice-dyed, purple and teal. Probably my favorite combo to ice-dye because it just gives the most interesting results. Love the shades of gray that appear!

The middle one was rubber-banded and dyed in a teal-ish mixture. Trying to get those rubber bands off in a hurry (did I mention the flooding already?) is what caused the blue fingers. Rubber bands and rubber gloves don't mix, so I finally bagged the gloves. I love the effect of the onesie, when I don't let myself think, "Gee, kinda looks like an old-timey prison uniform or something." 

The orange onesie on the side is upside-down because I used Color Magnet and stenciled my grand-niece's name on the front. It turned out great, but I don't want to broadcast her name without permission. The Color Magnet draws more dye to the spot where you use it, so her name is a darker orange than the rest of the onesie.

Fortunately, no dye migration on any of the baby clothes. I'm really pleased with how they all turned out.

Mr. Plumber showed up bright and early this morning, and we're hoping the flooding issue has been solved. However, he also informed me that the pump is well past it's average life span. Bully. Just another appliance to add to our list of "everything needs to be replaced at the same time."

First Quarter 2014 Quilty Resolutions Check-In

You knew it was coming!

It's time to check in with your progress on your 2014 quilty resolutions!

Did you make a quilt-related resolution for 2014 through my podcast/blog? Did you make one on your own, but not through my January giveaway? Either way, you can still play along now!

I'll be drawing a name at random from the Rafflecopter widget below on Sunday, March 30th. The winner will get these four lovely fat quarters!

For some of you, this will be a two-step process. For others, only one!

First step for everyone: Leave a comment on this blog post with your progress, and then make sure you enter the giveaway via the Rafflecopter widget immediately below. (I'll only see your name through Rafflecopter for the drawing, I won't be trying to count up names in the comments.)

A Rafflecopter Giveaway

Second step for bloggers: If you've got a blog, write about your progress on your quilty resolutions and link up here! To enter the linky party, click on the link below reading "An InLinkz Link-Up." Follow the directions. (Remember, you still have to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway above. This linky party is just so others know about your blog and can come for a visit!) No fears--participating in the linky party does NOT earn bloggers an additional leg-up than non-bloggers in the giveaway. It's just for kicks n' giggles!

An InLinkz Link-up

Looking forward to hearing your progress!

Mad Quilt Scientist Finally Back in Action

I woke up feeling like I was in recovery mode, for some reason, and decided I wanted a pajama day today (Saturday). Since I don't worry too much whether I get dye on my pajamas, I headed to the basement as soon as I felt caffeinated enough. As it turns out, I had about a half hour of sorting and organizing to do since things had gotten a bit stacked up, and I had all sorts of new dye-playthings to pet and then put away. While I was sorting, I was pondering what I most wanted to do. Turns out, I really wanted to re-do Frieda Anderson's gradations again at home so that the color mixes would really sink into my brain and I could take better notes. I also chose not to work nearly so fast as we'd sped through them in class (and a whole lot cleaner!), so I only got one set of gradations done in just slightly less than the time it had taken us to do two in class.

You're seeing 12 fat quarters soaking in everything from Sun Yellow to Fuschia to Intense Blue (different names, but same colors that Frieda had us using for the first set of gradations.) After some internal debate, I decided to go Straight Frieda on this one and use her method of mixing colors and soaking in soda ash first, as opposed to Ann Johnston's method (different dye mix, soda ash comes later) which I've been using most often in the last year. This way I can do a more direct comparison with what I came home with from the class last week.

Okay, ummm... so it might just be possible that I used some of the remaining dye concentrate to, just maybe, do some more bamboo baby clothes for my great-niece. Babies do grow, you know. And that bamboo stuff is mighty cool. I wish I could have me some adult-sized hand-dyed bamboo onesies, donchaknow.

On the other hand, yep, I am also dyeing some stuff for myself--mostly experimenting for future dye projects for other people down the road.

So I cleaned out the icemaker in our freezer.

One of these bins contains more baby clothes, but one is something for me.

The one on the left is a dye combination I've used in the past that turned out kind of cool; I'm hoping for similar cool this time. The one on the right is three new-to-me dyes and one that I've had for awhile. Two of the new ones shouldn't be too much of a surprise, but I have no idea what the other one will do. And that's the fun of it! (The white patches you see are a few run-away ice cubes I dumped on the top after I'd already put the dye on.)

But wait, the fun isn't over yet! I've got tomorrow's dye playdate already soaking...

(With apologies for the bad pictures--taking them on my cell phone wearing rubber gloves...not good photography praxis!)

Oh, and one more thing...I've secured two big giveaway items and am working on a third for my fourth podcastaversary coming up--woot! Next week, First Quarter 2014 Quilty Resolutions Check-In Giveaway; The week after, Fourth Podcastaversary Giveaway! Does the fun never end?

Lancaster Report--Part 3 (The Haul)

Friday, Day 3 (with some Saturday, Day 4--homeward bound) thrown in

Friday was my day to see the show and visit the vendors. It was a very nice show, although relatively small. We started when the show opened in the morning and were able to see all the quilts by about lunch time--and that wasn't rushing through. I spent quite a bit of time studying a few that particularly held my interest.

I didn't check into the online posting rules for the show, so I'm not going to risk posting any photos here. Sorry about that. To tell the truth, though, I didn't even take that many pictures. After having seen a few national shows now, I have learned that I rarely actually go back to look at my photos later. I think I took all of about five photos of quilts with details I wanted to remember for my future reference later (you know, the "Hmmm....how did they do that?" photos). Indeed, I'd even handed off my good camera to my friend who'd accidentally left hers back in the hotel, and she was snapping left and right so I knew I'd eventually see the pics anyway.

I did get to see Katie's Corgi Fairytale quilt hanging--it's always a thrill to see a name you recognize!

I really enjoyed the show--the fact that it was small actually made it more manageable for me. I love Houston but I have to break the show up into segments so I don't get over-stim. There was a partial display of the applique quilts from Cairo that I'd seen in Paducah--it was nice seeing some of those again. They're beautiful. There was a nice inclusion of art quilts alongside the traditional, and there was a modern quilt challenge (where Katie's quilt was included). So, for a smaller show, they did a good job--in my opinion, anyway--of keeping it diverse.

And then, of course, the vendors! You've already seen my purchase from ProChemical and Dye in a previous post. Here are pics of everything else that came with me.

Clarification: Most of this was purchased at the show, but we also visited Burkholder's Fabrics on the way home on Saturday based on several listener recommendations, and I included all of my purchases from both places together in the photos.

I've seen this batting sampler at every show I've been to. The first time, I thought, "Why would I want that?" (I was a pretty new quilter at the time.) The second time, I thought, "I could see where that would come in handy, but no." The third time, I thought, "I think I'd like to get that, but I'll wait and see." When I went back to the booth later, they were out. This time, the first time I saw them, I grabbed it and paid. I'm going to use it to practice machine quilting at the same time as I experience the different types of batting.

In the same vein, I'd decided I would pick up a variety of threads at this show--also to use in my FMQ practice so I could easily test them out.

I got some bobbin threads in neutrals, some pretties and variegateds, and a few that were the ends of spools from the manufacturers (think: remnants). The remnant spools were sold three to a bag for something like $5.

Next, I picked up some great fabric scraps from a Thai fabric vendor. If I recall, everything in the bag (the stuff in the pile in the picture) was cotton but the rolled fabrics are nubby silk.

Boy, that was a fun booth. I could've bought a lot more but I restrained myself.

Way back in a dark and very chilly corner was a great vendor who met my needs for small bunches of funky yarn to use as embellishments. And he had a great accent, as he was from Australia. (@ozzypip!) Again, I could've bought a lot more but restrained myself. I picked up everything in the center and right from him. He told me he'd bought that wool right off the sheep. I responded, "Wow! She's a pretty sheep then, all burgundy like that." He looked at me blankly and said, "I dyed the wool after it was off the sheep." Okay, so he didn't get my joke. I'll assume he was just tired at the end of a long week.

The embroidery threads on the left were from a different vendor specializing in felted wool projects. I don't know if you can see it in this picture but the threads I bought from her are all really gorgeous variegated colors. Very subtle, but yummy.

Next up, fat quarters. I only purchased the four African fat quarters in the center--referred to in my previous blog post about my string star quilt. The fat quarters on the left were from BFF/BQF Katie who had gotten them from somewhere but they weren't to her taste, so she offered them to me if I was interested. I'm not sure what I'll do with them, but they'd make a cute donation something-or-other. The batiks on the right were also a gift that all three of us received and divided up between us.

In the "Less Interesting but Useful" category comes my collection of tools n' notions.

A few new stabilizers, another marking pencil and different colored refills, some tulle to use in upcoming projects, thread cards for future reference, and a big ol' jug of my favorite scent of Mary Ellen's Best Press: Cherry Blossom. The only LQS that carries jugs of MEBP up here only carries the unscented, which is fine, but I do love me some cherry blossom. Well timed, too, since I used the last little bit of my previous jug of MEPB pressing the hand-dyeds from Frieda's class.

Oh--speaking of Frieda's class--I found a picture of a couple more fabrics I dyed there that I'd forgotten to include. I did two fat quarters "pot luck" style. IOW, I took some of the leftover dye from a couple of the gradations and dumped it on fabric in a baggie. They're not great on their own, but will make good backgrounds for practicing machine quilting.

Yep, I did get a couple of books. One is on Shibori techniques for hand-dyeing, something I'll be playing with this spring. The other is one that Katie found for me at Burkholders. You all complain about me spending your money--Katie is great at spending mine! Sue Spargo's stitching book is pricey, but fantastic. I'll be talking about it in my next podcast episode as I'm already using it.

Finally, this wasn't at all quilt related but it was something I couldn't resist. I've become a scarf/shawl person. They're great for travelers; when you spend so much of your time on planes and in conference rooms you never know whether you're going to be brutally hot or freezing cold. The secret is dressing in layers and having shawls that you can wrap up in or stuff in your purse. I have a bunch of shawls that I travel with, and I couldn't resist adding this gorgeous one to my collection.

I can't wear most wool, but this one was goat's wool and not at all itchy. I'm in serious love. (And, for once, in this vendor's booth I was able to spend Katie's money as I talked her into buying a different beautiful wrap that she'll be able to wear to the office.)

Friday evening

Friday night, Lori and I attended Ami Simm's "Worst Quilt in the World with a Gong Show Twist" presentation. It was an absolute hoot, and I ended up taking photos for Ami on her iPhone because I was the only one who'd admit to knowing how to use one after she stood there for a few seconds waiting for a volunteer! (Here's hoping the pictures came out!)

It was a great show, as we'd expected. Ami is a hoot. Have I said that before?

Saturday, Heading Home

We'd originally planned to go home on Sunday but by Friday night, the three of us decided we'd done everything we'd wanted to do at the show. None of us had signed up for anything on Saturday. So we decided to leave a day early and take our time getting home. We had breakfast at the Tomato Pie Cafe in Lititz, recommended to us by a Lancaster Visitor's Bureau volunteer at the show. And she did not steer us wrong! It was fantastic! I had a "flipper" (which is their name for an omelette) with goat cheese and roasted beets. A-freaking-mazing. We ate breakfast at 9a and didn't need to stop for lunch until 3!

Lititz is a lovely little town--definitely a place we'd visit again.

But then, there's Burkholders. Despite my GPS lady completely losing us in the countryside, we found our way there and I had the joy of my second meet-up of the week!

Great to meet Torie (@torieQWQ) and Nicole (@1c4quilting)! And Nicole's daughter who was our photographer and shall remain nameless for safety reasons, but was absolutely lovely and I had a good time with her too.

And then we were home again home again, jiggity jig.

I enjoyed Lancaster and will most definitely be going back again in the future!

Lancaster Report--Part 2

And there was night, and there was dawn, and so begins...

Day 2 (Thursday)

Mad Quilt Scientist in her element!

On the second full day of Quilt Week, Lori and I were both in Frieda Anderson's dye class for the whole day. (Lori has some pictures on her camera--when I get them, I'll post them here.)

Since I'm familiar with Frieda's dye method (I own her book), I wasn't really expecting to learn anything new. I was looking forward to spending the day playing in dye, and I was looking forward to doing it with one of my BFF/BQFs. We were to be paired up in the class, so Lori and I got to work together. Lori has done a little dyeing but not as much as me, so when Frieda suggested that one person of each pair would be the "clean person" and the other the "dirty person" in the morning, and then switch roles in the afternoon, I offered to Lori that she could be Dirty Girl all day. That actually worked quite well for us because we were able to get into quite the effective rhythm once we both got the hang of our roles. And yes, I was thinking ahead. Now I get to call her Dirty Girl next time we're in a guild meeting. FTW.

The only slight hitch was that there was a mistake in the supply list. The list had said to bring one bucket and one dishpan to share per pair; Frieda had actually wanted us to each bring one, so we'd have two per pair. That created a little bit of an issue with keeping our work stations clean because we ended up having a very small container to use as our rinse pan, and a small bowl for smooshing the fabric around in the dye before putting it in its final transport container.

The other small hitch was that Frieda had adjusted her plans for the class and rather than doing two gradations, with a total of 24 fabrics, she decided we'd do four gradations, 48 fabrics total. I had enough fabric with me to do that if I split them into smaller pieces, but Frieda had shipped extra fabric for the class so I bought some off her to be able to do 48 fat quarters rather than having to do some fat-eighths. The only reason it became a hitch was that I'd brought 24 containers with seals for transporting the fabrics home. Fortunately, I'd also thrown a couple of boxes of Zip-locs in the car in case we didn't have enough space for me to use the containers. Lori and I both had all our fabrics in the baggies at the end, which meant two large garbage bags filled with wet fabric in baggies. It could've been a recipe for disaster but it mostly worked out okay.

We labeled all the fabrics 1-12 for each gradation, but as I've talked about in previous hand-dyeing posts in this blog, black sharpie tends to disappear when you're dyeing dark colors. When I washed my fabrics at home, I lost several of the markings. Therefore, in this "Reveal" photo, I made my best guess at where some of the fabrics belong in the gradation. Ultimately it doesn't matter since I'll be breaking up the fabrics to use them anyway. I may do the gradations again sometime at home when I can control the results better, and label them more permanently for my records.

Meanwhile, aren't they pretty?

The first one on the left is"cool" yellow, red, and blue; the second set is that same set of colors diluted for pastels. The third set is a "warm" yellow, red, and blue; the fourth set is those warm colors mixed with black.

No, I didn't really learn anything new in the class, other than confirming for myself that I hate using baggies in dyeing. Give me a nice, hard-sided sealable container any day. But I really enjoyed Frieda Anderson. She's very laid back and funny, a great teacher (there were lots of dyeing newbies in the room and she did very well with them), and had lots of extra supplies for those of us, ahem, who may have had to grab a garbage bag out of the hotel on the way to class to use as a table covering only to find out it wasn't waterproof and was letting dye through onto the table underneath. In any case, I'd look forward to taking a class with her again.

And I just had to do her the favor of buying serious yardage of PFD fabric off her at the end of class, just so she wouldn't have to ship as much home. I'm such a kind person, really. Goodness of my heart n' all that.

By the way...all those raveled threads you have to yank off the edge of the fabric after it's been through the laundry?

Yummy!

Even if you just stash it in a jar and call it "decor," you're going to enjoy it. But oh, the things I can do with a wad of pretty thread!

So now, perhaps, you can understand why I hit a particular vendor at Lancaster before I even got to Lancaster...

(Some of these are simply replacing colors I'm nearly out of, some are new. Plus I bought samplers of acid dyes to use on wool, and a marbeling kit. Play Day!)

None of us had anything on the schedule for Thursday night so we hung out at the pool and actually got a decently-early bedtime. Friday was the first time I was actually going to see the show, so I was jazzed. Stay posted for another update...

Lancaster Report--Part 1

I had so much fun at the AQS Quiltweek in Lancaster that to try to report in on everything in a single blog would be ridiculous. So I'm going to piecemeal it and do several blog posts. For the most part, they'll go through the week chronologically but I may throw some thematic stuff in there as well. So, let's get started with...

Setting the Scene

First off, here's a pic of my BFF/BQFs Lori and Katie standing with me in front of the AQS Quiltweek admission booth. This pic was actually taken later in the week, but it'll help you picture who I'm talking about in all these posts.

We stayed at the Best Western Eden Resort, which is about 10 minutes away from the Lancaster County Convention Center where the show is held. It was a great place. The beds were extremely comfortable and it's been recently renovated so everything was brand-spanking new. The indoor pool was just gorgeous, although strangely it was a mix of salt water and chlorinated water, which I haven't encountered in an indoor pool in the northeast before. The only downside was that with three in the room, I'd requested a rollaway bed. Their definition of rollaway bed is "air mattress." We rotated who got to sleep on it each night.

Day 1 (Wednesday)

I spent the first day in a full-day class with Ami Simms making a String Star quilt. I mostly took it because I really enjoy Ami's sense of humor and thought it would be fun to take a class with her. The project was incidental. Still n' all, I had fun making the project and I surprised myself by being one of maybe two or three people who actually got all the blocks made for the center. I was en fuego! None of us got it completely put together. She didn't really expect us to, it seems; the purpose of the class was to show us the technique and let us get a running head start.

String Star with African fabrics

I talked about the African fabrics I used in a previous blog post. I wasn't sure I was going to love my background fabric--I was a little worried it would end up looking too busy. I'm glad to say that I'm thrilled. It works beautifully. I couldn't be happier!

I still need to piece all the blocks together. Then I'll be adding a narrow border of more background fabric to float the star a little bit.

Detail of background

For the outside border, at the moment anyway, I plan to do what Ami Simms did on hers: more strip sets of the African fabrics all around the outside, with mitered corners. She'd warned that it takes more strips than you think it will so even though I have a lot left of each fat quarter I've already used for the blocks, I ended up picking up four more African fat quarters--likely from the same vendor I bought all the rest from years before--to give me some wiggle room. I'm going to strip them all up and sew them together to see how much border I might be able to get out of them. If I'm short, I'll add some batiks or hand-dyes. If I'm long, I'll throw the leftover into the backing or something. I just really want to use up all my African fat quarters.

I also made two new buddies during class--woo for new buddies! Ellen and Deb were a hoot to share tables with. Ellen was sitting alone at the table behind me but happened to be placed underneath one of the only actual lights in the room. (It was obnoxiously dark in there!) She kept inviting me to "Come to the light! Come to the light!" So I turned around and put my cutting mat on the empty end of her table behind my sewing space. We were sewing on Bernina machines--don't recall the model number. It took me a few minutes to get used to it but we were doing very basic sewing so it wasn't too bad. The Bernina woman (Mary Alice) was very nice and even figured out how to override some settings on my machine so it would behave more like I'm used to my Janome behaving. After that, I was flying!

And yes, Ami Simms was a great teacher. I picked up some tips for ironing fabric before cutting that will be useful. She had brought examples of string stars she's made to show us what works well and what maybe could be done differently--I really appreciated her showing us something she wasn't as happy with so we could discuss possibilities for backgrounds and such. She also did the lion's share of our pressing for us--at first, so she could check to make sure people weren't getting off track anywhere. Later, I think, just to allow us to be able to keep moving as quickly as possible. She was entertaining but educational at the same time. I'd take a class with her again anytime!

Meet-Up Number 1

Left to right: Julie, Judy, me, Jill, Sarah

After class was out, I had the joy of meeting up with four listeners. Woot for meet-ups and woot for listeners! Judy and I had actually met earlier in a vendor booth when she recognized my voice. (Not surprisingly, it was the ProChem Dye booth. Go figure.) Wednesday afternoon, I met up with Julie, Judy, Jill, and Sarah. Say that three times fast...

I coveted Judy's cardigan and will be checking out the Land's End website soon.

Sarah swears she's going to be using the fabric she just won in my recent giveaway almost immediately!

Julie gave me a lovely gift. It's a little pouch with that snappy-open kind of top that just makes you want to squeeze it and say " 'Salright" like the Parkay containers in those old commercials from my childhood. (And I might just have done that several times. Maybe.) I've had it in my purse ever since, waiting for me to figure out the perfect use for it. Thanks so much, Julie!

Evening Event: Author's Roundtable

Wednesday evening, Lori and I went to the Author's Roundtable which featured eight AQS authors demonstrating a technique or talking about the topic of their latest book. I'm definitely going to be trying out the fun, fast block technique that Billie Lauder demonstrated--it's perfect for a quick baby or wheelchair quilt, especially. I bought some Sulky foundation papers based on the Sulky person's demonstration (more about purchases later). And I enjoyed Edyta Sitar's presentation though I didn't end up purchasing any of her stuff. But I could see myself taking a class from her someday. She's charming. I really enjoyed all the authors' presentations, actually. Not a slow moment.

If you get a chance to do something like that at a show, take it. It's a great way to be introduced to what's new and happening, as well as get short snippets of a variety of potential teachers. I have Mom to thank for keying me into that. The first time I went to Houston was with Mom and she recommended I do whatever roundtables or round robins that I could to be exposed to as many techniques/methods/teachers as possible in a short period of time. I could then see what sparked my interest for following up later. And she was right! I've done it at most shows I've been to and have never been sorry.

After the author's roundtable, we all got back to our hotel room, did the requisite Show n' Tell of what we'd done during the day, and giggled until we couldn't stay awake any more. A true girls' night.

Stay tuned for Day 2...

Lancaster update

I don't have the pics off my camera yet but just posting a fast Lancaster update, while still in Lancaster!

So far, I've made all the blocks for the center of a string star quilt with Ami Simms, dyed 48 pieces of fabric with Frieda Anderson, met and had lunch with two lovely women, saw presentations by eight teachers on their latest techniques (and really want to make that great fast quilt technique that Billie Lauder showed us to make a donation baby quilt!), played for a few minutes on a couple of longarms in vendor booths during the 20 minutes I actually stepped foot in the show hall, and met up with four listeners--Judy, Julie, Jill, and Sarah, and try saying that three times fast.

Have I seen the show yet? Of course not. I've spent both days I've been here so far in class, and the show ends shortly after the afternoon classes release. So today (Friday) is my show day--finally! I may try to tweet some pics as I'm able; depends on how engrossed I get in what I'm looking at. I haven't spent much time with the vendors yet, although I bought a bunch of yardage of PFD fabric off of Frieda after class today. (I really was just trying to do her a favor so she wouldn't have to ship it home. Really.)

Our Saturday schedule is still up in the air--we're all going to see what we feel like at the end of today. I hope to be able to meet up with two more listeners (you know who you are!) sometime on Saturday--I'm staying in touch with them on Twitter to figure out the wheres and whens.

Our hotel is very nice and downtown Lancaster is lovely, so we're having a great time. Well, except our rotating schedule of which one of us gets to sleep on the air mattress. In any case, I'll do a full report after I get home, of course. Just figured I'd give you a quick preview!

As a note, Craftsy is having a sale this weekend--classes up to 50% off. You might want to check it out!

(Transparency: Clicking on Craftsy links or banners on this site help support this blog. Thank you!)

Lancaster Meet-Up

Okay, y'all: I just sent an email to everyone who contacted me with their availability for the meet-up at the AQS Quiltweek in Lancaster this week. So check your email!

If you didn't get an email and are planning on being there (especially on Wednesday, hint hint), be sure to email me or tweet me (@sandyquiltz). If you leave a comment on this blog post, I'll get it that way too, though if I don't have your email address I won't be able to get in touch with you.

At last count, there could be seven of us at the meet-up--Woohoo!!!!

And a very belated thank-you to...

...Tina (aka @Weezyworks).

Several weeks ago now...well, okay, maybe a couple of months, Tina sent me a very funny Christmas card and this beautiful little spool pin doily she'd crocheted. It's gorgeous. I immediately put it on my spool pin and have been using it ever since!

I apologize, Tina, for the delay in my response but I've been using it and admiring it every time I change my thread!

...and to Jackie (aka @SewExcitedQuilts)

I don't think I've already blogged about this one, anyway. Jackie sent me this around the holidays as well, and I've been using it for (ready for this one?) holding my earbuds in my purse. It's great! They don't get all caught up in everything else, and I can easily get hold of them!

...and to Diane (aka @ddrquilter)!

Diane sent me this when she sent her thank-you gift for Charlotte. I held off posting the picture until after Charlotte's gift-giving ceremony had been up for a bit.

It's lovely, Diane! You can see from the 3M tabs it's hanging in my sewing room/office...actually, right above my cutting table.

Thanks so much everyone! I'm very touched by your thoughtfulness, and I love that I'm surrounded every day in my office/sewing room (and my purse!) by my listeners! :-)

Boo Yah! Weekend Goals Met! Plus DPW, Scrapitude, and Daisy's Quilt Reveal

This time around, I did great on my weekend plans!

Remember that Disappearing Pinwheel extravaganza from way back at the MLK Jr Day Sew-In? I finally got my top completed! I also did a backing for this one, a nice turqouise or aqua blue marbled cotton. It's now in the hands of the longarmer at my LQS. I'm having it pantographed, quilter's choice. Still haven't entirely decided what I'm going to do with this one but I'm thinking it may be a gift for a friend.

And now, the big reveal....

My Scrapitude top!

I haven't come up with a spiffy name for this yet.

The narrow inner border was from my stash, so the only purchased fabric for this was the outer border and backing.

I fell in love with this border fabric. Not at all what I'd originally had in mind when I ventured to my LQS to find something. I'd been thinking a large print multicolored floral to balance out all the sharp pointy things going on in the center. I'd seen the bolt of this fabric on the shelf and liked that it had all the colors I was looking for, but since it had the vibe of an Australian aboriginal print design I didn't think it would really fit the feel of the traditional scrappy top. Later in my search, the staffperson pulled it off the shelf and we laid it out next to the quilt. There was a moment of silence, and we both said, "...Oh." And then, "Oh..." again. I loved the way the border motif mimicked the shape of the block, and it spoke to the colors in the quilt. I fell in love with it. Unique and unexpected--even better.

I only debated it for several moments longer because it's a directional print with a distinct motif and I thought I'd hate myself for trying to work with that. Yeah, I probably would, but it was too perfect to pass up.

My original intention was to do all sorts of math to get those motifs to work out as perfectly as possible, by taking little tucks in the border  to pull the motifs together in a shorter repeat as needed. When it came right down to it, though...I was really trying to get the borders done in time to get the quilt to the LQS before it closed on Saturday. Plus, I'd already lost so many points and had so many things not meet up as they should've (you'll need to listen to my rant about a particular ruler for the backstory on that one) that this is nowhere near an heirloom or show-quality quilt anyway. It's going to be on a bed in my house...which bed is yet to be determined. So, in any case, me and my family are the only ones that will see it. My husband really likes it as-is, so I decided not to sweat the border and just get it on there.

Magically, and thankfully, this is the first fabric I've worked with in this way in years that was actually mostly printed on grain! As I cut the fabric lengthwise (so I wouldn't have to piece the border), it was mostly in line with the motif. Amazing. So my priority of at least having the motifs appear relatively straight along the borders worked out pretty dang well. I didn't worry about where the motifs ended or mitering borders to make them match or anything. We were in Get-'Er-Done mode and I was absolutely thrilled to Get-'Er-Done!

This is also now in the hands of my LQS longarmer and it's also going to get a pantograph. As I said to the woman taking my quilt, "If I'm ponying up for custom, it's going to be on a quilt where I can see all my points!"

Other projects done this weekend...

Got all my cutting done for my String Star class with Ami Simms at Lancaster AQS quilt week. I'm using various ethnic design fabrics. We're supposed to bring the uncut fabric to class "pressed and ready to cut." The best way I could think to do that was to press it, then lay it out flat one on top of another and carefully roll it all together. Here's hoping it's not a mess if we do get to the point of cutting that.

And I collected all my supplies for the dye class with Frieda Anderson. I already had most of it, but I did take this as an opportunity to pick up more small containers with lids from the Dollar Store--they're a good size for fat quarters and you can even scrunch a half yard down in there if you're going for the scrunchy look, which I normally am. Pack of five for a buck. Can't beat it.

I don't have to bring a ton of supplies because I did buy her kit, so she'll be giving us the dyes, gloves, a face mask, and some fabric. I'm also bringing extra fabric that I cut and folded later after I'd already taken this picture; she invited us to bring whatever else we might want to dye since we may have time to do more in the afternoon. I couldn't bring my dog (What? You can't imagine a Turquoise Retriever?) so I'm sticking with doing more PFD fabrics I can add to my collection.

I got more done on my Spring postcard swap--can't show that yet, though!

And, finally, in a last-Hurrah of the weekend, I got the binding on the quilt I won from Daisy in her giveaway a couple of months ago! Woot! If I recall, the name of the design is "State of Grace," so I've named this quilt "Daisy's Grace." My daughter wanted it for her dorm room, so I did a machine binding. She's very happy with it!

DD is holding it up for the photo, and she's standing on the second step up on our staircase. She refers to herself as "fun-sized," so this is the perfect size quilt for her. She'll easily be able to wrap herself up in it while...ahem...studying.

Detail of the pantograph design. I almost inevitably leave it up to "Quilter's Choice" on design and thread color--the most I'll usually say is "I want it to blend," or "I don't mind something that stands out on this one" or whatever. They used a nice beige thread that stands out a little, but not so much as to detract from the design. They always do a great job...which is why I usually say "Quilter's Choice!"

I am so thrilled to be able to report that I'm not longer feeling overwhelmed by the number of projects I've got going on! Getting all this done this weekend has  cleared off the top of my cutting table and my sewing table, plus a shelf or two. Things feel organized and in control again.

Breathe.

Weekend Plans...Maybe...

So the last time I posted my quilting plans for the weekend, I got almost nothing done that I'd planned to get done. Is it a jinx? Hmmm. Here's trusting that I can break the spell and actually accomplish the following this weekend:

1. All the cutting done for my Lancaster class. (I refuse to leave it until the night before I leave!)

2. Collect all the supplies for my other Lancaster class.

3. Finish the Spring fabric postcard for Sandi's postcard swap. I'm about 2/3rds done, but since it's not actually due until after I get back, I'm putting it aside for a bit as I'm still hoping to...

4. Get the borders and backing done for my Disappearing Pinwheel and...

5. Get the borders on my Scrapitude quilt.

I still have a dream of being able to drop those both off at my LQS for longarming before I leave next week.

And by the way, I finally settled on working my way through Ann Petersen's Beyond Basic Machine Quilting as my next Craftsy class towards my 2014 resolutions. At the moment, I'm just watching the first few lessons again. I have to get a few other things off my machine before I can create myself something to use for her class and start practicing the actual stitching. I've decided it'll be a great way to use one of my hand-dyes as it's pretty much a wholecloth quilt. Cool beans.

I know, I know. I can hear you saying, "So, Sandy, doesn't that mean you should get off the computer and get back to work?" Yep.

Souvenirs from Alaska

My husband just got back from being in Anchorage on business. This is his second time in as many years being there. Last year, he texted me said, "Hey, I just walked by a quilt shop!" He very kindly included a picture of the front door with the name of the shop.

You know how mean that is? I gave him cr*p when he got home about not getting me anything, although I didn't give him too much of it because he had brought me a beautiful, small stained-glass plate with native designs that still sits on the mantle of our fireplace.

This year, he texted me a picture of the door again. "Really, you COULD buy me souvenir fabric, you know!" I texted back. His response, "I wouldn't know what to get." "Oh, please," I said. "They'd just think you were the cutest thing coming and would love to help you out!"

Turns out, this time he did brave the quilt shop. He put himself at the mercy of the staff, described the kinds of quilting I normally do, and they made some choices for him. Well done, team!

So, thumbs up to The Quilted Raven in Anchorage!

These fat quarters are all done by Alaskan artist Cindy Shake at Cindy Shake Design.

The longer pieces have two each of two designs; one's swirlies and stars, the other is the dog sleds and mushers. (Anchorage is the public starting point of the Iditarod.)

I love the many ways fat quarters can be bundled in cute little packages. But I did break open that star collection so you could see those fabrics as well.

Dig those birds!

And what's that little thing down in the lower right?

Why, it's a button, of course. It was used in the tie on the packaging. It looks to me like a bone button, but don't quote me on that. Perhaps part of an antler? There was no identifying information.

I won't be putting this on clothes--it'll go in my "random embellishment jar" for safe-keeping.

Finally, a traditional seal-skin thimble like those used by the Inuit for generations.

I won't ever use it--it'll sit on a display shelf I have in my sewing room with some sewing-related trinkets he brought me back from a business trip to China, and an antique pincushion  my supervisor gave me for Christmas one year.

But before I put it on the shelf, I couldn't resist.

Some Unexciting Hand-Dyeing

Well, I *did* get back into my dye studio this past weekend.

Of sorts.

I finally cleaned up way-old dye concentrate. The last time I'd had a big dyeing session was probably the end of October or early November. Perhaps even before that. I hadn't dumped my dyes because I fully intended to get back down there to use them up. Never happened.

You see, dye concentrates are really only expected to last maybe 2-3 weeks (as long as you've not added soda ash), although I've stretched mine a couple of times as much as 5-6 weeks and there wasn't a noticeable difference. My basement is chill enough, which is probably key.

But. Ahem. Four months was likely seriously pushing it. However, because I'm big into experimentation, I decided to throw a few pieces of fabric into a few Way Old Dyes just to see what happened. The results are unexciting. What happens is that Way Old Dyes lose their chutzpah. The colors aren't as strong and didn't catch as well--it felt like a lot more was washing down the drain than usual.

I did four fat quarters parfait-style (stacked one on top of another in a tall cylinder), and used up the leftover black dye concentrate, adding water so I'd get graded fabrics, the ones on top being lighter than the ones on bottom. And it worked, but they're all lighter gray than I think they would normally have been.

The one on the top in this photo is the lightest; I'd refer to it as "Ever-So-Slightly-Gray." It's basically a foggy white. The next one down is slightly darker although that's hard to see in this picture. The other two differ from each other mostly in the middles--the one on the bottom is more consistently dark than the one right above it.

I'm keeping them all, of course. I mean, really--who hasn't gone into their stash thinking, "I wish I had a really good foggy white"?

The next set was also stacked parfait-style, but this time I used four different colors. I knew, with the colors I chose, I could end up with sort of a muddy yellowy-brown thing going on, but I dig muddy yellowy-browns. I think they're interesting.

In this set, the colors clearly came out more dulled than they would usually, And the bright red spots you see here and there are the visible evidence of the fact that the red dye concentrates had gotten distinctly crusty. Chunky, even. A bit of a crystallization thing happening.

I believe (don't really remember now) that the four colors I used were Mixing Red, Mixing Blue, Golden Yellow, and Fuschia, one on top of the other. There's a couple of ways to do parfaits where you get more distinct separation between the layers of color while still getting some artistic blending. But I was just dumping stuff in to empty out dye bottles. Like I said, I wasn't particularly worrying about results--I just wanted to see how Way Old Dye would change.

I won't say I'm happy or unhappy with the results. I actually got about what I expected to get: I had assumed Way Old Dye would lose some oomph. I have distinctly less oomph at 48 than I did at 28, so why would dye be any different?

I'm not excited by any of these fat quarters, but they're still usable. In fact, I'm thinking they might be fun to use to practice free motion quilting on. I won't feel like I've got anything to lose and if it turns out looking nice, so much the better!

I wasn't able to use up all my Way Old Dye in these samples--I did end up dumping the rest down the sink. But now all my bottles are cleaned out and ready to go for when I've got the time to mix up fresh Spry New Dye.

Next week, when I'm at the AQS QuiltWeek in Lancaster, I'll be taking Frieda Anderson's hand-dyeing class. I have her book and have already used her dye techniques, but I haven't done the gradations using the recipes in her book, which is what we do in this class. So I'll have more fun hand-dyeing pictures in a couple of weeks! (And I'll be using Spry New Dye for that!)

What I'm Working On...and 2014 Quilty Resolution Spreadsheet

As I announced on this past weekend's podcast episode, I'll be doing a 2014 Quilty Resolutions First Quarter Check-in at the end of March. A few weeks from now I'll ask you to let everyone know how you're doing so far at keeping your 2014 resolutions and I'll choose a giveaway winner from those who play along. Even if you didn't participate in my resolution challenge, you can report in on your own quilty-related resolutions and how you're doing, and you'll still be eligible for the giveaway drawing.

A few of you, ahem, you know who you are, have admitted to me that you can't remember what you resolved. Perhaps next year's resolution should be, "Improve my memory." So here's a link to a public version of the 2014 Quilty Resolutions spreadsheet. I've removed everyone's email addresses and last names for Internet safety.

I'm looking forward to hearing how you're doing at our first check-in!

How am I doing with my resolutions?

Well, as we all know, one of them had to do with Craftsy classes. I've been keeping you updated on that. I'm currently in the finishing stages of Stupendous Stitching with Carol Ann Waugh, and then I really want to get cracking on Thread Art with Lola Jenkins. I already know what artwork I'm going to use and am seriously jazzed!

I'm also going to start working on another machine quilting class (which double-dips in my resolutions) but I'm waffling a bit on which one. I own several, and they've all got benefits. I'm watching all the lessons in two of them now to see which one calls to me more at the moment. Eventually I'll do all of them in my queue, so I could really flip a coin. I honestly don't know why I'm waffling.

I'll do another update when I post the giveaway blog in another few weeks.

What else do I have in progress?

• I have to do the cutting for my Ami Simms class at Lancaster, and gather all the supplies for my Frieda Anderson class. The first will take a whole lot longer than the second! For the dye class, I already own all the supplies--I just have to pull it together and figure out the simplest way to pack them so they're easy to carry into class.
• Scrapitude still needs borders (already have the fabric), then I'm taking it to my LQS for longarming--I'll buy backing there. They have a nice selection of wide backing fabrics.
• My Disappearing Pinwheel quilt still needs borders, and I'm piecing backing for that one (have fabric for both), then I'm also taking it to the same LQS for longarming.
• My postcard for Sandi's Spring Postcard swap is in progress but I really need to get working on it as technically it's supposed to be in the mail before March 20 and I'm in Lancaster for a chunk of that time!
• I've got the binding pieces cut for Daisy's Twitter Giveaway quilt top that I won; I just need to get that top bound.

I have no idea how this happened. I rarely, if ever, have so many things going at once. I usually shoot for no more than three projects--one in planning or cutting, one at the sewing machine, and one at handwork (binding) stage. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with all of this so I'm just staying organized and focused and reminding myself to just enjoy the process. If it doesn't feel like fun to work on something on a given day, I choose one of the other projects to work on. It's all about having fun, not stressing out!

February Update on Craftsy Class Progress

Here's my February update! A couple of people have mentioned how fast I seem to be whipping through these so far. There's good reason for that. The ones I've decided to focus on first were the ones I was very nearly already done with anyway, those that I thought I could easily accomplish within my current schedule, or those that I knew I'd pretty much just be watching and absorbing information for later use (such as knife skills for cooking). For the most part, however, now I've accomplished most of the classes on my list that fall into those categories. Future classes are going to take much longer so you won't be getting reviews quite so frequently.

Completed Classes (all topics)

Current count: 20 (+3 from last month--yippee!)

• Complete Knife Skills with Brendan McDermott.
• Shoot It! A Product Photography Primer with Carol Sheridan
• Spindling from Fluff to Stuff with Drucilla Pettibone
• Machine Quilting with Wendy Butler Berns
• Artisan Bread Making with Peter Reinhart
• Secrets of Slow Cooking: Mastering the Braise with Molly Stephens
• Art Quilting 101 with Wendy Butler Berns
• Chain of Stars Mystery Quilt with Kimberly Einmo
• Color Play for Quilters with Joen Wolfrom
• Craftsy Block of the Month 2013 with Laura Nownes
• Creative Quilt Backs with Elizabeth Hartman
• Hand-Stitched Collage Quilts with Laura Wasilowski
• Magical Jelly Roll Quilts with Kimberly Einmo
• Pattern Free Quilt-making with Joe Cunningham
• Piece, Patch, Quilt: Basic Quiltmaking Skills with Gail Kessler
• QuiltCon Lecture Series 2013
• Scrap Quilting with Pepper Cory
• Stitch & Slash with Carol Ann Waugh
• The Art of Cloth Dyeing with Jane Dunnewold
• Know Your Wool with Deborah Robson

Classes in Progress

Current count: 2

• Stupendous Stitching with Carol Ann Waugh
• Thread Art with Lola Jenkins

Classes To Be Completed

Current count: 17 (-1 since last month, since two of the classes I finished weren't in this list in January's post.)

• Art Quilt Backgrounds: Beyond Log Cabin with Judith Trager
• Beyond Basic Machine Quilting with Ann Petersen
• Designing Modern Quilts with Weeks Ringle
• Fabric Patterning with Wax Resist with Malka Dubrawsky
• Finishing School: Edges and Bindings with Mimi Dietrich
• Free Motion Fillers Vol 1 with Leah Day
• Free Motion Fillers Vol 2 with Leah Day
• Free Motion Quilting a Sampler with Leah Day
• Free-Motion Quilting with Feathers with Angela Walters
• Machine Quilting Negative Space with Angela Walters
• Machine Quilting the Home Sweet Home Quilt with Frieda Anderson
• Painted Pictorial Quilts with Annette Kennedy
• Pictorial Quilting Techniques with Wendy Butler Berns
• Pictures to Pixel Quilts with Carol Sheridan
• Strip Your Stash with Nancy Smith
• A Modern Take on the Mother Sauces with James Peterson
• Homestyle Pan Sauces with Martha Holmberg
• Perfect Pizza at Home with Peter Reinhart

Classes added this month: None!

Craftsy Class Review: Complete Knife Skills with Brendan McDermott

Another cooking class instead of a quilting class. Hey, a girl's gotta eat.

I've been wanting to do a knife skills class for years. I've picked up plenty from watching cooking shows, checking out YouTube videos, and iPad apps. But it seems that everyone has different techniques and often the demos were poorly done. I do decently well at slicing and dicing, but knew I could use some improvement.

When I saw that Craftsy was offering a class named Complete Knife Skills--and offering it for free, no less!--I spent only a millisecond thinking, "But I already have so many dang classes I need to get through," before I clicked the button and sent it flying into my account.

I probably chose a somewhat awkward time to start watching it--I was waiting at my gate in the airport heading home from vacation. I likely gave a few wandering TSA agents pause. "Keep an eye on that woman--she's watching something about knives." They'd have worried even more if they'd seen the grin on my face.

Brendan McDermott, the course instructor, is an absolute hoot. He's a younger guy with tattoos up and down his arms, shaved head, and a very dry sense of humor that just never ceased to entertain me. I texted the link to my 23-year-old son and 27-year-old nephew and told them they both had to take this class--not only because actually learning how to use a knife is one of the best things a beginning cook can do, but because I thought they'd seriously dig the instructor. I confess to getting the giggles when McDermott would pepper his instruction with comments like, "Die, carrot!" and "You can even get into a good-sized watermelon without having to come at it like a Spartan warrior."

As fair warning to those who may be more sensitive to this kind of thing: Once in a great while his language can get ever-so-slightly off-color (he referred to a partially-sliced butternut squash as a "big-a** carrot" which cracked me up, and uses the "d" word once or twice), but it's infrequent and, in my opinion, pretty mild. But we all have different words that push our buttons so you'd need to make your own judgments on that.

Okay, so it was entertaining. But is it informative? Abso-positively! I learned more from this class than I have from years of cooking shows and YouTube. He's very thorough. First and foremost, he's a huge proponent of knife safety, so throughout his demonstrations he's focused on safety as well as efficiency. Although many of the knife skills demos I've seen before have said things like "This is a safer way to do this," Brendan actually explains why it's safer, what the risks are of other methods (interestingly, often other methods I've seen on the cooking shows themselves!), and has just a few guidelines that, if you keep them in mind, will help you figure out how to keep your fingers on every time even if you forget everything else he's demonstrated.

He talks about which knives are essential and what you can do without, tips about cutting boards, and always explains why certain cutting techniques are better than others. The lessons include various types of cuts, and techniques for a variety of foods. He even talks throughout about what remnants left on the cutting board when you're done with your prep work well for stocks and which don't. Each lesson also ends with a "Helpful Hint" (after the close of the lesson, so pay attention--there's more!).

I can't recommend this class highly enough. Unless you're a trained, professional chef, you'll likely learn something. And even if you're a trained, professional chef, the entertainment value is worth it. What do you have to lose? It's free!

The Basics:

• 5 lessons total, though two of those lessons have a ton of segments so the length of each lesson (not counting the Craftsy promo lesson 1) varies from 8 to 43 minutes.
• The first lesson is just a brief introduction to Craftsy since this is a free class--it's a promotional tool for them. If you know Craftsy, you can skip lesson 1.
• Lesson 2 is the introduction--Brendan tells you about himself, and then goes right into choosing knives, the four basic knives you should have in your kitchen, and a few other useful tips.
• Lesson 3 gets into specifics: how to hold the knife, a variety of cuts, each demonstrated on a particular item and tips about those items as well (what he says about onions was a highlight of the course for me!).
• Lesson 4 goes into "short cuts" for cutting particular items that can often give people trouble or just ways to go about things more efficiently and effectively (citrus, bell peppers, jalapenos, etc.)
• Lesson 5 is a shorter lesson on how to sharpen and hone your blade.

I really do encourage you to check it out. This is one of my fave Craftsy classes ever, and you know that's saying a lot! Again, that's Complete Knife Skills with Brendan McDermott. Two thumbs up. Two thumbs that I now feel like I run a far lower risk of slicing off at some point in my future!

(Transparency statement if you haven't seen it before: using the Craftsy links on this blog help support this blog and podcast. Thanks!)

Thank-you Gifts for Charlotte

About a week before my last guild meeting, a few of the #twilters (quilters on Twitter) decided they wanted to show their thanks to Charlotte for Scrapitude by making "wee gifties," as @verylazydaisy called them. They mailed the gifts to me and I made a surprise presentation of them to Charlotte at my guild meeting.

With the short notice, I had gifts in hand from three people. Thanks so much to @SewExcitedQuilts (the keyfob), @artquiltmaker (the needle case), and @ddrquilter (the small wallhanging). I have been told to expect more so I'll be checking my PO box regularly. I won't be at my March guild meeting as I'll be at the AQS show in Lancaster, but I'll figure out some way to get them to Charlotte anyway.

As you may be able to tell from the photos, Charlotte was very touched. She couldn't stop grinning and saying, "I don't believe it!" Thank you, everyone, for showing Charlotte some love!

What's on for the weekend...

I'm writing this blog post on Saturday morning and thinking through what my long weekend will bring. I'm caffeinating and "charging" (as my husband calls it when he sees me sitting in front of my light box), and watching another lesson in one of my current Craftsy classes, "Complete Knife Skills" with Brendan McDermott--a freebie that has quickly become one of my favorite classes I've taken from Craftsy so far. But you'll just have to wait for my full review when I'm done with the class entirely.

Speaking of Craftsy--they're having another sale this weekend, the "Perfect Match Flash Sale" in which you can get two classes paired together, both on sale. I've already glanced at some of the offerings but haven't spent a lot of time on the site yet. I have other things I need to get done today!

In any case, as I'm sitting here getting ready for my day (which begins with a run to the grocery store), I thought it might keep me on track if I listed here my quilty-related goals for the weekend, and then I'll check in again sometime Monday evening and let you know what I actually accomplished. As we know, I'm a list-maker!

1. Post a podcast episode. (Sorry about missing last week; as it turned out, it was a very busy weekend followed by a busy week!)

2. Get my Scrapitude blocks and triangles made. If I can manage it, I'd really like to get the whole Scrapitude top pieced.*

3. Put my dye studio back together. It's still dismantled from when I had to repurpose one of the tables for Thanksgiving dinner. I also still need to haul my old cutting table from my second-floor sewing room to my basement dye studio. This requires my husband's involvement.

4. Put the finishing touches on new cutting table--using my 3M adhesive strips as I mentioned in a previous podcast episode, and heat-setting the edging strip around the top.

Now, here's the thing--some of my weekend schedule is still a bit up on the air. I may be making a nice dinner tonight, which means some of today will be spent in the kitchen, or we might be going out for a nice dinner, which means I'd not have to spend time in the kitchen. I can actually go either way on this one--after being gone for a week of vacation I'm very okay with spending a night in my kitchen. I enjoy cooking when I've actually got time to do it. But I'd also be very okay with having a whole afternoon to spend in my sewing room. So I'm viewing this as a win-win whichever way we end up going. Tomorrow I've got a commitment in the morning which means we may not be home until about 3p, and although I've got Monday off, I've got an appointment in the morning so may not have much sewing time until the afternoon. I still think I'll be able to accomplish all of the above.

So here's to a long weekend, and being home, and getting homey kinds of things done. What are your plans for the weekend? For U.S. readers, do you have Monday off? I believe we've got a #PDSI going on, though it won't be as active as usual since this is a much-less common day off for most people. Indeed, this is the first year that I can remember actually having it off! Yay!

*Whether I get the whole Scrapitude top pieced is less dependent on the amount of time I have this weekend, and more so on how long I can sit at my sewing machine doing the same thing over and over again. This is why I rarely make bed-sized quilts. Even with movies or audiobooks, I just get stir-crazy after awhile, so I may switch up what project I'm working on rather than plowing through one project for the whole weekend.

Craftsy Class Review--Shoot It! A Product Photography Primer

Yet another Craftsy class finish! This time, we're talking about Shoot It! A Product Photography Primer with Caro Sheridan. I watched this class in its entirety while I was on vacation in Savannah last week (and, in fact, blew out my data plan allotment for the month by doing so on my iPad but it was well worth it!).

If you've got a blog or an Etsy shop, you really ought to get this class. I took photography in high school and have done a fair amount of self-study in it, but have gotten--admittedly--lazy in recent years. I used to be a much better photographer than I am now. I still have a decent eye for composition, but when it comes to taking the time to make sure I've got really well composed, nice looking photos on my blog, I only manage that about a quarter of the time. The rest of the time, I have a "Lookie! I'm finished! Let me quick snap something on my cell phone, upload it, and call it a day!" attitude.

Frankly, I really want to get over myself on that one. I would like to have much better photos on my blog, so I need to make a bit of a mental commitment to that. I can't guarantee that'll happen consistently, but it's something I'm going to...(wait for it)...shoot for more often in 2014.

Back to the class. I enjoyed Caro Sheridan as a teacher. She clearly knows her stuff, and in the class she illustrates her points with a lot of examples so you get the visual of how the background can really add or detract to the subject of your photo, and so forth. And she goes more in-depth than just "get rid of the clutter around it," which I do generally remember to do, even if it's just a quick sweep of my arm across the top of my cutting table to clear it off. She talks about the use of color in the background to highlight your product/subject, lighting and shadows, tools to use that make lighting issues a little easier, composition, and how to tell a story with your shot. She addresses using a point-and-shoot or your phone camera as well as more sophisticated cameras--so you don't have to have a whizz-bang camera to take this class! Probably better than 85% of the information in the class is applicable regardless of what you're using.

If I ever do have an Etsy shop for my hand-dyes, I'm definitely going back and reviewing this class again. For now, though, I've been inspired to drag out the manual on my good digital camera to refresh my memory on some of the settings (said laziness has led me to rely on auto settings far more than is good for me)--which also means, seeing if I can learn to love this camera. I still miss my old one and just haven't bonded with this one even after owning it a couple of years, so I'm giving it another few months before I decide if it's really just a learning curve thing, or if I really need to go back to my original line of camera. I've also been inspired to see if I can set up some sort of studio space in my basement to get better photos of my hand-dyes and small projects. I only need a table (hmmm...a retired cutting table, perhaps?), a few different colored back-drops (solid colored sheets to hang on the wall and drape over the table), and probably a couple of lights and light reflectors on stands--all things I can jury-rig together using hints from this class and stuff I find at Goodwill.

One of the other things I've been inspired to do based on this class is a Self-Portrait Project--the topic of her last lesson. She offers several very helpful tips in how to get a good self-portrait and suggests taking one a day for several days, playing with poses, lighting, camera settings, and so forth. Not only will you get a really good self-portrait out of it eventually but, as she says, you'll also likely deal with some of your own self-image issues. And that's something worth working on!

So I highly recommend this class. I really enjoyed it and, even with a pretty solid foundation of photography experience under my belt, got a lot of very helpful tips and ideas--and plenty of inspiration!

The basics:

• 10 lessons, ranging from 6 minutes to nearly 30 minutes. The average is around 15 minutes.
• Lessons begin with an introduction, in which Caro Sheridan talks about her own background and experience.
• The next lesson is "motivations and style," which talks about why you'd want decent photos in the first place, as well as tips for developing your own style of photography. She offers some very helpful suggestions about how to discover what your style might be that believe I'm going to be trying out.
• She then goes through color theory and composition in the next couple of lessons, spends a lesson on prepping for a shoot, another lesson on the shoot itself, then she talks about camera settings, editing, post processing, and the self-portrait project in the remaining lessons.
• The lessons also have sprinkled through good information on working with a model (i.e., if you want someone wearing the sweater you just knit, or wrapped in a quilt, or whatever), including permissions and helpful tips about getting them more comfortable in front of a camera; they also include information about getting permissions for location shots and other considerations.

Again, I highly recommend this class. Here's the link again: Shoot It! A Product Photography Primer with Caro Sheridan. (Usual transparency statement applies: Using that link to purchase the class helps support this blog and podcast.)

I haven't had anything quilty to practice photography on since I got home, really, and it's still too dang cold to go outside for nice nature shots. Therefore, my dogs are getting plenty of attention. Here's a photo gallery from me playing with some nifty flash settings I didn't know I had on my camera the other night.

Sam the Ham was game. He posed, he smiled, he brought me a toy just in case I wanted a prop.

Spencer wouldn't look at me, kept creeping away, and finally started diving under the couch every time I got the camera out. Princess Doggie and I need to come to some sort of arrangement.

(If you're getting this blog by email, you might not see the gallery. Sorry--you'll just need to go to the blog for it.)

Savannah Vacation Pics

If you're interested, I've got the photos from my vacation in Savannah uploaded to Flickr. Rather than uploading them all again here, I'm just giving you the link to the photo set in Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandyquiltz/sets/72157640690062245/.