embroidery time

you'll have to excuse me, but this post's going to be a long one.  i wanted to do a post on the embroidery work and i didn't want to do one half way when i wasn't done yet.

the first step is to draw in where i'm going to embroider.  for this step it's just the wires that connect the energy storage units and some explosions.  i am far from an experienced embroiderer, so i'm kind of learning as i go.  the most i've ever done on the quilts is stars (and a little filling in on m64 v3), but this is the first quilt that i've really tried some new stitches and gone into some detail with the needlework.

for most of the embroidery for this step i'm using brown paper packages trio embroidery yarn.  it comes in a zillion colors, but i was mostly looking for something that when sewn would really stand out from the background, so it had to be pretty thick.  it's 50% silk and 50% merino wool.

because this is new to me, i got a little quick how-to pamphlet from purl, and have been watching lots of youtube videos as always.  the wires between the energy storers i wanted to be really big and bulky, so i used a chain stitch.  the stitch length is much bigger than how your probably supposed to do it, but it works and looks pretty good, and i've got a whole quilt to work on.

here i'm coming to the end of all the wires and it's looking pretty good.  for the farther away energy panels (on the right side of the quilt) i did the wires in a slightly darker grey and a simple smaller backstitch to hopefully emphasize scale.

for the explosions we're getting a little more complicated.  they're starting off with a simple running stitch--much the same way all the hand quilting is done.

then, i'm going back in and with a different color doing a whipped running stitch.  i'm still psyched about this!  it looks so fancy, and it was super easy to do.  i think going in and adding detail to the explosions really make them pop.

here's a detail so far with all the the embroidery done in this section.  (click to enlarge)  the lasers and stars i'm going to hold off to do until all of the quilting is done.  i wanted to go in and add these details now because i needed to be able to knot and secure everything on the back--and i didn't want to do it on the back of the quilt, so i'm essentially hiding all the ugly bits inside of the quilt.  the way i usually do the stars is to just to sew into the top layer of the quilt leaving a "tail" on the inside at the beginning and end of every star--no knots.  i know it's risky, but they've never come out, even when washing, and these quilts aren't really going to get a lot of wear and tear from use.

and of course, i'm always working on something else.  (probably why it took me so long to get all the embroidery done.)  it's starting to get pretty cold around and my trusty sweatshirt is so threadbare that's it's about the weight of a t-shirt.  i made a pattern from it and, with a few adjustments, i now have my own customized sweatshirt pattern.  the good fabric store is too far away, so i went to the discount store 3 blocks from my house where they sell sweatpants for $5.  two pairs of 3XL sweatpants and and one sweatshirt (for the waist-banding and cuffs) and you've got all the material you need!  yes, one sleeve is grey.

and last, but not least, i've been meaning to do this for a while.  i got several pairs of these socks last year for christmas with the intention of making george a sock monkey (his first toy was a red heel sock frog).  it came out pretty good, and george loves it!  (i'm giving the ears a week tops before he tears them off).

purl soho

the next step in the construction of the quilt is making the "sandwich"--or quilt top, then batting, then backing fabric.  the closest place to me that sells quilter's dream batting (awesome stuff and the only batting i use anymore) is purl soho.

although i think this place caters more to knitters, there's still tons of stuff for quilting, sewing, embroidery, craft projects, and anything else you might want to work on.

the space is long and narrow with lots of different kinds of yarns along the left hand wall.  we didn't get to this place the last time she was in town, but this place is at the top of my mom's list of places to go in nyc.  i'm not a knitter so all i can really tell you is that the colors are pretty and i'm sure it's all amazing yarn.

they've got a pretty big middle wall section that is some notions and tools and lots of embroidery floss.  this is whee i've been getting all the different kinds of thread to embroider on the quilts.  there's silk, cotton, linen, thick thin, etc in every different color.  i also picked up a handy how-to booklet on embroidery stitches the last time i was in.

in the back they have a good selection of all different kinds of fabric on bolts.  the quilter's dream batting is in the back, but all you have to do is ask and they'll grab it for you.  everybody that works there is super nice and helpful, especially coming from someone who is teaching himself things as he goes.  they even offer classes in the back.  if you're in the soho area, or a crafter visiting nyc you've got to check out purl!

V838 V2 top done!

here's the last section (lower right hand corner) of the V838 quilt top all pieced together.

...and with all the ships appliqued on.  once all 4 corners are done it's just a few more lines of stitching until the whole top is done!  and now the moment you've all been waiting for...

yeah baby!  i'm happy and i think it looks pretty good.  the sci-fi quilts that are in my head and will be coming up are much more colorful and dense with information, but i wanted to really stay true to the original quilt that i was remaking for this one.

amazing what a couple of years can do in the learning department.

3rd section done

here's the 3rd section (top right corner) all pieced together.  this one was a bitch and took a lot longer than the other corners.  lots of tiny pieces.

and here we are with all the ships appliqued on!

...and the set up section for the fourth and final corner of the V838 V2 quilt top.  (lower right)

if you are in the nyc area for the next couple of months and you want to see a couple of quilts in person you should check out the textile arts center!  they are an awesome space that provides classes and venues for hosting exhibitions in the textile arts.  they are stationed in brooklyn and just recently opened an outpost in manhattan.

the manhattan location is hosting an exhibition to go along with the push stitchery book.  i installed M64 V3 and M1 V2 there this week.  There's around 10 other artists there that are featured in the book and the work is fantastic!  that's luke haynes in the pic helping to install (he really got the ball rolling on the show)  also, check out all the looms on wheels in the middle of the room!

the opening reception is friday, october the 21st.  come and check it out!

pickles!

because i'm obsessed with pickles and they actually tie into my space trucker story (he transports salt and vinegar to the colonies) i thought i'd share some pickle recipes.  i do a post every year for pickled eggs (family tradition) but i thought i'd expand my repertoire.

this first recipe is for refrigerator cucumber pickles.  for this first post i thought i'd start with the basic pickle that everyone knows.  i've been pickling for about 6 or 7 years now and have tried lots of different kinds of pickles.  i've done batches of naturally fermented cucumber pickles (kosher dills, etc.), but none have really stacked up to my favorite store bought pickles.  the fermented ones have a great flavor, but lack the crunch you get from biting into a delicious claussen.

so, obviously, it starts with cucumbers.  i went out to the farmers market and got a bag of kirbys, a white onion, and some garlic.  it doesn't matter how many cucumbers you get, just get enough to fill the amount of jars you have.

i like spears, but you can do halves or wholes (although the wholes take longer to pickle).  i cut all the cucumbers, peel the garlic and cut each clove in half, and peel and very loosely cut up the onion.

then, start packing them in!  you kind of just want to put a couple spears in, and then a little bit of onions and garlic, then spears, onions, garlic, etc. until they're really in there tight.  i like to throw in a half of a hot pepper too for a little bit of a bite (optional).  everything is to taste so experiment!

for the brine i use my standard brine recipe:
2 cups white vinegar
2 cups water
4 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt (3 tablespoons sea salt.)

a couple notes on brine:  as far as the salt goes, there's a discrepancy between the amounts of kosher vs. sea salt--it's different amounts because of the size of the salt grains.  sea salt granules are smaller and therefore more fit into a tablespoon.  if you're using kosher salt for a recipe and it calls for sea salt, the amount of kosher salt you will use is 1 1/2 times the amount of salt the recipe calls for.  what ever you do do not use iodized salt (most table salts).

when recipes call for specific amounts of vegetables to specific amounts of brine ingredients, these are arbitrary.  the ratio of the brine ingredients should remain constant (double, triple, halve the recipe it doesn't matter) and buy how ever many vegetables you need to fill your jars and the pickling process will remain the same.  i use old pickle jars, peanut butter jars, whatever.  there's no canning for refrigerator pickles so you don't need new or special jars or lids.  also a lot of brine recipes call for you to bring the water vinegar mixture to a boil to dissolve the salt and/or sugar.  i've found that the salt will dissolve pretty easily into the vinegar before adding water, that way you don't have to make your kitchen smell like caustic boiling vinegar.

as far as spices go, i like my pickles to not be too fussy.  you can add fresh dill, mustard seeds, black peppercorns, whatever you want, and they just get better!

fill the jars to the top with the brine, pop those babies in the fridge and let them sit a week and you've got delicious homemade cucumber pickles!

2nd section done

here's the second, or lower left, section all pieced together.  the larger ships were big enough that i went ahead and pieced them into the background instead of appliqueing them on.  ethan pointed out that he likes this quilt because it references the more geometric grid patterns of older, more traditional, quilts.

...and here we are with the rest of the ships and energy savers appliqued onto the top.

here's the third section (the upper right) all queued up on the wall and ready to go.

my cousin (the one that i did the wedding tree for) sent me an awesome gift as a thank you: this scientific american hubble telescope space calendar!  sweet!

we also did some clearing out of the apartment this past week and that meant finally letting go of the awesome crate that my quilts came back from norway in.  it was taken apart, but still took up a lot of room in our only closet in the whole apartment so something had to be done.  i couldn't just throw the thing away, so i saved my favorite corner.  i attached some wire onto the back of it and it hangs on my studio wall now.

1st section done

here's the finished top left hand corner of the quilt all pieced together.  this is just all the pieces machine stitched together, next comes the appliqued pieces that get sewn onto this.

once the wonder-under is ironed onto the back of the fabric it basically becomes like a un-sticky sticker.  you peal the back off and then iron it onto the fabric and it adheres to the top.

this is one of the types of ships ironed onto the black quilt top.

aside from the ships, the only other thing that's getting appliqued on is the energy storers (the grey circles) on the back of the energy collector panels.

i really hate applique, but it's kind of my only option for adding tons of ships into the design without going absolutely crazy.  to finish the edges i do a tight zig-zag stitch.  i think this makes it look nicer and also keeps the edges from fraying.

that's better!  now it's starting to come together!  here's the finished section so far.  i'll also be doing some embroidery work on the energy panels and explosions and, of course, laser beams, but that all comes later.  and the final step is always to add the stars into the background as well.

here's the lower left corner all put back together on the wall and ready to be sewn together.

lax's fabrics

i discovered lax's fabrics earlier this year am i'm hooked.   it's a basement store in the hasidic part of south williamsburg.  i tried to find it last summer, but the gate was down and it looked like it had gone out of business.  there's actually no fabrics, just decorative plates in the window.

it's a tiny little shop with low ceilings, but there's wall to wall bolts of amazing fabrics.  catering to the large orthodox jewish community, there's not a lot of crazy prints here, but i don't really go for those anyway.  like your navy blues and blacks?  you've hit the jackpot!

it's run by a really nice guy who's very helpful.  there's LOTS of amazing wools, flannels, cottons, and blends.  when i was in this past week he was rotating stock to gear up for the cooler weather and i got excited seeing all of the thick wools in tweeds and plaids.

as far as i can tell, he doesn't sell any notions, although there's an amazing notions store just down the street.  just tons of bolts in lots of solids and amazing conservative patterns.

you should definitely check this shop out, but one caveat: CALL BEFORE YOU COME.  i can't tell you how many times i've shown up there and he's closed.  aside from the obvious saturday closing he has the oddest hours.

all cut out!

after some distractions in the studio i finally got all the pieces cut out.  the rest of the colored pieces took about another day and a half in the studio and the black pieces alone took a full 7 hour day in the studio to get them all done.

with the colors, if there's a lot of one specific color i like to mix in a couple of different shirts of the same color value so that it doesn't get too monotonous.  none of the colors on this quilt really warranted that, but i almost always do it with the blacks.  because most of the quilt is black i originally bought 4 black shirts to cut up.  i make 4 piles for the pieces and distribute them randomly so the end result will be a more patchwork look rather than having all one fabric in one section of the quilt.  i went through the 4 black shirts pretty quickly and ended up using 8 different black fabrics to get all the pieces cut out.

in addition to all of the pieces that will be sewn together to form the top layer of the quilt, i'll also be appliqueing some ships and the energy collectors  onto the top.  this is an image of all of those extra pieces drawn out onto wonder-under.  each group of pieces are cut out and then ironed onto the back of the corresponding fabric so it can then be ironed on (and stuck to) the top of the quilt once all the pieces are sewn together.

once everything is cut out, all of the pieces need to be divided up into their respective sections.  here's an image of that magic happening.

then i get to reassemble the puzzle back together.  this is the first section, or the upper left hand corner of the quilt.  i like to break it down into sections so i'm not trying to work on the whole huge top of the quilt at one time.

here's a close up of the reassembled puzzle.  i covered one of the walls in my studio in a material called homasote.  it's a 1/2 inch thick board that appears to be made out of what looks like recycled paper.  it functions essentially like cork board and allows me to easily push pin things up on the wall without totally destroying it.  it was pretty cheap and i painted it white and it works great!