31 March 2015

Wordless Wednesday

























Snowbike

my favorite cyclist

"I think you're going to need spikey tires to ride in this."

A little more than a year ago, my snowflakery was highlighted in Art Forum magazine, the biggest, best and most well-known international art magazine in the world.

Holy moly!

As a result of that Pinch-Me-Or-Is-It-A-Dream rise to snowflakedom, I was invited to be a featured artist in a New York art gallery this summer.

Squeeeeeeeee!

My work has been exhibited before, so I know the game well. Things may not go the way you hope or think. Schedules change. Minds change. Trends change. I've learned from experience not to get my hopes too high and to make contingency plans just in case.

I asked if the gallery wanted to showcase just crocheted snowflakes, or if multi-media was expected/desired. Never got an answer back on that, and that's okay because I knew I had enough time to prepare many different kinds of projects, and if the show didn't come to fruition, I'd have a healthy supply of snowflake items to last me throughout the year and possibly into gift-giving next Christmas. Nothing wrong with that.

One of my ideas was an appliqué snowflake quilt, inspired by a very popular greeting card I designed several years ago.

Snowbike

I knew I would need a LOT of snowflakes. I could see them in my head, and all of them were white. For seven months, I made white snowflakes. I rarely took color breaks. I made white snowflakes until they literally were falling off my bedroom dresser and computer desk. I went through five big balls of white crochet thread. I made so many white snowflakes, I didn't ever want to see another white snowflake as long as I live.

Until it began snowing (again) in December. I finished a couple of very pretty white snowflakes, and I really wanted to go cross-country skiing, so I got excited about white snowflakes all over again.

Crested Butte

From the beginning, my plan was to incorporate a whole cloth quilt top, which I intended to dye by hand, either with natural dye (pre-reduced indigo) or commercial dye. I had a blue gradient in my head, and nothing else would do.

I waited too long on the fabric, though. It was too cold to do an outdoor dye pot when I was ready to begin the appliqué work. If the New York exhibit did happen, I'd probably have to be completely done with the quilt by February. Even if you've been asked to be a featured artist, you still have to go through the jury process.

If the show didn't happen, I could still enter the quilt in the Denver National Quilt Festival. Nothing wrong with that!

So I began an intensive search for ready-to-quilt gradient blue fabric. Initially, I thought McKenna Ryan's Natural Instincts in the Ice colorway would be just perfect. The Lizard, however, thought the strong contrasts might detract from the snowflake design in my head. So at the end of December, I bought two yards of Hoffman Fabrics' Radiant Gradient Ombre Shimmer in Marine Blue. Apparently the last two yards available on the planet!!! I was a bit disappointed the Shimmer didn't shimmer, but it's still a nice fabric, and it looks like winter to me.

I took a picture of my bike, then converted the photo into line art and had Fed Ex print a plain architect blueprint-size copy. I waited for a bright, sunny day to tape the "pattern" and the fabric to one of the large windows at work so I could trace the outline for snowflake appliqué placement.

Big Windows

Sunshine wasn't plentiful the first week or so of January, though. I ended up finishing the chalky deed on an overcast day. The quilt fabric fell from the window about 11 times before I finally finished tracing. Several co-workers helped me reposition the fabric several times until we gave up altogether, and two tall guys held it in place for me until I finished. Thanks, guys!!!

While tracing with a white embroidery pencil on the dark areas and a regular pencil on the light areas because the blue embroidery pencil did not show on the blue fabric, I mistakenly thought we'd rehung the fabric wrong side toward us. After nearly finishing the outline, I thought the outline was on the backside of the fabric. I didn't want to make those guys stand and hold that fabric while I traced the bike all over again. So I just kept going, thinking, oh, well, using the inside of the fabric for the quilt top was unique and different. But deep down inside, I was crushed!

When I finally finished and we gently lowered the fabric to a table, I realized I had done the outline on the right side! I didn't have to be different and unique!!! Yippee!!!

I couldn't believe how many cycling fans I work with! Everyone who saw what I was doing and who helped hold the fabric at one time or another couldn't wait to see the finished product! I could only hope the finished quilt would be as popular at the Denver Merchant Mart at the end of April and beginning of May if this masterpiece successfully gets juried into the 2015 Denver National Quilt Festival!

too flakey

After tracing came the time-consuming process of positioning and appliquéing 110 snowflakes onto the quilt. I pinned the quilt top to our bedroom wall and used quilt basting spray to attach the snowflakes. Every night while I slept, an unforecasted indoor blizzard would occur. Some of the snowflakes would fall off every night. I was constantly reapplying.

One good thing that came of the lack of stick is I didn't realize until I started placing the snowflakes on the quilt that some of my 230 total white snowflakes since June were in a different colorway. They stood out badly. The unexpected blizzards allowed me to weed out the slightly vanilla flakes.

hardscrabble
Hardscrabble Snowflake Variations

Also, one of the snowflakes that fell got ugly on the carpet; I may not have noticed this particular flyaway right away. By the time I found it and the empty spot on the quilt where a flake should be, we had thrown our hats in this year's Ride the Rockies lottery. Hardscrabble Pass, which I missed due to forest fire smoke in 2013, is featured on this year's route. I'd designed a snowflake back then and named it after the pass I didn't get to do, and that snowflake had not made it into the quilt. I replaced the dirty, smudgy snowflake with Hardscrabble. My husband, who did get to climb that pass, told me Hardscrabble is HARD. So I'm thrilled to have the snowflake featured in my quilt! The quilt just wouldn't be as symbolic if that particular snowflake wasn't included! Because, well... WE GOT DRAWN! I'm going to try to climb HARD Hardscrabble this year!!!

Hardscrabble

My greeting card has a red snowflake for the tail light, and I had planned to add one to this quilt, but when I held the oblong sparkly red snowflake in position below the bike seat on the quilt, The Lizard quickly shook his head.

"It doesn't need that," he said. "It's fine without it."

Less is more. I heeded his expert opinion.

no go

The appliqué portion of the quilt top took three nights and was tedious. I had decided during the construction of my niece's snowdyed baby quilt to appliqué the snowflakes BEFORE sandwiching the quilt layers for this quilt to prevent unwanted gathers on the underside. This meant the appliqué stage would be doubled, but I assumed the duplicate effort would be worth it in the end if I had no rip outs due to catching fabric in the quilting on the underneath side. I still stick to my guns on this opinion, but the appliqué for this project definitely was tedious times two. !!!

After the first round of appliqué, I hand-basted the layers (the top, batting and the bottom a gradient navy blue batik, positioned opposite of the front) the old-fashioned way on the quilt frame my dear husband crafted for me back when I was struggling with hand-basting "Lizard Leftovers." Hand-basting took two nights.

baste away

I quilted the bike spokes with metallic thread in one night. I was so shocked the metallic thread never broke! I had planned to quilt free-hand free-motion snowflakes in the negative areas of the quilt, but after one unsuccessful attempt, I pitched that idea right out the window. The metallic thread broke and broke and broke. Aaaargh! I changed to white thread and never looked back.

Actual motif quilting became a traumatic battle of procrastination because my first couple of snowflake motifs came out so awful, in my opinion. I ripped the first one out nine times (plus the metallic attempt, which equals ten), then finally decided it's okay for the motifs to have a hand-drawn (ugh) appearance. So some of my motifs look as though they were drawn by a child. One of my co-workers was quick to point out how attractive some wrapping papers are when they incorporate designs that appear to be done by children. So I pressed on.

child's play

Then came the second round of machine snowflake appliqué. Because I was ready to bind the quilt and be done with it, this step seemed to take forever, but in reality, took just over two weeks. With lots of re-dos.

The binding, from my blue snowflake fabric collection, was done the old fashioned way, by hand, with no regrets because I knew I could pull off perfect mitered corners by hand. I have no such confidence when binding by machine. Murphy's Law got me again, though. One of my "perfect mitered corners" ripped while I was stitching it. I patched it as best I could with matching blue thread, knowing full well the Denver National Quilt Festival judges were going to have a heyday with my quilt. Provided they get to see it...

On the Friday night I thought I would be able to finish the quilt once and for all, I did something to my shoulder while holding the quilt up for The Lizard to see. I had to take ibuprofen and go directly to bed, do not pass go, do not collect $200. This really wreaked havoc with the Denver National Quilt Festival Deadline, just two days away.

Fortunately, my shoulder was fine the next morning, and I finished. I finished!!!!! Yippee!!!!!

This entire quilt seems like such a bear because although the quilt stage only took three months, I've been working toward this final product since last June. It feels as though it took forever!

Snowbike

Because I had penciled the bicycle outline in the lighter areas, the quilt needed to be washed. By this time, I knew there was a possibility the quilt might not make it past the jury process, so the washing machine didn't seem as big a risk.

I assumed the metallic thread would be ruined, the crocheted snowflakes would all curl up beyond recognition, and the batting would shrink more or less than the fabric, so the whole quilt would be shriveled. I was so glad to be done with it, I didn't care. I gently tossed the quilt into the washing machine, most gentle cycle, cold water, and took off with The Lizard for my biggest bicycle ride since the Tour de Lavender last August. 56 miles later, I gently pulled the quilt from the washing machine and inspected it.

oops

Amazingly, the metallic thread held its ground! The snowflakes all looked fine! Shrinkage was totally manageable!

But the dark navy blue batik on the back of the quilt bled through my needle holes in the light blue area on the quilt top.

YIKES!

I posted my dilemma to the quilting group on Ravelry. Should I take a toothbrush to the stains with a mild soap or detergent? Or should I toss the whole thing back in the washer and try again, hoping for the best? Or should I just toss the mess in the dryer, set the stains and allow the stains live a long and prosperous life because they provide more definition than the white thread on light blue did?

The wonderful, helpful souls on Ravelry suggested I wash again with color catchers. One told me bleeding typically is caused by allowing the fabric to sit in the washer after the cycle is complete. Um, guilty as charged. Our 56-mile ride probably lasted at least 4.5 hours longer than the wash cycle. I had to look up color catchers because I honestly had never heard of them.

In my research, I discovered homemade color catchers may be made from any white fabric mordanted with soda ash. Voila! I have plenty of that!!!

I tossed three slices of my Snowdyed baby quilt leftovers in the washer with the Snowbike quilt and promptly pulled them from the washer as soon as the cycle was finished.

I had less than 12 hours before the Denver National Quilt Festival cut-off. The stains were gone!!! The metallic thread was still metallic thread and still properly positioned! Some of the snowflakes had curled up, some badly, and the shrinkage between snowflakes was pretty hideous.

stay metallic

wheel on

I decided right then and there not to enter it. I can already hear what the judges would have said, and I don't need to hear what I know I need to improve next time.

I should have prewashed the quilt top after appliquéing the snowflakes and before assembling the layers. I probably shouldn't have used a pencil. And I need a ton more free-motion quilting practice before I attempt a project of this magnitude for competition. Or exhibit. Thank heavens that art show never materialized!!!

Believe it or not, I'm not devastated. I'm disappointed because I put so many months into this. But the pressure is gone. The pressure to be perfect is gone. The stopwatch is no longer running. The shame of my first free-handed free-motion snowflake motifs is mine alone, well, besides what I publish here. And... best of all, I don't have to put a sleeve on the back!!!

I love this quilt anyway. I'm not sure yet where it will hang, but I'm thinking it's perfect for the basement, where my husband works on our bikes. While brightening up the unfinished concrete, it could keep all our retired bikes company!

basement bike shop

bike rack

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Crazy Mom Quilts.

30 March 2015

Snowflake Monday

Booted

Today's snowflake name may sound like I am having computer problems again. Not this time, thankfully!

Instead, I was composing an email to a very dear friend, and the annoying ad on the right side of the screen kept stealing my attention. Finally I decided to pay a couple of seconds' worth of intellectual absorbency, and I noticed the snowflakes surrounding the women's boots being advertised. Who cares about the boots?!? I want to make the snowflake! (But with six sides, not eight.)

Re-Booted

The snowflakes were very tiny in the ad, so I had to sketch one out so I could remember it, next time hook in hand. It's not all that dramatic a snowflake, but it is unique, compared to other snowflakes I've designed so far, plus, it has a flower in the center, and Friday was the first day of SPRING!!! So Booted gets a blog post of its own.

I tested this pattern with my hollyhock-dyed thread from last summer. The hollyhock thread always wants to change color when I stiffen it unless I add vinegar to the stiffener. I wanted to see what the final color would be if I let it change, and, well...

What a change!

Hibiscus Booted Snowflake

I think I like the vinegar version better!!!

I also pinned the hibiscus version differently, and I like that better, too. But it's good to have one snowflake representative of the original inspiration.

Booted Snowflakes

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!

PS: Today's Snowflake Monday is my 1,600th post!!!

Booted Snowflake

Finished Size: 5 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 8 crochet hook, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line

Booted Snowflake Instructions

Make magic ring.

Round 1: 12 sc in ring; sl st in starting sc. Pull magic circle tight, but leave opening big enough to allow stitches inside it to lay flat.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 2: 1 sc in same sc, 1 sc in next sc, * ch 18, 1 sc in each of next 2 sc; repeat from * around 4 times; ch 8, yo 7 times, yo and draw up loop through starting sc, [yo and draw through 2 loops on hook] 8 times (mega tr made), to form 6th ch 18 sp of Round.

Round 3: Ch 2 (counts as 1 dc), 1 dc over post of mega tr directly below, 1 sc in same sp, * ch 5, 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook (picot made), ch 3, 1 sc in next ch 18 sp, 2 dc in same sp, ch 8, 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each of next 2 ch, yo and draw up loop through each of next 2 ch, yo and draw through all 3 loops on hook (sc dec made) (branch made), ch 6, 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each of next 4 ch (branch made), ch 5, 1 sc in 2nd ch from hook and in each of next 2 ch, 2 sc in next ch (sc inc made) (branch made), yo and draw up loop through 5th sc of previous branch, yo and draw up loop through sc dec of previous branch, yo and draw through all 3 loops on hook (tri-branch made), 1 sc in each of next 2 ch, 2 dc in same ch 18 sp, 1 sc in same sp; repeat from * around 5 times, omitting last 2 dc and last sc of final repeat; sl st in 2nd ch of starting ch 2; bind off. Weave in ends.

NOTE: For the hollyhock version of this snowflake, I worked a sl st picot on the tip of every branch instead of sc.

Finish: Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch the snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

The snowflake-covered rock I made using this pattern looks as good on the backside as on the front, in my opinion, so I have to show it off!

Booted Snowflake Rock

Booted Snowflake Rock Bottom

Booted Snowflake Rock Bottom

Booted Snowflake Rock

27 March 2015

Friday Funny

The friend who sent this to me explained videos like this one happen in Kansas because it's so boring there. (I've only driven through Kansas twice and never really explored.) What a hoot!!!

26 March 2015

Missed Again

A milestone approaches!

As I was logging off Blogger the other day, I noticed a pretty cool number. I thought I could stay on just a few minutes longer and catch the sevens as they rolled.

I refreshed and did a screenshot. It was darn close!

Almost there!

So I refreshed again without making an image of the previous screenshot. We're talking seconds. As long as it takes to hit the refresh button.

Oh, man!!!

DANG! I can't believe I missed it!

I logged off, and up popped my blog again, and I got lucky in a different way. Three pairs!

three pairs


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