"Balanced negative space was achieved"

First irritation about that statement- passive voice. Second irritation- who makes a statement like that about a modern quilt?!

Let me back up. The Iowa State Fair had a modern division for the first time. I decided to enter because I figured if there were many entrants then they would keep the division. I had no delusions of winning. I knew that several of the ladies from the Des Moines Modern Quilt Guild were entering so there would be some really nice quilts. Well, the division didn't turn out exactly how I expected. There were a couple quilts that I thought were robbed of ribbons, but that's ok; judges' prerogative. What I am irritated about is that they didn't seem to understand the category and went through a checklist of what they thought the category was. Hence the comment, "Balanced negative space achieved".

Anyway, I LOVE this quilt. The pattern is from Modern Quilt Relish and the fabric is Dear Stella. I love the pattern. I love the fabric. I love the colours. Jenny did a fantastic job quilting it and again was able to interpret my chicken scratch on a piece of paper.

Using my time wisely

I work crazy hours during the summer so to keep my sanity I try to keep up with hobbies. I don't really like quilting during the summer because it takes large chunks of time rather than being able to leverage 20-30 minutes here and there. I've been doing cross stitch this summer and pretty much kept up with the Woodland Sampler. My plan is to cut them apart and turn them into garland or Christmas ornaments. Any suggestions on how to do that? Stuff them? Use interfacing and fray the edges, but not have a back?

I've signed up for their Halloween Sampler. It looks cute in the preview. They suggested (and I followed) using Weeks Dye Works floss. I had never heard of it before, but supposedly it is hand dyed floss which gives a variegated effect of sorts. I ordered the floss and was looking forward to using it, but after reading the instructions for the pattern it said I should make each 'x' individually to get the gradation effect. That I am not looking forward to. I like to count once and be done. It is also a waste of floss in my opinion. Need to figure out a way to work around that suggestion. I made my own sparkle aida for the sampler! The picture doesn't really show anything, but in person it looks pretty good. My fabric is gray and I used diamond sparkles. I don't know how much it is going to stay on. I was a little heavy handled with the paint so even if the majority falls off there will still be plenty of sparkle.

Still crafting

I have been busy with work, but still been working on projects. I've been doing a lot of cross stitch because I find that the most relaxing. I finished up the June Woodland Sampler and just started on the July. I am really surprised by how much I am enjoying it.

I also finished up my scarf. It is too hot to take a picture modeling it. I haven't decided if I want to stitch the ends together or use buttons. The colours lend to large wood buttons. I am leaning towards buttons. One of my local yarn stores is hosting a crochet along. A sampler afghan of different stitches. I am going to sign up. This year I have been branching out into different areas and I am enjoying the variety.

For the Toes in the Sand BOM, I've only done one of the two blocks. This month was a Y seam of sorts. It turned out well and I just need to find the time to finish out the next one.

Baa Ram Ewe

I'm in the middle of several small projects. I finished up my two June blocks for the Toes in the Sand BOM. I am really enjoying that. Fabric choice makes such a difference and i feel I am getting my money's worth from both the ruler and the pattern.

I'm in the middle of my June Woodland Sampler cross stitch. I need to take a picture when I get done. It is a firefly this month. It is cute. I have to use the metallic floss again. I'm not looking forward to that; it was a nightmare in the February block.

Saturday I went to the Iowa Sheep and Wool Festival. I had so much fun. There were a ton of vendors for yarn, roving, spinning wheels and all sorts of good stuff. There were sheep to look at and pet. They did a great job with signage of the different varieties of sheep. I picked up yarn from Esther Purl again and already crocheted up half of it into a scarf. I didn't get the hank wound into a ball again, but this time I was wiser and watched a youtube video. Supposedly you undo the hank and if you position it over your knees you can unwrap it nicely. It worked pretty slick. The scarf is just treble crochets.I wanted something airy for the fall.

The festival had sheep dog trials which I found very entertaining to watch. I sat through several of them. Some of the dogs were in training so they would get distracted easily, but you could see the ones who had done it a while and knew what they were doing. So on that note, here is a clip from Babe.

Productive weekend

Does anybody else notice that they are now pronouncing the word 'weekend' like Dame Maggie Smith? "What is a weekend?"

I had a very productive Memorial Day weekend. I finished off the two May blocks for Toes in the Sand and 99% of a quilt top. I only have pictures for the BOM blocks. The recommendation is pressing seams open. It is EXHAUSTING and more than once my fingers got a little singed. I am not a fan. The blocks turned out well. I again swapped colours out. There are a lot meeting seams and some of the triangle points are a good bit shy of 1/4". I've thought about ironing on interfacing as a bit of stability and then sewing the blocks with the background. Has anybody done that before? Recommendations?

Ugh!

Another friend of mine found out she has cancer. Two friends in less than a year. Healthy, going about their daily lives, young women. This time I made a pillow instead of a quilt. It is summer and she has to go in for both chemo and radiation. I thought something serviceable would be good.

I like the way it turned out. I used heavy duty top stitching thread to stitch in the ditch. It turned out ok, but it wasn't what I had expected. I lengthened my stitch length, but the effect wasn't what I imagined. I think I was hoping for more a shashiko effect. I want one of those so badly. I wish one of my LQS would rent that out as well like a long arm. The pillow needs to be sat on so it fills out the corners and the back doesn't bulge. I hope with use it all falls into place.

May gnome

I got nothing to say.