The quilt is done and has been out of the house for over a week. Success.
This is the first quilt I have "finished" the quilting for and put through the wash. Yikes, what a heart attack! I was not prepared for the state it came out of the wash in and almost burst into tears. Turns out A) quilt batting holds a fuck ton of water and B) light colored fabric is SUPER transparent when wet. Thankfully one of SF's little mini October heat waves helped shed the water and the fabric returned to it's opaque state upon drying. Those first couple moments though... All the track stitching was done in red and while I clipped the threads, I didn't trim them back as short as I should have. Which meant that veins of red creeped out from the tracks when it was wet and all the character portraits had spider webs of black thread behind them.
I'm shocked to say the quilting process was rather fun. And this is the first time I've abandoned the use of a frame and just quilted in my lap. Would not do so for the primary stitching lines that holds everything in place (yay for having a quilt frame for that!!) but for the "filler" stitching, it worked well. While I continue to swear that "the next time" I'm shipping the damn thing off to be machine quilted by professionals, I do find it to be quite appealing to add custom stitches specific to the quilt design. Used masking tape to help guide the lines, and that proved to be very useful. Have also used masking tape to guide applique sewing (because I suck at pinning), so that stuff is turning out to be a vital to have on hand.
The back of the quilt was more complicated than it needed to be/should have been. For some reason I thought "Wow, this is waaaay too nerdy looking! It needs a stealth mode where you can flip it over and it doesn't look so... silly." So I did some minor slap-dash squares in a variety of fabrics. The rushed sewing job (and non-cotton fabric types) meant that it didn't lay perfectly flat, which became most noticeable when the quilting chased down all those wrinkles and pinned them in place. Oh well. This will be yet another flaw lost in the sea of detailed-stuff-going-on. On the up side, the station stitching clearly shows through the back of the quilt which I find to be quite fetching. Makes the effort of hand stitching such details more worth it.
And now, don't make fun of me, I'll confess I've started a sample square as a proof-of-concept for next quilt*... Poor Adam was a bit sad to see the 4T one leave- it's one of the few I've made that was large enough to cover him. So we talked a bit and kicked around a very Adam-specific idea that I'm pretty excited about. And again it's overly complex, very specific, will take forever, and will probably require hand quilting... I'm so excited!!
* I have not forgotten that I've plans for another 4T quilt for another individual! But that one actually requires the game to end before I can start on it so this one is... like... an exceptionally complicated palate cleanser...
A 25-year-old male was grazed in the head by a bullet at Rolph playground on 26th and Hampshire streets Friday morning. The victim was waiting to meet someone at the playground when he was approached by two men in their 20s at approximately 11:50 a.m.
One of the suspects shot the victim with a handgun, and the men then fled the scene in a dark colored sedan. The victim’s injuries were not life-threatening, and he was transported to San Francisco General Hospital. The suspects remain at large.
Burglary
A burglar broke into a Hancock Street residence between 18th and 19th streets between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. on Saturday. The victim, a 35-year-old man, woke up at 9:00 a.m. and found one of this windows open — a rope was attached to the window ledge.
The burglar stole the victim’s laptop, but left fingerprints on the window. The crime scene investigation unit is currently investigating the break-in.
Seven Robberies
At about 11:00 p.m. Friday night, a man in his 20s was hit on the back of his head and robbed while walking along 19th and Capp streets. The victim fell to the ground and lost consciousness. When he awoke realized that his wallet and backpack were missing. He was not able to identify any suspect, and was treated at San Francisco General Hospital for minor minor injuries.
Just a block over, a 34-year-old man was robbed while walking along 18th and Capp streets at 4:50 a.m on Saturday morning. The suspect, a 25-year-old male, pointed a knife at the man and stole his wallet before fleeing the scene on a bicycle.
A 33-year-old man walking home from a bus stop on 24th and Bryant streets at 11:00 p.m. Sunday night was approached by three males who demanded his money and cell phone. One of the suspects, who is in his 20s, threatened the victim with a taser. The men stole the victim’s property and then fled westbound on 24th Street — the victim got away unharmed.
Ten minutes later, on 23rd and Hampshire streets, a 24-year-old man was approached by three men in their early 20s who told him that he would not be harmed if he did not resist. The men searched the victim, stole his sunglasses, smart phone, wallet, back pack and ATM pin number, and then told the victim to turn off the tracking capability on his phone, before fleeing the scene.
At the same time, a 37-year-old male and his coworker were walking along Mission and 20th streets when they were approached by three male acquaintances of the coworker, ages 18-20. The suspects attacked the victim and began to beat him up, causing the man to fall to the ground and hit his head on the concrete.
The three suspects fled in a grey vehicle, and the victim suffered from gash above his eyebrow and minor injuries.
A 35-year-old male was robbed at Studio Shotwell, between 19th and 20th on Shotwell Street, at about 10:00 p.m. on Monday night. He was sitting down and playing with his tablet when approached by two males in their 20s, who demanded his property. When the victim refused, the suspects beat him with a bottle and stole his belongings. No arrests have been made.
At approximately 4:00 a.m. on Tuesday, a 33-year-old man was standing at 25th and Mission Streets when approached by a grey van. Three men, ages 25-30, jumped out of the van and punched the victim in the face. The man attempted to defend himself, prompting one of the suspects to draw a handgun while another procured a knife. The suspects stole the man’s ID card and money, and then fled eastbound on 25th Street in their vehicle.
Arson
At 1:30 a.m. on Monday night, a 39-year-old male lit a crate on fire at 17th and Mission Streets. He was arrested after a witness called the police.
Women in Armour - ConQuest of Mythodea 2015 - 1 | 2 | 3
When you let women dress themselves for battle there are no chain mail bikinis, no boob plates, no high heels. We wear heavy armour and wield swords and axes and maces. So fuck you, video game industry.
(Those are not my photos! Posted with permission from the Live Adventure team and their amazing photographers. Find out more about them, the ConQuest of Mythodea and other Larp events here. Please don’t remove caption!)
Women in Armour - ConQuest of Mythodea 2015 - 1 | 2 | 3
When you let women dress themselves for battle there are no chain mail bikinis, no boob plates, no high heels. We wear heavy armour and wield swords and axes and maces. So fuck you, video game industry.
(Those are not my photos! Posted with permission from the Live Adventure team and their amazing photographers. Find out more about them, the ConQuest of Mythodea and other Larp events here. Please don’t remove caption!)