My 250 Coins Quilt tutorial

For Heather.


(All other experienced quilters should look away now. Or! Jump in and help out.... if you have any suggestions PLEASE share! I'm all about learning and not reinventing the wheel!)

I joined in a swap...SCRAPDOWN hosted by Katy at sycamore stirrings. 25 women agreed to dive into their stash and send the 24 other women 10 'charms', a 3" square of fabric.  This is the quilt (and shams) from that swap.


I decided to do a coin quilt for my queen sized bed. Now my bed is pillow topped on both sides which makes it REALLY puffy and regular dressing your bridesmaids in perfect bridesmaid dress 3queen/full sized quilts just don't give the coverage I wanted so I aimed for 88 wide by 95 long (I think) . I wanted GOOD COVERAGE especially when we're in it.  


So, the math.  The Pythagorean Theorem was in my head....because I'm a nerd and I love Big Bang Theory.  I DO NOT like 'triangle quilts' though... I like squares.... but the numbers stuck in my head (3,4,5  for a,b,c where c2= a2+b2)....so the measurements are as followunique body unique measurementss:


Charms are 3" square
Spacers between are 4" long (by 3" wide)
Sashing between strips is 5 inches wide.  It looked like a pleasant layout....so I began. 


As for fabric amounts.... This is just the quilt top.... And I used 100% cotton muslin.  I probably used 8 yards, maybe. Honestly, the stuff was 2.07 a yard so I bought a LOT.  I used it to make the top for Ella's quilt too, not a bad thing to have around. 


The piles of 16 charms and the white spacers (that's what I'm calling them) are here with three strips. 

I did a few of the pieces really slowly, one charm sew to one spacer, add a charm, add a spacer,etc, etc, before I remembered that I could chain sew them (technical term goes here).  I matched the charms up squarely to the spacer and just fed them through without stopping...... Look a little banner! 

Then I took them off and matched up the colored end of one pair to the white spacer end of another pair and repeated the chain sewing until all of the pieces were connected....white charm white charm white charm white, etc....until there were 16 charms and 17 spacers.


Do NOT do this! This was the last strip (the whole thing) that I made to finish the quilt but Heather gave me the idea for a tutorial and, wouldn't you know it, I must have messed up 5 times on this last strip :)
This is the 'chain sewing" just let one charm finish and the feed dogs will pull the next one right into place, I didn't even have to pick up the presser foot!
Then you have to get up and iron. YES you have to do it.  I ironed each seam allowance towards the charm. You can see here.
So, Heather asked about 'design'.  At first I laid the charms out by color. Then by value (to the best of my ability).  Then I froze up.  I had no idea how to 'design' this quilt. My problem with perfectionism is just that. I want everything to be perfect....if it isn't I can drive myself crazy. So hubby suggested "random". So that's what I went for. I put all of the charms into a plastic bin, I closed my eyes and picked out 16 fabrics and made a pile. Then I did that 13 times (for 13 strips) and sewed them into strips.  Those strips will be seperated by sashings but then I had to decide whether I wanted them all nice and even:

Or slightly NO MEASURING AT ALL askew. I decided to go with askew! If I tried to line them all up evenly (hubby's suggestion) and any of the seam allowances were off (and they totally are) then it would be really obvious.  Since I was going with random placement I would carry that through to the placement of the strips :)  There is one strip where there are 4 reds in a row, but a dress style you can fashion yourself as a bridesmaidI DIDN'T CARE I was letting my inner control freak go free (tm Christy Clark). 
So attach one sashing to each strip, then attach the strips together.  I had to stagger them a bit because of the white spacers at each end but i made the quilt looooong so it'll be fine.  The top and bottom can be trimmed when you're done. This is the sashing waiting for the final strip and attached sashing to go on:

....and the final strip (wrong side up) against it, ready to be sewn.
Now remember that you have those seam allowances pressed toward the charm, so on EVERY CHARM you will have to make sure the seam allowance isn't 'flipped over' causing a wonky seam in your top.  I didn't pin (I'm a rebel) so I just nudged it under there with my finger, slowing down. 
That's it.... the top is done! I still need to trim the top and bottom evenly but it fits!
I plan to stipple quilt* this one and I read that it shrinks up the quilt about 5%, so I made sure it was really roomy.  Today I'm 'designing' (read=knocking off one from the internet) the pillow shams..... I'll tutorial this too. 


This was RIDICULOUSLY easy.  Since the charms were precut I had that much less to do..... and Heather you were dead on about the rotary cutter tools.... I can't cut a straight line or sew two stitches straight by hand. But..... I know how to use the tools available to me..... which is the secret to any good crafter I think. 


*There is an EXCELLENT article here about the choices for quilting and attached links about the two different kinds of quilting foots (feet?) needed.  I had to mail order a darning foot (which you need for free motion quilting, the 'scribbles' type) so while I waited I made a baby quilt from that tutorial. I plan on making several (they'll get their own entries) to practice with before I tackle my own quilt. But, that being said, I do plan to make several 'in my own house' quilts so I can get better for the King sized quilt I plan to make for my inlaws 50th. (post to come about that too.)


Did that cover it all Heather?


If you wanna see a really awesome use of these same charms by another memeber of the SCRAPDOWN go see the flickr group.  This one is by color and it's AWESOME!

Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Part One.

First Real Snow of the Calgary Winter
Originally uploaded by Suzi Edwards
So I missed my flight to Buenos Aires.

Twice.

My brain’s up my bum at the moment, hence the first missed flight. I was sure I was flying on Friday and in spite of checking the itinerary twelve hundred times, well, needless to say I was flying on Thursday. The penny only dropped when I was on the phone to United, having attempted to check in online for a flight I had missed. I was about to get a bit snippy with the customer services executive as she asked me “why are you in Calgary?” for the fifth time and was resisting the urge to respond “because I did something terrible in a former life and am forced to pay for my sins by living on the ice planet of Hoth for a while”, when I realized what day it was.

Luckily I was rebooked, for Sunday, which was great because it meant that I was able to do all of the stuff I hadn’t got round to doing to prepare for the trip. Like pack. Get my inoculations. Do some Christmas shopping. Buy some summer clothes, because all of mine are in Sydney.

Of course it’s impossible to buy summer clothes in Calgary in December. It has been -35 for over a week now, a hitherto unknown temperature for me (and judging by the way that life in Calgary has crawled to a halt, an unknown temperature for it too. I had worked on the assumption that Calgary would continue to function in the cold, what with it being like Narnia here for about six months of the year, but all of the cab companies have just switched their lines to engaged and it’s impossible to get anywhere). I made the mistake of saying that cold all feels the same once you’re past minus seven, but once you’ve attempted to walk the six blocks to the office in -35, you feel like a fool for saying that. Your nostrils stick together. The air is knocked from your lungs. If you don’t have a wee before leaving, it freezes in your bladder.

And if I hear one more person tell me “but it’s a dry cold”, I will stab them through the heart with an icicle.

So I hired a cab driver for the day and went off to do my shopping. It was while I was purchasing some swimwear (at Commitments Lingerie in Dalhousie. I highly recommend them) that I realized my passport wasn’t in my bag but my work permit was. At this point I wished my wee had frozen in my bladder, because this was a disaster.

Is this the right time to mention I decided to give up smoking last week? After twenty years on the evil weed, I had decided enough was enough and wanted to use the trip as a chance to break my habit. Do you have any idea how much you want a cigarette when you think you’ve lost your passport? I was like some two dollar crack-whore, jonbridesmaid dress red bridesmaid dressred challenge to the traditional whiteesing for a smoke, clawing at the cab windows as we drove back downtown.

My bramake sure the measuremeunique body unique measurementsnt for your unique bridesmaid dressin was telling me I must have left it in the office, when I was photocopying it for my friends’ PR application. Or it must be on the side at home. It cannot have just been whisked away by the Universe.

Of course it had.

It took me one online prayer to St Antony, two knots in hankies, three spirit guide messengers and four hours kicking through snow drifts and retracing all of my steps from the last time I saw it to realise that my passport was gone.

My passport. My most treasured possession. The thing that means I can split this joint with a second’s notice and go where my heart desires. This was really bad news.

Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Part Three

First Real Snow of the Calgary Winter
Originally uploaded by Suzi Edwards
The British High Commission in Ottawa couldn’t help. Can’t remember why now. A couple too many G&Ts and a bottle of Ridge Chardonnay with my mussels had left me with Monday morning fuzzy head. They suggested I call the British Consulate in Vancouver.

Gillian answered. “Just need to take a few details from you. Full name? Date of birth? We can issue emergency documents under exceptional circumstances. Let me call you back shortly.” 84 minutes later she called with the good news. They would be willing to grant me a passport. All I needed to do was get to the cowhen a weight challenged girl be your bridesmaidnsulate the next day and I would be able to travel.

One small problem. The consulate is in Vancouver. That’s OK, I can fly there. Pause for realization. Not without a passport I can’t. And being a non-driving type, I don’t have any other form of picture ID that would allow me to board a plane. I don’t even have two forms of government issued ID without pictures that would allow me to travel.

I am about to type something that people who know me very well won’t be able to believe. I checked out the Greyhound bus schedule. The idea of Suzi on public transport is a little…unusual. In truth, I had managed to live in Calgary since August and had taken the bus for the very first time on Friday. The day I probably lost my passport. I don’t wish to sound sensationalist, but bad things happen when you take the bus. More on this later.

I've been told the flight from Calgary to Vancouver takes 54 minutes. The journey time by bus? 15 hours. There was just one seat left on the 6.30pm bus. Dear reader, I booked it. It would get me into Vancouver at 8.30am, amake sure the measurement for your unique bridesmaid dressllowing me to pick up my passport and then fly at 6pm from Vancouver to LA. Overnight in LA and then, on Christmas Eve, LA to Buenos Aires with a five and half hour gap in Washington to make the connecting flight.

Of course I had to try a little Plan B in the middle of it. I gathered together a dossier designed to convince an airline employee to allow me to fly. It contains my completed passport application, my work permit, my Australian Medicare card, my police report about the loss of my passport, an old expired passport that I found in a drawer (why I brought that with me to Canada and not my birth certificate, I’ll never know), photocopy of the photo page of my lost passport and a letter from my junior school headmaster saying I was morally upstanding. I was probably pushing it with the Medicare card but it was the only other government issued ID I could find. Man, I’m basically living off the grid.

Vancouver had 30cms of snow on Sunday 21st December. People kept talking about this like it was somehow significant. I just kept thinking “Erm, hello? This is Canada. We appear to be at the start of the next Ice Age so stop your whinging and warm my feet”. What this meant though, was that some flights got canceled. Now if the UK had 30cms of snow, the country would grind to a halt and we’d all kill and panic eat our neighbours. In Canada, a few flights got canceled and people talked even more about how lucky we were that it was a dry cold in Calgary. Not that wet cold snow they’re having in Vancouver. Oh no. Let’s pause for a second and count our blessings.

Of course the airport was like Picasso’s slightly over-wrought early attempts at Guernica and after an hour in line I was told that there were no seats left on flights to Vancouver. Not even if I told them that it was my birthday today.

When I said that bad things happen on buses, I was being serious. A man was recently stabbed to death, beheaded and parts of him eaten on a Greyhound bus from Edmonton to Manitoba. The killer was found with a ziplock bag of bits including an ear. You know, a little something for later. I would sbridesmaid dress red bridesmaid dressred challenge to the traditional whiteoon come to understand the significance of this detail.

That said, the Greyhound website made the whole thing sound like a real adventure. They show movies, make a big deal of the reclining seats and serve refreshments. I thought it might be quite romantic and was just wishing that I could journey through the day because I knew the scenery was going to be outstanding.

Then I arrived at the Greyhound station and the realization hit me. It was going to be a very long journey.

Chef's Table, Calgary

Soup: Chef's Table Calgary
Originally uploaded by Suzi Edwarwhen a weight challenged girl be your bridesmaidds
Executive Chef Theo Yeaman has cooked in some interesting-sounding places I have never eaten at in Canada and has done a stage at the Fat Duck in Bray, where I have. His restaurant, Chef’s Table at the Kensington Riverside Inn, was just named the fourth best new restaurant in Canada by AirCanada’s enRoute magazine. It would appear I get all my best tips from airline magazines these days.

Let’s get the quibbles out of the way first. The table was booked for 8.15pm, but I wasn’t seated until 9pm. There are two dining rooms, one with a fabulous open kitchen, the other with a fabulous…open fireplace. I was sat in the latter. Now, I recognize that being dateless in Calgary on a Saturday night is probably reason enough to throw yourself in the Bow River, but the restaurant staff didn’t help matters by seating bridesmaid dress red bridesmaid dressred challenge to the traditional whiteme, back to the rest of the room, next to the fire. Talk about being a social pariah. Luckily I was moved, without having to ask, when I took out my camera.

The service was a bit wonky all night. I like informal; I don’t like being asked how my food is tasting when I have a mouthful of it or trying to give some feedback on a dish and being asked if I have eaten monkfish before. But I know I can be a right old grumpy-pants at times, and these are minor compared to some delicious, bold pairings and flavours that made up most of my meal and service that is friendly and warm.

First up, an amuse bouche of a teeny two-bite Forme D’Ambert tart, just warm from the oven and formed from deliciously short pastry. Next, an earthy turnip and apple soup, with perky texture and fantastic dresses for the bridesmaids in your big daysweetness from some candied walnuts. Yes, they called it a veloutè and yes, it’s not 1998 anymore, but who cares about menu anachronisms when the food’s this good?

A Queen Charlotte scallop with blood orange foam, edamame, salmon roe and orange segments really shouldn’t have worked, but did. The Heidi Schrock Weissburgunder which paired it showed the skills of the sommelier and a wine service and kitchen that are working well together. Yeaman’s food uses striking flavours and it’s good to see that the wine service is up to the task.

The fish course was the only bum note of the evening. The preparation was interesting; roasted Atlantic monkfish with beef jus and a take on cassoulet with some cannellini beans and pancetta, but the fish was mealy and poorly cooked. It’s a shame that the quality of the fish and the execution let the dish down, because I’m often bored to death by the fish course on a tasting menu and this was genuinely interesting.

Then, deep breath, an “intermezzo” of blood peach sorbet with a dash of prosecco. I was ready to be all scathing (seriously, when was the last time you were served a sorbet in the middle of the meal? Were you wearing legwarmers at the time?) but the sorbet had bags of flavour and I liked the deconstructed Bellini thing that was going on. So I stopped complaining and embraced my inner Irene Cara.

Next up, Ewenique farm lamb saddle with panella, roasted eggplant and a thyme jus. Served with a 2005 Poggio di Sotto Rosso di Montalcino, this was Italy on a plate. I’d never heard of panella before (and my interweb research suggests that it’s traditionally a Sicilian chickpea fritter, rather than the chickpea and polenta purée I was served) but how lovely when you learn something new from a menu. Especially when it tastes this delicious. The lamb was just fab, although any pun as good as Ewenique is going to get me on-side from the get-go.

Finally, some doughnuts with a compote and an exceptional custard. I would have lingered over the lingonberries, but the table of dentists next to me were getting kind of graphic, so I brushed off offers of a cappuccino (a cappuccino? At 11pm? Do I look like a hairdresser?) and made off into the night.

Best meal I’ve had in Calgary? By a long shot. Good enough for me to go back soon. The tasting menu changes fortnightly. This could be the beginning of a beautiful thing.

Chef’s Table is at the Kensington Riverside Inn, 1126 Memorial Drive N.W, Calgary. Call 403.228.4442 for reservations.