A Few Scraps

Hey cupcake!

2012-05-09T12:58:00.000-07:00

Well. I have fallen off the face of the earth. How does one get back on? By telling a story?

My daughter's daycare asks the kids a question every day and records their answers for the parents. It's fun to get insight into their minds and helps us get to know her classmates. One day the question was "What was your favorite thing you did this weekend?" My daughter's answer was "Making cupcakes with Mama!" And the next day we found out about her gluten intolerance. Dangit.

I will start by saying that I know we are so lucky. It isn't diabetes, or cancer, or anything we can't fix. And it is a great chance to make healthy changes in the food we eat as a family. But I love being a mama who says "OK!" when my kid says "Let's make waffles!" or "Let's make cookies!" and I feel a little adrift, grasping at recipes online and boxed mixes where I used to feel so confident and capable. Having to decide whether I really want to use "potato starch" or "xanthan gum" in anything I cook.

I've gone from cooking 80% of our meals to cooking 95% of our meals. And I guess that 15% difference was the space that my blog lived in? Instead of writing posts during my online time, I've been looking up recipes or figuring out if I can grind my own brown rice flour in my blender. I recall a similar food-readiness obsession during my first pregnancy. That time it was freezer cooking. I was like a squirrel storing nuts for the winter. This time it's broader. Healthy homemade food that is quick and kid friendly and also gluten free. No biggie, right?

I want to feel capable of feeding the family when #2 arrives in two months and rocks our world all over again. So instead of sewing I've been in the kitchen. These days I simply can't rest until I've made the carrot muffins with almond flour, or tried homemade yogurt in the new slow cooker. Hearing my intense state of mind you probably won't be surprised to learn I had a few days of contractions a couple of weeks ago, just to keep everyone on their toes. Happily the little guy is still inside, right where we want him, head wayyyyy down and leading me to waddle a lot earlier than I'd prefer.

And that's that. Everyone is adapting. A week into the gluten free diet my daughter proclaimed "My tummy and my booty feel better!" Which made me cry. And we just celebrated my birthday with... cupcakes. Gluten free, hedgehog cupcakes, that my daughter and I made together.

Things are getting back to normal, (or, the new normal), and I expect to back in the swing of things here soon. The days grow warmer and we have rediscovered our backyard and our neighbors. And I've even spent a bit of time here and there in the sewing room. Is there any better therapy?

I'm not sure what these will become, but that's just the kind of project I'd like right now. Hope you are all doing well out there, blog-folk, thanks for all the support and encouragement and checking on us! I wish I was better at responding to emails and blog comments right now but life is just happening so fast.... Until next time!

Branching design variations

2012-04-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

Oh dear. It's a crazy week over here. Major deadline? Check. Discovering kid is gluten intolerant? Check. Bathroom remodel? Check. But look what I found in my drafts! A nearly finished post! Hoping to pay bills, check email and get back to reading/blogging soon....

My new favorite quilting pattern spawned some variations in my brain.

As a reminder, the original looked like this:

My research suggests you could use pointy leaves (I've stitched this and it looks great!)

Or graduated and stubby

Spirals

Or add flowers on some/all of the stems (I tried this with bigger flowers and leaves and it worked well too)

You get the idea: stitch a stem, put stuff on it, impress yourself! It's just so versatile. Step by step instructions on how to stitch the basic branching pattern (still my favorite) are here.

Constructing a Sprocket

2012-03-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

When you have six paddles, you can join them to a hexagon for one whole Sprocket. It's really exciting to have a Sprocket come together in your hands!

One by one, I sew a paddle to each hexagon side. I use the same ladder stitching described in the last post, but whipstitching will work just as well if that is your preference. Occasionally a paddle is just a bit longer than the hexagon side. I just center it and sew it on, it always seems to work out fine for me.

I leave the edges between the paddles free until I've sewn a paddle to each side of the hexagon.

Once all six paddles are attached, I remove the paper hexagon template. Then I am free to fold the Sprocket in half, which makes it possible to join paddles together. Where many points come together I will often take an extra stitch or two into neighboring diamonds, just to make sure there is no gaping at the intersections. Let your instinct guide you on this.

The fuzzy picture above is supposed to show just now nicely those seam allowance "flags" on the diamonds nestle together and just fan around at the back. Nice and flat, nothing to worry about.

And there you have it! A real live Sprocket. Now I'm just gonna do this, oh, 22 more times or so and I'll have enough for a quilt! I'll pop in every now and then to share my progress, and once I get to the point of dealing with the sides I'll show you how I do it. But for now, it's time to piece at our own pace....

For my friends embarking on Sprockets with me, I hope you enjoy the journey! The full list of posts for the quilt along is here.

Piecing together paddles

2012-03-25T17:36:00.000-07:00

So, continuing on the EPP adventure, this is the next step after you've basted some paper pieces. Each Sprocket:

is made from six paddles:

The paddle structure came from watching Jessica's EPP video in which she uses a similar structure to start her star units. A paddle has three background and three colored diamonds.

I start by laying out my pieces. I use a single piece of thread to work around the diamond and close up one side. Then a second piece of thread closes up the second side and attaches that extra diamond hanging off the right.

I join my pieces with a ladder stitch. I think it's fast, I like that the thread isn't visible, and it's just what I'm good at. If you'd rather whipstitch pieces together, (and I think most English paper piecers do it that way) no problem! You'll still join your pieces in the same order.

I start my ladder stitching by putting two pieces wrong sides together. I use a paper clip to hold the pieces together while I get started, and I make sure any seam allowance flags are tucked down behind the pieces.They will just nestle against each other back there and not cause any trouble once the piece is opened flat.

I put a knot in a piece of thread, and bring it up through a seam allowance to emerge from the point (the orange diamond in the picture above). Then I alternate taking a stitch into one shape and then the other. Where the thread emerges from one fabric, it dives immediately into the other. The stitches are taken just to the inside of the edge of the shape.

You can do this stitch by stitch if you want, but what makes it fast is being able to take several stitches in a single pull of the needle. In the picture below I have four stitches on the needle. Note: I have a full description of ladder stitching paper pieces, but at the time I posted it I hadn't yet had the epiphany about putting the pieces wrong sides together to allow for stacking stitches on the needle this way. It's worth a read if you need a better description of what the thread is doing though.

Whenever I get to the end of the side I'm stitching, I flip the shapes out flat and make sure the thread is snug. Sometimes I will take an extra stitch to make sure the pieces are joined well at the point. Then I tie a knot into the back side of one of the pieces and without cutting the thread, I bring it back out through a point to start the next side.

When all four sides are sewn around the center diamond I don't cut the thread, because I can use it to sew one more side. I remove the paper shape from the center diamond. Now I can fold the paddle in half horizontally to sew the first flappy side seam with the thread I am still working.

Finally, I start a new piece of thread and I sew the other flappy side seam, and then add the final diamond.

And that's a paddle! Get six of these and you're ready to make a Sprocket: the full list of Sprocket Quilt Along posts is here. Next I'll cover how to make a Sprocket and then I swear this won't be the EPP channel anymore!

Basting your paper pieces

2012-03-21T09:39:00.001-07:00

Oh thank goodness we're at the part where we get to play with the fabric. I'm going to show you how I baste my shapes for the Sprocket quilt.

To baste the diamonds I start with paper clips on two sides (these really make EPP so much easier, thanks for the hot tip about paper clips, Jessica!). I thread a needle, without knotting the thread. I take a backstitch through both layers of fabric at the point, leaving a long tail. I don't pierce the paper.

I turn the diamond and fold down the next side. The seam allowance should "flag" out to the side. On the way to the next point I take a little running stitch into the seam allowance, to make sure the thread behaves and to keep the shape taut. Another backstitch at the point, again, through both layers of fabric but not the paper. Turn and repeat around the diamond. I make sure the thread is snug as I go.

When I get back to the starting point I take a final backstitch and leave a tail of thread. Again, I don't tie a knot. The paper template stays inside the shape until it's been joined to other pieces on each side.Then I'll remove the paper and reuse it.

If you prefer to stab through the paper (just a preference thing) you only need a few stitches. Don't overdo it.

When I baste diamonds through the paper, I go down through the point and up in the middle on each side. I typically knot my thread tails together at the end but I'm not sure that's necessary. Basting through the paper means you'll need to remove your basting stitches to take the paper template out (if you only baste through the fabric, like in the first example, you'll be able to leave the basting stitches in).

To baste the hexagons, I use paper clips on all sides, then take just a few stitches per side. I do stitch through the paper with these, because they are so big. I knot my thread tails together at the end too. These giant hexagons go quick.

Basting a little bit here and there adds up! Pretty soon you'll have enough to make a Sprocket. The list of all the Sprocket quilt along posts is here.