Windows on the Mac

I was recently asked to make a sleeve for a Mac laptop. Something bright and colorful was in order and to me nothing beats the shine of silk! In my stash of silk, all hand painted, I have amassed a number of long strips that would work beautifully into a collage of colors. I ironed out the wrinkles and sorted by color.

Silk Strips! Aren't they pretty?

 After the initial sorting, I decided to build up the strips onto a foundation of interfacing. Without paying any real attention to the arrangement (only rule: no same colors touching), I quickly filled in several pieces of interfacing. During this sewing time, I considered how to build the bag. The only request was for a secure closure, not a problem!

The silk on the foundation

I happen to believe that a good bag always has pockets. The computer will zip into a padded main compartment, and a functional flap with a zippered pocket will cover the main zipper and add another layer of security. I did the math, added the ease in and constructed the pattern for the sleeve.

Dimensions of the Mac

I enhanced the silk by placing black cotton strips at odd angles; creating windows! I kept the quilting simple.

I cut out the bag pattern I designed, and constructed the sleeve.

The completed sleeve

Interior, showing flap pocket

The sleeve with its precious cargo

It fits! Of course!

  I love the irony of having "windows" on the Mac!

Making the Sandwich

So, I last told about getting the top of Eli's quilt pieced and ready for the quilting process. First, the back had to be finished and this is where I found a home for the gray and black striped blocks that didn't fit on the front. Again, I sewed pieces together; cut them up and resewed them in a new way. The back looks like this:

Even the "gate" from my backyard made it into the back! It strikes me as a place a little boy might play with cars on an imaginary road. The pieced strip was set into flannel for a cozy blanket! Now it's time to make the sandwich. For those who don't quilt, the top, batting,and backing are the "sandwich". It's those three elements which make a quilt a quilt! 

I decided to quilt the top as a sampler in the blocks surrounding the face. I drew lines, circles, echoes, and even some vines with my sewing machine. In the center, I created a face with curly hair, flower eyes, full lips, freckles and even a nose! I found several areas to use "Eli" as the quilting motif! At the bottom, in the white flower block, I wrote the quilts data: the name, the maker, the date, and the owner.

Once the quilting was complete, I added a tiny (1/8") inner border of golden yellow and black binding.

And here is our new little guy with his quilt. I think he wears it well!

In the end, Eli's quilt, "New Face", measures 48" x 57". It took approximately 60 hours to construct, not including fabric dyeing. With the exception of the black fabric, all the remaining fabric was hand-dyed by me. I like the continuity of using "orphan" blocks in my baby quilts; Eli's quilt has blocks from the wedding quilt I gave his parents, blocks from original patterns I used in quilts for Dennis and myself, and even a few pieces from the quilt I created for Eli's semi-cousin, Logan. I like those connections. I like the good memories and feelings that are linked!

Filling in the Blanks

 Once I had stared at the pieces long enough, I fleshed out the blocks and eliminated more of those straight lines! Now, it was simply a game of arranging the puzzle into something pleasing! This was a view of grouping the blocks by their main color. Boring!

 I tried lots of combinations, and ultimately the "Face" appeared, with input from my hubby! Now I was on to something! a "New Face" for our newest face in the family, Eli!

More time was spent looking and critiquing the layout until I came up with this:

Next the choice of background was made, and it was easy! I love the contrast of bright colors against black, so I photoshopped a black background in to see how it looked. 

This was it! Now for some sashing to separate the "blocks". I dyed a three step gradation of golden yellow because in my mind's eye it was my choice. Again, thanks to photoshop, I tested the gold and found it to be too dominant. I sat down with Dennis one morning, and we went through the rainbow of colors and found that fuschia seemed to be the best pick. Back to the dye vat! Here is "New Face" with its sashing complete and ready for quilting:

Refining the Ideas

my backyard

The webinar I sat in on, encouraged me to go out and look at the lines and small parts of my backyard and find patterns that might work in a design. I tried a layout with the path leading up to the weathered cedar gate, used the star and flower blocks to mark the trees and flowering plants. You know? It just didn't do anything for me. I had all these bright primary colors and the grays just brought it all down. I eliminated the gray and black stripes, the "gate" and I was left with lots of beautiful brights! 

the blocks built out

I then took the blocks and fleshed them out. I combined previous motifs, added a few new colors, and tried to NOT work in straight lines! A real challenge for me! I had a blast creating these new squares, and operating without "rules" or rulers was liberating.