Saturday, February 25, 2006

A Quilt for Baby Ira

--------
A Quilt for Baby Ira
DATE: 02/25/2006 09:11:54 PM
-----

From the original "Friendster" version of SOTC.

Three cheers, and all that: our friends James and Mia have a new baby boy, Ira Anton Bak Hazuka, born on Monday the 13th!

I've been thinking about them a lot, and on Monday the 20th, while I was playing hooky from work to take my niece Cady to the zoo, I decided I wanted to make Baby Ira a crib quilt. But, since Cady was in town and because I am still working on the challenge quilt, it couldn't be a big, time-consuming project. I decided I would use a super-simple pattern (a "one-patch," for those of y'all in the know) and minimal quilting, which is best for a baby blanket anyway -- tight quilting makes a blanket stiffer, less snuggly, and less warm. Moreover, I decided to make it a challenge to myself: to see if I could make the whole thing in a single evening!

Answer: I couldn't. Now, if I had just stuck with the original pattern, I think I could have. But when I finished it, it wanted a border, so I added that, and then the border wanted something interesting in the corners (I decided on simple "nine-patches"). So, by the time the face was finished, it was bedtime. So, in the end, it took me an evening to piece it, and another evening to quilt it. Oh, and a few extra hours to bind it. But who's counting?

I think it looks pretty good. If nothing else, it's nice and soft, so hopefully it will be a good night-night for the boy. It felt great to make it. Obviously, it was great fun in a Celebrate-the-Joy sort of way. But, it also felt really good as an exercise in the craft. After all of the slow, tedious detail work I've been doing on the challenge quilt, it felt great to pound out something good, quickly. Making decisions (about the border, backing, and binding) on the fly, I felt confident and competent at every stage of the process. I even felt competent with the machine quilting, which is a big first for me.

A little detail I'm proud of is that I quilted Ira's name and birthday into the border. It's the first time I've used a technique called free-motion quilting. I took a class in it a few years ago, but there was a problem with my machine and until I got it repaired in October (thank you, Montavilla Sewing!) it couldn't handle free-motion. I think it came out pretty well, for a first-time effort.

I should include a quick shout-out to Cady for keeping me company during the quilting and for telling me, correctly, to get rid of the pink square! At ten, she has already made two quilts herself (with grandma's help), so maybe she'll be the next generation.

Anyway, I had a great time making Ira's baby quilt, and I hope he finds it cozy, warm, and comfortable. Many well-wishes and much love to Mia, James, and their new baby boy!

-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: larissa
DATE: 02/26/2006 05:09:14 PM
michael! you are so talented. congrats to your friends and new life!
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: mia
DATE: 02/26/2006 06:18:52 PM
michael, i was boasting about your quilt to everyone i know. thanks. you are the great uncle to Ira. can't wait to see Ira talking and have a decent conversation with you. you are the best.
-----

Monday, February 20, 2006

Epiphany

--------
Epiphany
DATE: 02/20/2006 08:19:26 PM
-----

From the original "Friendster" version of State of the Craft.

So, it was mid-day Saturday, and I was plugging away at my big project, like I'd plugged away at it all Friday night -- sew sew sew sew sew -- and Sue walked by my sewing room in the hallway. And a thought comes into my head: what does this look like to her? I imagine observing my behavior from outside -- hour after hour after hour of cutting up these scraps of cloth that I've spent so much money on, and sewing them back together. This led to the next thought: What the hell am I doing?

"What the hell am I doing?!" I asked Sue. "This is crazy! I've spent two months of my leisure time, not to mention eighty or ninety dollars, on this damn thing. Any why? What for? Can you give me a single good reason I should be doing this? It's absolutely nuts!!"

She laughed at me, and said something witty about the nature of hobbies, something about how if you are going to have a hobby, you shouldn't ask that kind of question.

I went back to happily sewing little pieces of fabric together.

-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Karin
DATE: 02/25/2006 08:26:40 AM
What a good wife. She's right. You just keep sewing.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Charlie
DATE: 02/26/2006 06:23:52 PM
Oh come one Michael. We all the know the real reason. So you can kick those ladies' asses at the competition.
-----
COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Michael
DATE: 03/02/2006 10:20:52 PM
Charlie: Indeed.
-----