Quilting

Jedburgh Abbey Doorway Details

Drawing of a doorway detail, Jedburgh Abbey, Scotland

In school, I was never very good at history, I always managed to only pass by the skin of my teeth. I had the hardest time following the syllabus. Whenever I came across an era that I liked, I researched, read and dove in, completely ignoring everything else that was being taught in the classroom. The good thing about being a grown up is that now I can continue to do that without the pressure of grades. I also don’t have to stick to just books, I can now travel to places of historic interest as well. I love prehistory, archaeology and ruins. That took me to Scotland twice.

Sword Relief On Stone From Iona Abbey

Drawing of a stone relief, Iona Abbey, Scotland

I recently started drawing again after a long hiatus. I missed the scratching sound of pencil on paper too much. I went through my Scotland photos and picked out a few to draw. In the evening after a long day, it’s wonderfully relaxing to revisit the places through drawing while listening to some comforting old TV show or movie. I think these drawings would make nice embroidery designs too.

DSLR Camera Quilt Pattern

I could not have done these drawings without my trusty camera. I made the SLR camera pattern many months ago and never got around to making it. My friend Amanda recently made this pillow from that pattern. I squealed in joy when I saw the picture. I LOVE the way she quilted it. I already told her that I am going to copy that quilting design when I make my quilted camera.

-Soma

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Aqua Brown With Green & Cream home machine quilt

I am so happy to have this quilt finished and ready for use during our first winter here in Napa. My husband requested this quilt during an impromptu trip to the quilt store. We picked out all the fabrics that very same day – a combination of Jacobean flowers and stripes. That was such a long time ago. The whole ensemble – the quilt-top, pieced backing, trimmed batting and the variegated thread I was going to use for quilting – all sat on the shelf forever. I was too afraid to quilt it because of the large queen size.

Take 5 Quilt Basted

Finally, a few months ago, I pulled it out one rainy Friday, basted it and started quilting it the very same day. Although I had a fantastic neck pain afterwards, I managed to finish quilting it by the end of that weekend. It didn’t turn out to be that difficult to move half of the quilt through the narrow neck of my sewing machine. I didn’t roll up the quilt, I bunched it up and pushed or pulled as needed. The quilt was too heavy for my machine and that affected the stitch lengths at faster speeds. Once I started quilting at a slower speed, it become much smoother.

Aqua Brown With Green & Cream home machine and hand quilted

Once the machine quilting was done, I started hand quilting each of the 42 squares. I tend to overwork my wrist through various activities during the day, so I have restricted myself to only one hour of hand quilting per day. So much of my life is governed by the clock, I really don’t like to rush when I am working on creative things. It takes however long it takes. Working at the slower pace is relaxing too and my wrist doesn’t hurt afterwards. I finished the last square a few weeks ago, and sewed on the brown binding over the next few days. Or was it a couple of weeks? Don’t really remember!

Aqua Brown With Green & Cream home machine quilt

We went to historic Sonoma downtown last Friday, and the little state park was the perfect place to take a picture of this quilt. Just in time too, because the rain came right after we got in the car and it hasn’t stopped since!

-Soma

Capturing A Little History

First Winter Quilt