Space Between the Beats...

Last night's quilting activities did not happen because I took my son to a Drummer's Clinic put on by Mark Schulman.

Mark Schulman has toured with BILLY IDOL, PINK, CHER, STEVIE NICKS, SHERYL CROW and he is currently touring with FOREIGNER. 

It was a pretty cool clinic even for a non-drummer like myself.  My son loved it and I will admit, so did I.  While it was VERY LOUD, it was entertaining and educational.

One of his key points was the importance of the space between the beats.  That space is VITALLY important, because without it you just have noise.  The space between the beats is almost more important than the beats themselves because the space between them is what defines them.  Each one is individual, and each one is important, from the small *tap* on a high hat, to a hard core double bass roll, every beat is important, and without space before and after each one, they lose their identity.  BUT, individually they are pretty boring.  It is the assembly of the beats and the spaces that is music.


It was actually pretty philosophical and it got me to thinking about life and also my quilting.  Each seam is important, each stitch is important, every cut we make with our rotary tools is important.  ALL of those things individually are pretty boring.  If our craft of quilting were comprised of making ONE cut in a piece of fabric, nobody would quilt.  Same could be true for sewing one seam, or even one block.  Individually the parts (the tasks) aren't very impressive, it's the assembly of those pieces and parts that is impressive, almost intoxicating.


None of us LOVE every part of the process.  Let's be honest enough to admit that there is a part of every quilt that we don't enjoy.  For me, it's usually cutting.  I don't enjoy the cutting part.  I don't enjoy it because it is during that stage that the final product starts to take shape, it begins to form in my head, I begin to recognize which parts are going to be easy and which parts are going to be tough, but the reason I don't like it is because it is boring.  It is boring because while it is exciting to see it forming in my head, seeing it in my head is no where near as fun as it is to start sewing blocks together and assembling the finished product, but it is a necessary part nonetheless.


The Space BETWEEN the beats is what defines the beats themselves.

Reflect on that for a moment, and if you'd like, share what that means to you.


Until Next Time,
Paul

Weekend Sewing Update

This past weekend, I spent the evening sewing and then Saturday while "helping" Chyenne get her math lessons completed, I got to sew again.  So Betsy got a much needed workout and I got to do some quilting.

So here's what happened... With MaryAnna's move in date quickly approaching (we still don't know exactly when it will be, but it will be soon), I need to FINISH her quilt that was started back in May while on vacation in Florida.  So, I finished the top last week, and it was time to do a back for it.  When I set out to do this quilt, I bought all of the Fat Quarters I needed for the top, I also bought some fabric for the back.  (By the way, since we call the Top a "Top" why do we not call the other side the "Bottom"?  Or call them "Front" and "Back"?  Forgive me, I digress... But that has always bugged me!!)  When I got to working on it, I wound up short on FQs for the front, so you would think that I would KNOW I was not going to have enough for the back, but NO, I attacked it blindly and quickly realized that I indeed, didn't have enough.  So, with my commitment to NOT buy any more fabric for a while, I had to get creative...

So, I took all of the scraps left over from the front of the quilt and I grouped them by size.  I then cut up the brown fabric that I had bought for the back into similar sized blocks and started sewing them together end to end, alternating between brown and front fabric blocks.  I started with the largest pieces (6 inches wide) and I sewed until I had no more to sew.  I then measured what I had sewed (36 feet) and rolled it up for safe keeping.

Iron, Roll, Iron, Roll
A Tedious, but very Effective way of keeping long strips nice
and flat and organized...

30 plus feet of 6 inch wide fabric blocks all rolled up on a piece of PVC.

Then I did the same with the 4 inch pieces, the 3 inch pieces and the two inch pieces... After I had used all of the fabric from the front of the quilt (save one scrap that I want to use for something else), I sat and did some calculating... I was about 900 square inches shy of full coverage, so I decided to frame my stripped backing with a frame of brown.

Four Inch Roll...

I rolled the 3 inch strips around the 5 inch roll.

After cutting all of the strips to the proper length, I laid them all out to find a sequence that would bring some continuity to the otherwise completely random back...

All of the strips including the side borders, all ready
to be sewn together...

After sewing all of the backing strips together, I laid the top onto the back to make sure everything lined up properly and guess what?

My back was too short!  Oh, I was so MAD at myself... HOW Could I POSSIBLY mis-measure so badly!?  I was fuming as I took this photo... So much so, that I didn't even think to take a photo after I picked up the top and realized that I had yet to sew on the top and bottom brown framing strips!  Whew!  I KNEW I couldn't have been that far off on my math!

After attaching the top and bottom frame pieces, everything lined up just as I expected them to.  More photos soon as I will prepare my sandwich and quilt it in the next few days... And WAIT till you see the binding for this quilt!

I used just over three bobbins of thread.  I fill three bobbins at a time, and I rarely have to fill bobbins more than once in a weekend, but it was a 3 bobbin weekend!  Right now my bobbins are all full again and ready for another day of sewing...

My selvedge bin is filling up.  I'll still accept donations.  Thanks to those of you who have sent me selvedges.  I will create a quilt of nothing but selvedges as soon as the barrel is full!

And in a closing note... I have been reading of how hot it is in Texas, so this PALES in comparison, but I rarely use the AC on the way TO work in the morning at 5:30 AM, but yesterday, at 5:30 AM, this is what I saw when I started my engine...

86 degrees at 5:30 AM!!  The heat isn't actually a problem...
It's the Humidity that kills me!
Give me Arizona any day!

And Don't forget to visit Madamme Samm and leave a comment mentioning Me!  M, W, F = Newbies, Tue and Thu = Experienced Quilters.

If you haven't registered yet, or don't know what this is about.... There are some AWESOME prizes to be won, but you have to register with ME!  (or any of the other participating bloggers).  Learn more HERE.

Until Next Time,
Paul

Wantobee A Quilter Campaign Starts TODAY!!

IT has begun… Stash Manicure’s "Wantobee A Quilter" Campaign Starts TODAY!  This is a really cool campaign designed specifically for newbies and rookies… “Wantobees”.  BUT, there’s stuff for veteran quilters as well!!

Here’s how it will work… Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday NEW “Wantobee” Quilters will win prizes.  Tuesday and Thursday those of us who already quilt can win prizes.

How do you win?  There are a few steps. 

1. You have to register with a blogger.  You can only register with ONE blogger, so if you already registered with someone else, that’s cool, I won’t hold it against you.  If you haven’t registered yet, send me an email with your name, street address and Email address, and you’ll be registered with ME!!  Thank You, Thank You!

2. You must FOLLOW This Blog.  If you already do, AWESOME, if not, you need to start… After all, you enjoy my reading about my quilting adventures, Right?  (You’re reading now!)

3. You must FOLLOW StashManicure.  If you already do, AWESOME, if not, I guarantee, you WILL NOT be disappointed.  Madamme Samm does an awesome job.  (Let me put it this way… I have three blogs with direct links in my web browser’s header, and Stash Manicure is one of them!)

4. You need to visit Stash Manicure on the given days, M,W,F for Wantobees, and T,T for Veteran Quilters, you go to Stash Manicure and you leave a comment.  Make sure that in your comment you mention that you are registered with Paul at Outnumbered Quilter.

That’s it.  That is all you need to do.  Obviously, the more comments you leave, the more chances you will have to win.  There is no restriction on how much you can win either, so comment EVERY time you are eligible to do so!

The biggest catch is this - You NEED to be registered with a participating blogger!!  And I AM ONE of those bloggers!! 

During this campaign there will be some AWESOME prizes being given away, so don’t hesitate to participate!

I will not share your information with anyone except Madame Samm so she knows you are “legit”, as my boys would say.  If your comment is chosen a winner one day, you will get an awesome prize!  And, if one of YOU win, SO DO I!!

You know you want to do this… Go for it, sign up TODAY!!

What are you waiting for? Sign up today by sending me an Email with your Name, Street Address, and your Email address!  And Go VISIT Sew We Quilt right NOW!

Until Next Time,

Paul