Marsbarn Designs...

A fortnight of many things

I was going to say it's been a busy week, but in truth,
it's been a crazy-busy fortnight. 

There have been ginger molasses cookies (both soft
and crispy, because I forgot one tray in the oven) and
banana bread that's been and gone. I picked strawberries
and made my first batch of jam for the year.  

G wore a Wash inspired Cosplay outfit to school for 
character day.  "This land.. we shall call it ... This Land"

We celebrated Auntie O's birthday with homemade
pizza (white sauce, dates, walnuts, prosciutto, YUM!),
listened to a mandolin and guitar concert organized by
Auntie O, and listened to a local author, Brian Doyle,
whose book (Mink River) G and I devoured last summer.

Sweet G, Little e and I participated in a Taekwon Do
demonstration, after which G and I sprinted to the 
studio so we could test for our next belt level.  We're
now Brown Stripes (which makes Big E giggle like a
boy when he hears it.) 

And in the midst of all these things, and so many more,
(Such a BUSY pair of weeks) alchemist has finished
her yearly bloom, but Little Lucy (our aggressive 
wee pink rose) is getting ready for her turn to display.
The small, hot, dry bed on the west side of our house 
has been weeded, and new bearded irises have been
planted for next year.

And then there was the sewing. So much sewing. 40+ bags
were sewn for a shop update, plus a pile of special orders.
A good portion of those bags have been packaged and 
sent out to lovely customers.  

But, what stands out most brightly, in this period of 
intense activity as the school year winds down, was 
the quilt presentation.  Oh, the tangled webs one 
spins when organizing a year long, school wide secret.
I'm thrilled beyond words that it was successful, and
that I have been forgiven for all of my mistruths. No
one is holding a grudge for my misdirection, which I
must admit, became a small concern of mine toward
the end.  While indulging my inner 12 year old
improvisational "story" spinner has been fun, my adult
self is the tiniest bit squeamish about carrying so many
lies, white though they may be.  This must be another
sign of adulthood that no one warns you about.

This project really was a joy to pull together.  After most
big projects (although I've never had a project quite
this large), I have a temporary aversion to the project.
After auction quilt projects, I don't want to quilt again
for at least a half year.  After the book making
projects, I don't want to be in the classroom for a while.
But, with this project, I'm not feeling that same need
for distance.  I'm tired.  Yes, I am tired. But, I am 
really looking forward to making another quilt, or
perhaps even (hold your breath here) finishing  a 
WIP (work in progress) quilt that's been sitting on the
shelf for years now.  What a lovely way to end the
school year.  Now, to survive the last five days of 
early mornings.

Secret Retirement quilts, fin.

(As always, click on the photo to enlarge it!)

The quilts are done, done, done, done, and gone 
to their rightful homes.   

This is the front of our Principal's retirement quilt.

And this is the back.  Each of those islands is one
classroom of children.  4 kindergartens, 4 first grades,
4 second grades, 4 third grades, 3 fourth grades, 3
fifth grades, and a special needs classroom.  I made a
map for the quilt that identifies which block is which
classroom. With the teacher-made squares, there were
625 blocks in total. 

This quilt, which one of the 4th grade boys in the school
said was "the biggest blanket in the WORLD!" is our
school secretary's.   She also received a map identifying
which column is which classroom.  

And this lovely quilt (which was assembled by another
mom, who did a fantastic job!) is for a kindergarten
teacher who has taught at our school for 29 years,  
although only 26 of those years were spent in
kindergarten. She and our school secretary came to our
school at the same time, so it is fitting that they are
leaving together as well.  This quilt contains blocks  
made by each child in the school who was taught by
this teacher, as well as all the teachers at the school.
There were 145 blocks in total. 

We also made little booklets of "Signature Cards"
which were made up of 3x5" index cards signed
by each participant. They were bound together
by classroom. Some contain messages, some art,
and some just the artist's name. 

The presentation went very well. The students kept 
their secrets, and all of the recipients were surprised
by their gifts, even our school secretary.  Yay!

Mr Fuzzypants: How I assemble a quilt

Hello. I, Mr Fuzzypants, will explain to you how I 
assemble a quilt.

First, you spread out your batting.  Have your human
iron it first.  You can play under the ironing board and
try to catch their toes through the curtain of batting.
It's good fun, and it's best to get all the wrinkles out
before you begin.

Try to get everything as smooth as you can.  My batting
here is a quite a bit larger than my quilt, which is fine.

Lay your quilt top on top on your batting.  You want to
smooth it so there are no wrinkles or lumps of batting.

This step can take some time, and having a second set
of paws hands can be quite helpful.

Once everything is as flat and smooth as you can get it,
have someone with thumbs place pins through out
to hold the layers together.  I use straight pins here,
because they aren't going to stay in for very long.

I like to have a show playing in the background while
the excess batting gets trimmed.  I'm watching Star 
Trek here.  I dig the young Spock.  He has great ears.

With the layers firmly pinned, carefully fold and pick up 
the quilt top and batting as one. 

Now, spread the backing out.  The human pieced the
back as well, but there's no need.. you know. You'll 
notice it's wrong side up.  This is a good thing, the
human tells me. 

Now, the human has gone and taped the back to the
floor with low tack painter's tape.  She thinks this makes
is easier to lay the top on, because the back won't slide.
BUT, I think is a waste.  With the back taped to the floor,
I can no longer race across the room and slide.  Stupid
human.

Now, lay the top and backing piece on top.  Shifting it
carefully  until it is properly arranged.  The human
always makes the back larger than it needs to be, so
she can cheat and trim off the excess.  Cheater,
cheater.  There's a lot of smoothing and grumbling
at this point, so I took a nap.  

Now you get out your safety pins, which are totally evil,
you know.  Ever tried opening and closing a safety pin
without thumbs?  Discrimation!  Pin, pin, pin. Pah!

Now, take a little spit bath while your human crawls
around on hands and knees while she turns and pins the
edge of the quilt, removing the tape as she goes.  

Then she flips the quilt over to double check the back
is smooth and without wrinkles or folds.  At this
point she removes the straight pins from the back. 

My human is LAZY!  Instead of cutting a separate
piece of fabric for the edging, she just folds the back
around to the front, tucking it  under itself, pins it in
place, and then she zips around the outside with the
sewing machine (which I am no longer allowed
to sleep on while she sews.  More descrimination!).
There the edge is finished, and now I can sleep on it
while she gets ready to tie the layers.

 

On finishing a project, being kind to yourself, and letting go. (Or, sometimes what you do is enough.)

So, the Secret Quilt Project is finished.
Well it's finished to the point that the sewing on both
quilt has been completed, both have been tied, and one
has been washed.

And this is where I'm pausing for the moment to breathe.
You see, despite the copious heat setting and prewashing
of the squares, the quilt top ran. Even though the
sample I made was perfectly colorfast, the child-made
item took on a life of its own.  The solid backing has 
a few blotches, the grey sashing has color on it, and a
few squares bled into their neighbors.

And you know what?  It's going to be okay.  It really is.
It doesn't need to be perfect.  When I spent my time in
the school, having the children create the squares, I told
them that there was a surprise factor in this project.
I said, "This is not going to turn out the way you envision
it, and that is okay.  This is the nature of art."  

I think there is a trend with women, especially with
quilters, to be hyper critical with their work.  So much
gets reduced to minutiae. Is this corner lined up with that?
Is my quarter inch seam 1/16th off?  Oh, the horror. (Not.)
Let. It. Go.  Honestly, this is a labor of love, or at least
it should be.  Sloppy and careless is one thing, but anything
created with passion and love, whether it be paint, or
sculpture, clay, or fabric, should be appreciated with its
flaws intact.  Perfection is for machines and things without
love.  Ask yourself, would you rather have a gift made with
love and off square,  or something made by rote in a factory?
The imperfections are what create beauty.  It's the crack
in the ceiling's plaster that makes the bedtime story,
not the smooth blankness of a ceiling tile.

Am I thrilled that the colors ran?  No.  It hurts.
But, this is not a tragedy.  This is not a tornado in
Oklahoma, a factory collapse in Bangladesh, or a gifted
teenager dead long before his time.  This quilt is a gift
made by the hands of 625 students and teachers that will
be loved and appreciated despite, or perhaps because, of
it's handmade nature.  

Why such a long blog post about a quilt who morphed in 
the wash?  Because that moment when my chest ceased
as I drew it out of the dryer was followed by a shrug and a
smile.  I have loved working on this project.  Loved every
portion of its creation.  And my refrain through out has 
been "Do your best, and let it go."  I've said it to children
and teachers unhappy with their ink drawings, to adults
unhappy with their seams, to friends worrying about the
straightness of their rows of knots, and to myself when
need be.   There is just no need for stress in this project.
No need for angst or worry.  This is a project of thanks,
appreciation and love.  The people who are going to get
these quilts have already said they do not want parties
or gifts to mark their retirements.  They did not do their
jobs for recognition or for praise or thanks.  They did
their work because it needed doing.

They aren't going to turn their noses up at unevenness or
an ill drawn circle.  They are going to see the perfectness
of the whole. They will see hundreds of hands at work.
They will know the love and appreciation that powered
those  hands.  And to be totally honest,  a bit of stray color
fits this project.  In their careers, everyday wasn't perfect.
There are things that they would do over. It's the whole
that matters. The flaws are what make this project art and
significant. 

So, be kind to yourself.  Yes, you.  Be kind.  You do your
best, and you let. it. go. 

 

 

Mr Fuzzypants: nothing gets done without my help.

I. am. spent.

The work is never done.  

The human-who-feeds-us has been working on this thing.
Obviously the need for my help is great.  Look at this!
The fool woman had it spread  out on the floor. 
So boring.

Of course, there is no appreciation for my work.  

It's so demoralizing.  I give so much.  I think I may need
a mental health break.  You'll have to carry on without me.

 

Secret Retirement quilts, continuing to come together

The Secret Quilt Project continues.

This is such a fun project to watch come together.
All those squares, made by all of the those hands.

One of the quilt tops is complete, as is its back, and later
this week, I'll be putting the components together.  

The second quilt has been pieced into large rectangles.
Each rectangle represents a classroom in the school,
so they range in size from 20 squares to 36 squares.  
When I clear the livingroom floor to assemble the first quilt,
I'll figure out the placement of the rectangles for the 
second.   It's been wonderful to have so much help in 
this project.  Every step of the way, I've had people helping.
I think I'll be spoiled when I go back to doing my projects
on my own. 

Confessions of the day

Today, I finished one of the quilt tops we're
making as a school wide project.  624 squares.
The top measures 99", and the bottom is 100".
I'm letting that 1" go.  It's a 1% variance.
Really. I'm.  Not. Going. To. Obsess. 

Today, Through the chorus of 
"Mom, mom, mom, MOM, mom, Mom"
by my younger girl I poured a can of chicken
and wild rice soup into a teapot.  

Today, I realized at 3:35 pm that I hadn't washed
our Taekwon Do uniforms, which is why at 5:20 pm
we headed out the door in both hot AND damp
uniforms.  Mmmm, muggy uniforms on an 85 degree day. 

I would also like to confess to a feat of daring do,
concerning a surprise presentation, but I'm in a mild
state of shock that with all of the things I didn't manage
to get quite right, this *one* thing appeared to have gone
really well. 

It has, in short, been a day. I think I might have 
a bite of chocolate now.   

Super Secret Retirement School quilt project, progress made

The super secret retirement quilt project continues to
move right along.   

I've visited all of the classrooms, and am now starting
the process of trying to catch all of the students who
were absent when I was in their room.  It's a combination
of herding cats and trying to catch wil-o-the-whisps. 

I've had a series of little quilting bee sessions where 
volunteers come over to heat set, hand wash, and
press the finished squares.  They are fun, chatty times
with a munchie, and oh-so helpful!  Yay for voluteers!

I have even begun the preliminary sewing together of
blocks.  Each of the two quilts is being assembled into
a different pattern.  One will have long strips of blocks,
grouped by classroom, and bordered with a neutral
medium grey.  I have about half of the classrooms chained
into strips for this quilt.  The other quilt will have the
blocks grouped into rectangular blocks, again by classroom.
I want to have more complete classroom sets before
I start laying out that one.  

I'm really pleased with the progress being made, and
I'm looking forward to getting some solid sewing time
in during spring break. 

School wide quilt making project, part one

A new year, a new project.

In June, both our school secretary and our principal are retiring.

So, I am organizing a school wide project to 
make a quilt for each of them.  Each child in
the school will create a quilt square for the
quilts, which will mean approximately 600
squares per quilt.

We're starting with white squares and mark-it markers.

Each student will draw a concentric shape in 3-4 colors.

Add a little rubbing alcohol to make the colors blend,

we have colorful, abstract blocks. Rinse and press...

we have a prototype.  Phew.  Now, to bring the process
into the school and see what magic the kids work!