Green Monday

Well, I have a couple of hours left of Monday, so here's my envy target today: Elizabeth from Oh, Fransson!

Mai sunt vreo doua ore din ziua de luni, asa ca iata tinta invidiei mele de azi: Elizabeth, creatoarea blogului Oh, Fransson!

She makes wonderful, bright, fresh looking quilts.
Face niste quilturi minunate, in culori vii si proaspete.

And she came up with the brilliant quick piecing idea which helped me make this quilt.
Si a mai avut si ideea geniala care m-a ajutat sa fac quiltul asta.

Her blog is worth a visit, there's plenty of inspiration to be found!
Merita sa-i vizitati blogul, e plin de inspiratie!

The Saga of the Twice Made Quilt

I promised you the story of how this quilt came to be, so here it is. This was the largest quilt I've ever made (130cm x 190cm) and also my first man-quilt.
V-am promis povestea facerii acestui quilt, deci iat-o. Asta a fost cel mai mare quilt pe care l-am facut pana acum (130x190), precum si primul quilt de barbati.

I had the idea in a flash of genius: hey, I could stencil those little dancing people he likes so much on some fabric, then turn the fabric into a quilt! His favourite colour combination being green and black, I went to search for some green fabric. The one below was the only green I could find that was cotton, and large enough. I wasn't crazy about the shade, but I figured it might look different once it was covered in LDPs (= little dancing people).
Ideea mi-a venit intr-o strafulgerare de geniu: hei, as putea picta omuletii aia care-i plac asa de mult pe un material, iar apoi sa fac un quilt din material! Combinatia lui preferata fiind verde cu negru, am plecat in cautare de verde. Singurul verde pe care l-am gasit si care sa fie si bumbac si destul de mare a fost cel de mai jos. Nu ma omoram dupa nuanta, dar m-am gandit ca va arata altfel odata ce va fi acoperit cu ODi (omuleti dansand).

I had a forest green fabric paint which looked quite nice, and I made stencils out of a plastic cover from one of my uni folders (what, it was all I had on hand at the time). And I started painting.
Aveam o vopsea pt textile de un verde-brad care arata bine; am facut sabloane din coperta de plastic a unui dosar pe care-l folosesc la scoala (ce, aia aveam la indemana!). Si m-am apucat de pictat.

1270 done, 2348 to go....
1270 gata, mai am 2348...

To be fair, I estimate about 5 LDPs per block, so that would mean I stencilled approximately 250 of them.
Pentru corectitudine, am estimat cam 5 ODi per bloc, deci asta ar insemna ca am pictat cam 250 in total.

As we all know, Murphy never sleeps! I soon ran out of fabric paint. I ran to the store to get some more, but it was that exact shade that they had run out of. I decided to take the next closest shade. I mean, it was just one number down, how different could it be? This different!
Dupa cum stim, Murphy nu doarme niciodata! Mi s-a terminat repede vopseaua pt textile. Am fugit la magazin sa mai iau dar exact nuanta aia n-o mai aveau. Am luat nuanta cea mai apropiata. In fond, era diferenta de doar un numar, cate de diferita putea sa fie? Asa de diferita!

I mixed it with white and yellow and brown and light green and blue and purple in an attempt to get it closer to the original shade, but what I ended up with was a sort of rancid furry mold colour. Oh well, I went on with it, waiting to see what it would look like when cut into blocks. I ended up with blocks that had both shades, and some blocks that had only one of the shades:
Am amestecat-o cu alb si galben su maro si verde deschis si albastru si mov in incercarea de a o aduce mai aproape de nuanta originala, dar am ajuns la o culoare de mucegai blanos ranced. Ma rog, am mers mai departe, hotarata sa vad cum va arata odata ce mterialul va fi taiat in blocuri. Mi-au iesit blocuri cu ambele nuante, si blocuri care aveau doar una din nuante:

I laid out the blocks on the bed...
Am pus blocurile pe pat...

...and YUCK! Nothing worked: the three greens smashed together, with the black border, it all looked awful to me. There was no way I would offer this as a birthday present. Maybe to a half-blind dog to sleep on.
...si BLEAH! Nimic nu se potrivea: trei nuante de verde trantite impreuna, cu marginea neagra, arata groaznic. N-aveam cum sa ofer asa ceva drept cadou de zi de nastere. Poate unui caine pe jumate orb, sa doarma pe el.

Not sure what to do, I left it aside and went to look for fabric for the other presents.
Nu stiam ce sa fac, asa ca l-am pus deoparte si am plecat sa caut materiale pentru celelalte cadouri.

And what do I find? A huge, oh-so-soft sheet in the perfect shade of green! I'm sure Murphy was snickering down at me while I was standing in the shop, wandering if I should laugh, swear or just buy the damn sheet. I bought it.
Si ce gasesc? Un cearsaf mare, super-moale, in nuanta perfecta de verde! Cred ca Murphy se prapadea de ras in timp ce eu stateam in magazin, intrebandu-ma daca sa rad, sa injur sau sa cumpar naibii materialul. L-am cumparat.

So off come two more plastic folder covers, to be turned into larger stencils, and the process begins again. This time, though, I decided to pre-cut the blocks and only put one large LDP in the middle of each, to save me some time. Also, no more green paint. Black will do, thank you very much. Here's what the first blocks looked like:
Asa ca sunt sacrificate inca doua coperte de dosare, pentru a fi transformate in sabloane mai mari, si procesul reincepe. Insa de data asta am decis sa tai blocurile dinainte si sa pun numai cate un OD mare in mijlocul fiecarui bloc, ca sa mai economisesc timp. De data asta fara vopsea verde, e bine si negru. Iata cum au iesit primele blocuri:

Excited about the obvious improvement, I almost forgot the drudgery of having painted and ironed another 45 LFDPs (little friggin dancing people). I got some pretty well aligned seams too:
Entuziasmata de imbunatatirea evidenta, aproape am uitat efortul si plictiseala de a fi pictat inca 45 de OND (omuletii naibii dansand). Am nimerit si cusaturile destul de aliniate:

Being such a large quilt. I had nowhere to stretch it out in my house. So off I went to take over the landlady's porch: (don't worry, I swept and mopped it 3 times before laying out the quilt)
Fiind un quilt asa de mare, n-aveam unde sa-l intind in casa. Asa ca am ocupat terasa gazdei: (fiti fara grija, am maturat si am mopuit de 3 ori inainte sa-l intind)

Sandwich, pin, quilt, border and the quilt was done in the nick of time.
Straturi, ace de siguranta, quiltuit, margine, si quiltul a fost gata la tzanc.

End results:

• a much improved night's sleep
• lots of leftover rancid mold coloured paint
• lots of ugly LDP quilt blocks I don't know what to do with. Any suggestions?
  
• most of my uni folders now have no covers
• I don't want to see another LFDP for a long long time
• painting polka dots on a square of fabric suddenly doesn't seem such a big feat anymore

Rezultate finale:

• un somn imbunatatit
• o gramada de vopsea de culoarea mucegaiului blanos ramasa
• o gramada de blocuri urate cu OD ramase, si cu care nu stiu ce sa fac. Sugestii?
  
• majoritatea dosarelor mele de la faculta nu mai au coperta
• nu vreau sa mai vad nici un omulet dansand pentru foarte foarte multa vreme
• brusc, pictatul de buline pe un patrat de material nu mi se mai pare asa mare lucru

Green Monday

Dear hypothetical readers,
Dragi cititori ipotetici,

As I've been discovering more and more crafty awesomeness in the blog world of late, I have decided to revive the Monday of envy.
De vreme ce in ultima vreme tot descopar minunatii in lumea blogurilor, m-am decis sa reinviu lunea invidiei.

Today's envy target: Tilly and her buttons :)
Tinta de azi a invidiei: Tilly si nasturii ei :)

Reason for envy: I'm never going to be able to make such professional-looking clothes
Motiv de invidie: Niciodata n-o sa fiu in stare sa fac haine care sa arate asa de profesional cusute.

She didn't even discover this hobby that long ago, and look what she can do already!
Nici macar nu si-a descoperit hobby-ul asta foarte demult, si deja uite ce stie sa faca!

I mean look at this! Pockets lined with pretty fabrics, and truckloads of buttonholes, and scalloped edges and....
Pe bune! Buzunare captusite cu materiale frumoase, si stive de butoniere si margini rotunjite si...

Not to mention she's so cute.
Ca sa nu mai zic ca-i draguta foc.
Darn!
La naiba!

Love critters

It seems that, even though the frenzy of spring is over, love-time for mucklor starts now. They get all silly and pursue their potential mates with such tenderness and delicate care!

Se pare ca, desi frenezia primaverii a trecut, anotimpul iubirii de-abia acum incepe pentru mishumaci.
Incep sa se prosteasca si isi curteaza potentialele partenere cu atata tandrete si delicata atentie !

They bring flowers and sweets and precious shiny things. They sing and dance and brush their tails neatly.

Aduc flori si dulciuri si alte pretioase lucruri stralucitoare. Canta si danseaza si isi periaza frumos cozile.
They say sweet things and do their best to look their best.

Spun lucruri dragute si fac tot posibilul sa arate cat mai bine.
But never do they lose their funny-shaped heads entirely!

Dar niciodata nu-si pierd caraghiosul cap in totalitate!

My first bag ever

Only now do I realise I had never made a bag before! This is my first. It was born as a group project. Along the line of our contact and collaboration, each of us had received fabrics hand dyed by Betty (who is extremely talented but alas, does not have a blog). Last year she came up with the idea that we should all make a bag using fabrics we had received from her. And this is mine!

Abia acum imi dau seama ca asta este prima mea geanta. S-a nascut in urma unui proiect de grup. De-a lungul legaturii si colaborarii noastre, fiecare din membrele grupului a primit materiale vopsite de Betty (care este extrem de talentata, dar din pacate nu are blog). Anul trecut, Betty a venit cu ideea sa facem fiecare o geanta folosind materialele primite. Si aceasta este a mea!

When I started working on it I realised I didn't have as much fabric as I thought I had, so I kept the structure the same, but made each square a tad smaller.

Cand am inceput sa lucrez la ea mi-am dat seama ca nu aveam chiar atata material cat crezusm. Asa ca am respectat structura impusa, dar am facut patratele mai mici.

I quilted it on all sides, and used a thick piece of cardboard to keep the bottom flat. I'm curious as to what will happen to it when the bag gets washed, haha.

Am matlasat-o pe toate partile, si am folosit o bucata groasa de carton pentru a pastra fundul drept. Sunt curioasa ce se va intampla cu cartonul cand va fi spalata geanta, haha.

I actually love how it turned out. But my friend took possession of it with an enthusiastic "mine! mine! pleeeease" even before it was finished, so our love affair was short lived.

Chiar imi place cum a iesit. Dar, cu un entuziast "te roooog, da-mi-o mie!", a fost adjudecata inca dinainte sa fie terminata, asa ca povestea noastra de dragoste a fost scurta.

I will soon post a link to the rest of the bags.

O sa pun in curand link-uri spre celelalte genti.

Have a sunny weekend!

Masterpiece in the making

Like an ancient horde of Tatars (just a lot more peaceful), my craft seems to be breaking the bounds of my own home and spilling out into the yard. This is what I did on Saturday, when I finally plucked up the courage to start working on what is to become a wallhanging quilt for a friend.

Ca o hoarda de tatari (dar mult mai pasnica), lucrul meu de mana pare sa sparga frontierele propriei locuinte si sa se verse in curte. Iata ce am facut sambata, cand in sfarsit mi-am facut curaj sa ma apuc de ceea ce va deveni un quilt-paretar pentru o prietena.

It's 3x1.2m, so, predictably, I had nowhere to spread it out indoors. So with the logistic help of my landlady, and to the tune of the neighbour's incessant questions, I put up my art camp on the concrete.
Are 3m x 1,2, deci, in mod previzibil, n-aveam unde sa-l intind in casa. Deci, cu suportul logistic al gazdei si in ritmul intrebarilor infinite ale vecinei, mi-am aranjat tabara de creatie pe ciment.

Step 1: Spread out fabric onto the concrete, anchoring it down stylishly with bricks:
Pasul 1: Se intinde materialul pe ciment, ancorandu-l in mod stilat cu caramizi:

Step 2: Sketch the entire pattern in heat-erasable pencil, standing up on a chair from time to time to check the proportions.
Pasul 2: Se schiteaza modelul cu creion care se sterge la caldura, stand in picioare pe un scaun din cand in cand pentru a verifica daca proportiile sunt corecte.

Step 3: Realize you drew the tree waaay too far left. Swear. Try to figure out how to erase everything. Swear.
Pasul 3: Se ajunge la revelatia ca am desenat copacul muuult prea la stanga. Se injura. Se gandeste cum sa se stearga totul. Se injura.

Step 4: Run inside, heat iron, unplug iron, come outside and iron the fabric on the concrete (probably the most ridiculous-looking thing I've done in a long time)
Pasul 4: Se alearga inauntru, se incalzeste fierul de calcat, se vine afara si se calca materialul de pe ciment (probabil cel mai ridicol lucru pe care l-am facut in ultima vreme)

Step 5: Re-sketch everything, pull out fabric paints and proceed to colour it in:
Pasul 5: Se schiteaza totul din nou, se scot vopselele pt textile si se purcede la colorat:

Step 6: Run out of paint one hour after the craft shop closes. Swear. Give it up and go do something else.
Pasul 6: Se termina vopselele, cu o ora dupa ora de inchidere a magazinului. Se injura. Se renunta si se trece la alt proiect.

I don't want to imagine where this is going; next thing you know I'll be stipple-quilting the pavement to make it lie flatter!
Nu vreau sa-mi imaginez unde ma va duce asta; inainte sa-mi dau seama, poate ma trezesc quiltuind trotuarul sa-l fac sa stea mai plat!

Another lot of leaves

I used up the last of the fabric I made for the Xmas presents for some more leaves: 2 pairs of earrings and 2 necklaces. Making such recycled fabric is probably my favourite crafy activity. Next up: some autumn leaves and maybe some flowers too.