HST update

So, here (again) is the block I'm working on...

The pattern

... and here is what mine is going to look like...

The fail

Notice something? Yeah, me too. *Facepalm.

To too disappointed though. It is still pretty and will make a nice mug rug. On to the next attempt!

I Challenge Myself - to half-square triangles!

This blog post was the last straw for me. In a good way, in a good way. Sarah at Habibti at Home blogged about making half- square triangle blocks by sewing two squares together around the outside edge, and then cutting them apart corner to corner in an "X". OK, I said to myself, that's it. I have to do something with half-square triangles!

But what? Well, I know I have seen so many beautiful things done with them in the various blogs that I love to peruse. Should I search those blogs? Should I go look in pinterest? Run to the fabric store for a new book or magazine? Wait! I HAVE quilting books. My Mom left them to me. So, I pulled this one off the shelf...

Thanks, Mom!

And I found this inside...

shouldn't be beyond my skills...

I don't remember seeing anything like it recently, and I thought it looked interesting on it's own, and that several blocks put togther should also be interesting.

The next step is fabric... what should I use? Then a bag of hand me overs (a friend of mine passed some piecing to me that her uncle sent to her after picking it up who knows where) caught my eye in my craft room. Hmmmm, I thought, I KNOW there are half square triangles in there. It isn't filling the challenge of creating them though, I countered myself. BUT, I responded, it IS using up what is already here, and it IS practicing making the block(s). Practice on them, and then see how that goes, then work on cutting and the rest. Well, I just had to agree with that, and I pulled out the bag, and found some cute little squares.

two inch squares

I picked some that were pink and yellow, and I also found some blue and yellow, green and yellow, and - I think - blue and green ones that I thought would work together. I ironed and trimmed the pink and yellow ones and then cut some solid yellow for the longer strips. Now for the sewing and the first block!

Of Taste, Style, and Asthetics

Summer is upon us, and I am ready for some summer crafting. I really want to do some sewing, and especially some quilting/piecing. I look at some sewing blogs, and quilting blogs, especially it would seem those with a "modern" asthetic. The quilts are pretty. Gorgeous, even. I've been thinking about what it is that makes them "modern" though. Many of the patterns are not new at all. Some have been tweaked, which is cool, and interesting (and not a new thing, really, either). When I look at the pattern books, and magazines I admire the beautiful quilts but I wonder are they really all that different from the patterns in the books I inherited from my mother? What is it, then, that makes them "modern quilters?" I think what mainly makes them "modern" (besides their recent creation, which one might think was enough) is the fabric choices.

I wonder if - even though I really enjoy their work and creativity and craftsmanship - _I_ am a modern quilter. One of the things that I have learned in my sewing and crafting is that materials DO make a difference, and better quality materials help produce a better quality of finished item. Still, I find these bloggers, and their designer name dropping as... baffling? unnecessary? (something, but I'm not sure what) as I do that of the fashionistas. I mean I understand that the fabric dyes in a collection will come closer to matching each other than random fabrics off the shelf, and when you are trying to put the prints together that color agreement is important. I also understand that part of the reason at least some of them do it is for sponsorship. I don't think that is a bad thing, in itself. Good for them to get that sponsorship and valuable, and beautiful fabrics. But it isn't me. Partly because I find it baffling, and partly because I find it elitist.

So does that mean I'm not a "modern" quiltist? Perhaps it does. I know that I'm less concerned with following fashion and more concerned with being able to incorporate some style into what I make. The style thing is something I've had to work on, though. It hasn't come easily to me, as evidenced by some of the things I've made in the past (but just try to find the evidence, I dare ya). I'm still working on developing my asthetic. Pondering and considering it. And I'm really not done with that, and truly may never be.

Does anyone want to weigh in on their asthetic, or how they found it? How they knew it was there? Is my taste really all in my mouth?

Then, because I don't want to post this with out some kind of picture, here is the book that I'm pulling pattern ideas from this summer:

legacy from Mom

Sorry it is such a fuzzy picture.