"Baltimore Rhapsody" Block #6 - the oboe, part 2

This is part 2 of "Baltimore Rhapsody," block #6, the oboe (see part 1 here).   "Baltimore Rhapsody" is a music quilt in the Baltimore album style.  All the blocks measure 15 inches square.  The first 16 blocks are instruments you find in an orchestra, but then I will make additional blocks of other folk, jazz, church, and rock instruments. 

I know some of these tiny pieces may seem too difficult.  The blocks could be enlarged to make a 18" or 20" block.  There will also be larger instrument patterns offered...without all the fruits, flowers, and birds.  Soon the blocks will be available for purchase on my web site, either individually or in groups.  I want you to be able to make up your own music quilt, in any size, with the instruments of your choice.

OK...the oboe.  I took lots of detailed pictures when I put the oboe together.  After a few emails asking how, I decided to post the pictures...a picture is worth a thousand words. 

All four orchestral woodwind instruments are constructed in a similar manner.  Don't panic when you see all the tiny pieces!  Yes, they are more fiddly than the fruits and flowers, but they are do-able.  I stitch these by hand with the edges turned under, but you can use Ultrasuede, raw edge machine applique, heavy-duty raw edge fusible, or embroidery if you don't want to hand applique. 

One of the challenges of making these slender instruments is that the body of the instrument is either black, brown, or grey...not opaque like the background fabric.  How do I see where to put the pieces without being able to see through the background to use the pattern as a guide?

First I work right on the pattern to build up units, just like when I make my flowers and other motifs.

I work in several areas at one time...starting with levers, rods and pieces that appear to be under other stuff.  I use the Roxanne's glue baste ("dot-dot-not-a-lot") and put a weight on the glued area and move to another area while the glue sets a bit.

Somewhere I misplaced my American penny that I use to show scale, and I had a Canadian one mixed in the change in my pocket...being less than 50 miles from Canada (Windsor is across the river from Detroit), half my pocket change is usually Canadian, LOL.

I usually leave the freezer paper on for a while when I am in "assembly mode" so I don't get confused.  I use my stiletto and forceps to loosen the paper edges on the tiny pieces when it's time and handle everything with my forceps because my fingers feel clumsy.  I can barely pick up the penny, much less the tiny keys. 

My brothers used to put together a lot of model cars when I was a little girl.  This woodwind construction reminds me of all the little detail pieces my brothers used to lose...thank goodness this glue doesn't smell, LOL.

I also use the weights to hold the pieces down in place while I work on the other end, prying up and gluing.

Do you see the taller white pattern weight below?  It was made by  Bruce, my applique buddy Julie H's husband.  He is very handy, and he worked with some chair leg caps, lead shot, plaster, and little felt circles to make a set for Julie and for me (thank you, Bruce!!).  If you have a handy husband, maybe you could have a set made for you (I think fishing lead weights would work as well in the plaster - the plaster alone isn't heavy enough).  I also use some large washers for weights sometimes, also pictured below.

Once I get segments constructed, I place the black oboe body on the pattern and glue the segments into place, using the places where the levers and keys stick out on each side as my guides. 

Here is is, all glued up.

Here it is, all stitched up on the block.

Tomorrow, the tuba...

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

"Baltimore Rhapsody" Block #6 - the oboe, part 1

The oboe is the next block in "Baltimore Rhapsody," a music quilt in the Baltimore album style that I am designing.  It is the soprano member of the double reed instrument family... double reed because two pieces of thin, narrow reed are shaved and tied together with thread and placed in a holder affixed to the small end of the instrument.  When blown, the softened, wet reeds vibrate to make the distinctive sound.  

The modern oboe was invented in Paris, France about 300 years ago by a bagpiper in the court ballet orchestra, but it is based on similar ancient instruments.  One of these, the Aulos, was popular in Greece and took much strength to play; the player's cheeks were strapped with a leather belt to keep them from bursting, LOL!



It is said that the instrument is not so much blown, but that the air is allowed to escape into the instrument to produce the sound (maybe that is why oboe players always appear a little tortured while they play...). 

My high school band director used to tease that playing the oboe killed brain cells, due to all the back pressure in the head.  Oh my!  (I had expressed interest in the oboe...I think he was trying to discourage me...)

The oboe gives the "A" for all the other orchestra instrumentsto tune to.  This is because altering the pitch of this instrument involves actual carpentry!

The pink Sweet Williams are made petal by petal, glue basted together with tiny dots of Roxanne's Glue Baste.  Petals are prepped with a glue stick first, then the order of the addition of petals is based on which petals are "behind" and which petals are toward the "front."

My fingers are so clumsy, I handle the little pieces with forceps as I line them up, working over my pattern.



I place the tiny dots of glue away from the intersection of the pieces so that I don't have to stitch through the dried glue later.  I use this Roxanne's glue so that I don't have to work with pins.

I find this pre-assembly work very satisfying!

After the glue baste is dry enough, I carefully remove the ironed-on freezer paper patterns (they can be reused!) and hand applique the blossom together using YLI silk thread.

I lay out all my prepped pieces on the pattern to make sure I haven't missed any.  I do as much of the unit assembly BEFORE working on the background as I can...I find it easier and more accurate working right on the pattern to "build" the motifs instead of trying to see the pattern through the background fabric square. 

When all the units are glue basted and the larger ones stitched off block, I center the background square on the pattern so that the design is showing through as my guide (a light box makes this easier). Then I glue baste everything to the background square using as little glue as possible ("dot-dot-not-a-lot").

Here is one of the blossoms, all stitched together, ready to be placed on the background square, using a light box to reveal the pattern through the fabric.  These blocks that I stitch off block are really portable for sewing away from the quilt cave.

At this point, I hand appliqued all the blossom, leaves, buds, and vines to the background square before adding the oboe.  I just find it easier to applique the more involved instrument pieces when I'm not catching my thread on the unstitched edges of the flower pieces.

As this post is getting too long, I will show detailed steps of building the oboe in my next post (the oboe, part 2).  Soon, all these patterns will be available for purchase on my web site.  All the blocks finish 15 inches square, and they will be available individually or in groups.

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

"Sewing room away from home" and a question...

  
Hand applique is totally portable, THANK GOD!!  I posted block #5 of "Baltimore Rhapsody" yesterday, but I just had to share this today, especially for all you busy moms/grandmas out there...

Here I am working in my most recent "sewing room away from home"...my Subaru car!  My daughter recently finished her required Level One driving course for the state of Michigan.  It lasted several weeks with 2 evening sessions a week.  To keep from spending all my time driving to and fro, I decided to just camp out, in the car, and get some work done (about the time I would arrive at home, it would be time to go back and get her...sigh).

I have my little thread/snip-it container on the dash, NPR playing on the radio, a diet Coke in the cup holder, a light hanging around my neck, and a little battery fan in case it gets a little stuffy in there.  Everything but a potty (should buy a smaller pop...).  I think I need to install a trailer hitch and pull around a little 5th wheel, set up as a sewing room.
   
I do get a few stares from other parents, but that doesn't stop me.  One evening, a policeman stopped and walked over to talk to me.  Maybe he got a tip from the Department of Homeland Security that a strange woman in a little gray car was casing the AAA office.  He was friendly enough, but he did ask my name...isn't that weird?  Maybe I'm now on a terrorist watch list somewhere..."dangerous mom with a needle"...

Weasley says "hi!"

I'm having a problem with Blogger...maybe some of you are having the same problem and may even know how to fix it?!?  When I try and leave a comment on some blogs I follow/visit, I'm not signed in and I am asked to "select a profile."  I do that, but I never get a window to put my user name and password, so I can't leave a comment.  I have been able to leave comments on these sites before.  If I have time to try and find an email address on the blog in question, I leave a comment that way, but sometimes the link to an email address isn't obvious.

I have not commented in a while on Madamme Samm's "Sew We Quilt!" site, and others, and I can't find a link to her email ANYWHERE!  Help! 

Have you experienced this??  Please let me know if you have a fix!  I am not comfortable as a lurker, and I have not had as many commenters or new followers lately on my blog and I'm worried that some people are having the same trouble here.  My page count is growing...FAST...so people are seeing my page.  I am so close to having 500 followers, but the number has not budged!

Enjoy sewing this weekend...if you see me somewhere, stitching in my car, come say hello (and don't alert law enforcement...I am harmless)!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)

Block #5 - a grand piano

 

The concert grand piano is my favorite solo instrument in the symphony.  I ended up making mine brown instead of the more formal black because browns made it easier to highlight the different parts of the piano...there's definitely more of a range with my stash of browns than my blacks.

This is the 5th block in the quilt that I am designing called "Baltimore Symphony" (click to read the back story).  Soon the blocks will be available for purchase, either separately, or in groups.  Each block will finish 15 inches square.  The first 16 blocks feature instruments associated with a symphony.

  

The piano was invented in 1709 by Bartolommeo Cristofori, so that makes it pretty young as compared to other instruments.  It was created because the harpsichord just couldn't match the power, dynamic range, and expression of the violin. 

Several changes were made over time due to the demands of keyboardists.  It has strings, but is in the percussion section, of all things (hammers strike the strings to make sound)!

I made the large corner rose motifs with accompanying leaves "off block"...hand appliqueing all the petals together before placing the finished rose on the background.  

Then I added the stems, buds, and leaves using Roxanne's glue baste ("dot-dot-not-a-lot") to secure the pieces until I finished the hand stitching.

I find the pattern weights indispensable while gluing.  They hold things in place why I apply the tiny glue dots.  I got the hard white ones years ago.  The bean bag type can be found here. 

I do my hand applique with YLI silk thread.  It is like sewing with human hair and I really like the way the stitches...just...disappear!  I use a glue stick to turn the edges under (using a freezer paper pattern adhered to the RIGHT side of the fabric as my guide).  There are detailed tutorials on my top tool bar to explain this method.

I took the easy way out on the keyboard...I appliqued a white fabric piece to be doodled on later (after all the applique was done and the block was hand-washed and ironed dry).  I used a #005 (0.2 mm) black Pigma pen to draw in the keys.  (I will show pictures of how I carefully soak and dry my blocks in my next post.)

There's no shame in taking the easy way out and drawing the keyboard...or other block details.  I looked at every piano fabric in my stash, hoping to find one that was the exact right size and perspective that would work by fussy-cutting...Broderie perse...no such luck (it was a long shot...).  

If you have trouble finding that tiniest size of Pigma pens near you, they can be found here.

I hope you find some sewing time today...I have had so much fun with this project!  I love your comments and hearing about your music experiences!

In stitches,

Teresa  :o)

Block 4 - the aristocratic instrument

Block 4 of "Baltimore Rhapsody" is the trumpet block.  One of my favorite things about quilting is that block elements don't have to follow the rules of scale...a giant trumpet looks perfectly appropriate towering above little pumpkins...pumpkins that would normally squash, or at least SERIOUSLY damage, a trumpet if dropped on it.  I based this block on one of the original blocks I drafted for my Civil War Bride Quilt.

This block is a little more "folk art" looking than some of the typical, more elegant Baltimore album blocks.  I love making pumpkins and anything that reminds me of fall, my favorite season!  It's nice to take a break from the typical fruits and flowers and do something a little unexpected.

The trumpet is the soprano member of the brass family.  People who don't play brass instruments wonder at all the loops, twists and turns in the instrument's tubing.  Before 1500, trumpets were straight and as long as 7 feet long...that would be a little awkward for the player, don't you think?  All those loops make the instruments more practical and easier to handle (just wait 'til we get to the TUBA!).

An ancient relative of the trumpet, made from a ram's horn, was believed to have brought down the walls of Jericho by Joshua.  In the middle ages, only noblemen employed a trumpet player...maybe to announce his entrance in a room.  Trumpets were later used in battle by the military to announce a charge and scare the pants off the enemy.  Remember the Imperial Margarine commercial with the fanfare and the crown that appeared after a bite was taken of the buttered bread?  Yep, that was a trumpet.

Now trumpets are used in orchestral, band, and jazz music.

I posted about making the sunflower in a "sneak peek" here.  To find out the back story about "Baltimore Rhapsody," check here.

My husband is almost through with the web site, and patterns are being prepared to put there.  I am so excited about this project!  I just want to be drawing, prepping and stitching all the time!  Too bad that there are meals to make, laundry to do, etc.

I now have a "Follow By Email" button above Weasley's picture at the top of my blog on the right side (thanks for suggesting it, Janice!).  If I did this right, you can sign up to receive email notices of new posts.  Let me know if it works...I'm not very good at this blogging thing!

In stitches,
Teresa  :o)