Woo Pig Sooie Quilt

Life is about that little space between what's over and what's next.

~Norman Lear

Quilting

Like Audrey and several other people, I caught a heck of a cold and have been mostly out of commission for several weeks. Occasionally I manage some quilting time but quickly head back to bed. This silly illness wiped me out. I'm even eating canned soup!

However, my older son's lap quilt is finally a wrap. Red and white are one of my favorite combinations. {I need to make one of my own even though these aren't my college colors.} When it's open and flat like this photo, the phrase is visible. But when he wraps in it the design metamorphoses into ambiguity. Then it becomes a play in red and white. When I first started these word quilts, the letters were set on four light solids but limiting the choices to two solids improves the way the letters wink in and out. I'm immensely pleased with the effect. 

Woo Pig Sooie quilt

Spiral quilting again. This is about the largest quilt I can make with a spiral. Not much more will fit under the harp. I find the design easy now that I've made so many. These days, I'm all for simplicity. Perhaps I will get back to FMQ but not now. No energy and no interest either; I just can't figure out why. My rows are {sort of} parallel. They aren't perfect but you'll never notice. 

Woo Pig Sooie spiral quilting detail

The inner border is fabric purchased several years ago for binding. It looks good here. And it's out of my stash. This is a better use than letting it age in place. 

Woo Pig Sooie quilt - folded to show back and binding

I bought the backing fabric last week because I'm completely out of red... and some other colors, too. There was enough extra to add another border to the quilt. An old "Olivia the Pig" print binds it. I planned to use it for the back until I read underneath each pig. "Worn Out!" Probably not the best choice for a college sports team motto. No one will notice the phrase in the binding as long as you don't tell.

Quilt Specifics

Size: 74" x 74"

Design: String quilt

Batting: Mountain Mist Cream RoseCotton

Thread: Superior red cotton thread

Quilting: Spiral with walking foot

Approximate yardage: 12 yds

Reading

Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake looks at our current understanding of fungi. Eight chapters cover various aspects: from yeast to psychedelics, symbiosis with bacteria and algae to parasitism of ants. I'd previously read a bit about fungi connecting plant roots such as aspen groves but found Merlin's version very entertaining. His analogies entertain as well as explain areas of new research which include the beginnings of life on earth. 

Enjoy the day, Ann

Going in Circles Slowly

Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the sky and he'll believe you. 

Tell him that a bench has wet paint on it and he has to touch it to be sure.

~unknown

Quilting

The plan was to have the quilting finished by now but instead caught a cold and spent a few days in bed. So I'm still circling. A large lap quilt instead of a baby quilt takes more time, too. The spiraling circle is complete; I'm filling in the four corners now. Progress.

Clear cherry reds may be my favorite color. Too bad it's headed to a new home. I need to make a red and white quilt for myself. Hmm. Wasn't the plan to make some quilts for myself?

Reading

My book club chose An American Quilt for our first discussion this year. One reason I enjoy the group is that we read non-fiction. I expected it to be either a history of quilting or a story detailing the construction of a specific quilt. Instead, Rachel May uses her discovery of a hexagon medallion quilt to research the lives of the enslaved people owned by the family. Finding the wife was from Rhode Island, her own home state, she digs further into the triangle trade that implicates many from the northern states in the expansion of slavery. Definitely worth the time to read. 

Happy Valentine's Day.

Enjoy the day, Ann

A College Quilt

"The best thing for being sad," replied Merlyn, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. 

That is the only thing that never fails."

~The Once and Future King

Quilting

So far DS1 hasn't said much about wanting a quilt jacket, too. Just a few comments I'm not taking that seriously. But he admired the Arkansas quilts I'd made for his friends' babies. Recently I realized a 3x3 grid {instead of 2x2} would make the quilt almost lap size. Besides being my favorite colors, red and white are both Valentine and Arkansas colors. Sending him a secret hug whenever he uses it.

What words? How about Woo Pig Sooie. However, instead of setting the -ooie as a four patch as I did here, I shrunk the width by half. Now the letters fit the available space. 

An "I" on its side looks like an H. Worrying about this, I shortened the bars at the top and bottom. Bad idea. {To me} the fun of this style is the ambiguous visibility of the letters. That "I" stands screaming, "Look at me!" So I unsewed the center and lengthened the bars. Compare the top and bottom photos to see what you think. 

Next up are the borders. Here are a couple of fabric combinations I'm considering. 

I'd like to gift the quilt for his birthday but his dog loves to eat quilts so this may be one he visits at my house until…

FUR (Fabric Use Rate)

I used 9.5 yards this month and so 9.5 yards this year. Woo hoo.

Reading

When an enslaved woman named Rose discovered her nine-year-old daughter, Ashley, was to be sold she quickly made her a sack holding a dress, a handful of pecans, and a braid of Rose's hair. The sack was passed to family members for a few generations and inscribed with the family's tale in the early 1900s. Eventually it was purchased at a Tennessee flea market and sold to Middleton Place, a museum on the grounds of the former plantation where Rose was enslaved. Currently the sack is displayed at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. 

Historian Tiya Alicia Miles researched the women through the few existing written records then used art, objects, and the environment to reconstruct a personal history of slavery, resilience, and love. NPR had an excellent episode with the author.

Enjoy the day, Ann