And Now for Something Completely Different

(Sorry, channeling a little Monty Python there.) (And showing my age! LOL)

I guess you can tell from my silliness that it's sunny outside. The forecast this week was for overcast and rain every day, but there's been sun every day too, which improves my mood 100%.

I have finished stitching the triangles! All that is left is the outlining with metallic, which hopefully won't take too long. After all this work I'm not even sure I like this temari... and my family couldn't say if they liked it yet or not either. I'm trying to withhold judgement until after it is finished.

At our guild meeting on Monday, Georgeann lead our workshop on Shadow Trapunto. The kit was lovely, and very complete, and doing the quilting was very relaxing. It also brought to mind the first time I did quilting.



When I was in college I asked my grandma to make me a quilt. I knew she had made quilts, because I have a vivid memory of the quilt I used to sleep under every time I got the roll-away bed in her basement. It was white and bright peach (such 50s colors!) with a scalloped edge. So I thought making a quilt would not be a big deal for her.

I had picked out a block pattern and fabrics, and when she agreed to do it, I sent them to her. That was the beginning of a wonderful experience. It didn't take her long to get the blocks done, and then she asked me about the size, and the setting (?) and then the quilting pattern (???) and then the backing (?) and then if I wanted to come and quilt it with her. All the questions were a learning experience in themselves.

I loved the invitation to come and quilt, so I arranged to spend my spring break in NW Iowa. It was just the two of us, and after the breakfast dishes were done in the morning we would spend the rest of the day around the quilting frame set up in the living room. I learned things about my grandma that I'm not even sure my dad knows, and I saw all her needlework treasures. We talked and talked, and got about half the blocks quilted in the week I was there.

She didn't ask what to use for batting. It has a flannel blanket (like they use in hospitals) inside. Come to think of it, she used to work in a hospital, so that's probably where it came from. It's plenty warm.

Here's a corner of the quilt. (very 70s colors!)



There are also brown leaves, and I see that the binding should be mended right at the bottom.

I'm going to have to find a way to get a picture of the whole quilt. Every time I look at this quilt, the memories keep me as warm as the quilt does. It also lead me to try quilting myself. I'll share next time.

Slow going

I still haven't finished my current temari. I'm working on triangle 13 of 20... at least there is progress. The reason it is taking so long is that every triangle is stitched in a different combination of colors. I pulled 30 colors to start with, that fit the color scheme, but when I'm choosing the colors, I have to pick one for the foreground and one for the background while still considering the neighboring triangles and their colors. I don't want to repeat colors too close to each other, and I want the colors to balance each other. If I have a triangle started (colors picked) I can stitch on it at any time, but if I have to pick new colors it takes longer; and it takes longer yet if I'm tired. So it is very slow going, but I am hoping to get it done by the end of the week.

Glenna shared her Amazing temari wreath. Isn't that cool! She's also the stitcher who created the temari globe, which you can see here. It really amazes me what beautiful things temari can do.

Weekend Temari

On Saturday I taught my first non-beginner class, and I think it was a great success. There were four students, and all four of them made great strides in completing a temari. We studied the Kiku design. I love to look at the colors everyone chooses, and I hope I get the chance to see the finished temari some day.



I hadn't planned on stitching, but fortunately, I had an extra mari and my baggie of orts along, and I came up with this:







I am so pleased by how it turned out! I see a whole bunch of threads that need to be adjusted, but I think the colors work really well.

When I opened my e-mail this morning, I saw that a new Thimble picture tutorial was posted this weekend. Every step is included for making a base. Now I just have to get to stitching.