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july 6, 2009
the good, the big, and the ugly Fourth of July weekend is always special for me since it's my birthday. And this weekend it was even more special because it was a BIG birthday. We celebrated my 40th by going to a little carnival, where I squeezed my 40 year-old body into this kiddie carousel bus for a ride with wee one.
Good times. (Although I was scared for a minute there that I'd never be able to get out!) Other big birthday events include a fun dinner out with the knitsmiths last night, a Red Sox game this week and a weekend trip to NYC! This turning 40 thing definitely has its advantages. And now for the ugly. I'd planned for my 40 fat quarter quilt to be a present for myself for my 40th, but before I can finish it, I've got to improve my quilting skills. So this week I've been working on the ugly picnic blanket. Anyone remember that one?! As a warm up to quilting the kids' quilts and, eventually, my big birthday 40 fat quarter quilt, I'm doing my first time ever free motion quilting on the ugly picnic blanket.
It looks alright from a distance, but up close, it's pretty ugly! The meandering stipple pattern rocks (yes, I'm using a template!) but my stitch length is anything but uniform. Luckily, the quilt was meant to look ugly (so I won't feel bad dragging it to the playground and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on it and letting the kids sit on it with sandbox feet) so no amount of gorgeous quilting was ever going to save it.
Still, even with all that ugly fabric and all that ugly quilting, I'm growing very fond of it. Like turning 40, it's big, it's kinda ugly, but it's goooood. posted by alison at 10:02 am | in
just blogging 2009
,
resume quilting
Comments
Happy birthday! I turned 40 last July and, I must say, I am still adjusting even though my 41st birthday is in less than 10 days! :) Posted by: Leslie at July 6, 2009 10:44 AMHappy Birthday. I like to take the "naive", natural, or free-form approach to any new skill. Posted by: Angie at July 6, 2009 11:08 AMHappy Birthday! My former MiL's BD was July 3 & she said tht, when she was little, she always thought the fireworks were for her BD. Looks like a fun outing. We are in Ca visiting DD's family. All of us (me, SO, DD, DSiL, & 3 grands) went to Gilroy Gardens for the day yesterday. It is such a lovely fun place. It is an amusement park for little kids (up to about 10) set in lovely gardens. We had a great time. As we were leaving & discussing what to do today (our last full day), Baby M looked up at me with sad eyes & said, "But I don't want you to go!" Wish I could bring them all home with me. I love your ugly quilt & bet in another 20-30 years it will be one of your most treasured belongings - it'll have so many memories attached to it. Posted by: Donna at July 6, 2009 11:21 AMHappy Birthday! I like the ugly picnic blanket. It looks like (except for the freehand quilting) a good project for a beginner and a great way to use those weird and interesting fabrics that just are too out there for anything else! Posted by: Seanna Lea at July 6, 2009 11:45 AMHappy Birthday! Posted by: Michelle at July 6, 2009 11:47 AMHappy Birthday! The ugly picnic quilt is really nice! Thanks for the pics of free motion quilting. I have an attachment for my machine, but I had no idea what to do with it! I may give it a try on my next baby quilt. :-) Posted by: Brandi at July 6, 2009 11:54 AMHappy Birthday! Sorry to have missed the big dinner, but was in Maine for the holiday weekend - sounds like you had a blast - fair and NY! Thea Posted by: thea at July 6, 2009 12:55 PMHappy 40th from Canada! I too have a big birthday this month, but you'll need to add a decade to it. And because my son works and lives in NY, you can imagine where I'm spending my big day as well. Happy Birthday!!! I hope you had a great day. Posted by: LisaK at July 6, 2009 3:11 PMHappy Birthday to you!! My mom was a quilter. She made beautiful quilts for each of us. However, the one I remember the most was the "ugly", patched, picnic quilt, which was also our cellar quilt that was used when we had to run to the cellar ahead of the torndoes. That same quilt made a wonderful tent over the clothesline. The best thing about quilts are the memories. Posted by: Ruth Ann at July 6, 2009 3:27 PMGeez. Give yourself a break. Seriously. That quilt ain't ugly, it's a thing of beauty and like yourself, it's rich with life. Enjoy it and life as much as you can and be proud. Besides, if you had a stitch-perfect quilt would you let the kidlets roll about on it and create messy picnic/garden memories? Perhaps not. So ask them later on which quilt they valued most. I rest my case. PS: your sewing skills look pretty great to me! Posted by: Nic at July 6, 2009 3:47 PMHappy Birthday! I've been wondering about the picnic quilt. Especially since I've been toying with the idea of making a picnic quilt too. Make sure an post a photo of the whole thing finished. Inquiring minds want ideas to steal... ;-) Posted by: Teish at July 6, 2009 5:52 PMHappy birthday, Alison! Posted by: grumperina at July 6, 2009 6:55 PMFirst: Hi! I don't comment very often, although I'm a pretty faithful reader. Second, I too have an "ugly" quilt, which still lives in the back of my car even though the boys who ate peanut butter on it are grown and gone! Mine's "so ugly it's pretty," too! And third, not that you asked, can I recommend that you give free-motion, not-template-following machine quilting a try? Not having to think about where you're going is really my favorite part of the process, and in fact sitting here trying to imagine following a template I could almost feel my shoulders tensing up! :-) I decide free-motion stippling as being fun precisely because "the faster you go, and the less attention you pay, the better it looks!" I love free-motion quilting, and I suspect you're going to love it (once you get used to it), too! Thanks for the fun blog! Posted by: MaryB in Richmond at July 6, 2009 9:32 PMI'm a 4th of July baby, too? Isn't it the greatest birthday? An automatic party and nicely situated just six months apart from Christmas. Posted by: Mary K. in Rockport at July 6, 2009 10:44 PMHappy 40th! (I'll be 40 in September, so it's good to know you didn't immediately melt into some sort of unidentifiable puddle of hag-goo--like the wicked witch.) I'll bet the ugly picnic blanket ends up being the family favorite and passed down as an heirloom. Posted by: Suzanne (Yarnhog) at July 7, 2009 1:05 PMHi and Happy 40th! I think your quilting looks great! But if the uneven stitch length bothers you I might be able to help. I was doing some free motion quilting on a quilt this weekend and noticed the same thing. I figured out that it is the weight of the quilt that was making it feed through the machine slower and therefore getting smaller stitches. If I support the weight of the quilt, I get much more even stitch length. Hope this helps. Posted by: Chancy at July 7, 2009 3:43 PMGood for you! Happy Birthday Month! I loved turning 40! It's a fantastic decade! I love your ugly picnic quilt! What a great idea! You have all year to finish the fat quarter forty quilt! Sorry for all those exclamation marks. I know better but like to send the joy! Posted by: Pom Pom at July 7, 2009 8:36 PMHappy Birthday!! Posted by: Minneapolismama at July 8, 2009 12:50 AMHappy Birthday! Posted by: Jaime at July 8, 2009 3:09 AMHappy Birthday, Alison. I love that photo of you and wee one on the carousel. Posted by: Dawn in NL at July 8, 2009 3:46 AMHappy Birthday! Posted by: Ina at July 8, 2009 5:43 PMHappy belated birthday! I think the picnic blanket looks fun and happy, not ugly. But that's just my humble two cents. ^_^ Posted by: Brandi at July 9, 2009 12:22 PMHappy Happy Birthday (belatedly). I like the quilt! Posted by: karin maag-tanchak at July 10, 2009 6:25 PMHAPPY BIRTHDAY! |
