Ha! Sorted ...

I finally found a good way to blow up and contort the original design into the size and shape needed. Photoshop and black felt tip pens were the tools of choice here.

Then I made templates and cut them out to trace with my quilting pencil and then the quilting began. I'm quite pleased with the results so far.

Tracing the design

I've emailed with Susan Druding of About.com fame. She's been incredibly helpful. Based on my initial thoughts and her invaluabe input, this is my current game plan:

I’ve managed to size the template using Photoshop, now it’s just a bit crooked. I’ll redraw it and then I’ll decide whether to just tack through it in order to trace it with tread or to cut it up and trace around the edges with coloured pencil. We shall see.

In the larger areas, I’ll just do a swirly design, I think. Or I’ll appliqué scraps taken from the cut-off of the border fabric. I’ve got elephants and jewels to choose from. Another “we shall see”.

Pins, pins and more pins

I spent all of last night on my hands and knees - thank you lovely Persian rug for making it a bit more comfy - pinning the border to my quilt top, the wadding to the top, binding and bottom, cutting said wadding to size etc. It's now ready for further assembly ... with the help of my trusted Janome.





(And yes, the most crookedest appliqués will be redone, sigh)

Centre piece design

This is the design I chose from that book of Indian Designs as a centre piece for the now-assembled quilt.



Needless to say, it's warped, does not have the dimensions I need and I have no idea how to transfer it properly ... sigh.

But I asked Susan D. for help so let's see ;-)

Next: Machine Assembly

All appliqued (shouldn't it be "applied"?) so I'm really to assemble ... which means I will have to break out my sewing machine. I always dread that and then I don't want to return it to its case. Schizo, I know.

And while I work up my courage, I'll better check out the designs for the centre of the quilt.

Being results-driven

I spoke to my cousin yesterday, she's not actually my real cousin, instead she's married to him. But I've known her for more than half her life and a lot more than half of mine.

She's a professional musician (piano) and music professor. She's also mother of two children. While she gets some flac for her mothering ways, she's indisputably great at music. I never fail to be amazed by her performing persona. And I enjoy discussing creativeness/art/music with her.

We spoke about my quilting and I said that I enjoy (in fact crave and neeeeed) quilting because it leaves me with a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day that I do not get out of motherhood. To me, my mothering is marked by my contemplating my shortcomings. I constantly question myself and find areas in dire need of improvement. This in combination with the lack of input caused by Alex's absence during the week, makes my days a tad tough.

I long for a time when I'll be able to interact more with adults and when I have more time for my "art". I shy away from that term in connection with my creations as art should be of a higher value than what I produce. But to hell with that, I *enjoy* what I do. Contemplating new projects gives me energy and drive. At times, it allows me to fall asleep when I'm battling insomnia caused by being overly stressed.

While I set up this blog in order to keep track of my projects, it's nice to just write down thoughts and motivations without addressing anybody in particular.

Tie-Dye

This isn't really related to quilting but the instructions are really interesting: The FunkyC Way of Tie-Dyeing as well as instructions on knot tying. The result is really scrumptious:


and reminds me of an old tee I have that may find its way into the planned tee shirt quilt.