Tuesday, October 10, 2023

A Quilted Jacket of My Own

Listen! the wind is rising,
and the air is wild with leaves.
We have had our summer evenings,
now for October eves!
~Humbert Wolfe

Finally! Some rain in southeast Texas. The whole area is exceptional - the highest/worst level of drought. A few weeks ago some rain fell east and west of us. It was hard not to be envious but the entire western Gulf needs moisture desperately. And, a cold front came through that dropped our temperatures {briefly} to the upper 70s {25 C for you logical people.} Still wearing shorts and sandals; typical for Houston.

Quilting


Before they are completely out of style, I'd like my own quilted jacket. Although it's unisex, I don't want to use the same pattern as my son. That makes it harder because I have to fit a new pattern. Also, raglan sleeves are the easiest to make with all these layers. 

Nevertheless I struggled on, fitting a shawl collar pattern. Again, the pattern was much larger than needed and I sized it down a couple of times. This might not be your result, especially if you live somewhere colder and wear a sweater or jacket under your coat. 


The entire time I was fitting the muslin, I also considered the fabric. Should it be a quilt block or random pieces? What colors do I usually wear? I decided to use this medium blue as a background but wanted browns and greens also.  Something nice and quiet. And... it's not working. I think the prints aren't right but neither are the colors. I actually made about eight attempts before giving up.


Next I decided to use solids. Here I've pulled every solid in my stash and winnowed it to these colors. There's not enough so a shopping trip is planned for next week. 



Reading
The Data Detective
by Tim Harford

British economic journalist Tim Harford's latest book discusses how we can all better understand statistics. While it's easy to dismiss all statistics {or at least those we don't like} as false, they are often "the only way of grasping much of what is going on around us." Dismissing these numbers out of hand can be as deadly as mindlessly believing them. This book present ten suggestions to improve our understanding - including "searching your feelings", considering who is missing, thinking about the presentation, and demanding transparency of the data. An informative and interesting book we all should read.

Tim's podcast Cautionary Tales has weekly discussions. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

7 comments:

Nann said...

I look forward to seeing your jacket design evolve. I have all of Judy Murrah's Jacket Jazz books though I have not made any of them.

patty a. said...

I'm glad you at least got a bit of rain. Here the temps have dropped dramatically from last week's 82 - 88 degrees. It is now daytime highs in the 50's. I am sure you will work things out with the jacket pattern and colors. It is hard to decide on color when you know you will be putting a lot of work into something.

Robin said...

I'd like to make a quilted jacket too. I'll have to fit the pattern to my aging body of redistributed sizing. I weigh less than I did when I got married but there's no way I could fit into my wedding dress after 50 years of gravity and seven kids. So making it out of muslin first makes a lot of sense. I look forward to seeing your progress.

Pamela said...

I loved watching your son's coat some together and am looking forward to seeing yours too. I would like to make one for myself.

Kaja said...

I'm looking forward to seeing how you get on with the jacket. I like the pattern you have chosen. We have more than enough rain - sad I can't just send some your way.

Mystic Quilter said...

Looking forward to the jacket reveal further down the track and I love your solid selection, happy hunting ford the extra fabric!

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

I guess you've been shopping by now! (did u get sidetracked?) Look forward to seeing how things evolve with your jacket.