Thursday 17 August 2017

Happy Sad!

It was a happy sad week last week and I'm only starting to come around to myself again this week now.  We had the awfulness of sending Wilbur to sleep and then I left straight away, for the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham, with friends from the Irish Patchwork Society.

A tired looking me posing in front of The Rainbow Rose I designed for the MQI group QAL and quilted by the amazing Tomomi McElwee @ Slaney Handcraft.  We submitted it as a 2 person quilt and it was chosen to represent Ireland in the European Quilt Association gallery called Diversity.
Not having a goods nights sleep since the Thursday before, I was not really in the form for a road trip but I wasn't going to let anyone down and stay home feeling sorry for myself.  Gordon had the week off and stayed around the house spending time with Maggie and Charly, so I didn't have to worry about the two furballs and them missing Wilbur. I knew they'd be distracted by having one of their humans around all the time.   The trip was worth it and I would have enjoyed it better if it had been any other week.  I took over 200 photos and bought some interesting bits and pieces and will share them with you in the next post!


For now, I thought I'd show you some of the process of blocking this quilt and the amazing quilting that Tomomi did for it.  There was quite a bit of preparation involved getting this quilt ready for exhibition.  First I had to wash it, as the blue water erasable marker didn't come out of all the white with just spritzing.  I wasn't going to put this gorgeous thing into the washing machine with out cleaning the machine first, so 2 bottles of Dettol washine machine cleaner and 2 rinse cycles later, I cleaned out the rubber seal on the door and found coins, hair pins, SD and usb sticks!  Then I took a deep breath and popped it into a cold wash with 6-7 colour catchers.


With all the strong colour in this I had a suspicion the red would run but it didn't.  The only thing the colour catcher picked up was the green from the extra wide backing fabric.  That surprised me as I was not expecting that to run at all!  Still the quilt itself was perfect so onto the blocking step!


As we don't have carpets in our house (only on the hall stairs!), I needed something to be able to pin the quilt to, to stretch it out while wet.  I bought 4 packs of these kids playmats from Argos, moved all the furniture and set to smoothing the quilt out and pining every 2 inches or so, all around the quilt, with sturdy glass head pins.  I used a ruler to measure out from one of the seams all the way around with the same measurement to make sure I got the star square and pinned in place.


It took over 2 days to dry and the green blues section was a bit puffy, so I got the steam iron out and hovered over those sections using steam to make them lie flat and a few extra pins, to get the seam straight on.  I think it worked quite well. It certainly made the trimming process that bit easier having a flat straight quilt!


The only thing that was a bother was this room could not be used for the 2 1/2 days.  No dogs allowed and this is normally where they play and spend time with us in the evenings.  They were not impressed and wanted in!  Gordon also had to skip the TV as this is where the telly is.  He happily made do with 4 library books!

Hedgehog!
Being an animal lover Tomomi added in lots of Irish wildlife to the quilting and I love her to bits for it.  I told her to give it the Tomomi treatment with no help at all for quilting ideas and she certainly did that in spades and came up with so many beautiful motifs.  The quilting makes this quilt and is the reason it got chosen for Birmingham.  You have to look at the back to see the quilting properly and here are some of the animals found in the quilt.

Dolphin
Squirrel

Rabbit
Fox
And my favourite!  A Basset Hound that I thinks is the spitting image of our puppy Maggie.
It was hard at times last week being away.  There were times I wanted to just go home and times when I was completely distracted immersed in sewing talk and quilty inspiration.  A happy sad week!
 
Losing Wilbur was incredibly sad but happy that we had him for as long as did.  He was tons of fun and gave us many laugh out loud moments and many more quiet contented moments.  I found this photo of our holiday last year with us all walking the beach.  It makes me sad that we are all moving on without Wilbur but we are not leaving him behind.  Like me following on at the rear taking photos and letting him take his time, I'm carrying the happy memories with me.  And now I have Maggie in quilt form too!  So, so happy I didn't try and quilt this one myself and let Tomomi do her thing instead. So Happy Sad, but more happy than sad!  Can't ask for more than that.

Linking up with the Friday finishes!

32 comments:

  1. I can understand the tug of happy sad and am glad to hear you are feeling more happy than sad and that you are coming back around to feeling more yourself. The quilting is stunning, what a beautiful collaboration and congratulations on having it in the show!

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    1. Thanks Yvonne, I am in awe of Tomomi's quilting. there is so much to see in it and I just love the animals!

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  2. Your quilt is quite simply spectacular! I'm sorry to hear you lost your Wilber, the emptiness of their leaving stays with us a long time. We lost our nearly 15 year old Aussie earlier this year and can completely relate.

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    1. Thanks a million. Our mixed breed terrier lived to be 15 but we have had two Bassets in the last 8 years. Hard when you have such a short time with them but worth the sad for the happy moments!

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  3. I know how incredibly hard it is to lose a beloved dog, even when other dogs are still there to offer comfort. So, happy/sad makes complete sense to me. Boy, your quilt is just amazing: the colors, the quilting, everything. Thank you so much for sharing your process of washing and blocking it and all of the beautiful quilting details!

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  4. This is easily the most impressive quilt I've seen this year, it's only just it represents Ireland at the FOQ! Great to see all the close up photos. Good you managed to get out, it's the best way to get distracted. Looking forward to your show report as I wasn't able to go this year.

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    1. Thanks Lena! I took over 200 photos so am trying to whittle them down to a manageable 20 or so and its not easy!

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  5. Thank you for writing this post Ruth. I am sure it's hard but hope time heals your pain. And I am glad you put your brave face and went to FOQ. Big big hugs.

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    1. Thanks! Our quilt was well received and people had fun trying to see the animals in the front - most found Maggie!

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  6. The quilt is stunning and those colours just pop. I enjoyed reading your process, thank you for sharing. The hidden animals in the quilting is the best, love it. It's a wonderful quilt.

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  7. The quilt is beautiful. It sounds like the week away was a good adventure for you, even though it was a sad time.

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    1. It was Anja thanks. The retail therapy helped a little bit but the quilt inspiration was the best. I also found quilts by some of our online quilty friends too so that made me smile - I recognised the quilt before the name of the makers sometimes!

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  8. I don't know what's more amazing - the colour selections, the quilting, or the process you used for blocking it! Impressive! Thanks for linking up with TGIFF @ A Quarter Inch from the Edge!

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    1. Thanks a million! It was a fun project made extra special by Tomomi's quilting on her sit down Janome!

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  9. This quilt is absolutely stunning!

    I'm sorry to read about your lovely dog. Having lost a pet after 19 years last year I know how sad it is and how much we miss them.

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    1. Sorry to hear of your loss too Catherine. 19 years is some feat, you must have been a brilliant owner and looked after so well.

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  10. The quilt is beautiful! I've never blocked a quilt, but if it helps to get it flat around the edges perhaps I should. Thanks for showing me how, especially the foam play mats.
    I'm sorry about Wilbur. It's about eleven years since my dog was put to sleep and I can still see those dark brown eyes watching me until they finally closed. It was such a sad afternoon.

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    1. It was my first time and I only did it because Tomomi told me to! It was worth it though as it hung perfectly in the show!

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  11. This quilt is stunning! I love the design and the quilting!

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    1. Thanks a million Cheryl! Coming from a designer thats a lovely compliment. I saw your 9 patch in the Quiltcon gallery and smiled when I saw it!

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  12. That was such a week of highs and lows for you Ruth . Firstly , your quilt is lovely and tomomi's quilting is stupendous . It must have been a great thrill to see it hanging there . And lucky you to have been there , if only the timing had been different . To lose a pet is so traumatic , and from your blog posts Wilbur was much loved and very loving in return . I'm sure gordon and yourself will really miss him . Treasure those memories and your photos x

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    1. Thanks a million Helen! It really was an upsy downsy week and processing all my photos I am glad I went in the end!

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  13. It was probably the best thing for you - to get out and be distracted as much as possible.
    I have rubber mats like yours too. We do not have much carpet, but even if we did, I am not sure I would want it getting all damp and icky. :)
    I love all the wildlife detail in the quilting. Fun!

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    1. Thanks Carla! I wondered about that with those who block on carpet as I'd be afraid of mould in our damp wet climate so was happy to use the playmats instead. Argos had a sale on and I got them all half price too so that was nice. The stack well and I can shove them under the spare bed so they are not in the way. Wondering why i didn't buy them before!

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  14. Such bittersweet sentiments. I am thrilled for your good news, but know I feel your heaviness too. I'm so sorry.

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  15. Such bittersweet sentiments. I am thrilled for your good news, but know I feel your heaviness too. I'm so sorry.

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  16. Thanks for sharing your blocking process. Your solution to a carpet-less house was brilliant! Sweet Wilbur: you're moving forward but still taking him with you. : )

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    1. Thanks Michelle, I got that tip from Paula Rafferty and then went hunting for playmats - found Argos had the best price and they stack nicely together under the bed when I don't need them!

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  17. Ruth, I'm glad that you went anyway... sometimes that helps more when you are mourning the loss of a loved one. I totally understand the happy/sad mix.
    Your idea for using the children's mats as a blocking process is brilliant! (We don't have rugs either, on account of the dogs.)
    You and Tomomi make the best team... Your Rainbow Rose turned out so stunning! I am in awe. Congratulations on the honor of having it chosen to represent Ireland! Wow Wee!

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