Belle and Sebastian Write About Love

After a few listens, "I want the world to stop" is my favorite song from Write About Love:

Vancouver holiday

We went to Vancouver a while back, and I meant to share some photos with you. The new job has gotten in the way, friends. Also the new iPhone. I've been overwhelmed by a number of things, is what I'm trying to say. Even though life continues to be overwhelming, I do plan to continue with the blogging. I love this space, even though I'm often confused with why I bother.

But back to Vancouver. We ate one of Michael's favorite cookies (a Linzer from Meinhardt):


We had a close look at some of the public art of the Vancouver Biennale (this guy is from Wang Shugang’s The Meeting):


We biked around the sea wall in Stanley Park, which we never did when we lived in Vancouver:


Most importantly, we visited friends, including a new baby friend. It was a lovely Labour Day weekend.

Guest post: Making A Big Step

The above is one of the fruits of a very busy summer and fall (so far) of making things. Now that it's in the hands of its new owners, Allen and Laura, I can tell you about it! To date I've undertaken pretty manageable quilting projects. Nothing too crazy. Forgiving patterns of squares or log cabins (basically: squares). While these are great, and there is a lot to learn about doing them well, I always wanted to try some of the more ambitious-looking shapes, such as the above! There are lots of names for this, including the Lone Star quilt, or just the plain, descriptive eight-pointed star.

Planning this quilt was fun, but I wasn't sure it was going to work until I had done a lot of work. The colours in the centre and the middle of the diamond are most dominant once they are laid out, and I haven't had much/any practice visualising such a specific effect.

I was taken down hard pretty quickly once I got past the planning stage. This quilt pattern/form pretty much demands precision at every turn, and I was unprepared for the things that I needed to learn to pull it off. I can't say that I've mastered them all, but I am really happy with how it turned out.

This quilt is built using 4 different strips, cut at a 45 degree angle, and then sewn together in a particular order to form a diamond with a pattern that you want. You do this eight times, and all of a sudden, you have an eight-pointed star on your hands! As things come together, you can really tell how well every cut and seam were done. Luckily, I like this sort of demanding business!

The pieced parts are all hand-quilted, with a few ties for the white pieces to keep everything together. Hand quilting is the best. I love it!

This quilt was a really fun challenge, and I am feeling bolder for my next big project! Phew/Hurray!