A long post about a little blanket

I spent a ridiculously long time planning this project, and pretty much nothing about it came off quite like I intended. Oh well, it turned out fine anyway. Here's the story.

I fell crazy in love with Lena Corwin's Printing by Hand. Meaning I saw it on the shelf in the bookstore and purchased it immediately. There's a lovely variety of projects inside based around three printing techniques: stamping, stenciling and screenprinting. Some are quite small ideas like stamping your own notecards, while others are rather grand, like stenciling your own faux wallpaper or reupholstering a chair with your own printed fabric.

Anyway, back to the little blanket above. It's a baby blanket, an extremely simple tied quilt. That's Lena's artwork on it, which I hadn't intended to use. Ben and I were totally going to collaborate, but then he got so carried away making these complicated, multicolored treasure maps (think deserted islands with crocodile infestations, but also a diamond that creates more diamonds every time you touch it), and I was after something so much simpler. I saw a great t-shirt printed all over with waves (Sting was wearing it, if you must know, in a picture in Us Magazine--yes, my vacation was wildly relaxing, right down to the tawdry reading material), that I very much wanted to recreate, but I didn't think to ask for the magazine*, and then I just didn't have time to try to draw it myself.

So I finally decided to go for the provided artwork, which is awesome, and I finally unwrapped the screenprinting kit that I got for my birthday. Last year. I'd been reluctant to screenprint anything up to now, because I hadn't realized that you could use the screen without burning an image on it. There hasn't been anything that I've wanted to print 50 of, so I just hadn't felt the kit was necessary. But then, after I read this book, I realized that you can use a stencil with a screen, and geez, that changes everything. So I finally opened the kit only to find that it was packaged without the squeegee that's meant to be included. That's a problem. As far as I know, you have to have a squeegee to use the screen. I made an emergency run to Michael's but they only had full kits, no random squeegees. Do you think I have any chance of getting the store to exchange an item that was bought a year ago but has only just been opened and found to be incomplete?

Anyway, then I was back to my old standby, freezer paper stenciling. It didn't take too much more time; I stacked my papers so that I only had to cut the stencil twice instead of six times. Then I ironed them on and mixed up my fabric paints. The unexpected benefit of having to stencil instead of screen print was that I was able to use three shades of ink instead of just one, and I really like the color variation, so that's a definite plus. The drawback was that I got some runny edges--I think I might not have done the most thorough job of ironing the stencils--but it still looks good, I think.

This is the first thing I've ever quilted. I wish I was a little more meticulous with my measurements--I have kind of a hard time with straight lines and exact measurements. I may not have the soul of a quilter. Anyway, it's approximately 36" x 45", but I really mean the approximately part. It is made of incredibly soft linen. It is so nice to touch. As I was finishing up the ties yesterday morning, Michael finally asked me what I was making (I had sort of thought it was obvious...), and I told him that it was blanket for our friends' new baby. He was appalled.
    "Out of linen? What are they going to do when it gets dirty?"
    "Er, wash it."
    "And iron it?"
    "Definitely not. You don't iron quilts, you just use them."

Linen isn't meant to be a scary fabric, is it? And outside of posh estates, no one irons bedding, do they? All the same, I was delighted when the quilt came out of the dryer soft and beautiful. I rather want one for myself now. Maybe I'll keep trying for some original artwork...

*Er, Kate, I think it was a fairly recent issue. Did you see the picture? Can you mail it to me if you come across it?

Comments

[Val]

It's gorgeous! I love, love, love the color variation in the design and the fabric. You DO have the soul of a quilter.

[h.]

Your quilt looks marvelous!

Quilts do not need to be exact! Really. Look at the Gee's Bend quilters. They don't even have to have straight edges. They can even have wavy fun edges! Knitting a sweater is so much more finicky than making a quilt. (Which is why I make quilts, not sweaters.) The important thing is to claim every part of it as intentional. Yes, I make this end wider than that because "my shoulders are wider than my feet", or because "my creative muse demanded it". Never apologize. Quilts should be an expression of love, and love needs no excuses.

Hmm.. maybe now I will step down from my soap box... sorry about that..

Oh, and linen is wonderful! I think a linen quilt would be divine. It would soft and snuggly. My mom has a linen duvet cover, and she never irons it. It is glorious to snuggle under.

[Sasha]

I just got that book from the library and I so want it, wish I could justify buying yet another book...
The quilt is so lovely!

[Naomi Michelle]

gorgeous! I think it looks fabulous!
cheers,
~Naomi

[Sonya]

Linen is an amazingly strong fabric - all those long plant fibers. It's just going to get more soft and lovely with use. Such a gorgeous blanket.