This appears to have been made from clothing fabric in stripes, plaids, and ginghams, along with a few prints and solids, in blacks, greys, browns, tans, white, reds/pinks, and blues. Using the quilt's measurements and the number of blocks across and down, it seems like the four squares of paper used to create a block were cut at 5½" which, when sewn together, become 10" blocks, for finished blocks of 9½". (Did I get my math right?)
I still have scraps of black plaids from the two quilt tops I made, plus parts of other plaid shirts. Maybe it would be fun to try to recreate this quilt, or make a similar one. Or is it just too crazy?
Unsititching
It's one of those things we always hope we won't have to do but sometimes need to do. I've tried so many ways of unstitching, trying to find the easiest, and I think I finally have. This is how I do it.
I fold the fabrics so the seam is closed, then use my seam ripper to cut through every other or every second stitch, being careful not to cut the fabric. (Caution: If your thread is really fine, your stitches are very small, and/or your fabric is delicate, this method might not work.)
Camera Woes
It seems my Canon PowerShot A560 is out of commission for me. Canon has discontinued support of that model. If they hadn't, I could have had a factory reset which, no doubt, would have given me back the camera's ability to focus. I bought it in about 2007 so I guess it's had a good run, longer than expected for a digital camera. I'm so sad to lose it. My phone cameras (an old Samsung used just for photos, and an LG, used as a phone and everything else cameras do) don't focus as clearly, do not take flash photos, and don't take a photo quickly enough to be clear when I don't hold the phone completely still. The LG does take good close-ups/macros if I'm in good light.
So now I'm on the hunt for a good but less expensive digital camera. What kind of camera do you use for blog photos? Make, model, and year/age, please, if you can. Do you love your camera? Would you buy it again?
I think that's it for this post. More another time. I hope you have a good weekend.
--Nancy.
I have one last thought for your camera---did you try new batteries? No need to post this I ll leave a real comment tomorrow. Love that first quilt idea.
ReplyDeletePS There's a lot on You Tube How to do the factory reset yourself. Many are older posts, so might apply to your camera. Don't give up!
DeleteThanks so much for the encouragement to keep looking for help for my camera, Lizzy. I did put in new batteries but that didn't help the problem. And I searched how to do a factory reset and I think it may have helped! I have to take some more photos to be sure but if it did, I will be thrilled! Thank you, again!
DeleteI like my husband's Nikon D50, but it isn't HD, and it's getting harder to get discs for it. It does focus beautifully, and I was able to bring it back from the brink when I messed up all the settings. I'd choose a Canon, Pentax, or Nikon every time, though I took 15,000 pictures with a little Kodak I loved before it bit the dust, too.
ReplyDeleteI frog stitch a lot like you, only I pick every 3rd or 4th stitch, and when I'm ready to pull apart, I do a quick snap. It hasn't ever torn fabric, and always works. When I get too small with the stitching, or too tight, I hold the two layers apart and just snip and tug, snip and tug. It works, too. When I have to. =)
It isn't crazy to want to recreate that quilt. It's a fascinating quilt top, and a good use of scrappy fabrics. You could use color placement to take some of the craziness out of it ... or use fancy stitching in color to put more in. =)
Thank you for the information about cameras, Susan. I'll keep your recommended brands in mind. I did a reset and it seems to have helped the macro photos, but I'll have to take more to be sure it's taking better photos across the board.
DeletePicking every 3rd or 4th stitch is better than every 2. I'll have to give your method a try. Yes, sometimes the stitches are too close and I can only cut the threads when pulling the two sides of the seam apart.
I'm still pondering and considering whether to recreate that quilt. I'll have to look at it more closely some more. Yes, for sure, careful color placement could calm the quilt a lot!
That quilt is fascinating. It would be quite a challenge for me to try and make a copy because I'm too matchy-matchy. But, it would be fun to try. I haven't used my digital camera since I got my Apple smart phone and it's going on eight years now. I loved my little digital camera, but it's pixel count is so much less than my phone that I'm not satisfied with it anymore. To unpick I hold the seam open and using my favorite bodkin, just swiftly pull the stitches out. I use the bodkin instead of the seam ripper because it has a blunt tip that slips in between the stitches without cutting them or snagging the fabric,
ReplyDeleteLOL. Recreating that quilt, or even making one similar could be stretch for me, too, because I might also want to match fabrics, Robin.
DeleteI've heard good things about Apple phones. I don't have one. My problem with phones is that I can't seem to hold them still enough to get good photos. A camera I can balance against my nose or sit on a flat, solid surface.
I'll have to look into a bodkin. I've never used one before. I'm happy with a seam ripper so long as I'm careful and not hurrying.
I love this crazy quilt, tho my eyes and brain are a bit boggled about how it is made. I hope you make it, it's fascinaing and differet.
ReplyDeleteI will try your seam removal method, my way is laborious and very different. My machine automatically sews tiny stitches, and after all these years I still forget to fix that each time I start to sew. Often am ripping teeniest tight stitches.
Don't forget to try the Factory Reset yourself on your camera. I only use mt phone these days, I do miss the clarity of early 2000s digital cameras. And I photo edit every pic except family snapshots.
lizzy
Yes, the quilt was confusing to me, too, Lizzy, until I took a photo, then looked closely to see where the seams were, and then I could see the blocks. The close-up shows one block (put together from four smaller blocks).
DeleteTiny seams are so hard to unstitch. When mine are tiny, I can only try to part the sides of the seam and carefully cut the stitches with a seam ripper. I would have trouble remembering to change the stitch length, for sure.
I think I wrote that the factory reset helped. The photos taken on the macro setting are better (though I'll have to take more photos to see if they're as good as before), and I think the other photos are better, too.. Thank you so much for suggesting that, Lizzy.
I think my comment got lost, so I'll try again. I like the antique quilt and all its busyness. I think it would be fun to try to replicate it and try that technique. Camera woes--I have a Canon Powershot SX260HS that has been good for going on over 10 years, I think, but it does lately seem to have an issue with not registering color the way I see it in real life. I tend to chalk that up to "user error" of some kind, though I can't figure out what it is. Maybe, as you mentioned, these digital cameras just get old? I use my Android phone camera now about half the time, but it's not without issues, too. Forget zooming in on anything, and it can't seem to handle some colors, I notice. So it's probably time to shop for another camera. I'll look at newer versions of Canon compact cameras. I like to take pictures of birds and wildlife on walks and like the ability to zoom in close and not lose resolution, yet not have to carry a heavy camera with lenses and I can just put a compact in my pocket and go. Anyway, I'll be reading your other comments for suggestions, too.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comments, Paulette, and for trying again when your first comment got lost!
DeleteI think I will try to make a quilt like the one in the post from this comment, I just have to figure out how I'm going to approach it! I'm not excited to use papers but it might be the best way.
I'm sorry you're having problems with your camera, too. I finally did a reset and it helped my PowerShot a lot! Not perfect photos but much better than before. I hope you can find a camera you like for the kinds of photos you enjoy taking.