Finished a Quilt. 1.4.2021

 This is a lap-size quilt.  Or goes on the wall.  I learned a lot with this one, how to quilt it without creases, how to to this patchwork, how to get the binding right.  Next I will make one for the bed, which is the whole idea.  I just wasn't ready before.  I'm thinking to use shades of blues and neutral colors, or I don't know.

Washing the quilt brings out a nice texture, as the fabrics soften up and there is a little shrinkage.  I think it's a beautiful effect.  In fact, I think it's a far nicer look than before washing.

Clearing Himalayan Blackberries, Again. 1.3.2020

 I've been cleaning up the Himalayan blackberries in the border at the North edge of the property.  This area was impenetrable when we bought the place in 2012.  I cleared a big portion of the blackberries in 2015-2017, planted a row of Leyland Cypress in an attempt to have some privacy, out-compete the brambles, and hold the soil, given a bit of a bank on the North side.  I also planted rhododendrons on the near side of some.  And mostly, grass seed.  Unfortunately, it was not possible for me to keep the rhodies cleared of blackberry.  The cypress grew well but some not fast or thick enough, so there was a growing amount of blackberries to clear again.

Some photos from 2015. These brambles were impenetrable back then, around ten feet tall.  There were some fallen cascara trees mixed with them.

This is 2015, part way through clearing the brambles.  Back then I was using a pruning shears.  Now I'm using a hedge trimmer, which seems to go faster but is also harder work.

 After clearing the first area.  I planted Leyland cypress trees at the northern side, between cleared ground and the falling cascara trees.  That was in winter 2015-2016.

Now, five years later, this batch of cypress have filled in, and there aren't a lot of blackberry brambles in this area.  Almost, but not quite, none.  The caged tree is a ginkgo that is failing to thrive, and probably should be moved out.  Some more of the cascara trees have fallen.  I think they are at their size limit and will continue to fall down.

 

This was the other area, east of the first area.  There were a lot of fallen cascara trees mixed with the brambles.  So those had to be cut off.  After this cleanup, I planted the Leyland cypress trees as in the first group, but they were much smaller trees.  On the near side, I planted the rhodies and some perennials.  That was a mistake - too hard to keep clean.  This week, the rhodies went elsewhere, and I cleaned it up again.  Not nearly as bad as the first time around, but I don't want to have to do it again.  This photo shows the area in 2015.  The entire visible ground area was blackberry thicket.

This is after cleaning the same area up yesterday.  This wasn't nearly as bad as the first time around, but still more than I want to be doing.

Another view after cleanup.  Once I get rid of those piles of blackberry vines, I'll broadcast grass seed in the cleaned up area.  The piles of vines compost fairly fast, and just sort of disappear, but I'll most them to where they are not in the way.  In the future, this area will just be mowed, which will prevent further encroachment.  In addition, the cypress trees are large enough, I think they will mostly out-compete the blackberries in the future.

Three More Elmer Fudd Caps. 12.18.2020

 I learned some things making these.  It's nice making the headband inside the hat, using unused, bias-cut kitchen towel.  It's very stretchy and absorbent.  I used a temporary adhesive to hold it in place while I made the sweat band inside-out, out of the same flannel as the hats.  Then I turned it inside out and sewed into place.

Second, the original cap has bias tape covering the inside seams.  That's really difficult to sew.  What is easier is to construct two hats, about the same size, and sewing one inside-out inside the other as a liner.  It takes a little planning, but then there are no exposed seams.  For the first, I used zigzag stitch, which is fine but using one inside out in the other is more professional looking. 

The lower left cap is the first one that I made, which was all olive drab.  I made a mistake not putting in a sweat band, and it was goofy.  So, I constructed a new cap with a plaid cotton fabric, turned the hat inside out, and sewed it together.  Now the olive drab fabric is the liner, and the plaid is on the outside.  It looks better and is more comfortable.  This hat will keep its shape better than the flannel ones, but isn't as warm and soft.  The flannel caps are more mashable, soft, warm, and comfortable.  They are all machine washable, dryable.  By using a heavy interfacing instead of stiff plastic for the brim, they may not wear out as fast.

A Quilt Learning Project - Table Mats. 12.18.2020

 I had some unused squares left over from a wall hanging quilt that I made last fall and winter.  That was the first one that I ever made.  

Since I didn't know anything about making a patchwork quilt, I started as simple as I could. I bought a package of 2 inch wide fabric strips in a roll, called a "jellyroll".  Those can be nice to start out, because they include various colors and patterns in one roll up.  On the other hand, one can buy a jellyroll and wind up with pieces that don't look right, or aren't wanted, and on the other hand have to add pieces.  

In this case, I made a "split rail fence" pattern quilt.  That involves three strips, 2 inches wide, sewn together into a square.  The easiest way is to take 3 strips that are much longer, sew them side by side into one long strip, then cut across it every 6 inches.  That will give 6 inch squares with a contrasting stripe in the center.  For my original quilt. I either had dark center strip and light outer strip, or vice versa.  They can be arranged in all sorts of ways.  I wound up with 6 left over and put them into a box.

I wanted to improve my sewing skills, especially for making the next quilt.  I decided to make some table mats, which are basically very tiny quilts.   I thought the split rail blocks were too big for such a small item.  Plus, there would only have been enough for one table mat, which isn't much.  I decided to make something different, basically scrambling the split rail patches.

So, I made six more squares, mostly with brighter and lighter colors.  Some of those were left over pieces from making face masks.  In this case, I arranged them from dark to medium to light colors.  That gave me 12 squares over all.  Here are the 2 squares.

I thought those were too large to look good on small place mats.  Plus, I wanted to experiment.   So, I arranged the six original squares face up, and use the six new squares turning so the seams were at right angles to the first.  I tried to make each combination different, but that wasn't completely possible with what I had.

Then I clipped the pairs together, and sewed all the way around with the good sides facing the inside.

Then, I cut corner to corner, both ways, on all of the squares.

Unfolding the cut pieces, and turning opposite corners of each square in the opposite direction looks like this.

That's an interesting pattern, with repeating shapes.  However, they don't work out for the size and pattern that I wanted.  So I scrambled the patches, turning them in various directions and trying not to have too many that were the same fabric adjacent to itself.  Then I ironed them flat, and sewed the squares together to make two mats.

Now it's exactly the same as making a big quilt, except it's small.  I sandwiched the new patchwork layer, cotton batting, and a cotton fabric backing.  That backing was fabric that I bought last summer on Amazon to make masks, but it was way too flimsy, basically muslin (bad Amazon and bad seller!).  But it's fine for the back side of these table mats.

Three things I learned since the last attempt.  First, if the piecework top, the batting, and the backing are adhered together with washable spray adhesive, then there won't be wrinkles and everything stays together while being completed.  

Second, I watched a lot of videos and learned the right way to do the binding, that border around the edges.  It's not an obvious technique (to me), but really isn't hard at all.

Third, it turns out that the jelly roll strips are exactly the width needed to make binding strips.  I didn't know that.  There's probably a reason.  That did give me some nice choices.

Here is how the table mats came out.  I like some things about these.  First, they are made from scraps of fabric, which is how patchwork quilts originated and is a nice tradition.  I might have chosen some different patterns and colors if I had a big fabric bin to choose from, but I liked how these came out anyway  Second, I like this scrambled split rail fence pattern.  I'm sure it's been done zillions of times, but I didn't find a pattern so I made it up.  It's fun to see the various patterns peeking from behind others, and see the contrasts in shapes, colors, and intensity. Third, I learned some new things.  The mats will soften and puff up a little when they are washed. 

Sewing Project, Part II. A Comfortable and Protective Gardening Cap. 11.18.2020

Moving on with my experience with the "Fidel Castro" cap, I decided to make one using cotton flannel.  Flannel is softer and more comfortable, and possibly easier on the sewing machine compared to the tough ripstop olive denim-type fabric.  I used the same pattern, and made some changes.  First, for the tip, I used flannel on both the inside and outside layers, with cotton batting between the layers.  I pre-washed the flannel to adjust for shrinkage.  To give the sides a little more firmness, I used a thin fusible interfacing ironed to one layer, and cut both inner and outer layers of flannel fabric, so that was like a sandwich:  flannel:interfacing:flannel.  The bill was a sandwich as before, using flannel instead of ripstop and using thick heavy interfacing to give it some substance.  This time, I kept the binding on the sides, cutting the fabric on the bias.  That made it possible for the hat to stand a little taller than the first attempt.  For the sweat band, I bias-cut new dish-towel fabric, which is all cotton, durable, soft and absorbent.

Here is how it came out.  It's still interesting that the fabric came together so differently from the original cap despite using the same pattern.  Not just the fabric pattern and color, but the shape and overall appearance of the cap.  My first thought was "Elmer Fudd Cap" so I did a web search on "Elmer Fudd Cap" and there they were.  However, most Elmer Fudd caps have the ear flaps that tie to the top when not needed, whereas this cap does not have ear flaps.

This is a big improvement on the first prototype cap.  Using the sewing machine walking foot, assembly was much easier.  It didn't skip any stitches at all.  The thickest parts were a little challenging but I am learning how to do better with these challenges.   This hat turned out to very comfortable.  There is no belt at the back - it's a good snug fit due to bias cutting the binding and sweat band.  The original cap didn't have a belt either, and it wore fine for many years.  

I might make a few other adjustments before making the next cap.  I'm happy with it as is, but there is always something to do to make things a little better.  I probably need to add about 1/4 inch to the oval top, because quilting the fabric makes it a little smaller in diameter.  I adjusted the sides to account for that.  Before doing that, I want to put it through the washer / dryer to see how it re-shapes.  It should be OK.  This cap is meant to be treated like any other clothing, washed and dried just like a shirt or trousers.