Field Trips in Fiber

Sewing Notions Tote - Planning, step 1

You have given me some GREAT ideas for my sewing notions tote. Actually you've turned it into 2 bags. Now I will have a small notions tote and a larger bag (probably a messenger bag) for the big stuff. Here's what I've gathered from your lists. Tomorrow I will start some drafting. If these come together I think they will be pretty cool!

Notions Tote

• fabric shears
• small scissors
• medium rotary cutter
• spare rotary cutter blades
• seam ripper
• hand sewing needle assortment
• thimble dots
• variety of machine replacement needles
• pins (do I want a pin cushion or just a container of pins, maybe a magnetic one)
• neutral threads
• space for project-specific thread
• mechanical pencil
• pen
• fabric markers (disappearing ink pen, chalk marker)
• seam gauge
• tweezers
• 6 x 6 gridded ruler
• tape measure
• small cutting mat
• small ironing surface
• bandaids
• thread conditioner/beeswax
• binder clips
• machine feet and supplies
• fray check
• non-fabric scissors
• pocketknife/multi tool with screwdrivers and corkscrew
• glue stick
• post-it notes
• stiletto

Project Tote/Messenger Bag

• project fabric and blocks
• class/show registration materials
• water bottle
• extension cord
• Clover iron
• wallet
• misc purse stuff (meds, tissues)
• chocolate
• flask (for me and Sue)
• adjustable strap/handles
• a method for attaching the notions tote to the bag
• larger ruler
• medium notebook

Help me design a new sewing notions tote

In case you haven't heard, I am going to Houston in October for a 3-day Paula Nadelstern class. I'm already pulling together a huge stack of fabric and then I started thinking of the sewing notions that I would need. That led to the desire for a new notions tote. This ugly plastic one was given to me when I left Charlotte NC in 1994. I helped start the American Sewing Guild chapter there and they gave me this as a going-away gift. It was a lovely gift and a really functional tote until all of the "zippered pages" inside finally ripped and now I just carry it jammed with plastic freezer bags.

I started looking around the web for one to buy and then for a pattern but I can't find exactly what I want. So I'm going to make one!

I'm starting with a list of things that I want to carry in my tote and some of the features that I want it to have.

I need a place in the tote for:

• shears
• small scissors
• medium rotary cutter
• spare rotary cutter blades
• seam ripper
• hand sewing needle assortment
• thimble dots
• variety of machine replacement needles
• pins (do I want a pin cushion or just a container of pins?)
• neutral threads
• space for project-specific thread
• mechanical pencil
• pen
• fabric markers (disappearing ink pen, chalk marker)
• seam gauge
• tweezers
• 6 x 6 gridded ruler
• tape measure

Features that I want:

• a place for everything so I easily know if something is missing
• some removable zipper pockets for project-specific notions
• maybe a spot for my clover iron, or a separate carrier for it
• a little bag for catching thread snips
• fully closable so nothing falls out

What am I missing? What would you want to carry in your notions tote? What features would you like to have?

Let's design the perfect tote and you can make it along with me over the next week or so!

Gift bag tutorial

I have to deliver two baby quilts at work tomorrow. Of course it was 6:00 tonight before I realized that I did not have baby gift bags or even baby wrapping paper. I needed fabric gift bags pronto!  Here they are complete and ready for the quilts.

These took a lot less time to make than it's taken me to edit the photos and write the instructions. There are an overabundance of photos here but I tried to show every step so that beginners could make these.

I actually found 3 half yards of a babyish print in my stash and I used most of all 3 to make these 2 bags.

To determine the size to cut the bag I placed the folded quilt in the fabric and cut a piece long enough that it would wrap around the quilt. The cut edge is the TOP of the bag, the folded edge is the BOTTOM.

After the rough size of the bag is cut, square up the edges and the top. Can you se that really this strip at the top? That's the selvage and it will come into play later.

Cut two pieces of the body fabric for the handles. These are cut about 2.5" wide and 16" long.

Cut two more pieces for the top band. Cut them as long as the bag is wide and as wide as you want. I was using a stripe so I cut the fabric to take the best advantage of the fabric print.

Fold the handles lengthwise, right sides together and sew down the long edge about 1/4". When I have a tube to turn and I want some control over the seam, I first press one of the seam allowances open (photo on the left) before turning the tube. When I do this I an able to better control where that seam falls. For these handles I wanted the seam in the center back. I finished them off by top stitching both sides about 1/8" from the edge.

This is the only confusing part so pay attention! Place the bag body RIGHT SIDE DOWN with one top edge ready  for pinning. Find the center of the top edge and make a park 2 1/2" - 3" on each side of the center mark. Position a handle with the PRETTY (not seamed) SIDE UP, position the raw edges fo the handle ends aligned with the top edge of the bag and pin the handles in place.

Position one of the top bands RIGHT SIDE DOWN on top fo the bag and handle. Stitch through all layers along the top edge of the bag. I did this with about a 3/8" inch seam allowance. This was helpful later when I was top stitching. Now repeat these two steps with the other top bag edge.

Turn the decorative band edge and the handles to the front of the bag and press to get a sharp edge ont he top of the bag. This is also a good time to press up the hem allowance at the bottom of the band.

NOTE: Yes, you could sew the side seams first and then attach the band in one long piece. This is just the way I chose to make mine.

Pin the side seams together matching the top of the bag and the bottom edge of the bands. I stitched my bag with the serger (because I have one and it was conveniently loaded with white thread). Otherwise I would have stitched the side seam with 2 rows of straight stitching for added strength. I also wanted the bottom of my bag to be square. This is optional but you do this by folding the bottom corner of the bag so that the fold that is the bottom of the bag aligns with the side seam and stitching across perpendicular to the seams. I drew my line about 2" from the point of the corner. Stitch the seam (double again) and cut away the excess fabric.

  All that's left is a little prettying up! Top stitch around the very top edge of the bag. Since you made the 3/8" seam allowance, your top stitching will go through all layers and secure the handle better. Finish it off by top stitching the bottom of the band in place. On one of the bags I added wide ric rac on top of this seam.

You can see the ric rac edge in this photo. It was some wide ric rac that I dyed several years ago. I had all of the exact shades that are in the fabric. This is why stashes are important!

Remember that selvage that I cut off earlier? I cut the remaining fabric into narrow strips an added some yarns. I tied it off with that selvage, trimmed up the edges of the fringe and tied this "bow" to one of the handles. I think it's pretty cute!

Now they are ready for the baby shower tomorrow!

Hmmmm, I just realized that I do not have cards to put in the gifts! The quilt labels will just have to do.

Mineral Pool Placemat - warning, LOTS of photos!

There are two things that I have been wanting to do: make some samples using my hand dyed fabrics and make more placemats. I have a million placemat ideas but I wanted to go back to these that I made during Craft Week and write up a tutorial. Since I wasn't able to make soap yesterday (missing an ingredient) I decided that I needed to do the placemat tutorial and I selected the Mineral Pool palette because these colors will look fantastic in my kitchen.

I chose the 3 blues and 3 golds for my placemats. I only made 2 because it's usually only me and Chris here. I like these so much that I will dye matching napkins this weekend. Lets' get started.

The technique used is cutting and piecing a gentle curve. I found a very good tutorial for piecing gently curved seams on the Cheryl Rose Creates blog.  Go ahead, check it out to see if it's something that you want to try. The really nice thing about this is that your cutting does not have to be exact. You could also do this with straight seams and it would be very interesting with angled straight seams.

All of the instructions are for ONE placemat and the instructions for each photo are BELOW the photo. You can click on the photo for a larger image. The finished size of my placemat is 17" x 13" but you can make yours any size you want. If you want it larger you will need to cut wider strips.

Step 1: Cut approximately 3" x 9" pieces of the blue fabrics. One of the light blue and 2 each for the medium and dark blues.

Step 2: Position a medium blue strip above and below the center light strip.

Step 3: Overlap the dark and light strips by about 3/4". I usually put the light strip over the dark so that I can see the shadow of the dark through the light fabric. Cut a GENTLE curve through both layers making sure that your blade is on both layers for the full length of the curve. You can see in the upper cut where I have removed the cut away bits. Sew these two seams using the method in the tutorial link above. Press toward the added piece. I press toeard the added strip at ever step.

 Step 4: Add the dark blue pieces to the sides of the center section. Notice that I cut the dark blue pieces longer than the section where it will be attached. I do this for every addition. It helps when I add the next piece and prepare to but the next curve. Make your cuts and sew these sections on.

Step 5: The next section is a narrow gold section. This gold is added to each side and the top and bottom. Cut these pieces 2 "wide. Overlap, again, at least 3/4" and cut your curves. Sew and press. it does not matter if you add the sides first or the top and bottom. I chose th do the sides for this one.

 

Step 6: The final section is a wide section with dark gold on the top and bottom and dark brown on the sides. Cut these pieces 4" wide. You can see in this photo that when I overlap the center section with the wide section that the gold will finish quite narrow in some areas. It's even OK of the gold is only a sliver in some parts. Attach the dark gold and brown strips. Trim the placemat to your finished size. Mine is cut 17" x 13".

 

Step 7: I picked a fabric from my stash for the backing. Layer your placement just like you would a quilt. Lay the backing down wrong side up, smooth out the batting and then layer the top, right side up. Pin through all layers. I am doing some research to find the best filling for my placemats. I'm not very happy with quilt batting because the placemats often come out the the dryer in a wad. For this one I decided to try using sweatshirt fleece from an old sweatshirt. I made sure it was a light one (and clean) that would not show through. I figure that this stuff has shrunk all it's ever going to shrink. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

Step 8: Quilt it. I did a simple stitch in the ditch using Superior MonoPoly in the needle and a thread to match my backing in the bobbin. I also stitched through all layers around the entire edge of the placemat about 1/8" in from the edge, just to hold the layers stable. When you are done quilting, trim away the backing and batting.

 

Step 9: I was not in the mood to do a binding on these so I decided to do a fused binding. I chose the two darker blues and added WonderUnder to the back of both. Any fusible will do.

 

Step 10: Cut 2 strips of each fabric, 1 1/4" wide. I decided to use my lettuce edge blade to add some interest to the placemat. These strips need to be about 18" long.

 

Step 11: For this step you will need your applique pressing sheet or a piece of parchment paper. Peel the paper backing from the binding strip. Lay the placemat right side up on the parchment sheet. Place one of the binding strips (sticky side down) on the edge of the placemat. You want the strip to be about half on and half off with a little bit hanging off each end. Press it in place using the exact instructions from the fusible manufacturer. After it cools peel the fused edge off the applique sheet.

 

Step 12: This is a little hard to see. The placemat is face down and I have cut the corner out of the binding strip so that there is just a little tab of binding from the front that I can fold to the back and them fold the rest of the bonding strip to the back and fuse it all in place. That little tab helps to make sure that you don't have any batting corners sticking out. Attach your binding to all 4 edges. I did not top stitch mine. I'll see how it performs in the first wash and I may find myself stitching it down after that.

Finished! I think it took just as long to take all fo the photos and write the instructions as it did to make the placemats. Please let me know if you make these and especially if there's anything about the instructions that's not clear or incorrect.

Craft Week Report - Part 1, The Craft Parts

I'll do my Craft Week summary in 2 parts: the Craft Parts and the Quilt Parts. Basically, Craft Week for me was about 1/2 Star BOM quilt and 1/2 "other". In the other category is another quilt top and these craft items. I started the week with about 3 days of the Star BOM, had about 2 1/2 days of other in the middle and ended with about a day and a half of Star BOM.

There was a big allergic reaction thrown into the middle to make things interesting. But I always seem to have one good AR at every Craft Week. Remember when I posted that I thought I was allergic to peppers? Well, I completely cut out peppers from my diet and I have been eating a very bland diet overall for about 3 weeks. It seems that as a consequence of cutting out peppers and pepper spices, that I also basically cut out tomatoes too. Now I have been allergic to raw tomatoes since I was about 20 but I was able to eat cooked tomatoes. It was my first serious food allergy. Before Craft Week I found a jar of tomato sauce without any peppers and we made a great spaghetti dinner with it Tuesday night. Holy Mother of God, that was one miserable night. I wasn't a bundle of cheer the next day either. That was the day that Anne chose to sun print outside and away from Miss Crabby Pants. You see, when you remove an allergen from your diet for a period of time and then add it back, the reaction is stronger than if you were eating the food every day. I had not realized that I was also not eating tomatoes. I still have not yet added peppers. I will as soon as this last reaction completely clears up but I don't expect that I will have any problems with it.

Accomplishment #1: Food allergy likely resolved.

The first project I did on my Star BOM break was 2 sets of coaster and bowls using the wrapped cord method. They too about 100 feet of cotton cording and 6 hours to finish. The fabrics are some of my hand dyed fabrics. Note to self: a coaster set takes 2 fat quarters, not the 4 that you cut. Find something to do with the remaining strips.

I hate to admit it but these are actually Christmas gifts....for LAST Christmas! I hope Mitzi and Mary will forgive the lateness.

Accomplishment #2: Finish 2008 Christmas gifts.

I still needed a little more time away from the Star BOM so I pulled out the ric-rac box (I never leave for Craft Week without the ric-rac box) some fabrics that I set aside for placemats.

I bought the fabric for these placemats last year when I attended MQX. Sue, Summerset and I spent a day together and I bought this cute Japanese chicken fabric specifically for placements. The turquoise is a hand dyed piece and I added the mini red ric-rac. I bought the jute trim specifically for these. I love these placemats and they are already out on the table.

The second set are made from some fabrics that I bought at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show this past February. There was a huge set of these fabrics at the Pinwheels booth. Anne and I bought the set and split them. Kim bought some yardage and made a skirt. She gave me the leftover fabric and I used it on these placemats. (I know, I should have ironed out the wrinkles before photographing them but I was too lazy. I really should just send everything I make to Wendy and let her photograph it for me!) I made a set of 4 of these and have plenty of fat quarters left to make more if I get the urge. I will likely do tutorials for both of these sometime in the future.

I also made about 5 hours of progress on the cat cross stitch but will share that on Wednesday.

After I finished these I started back on the Start BOM and worked on it until 5:00 Friday afternoon when I had to leave.

Accomplishment #3: Start a placemat making obsession.

During her week Ann finished 2 quilt tops and made backs for quilts that she started at the last Craft Week, sewed sleeves on 4 wall hangings, made a birthday gift for her Mom, sunprinted several shirts and fabrics (in a 2-day sun-printing session) and did lots of things around her house to get it set up for summer.

It was productive, fun and relaxing. Perfect.

I made more potholders

 

It's hard to tell but there are 24 potholders there and this doesn't include the 10 that I have already given away.

I think I'm done making potholders now.

But if you want to make your own, the instructions are here and here.

What should I obsess over next? Placemats?

A small potholder

I decided that I needed a small potholder to go with the larger one that I made last week. This one is about 6 1/2" square.

Cutting:

Front and back fabric, each 7" square (the veggies and purple onions)

Cotton Batting, 2 pieces each 6 1/2" square (I used Warm and Natural scraps)

Insul-Bright, 1 pieces 6 1/2" square

Pockets, 2 pieces each 7" square (the white onion print)

Cotton batting for pocket padding, 1 6 1/4" square cut on the diagonal

Corners, 2 2" squares (purple onions)

 

(Note the pretty new pincushion.)

Layer the potholder parts: front fabric (right side down), 1 piece of cotton batting centered in the fabric, Insul-Bright, second piece of cotton batting and the back layer of the fabric (right side up). The batting layers are centered in the fabric so that there is about 1/4" of fabric extra around all sides of the batting. Pin through all layers.

Place the pocket batting on the diagonal of the pocket fabric and fold the pocket over. These pockets are on the diagonal of the potholder.

 

Quilt through all layers. I stitched simple straight lines with a long (3.5) stitch length. Stitch A long stitch length is necessary when stitching through so many layers. I stitched a few rows of stitching on the folded edge of the pockets.

 

Lay the pockets on the FRONT of the potholder with the folded edges of the pockets along the diagonal  center of the potholder. The pockets may or may not touch at the center of the potholder - it doesn't matter. Fold the 2" squares in half on the diagonal and pin in place at the corners where the edges of the pocket meet. This will encase the raw edges on the sides of the potholder. Pin through all layers.

I do not hang my potholders but you could insert a loop between these layers to add a loop.

 

Stitch all around the potholder about 1/4" from the edge. If you do it right you will not sew through batting. Clip the corners and turn the pockets to the back.

 

After the potholder is turned, top stitch about 1/4" from the edge all the way around.

Now you have 2 sizes of potholders!

I need potholders

and I need a quick project as a break from the Tediums (I, II and III). I've been pondering making some new potholders for a while and here's the pattern and process that I developed. I wanted one that would go together quickly without binding.

Cutting:

Front and back fabric, each 9 1/2" x 7 1/2" (the stripe and the small print)

Cotton Batting, 2 pieces each 9" x 7" (I used Warm and Natural scraps)

Insul-Bright, 1 pieces 9" x 7"

Pockets, 2 pieces each 9" x 7 1/2" (the floral print)

Cotton batting for pocket padding, 2 pieces each 7" x 4 1/4"

 

Layer the potholder parts: front fabric (right side down), 1 piece of cotton batting centered in the fabric, Insul-Bright, second piece of cotton batting and the back layer of the fabric (right side up). The batting layers are centered in the fabric so that there is about 1/4" of fabric extra around all sides of the batting. Pin through all layers.

 

Quilt through all layers. I followed the "V" of the dye pattern but you can do simple straight lines. Stitch with a long stitch size. A long stitch length is necessary when stitching through so many layers.

Prepare the pockets. Fold the pocket fabric in half and place the batting inside against the fold. Stitch a couple of rows of stitches through all layers.

 

Here's a side view of the quilted potholder where you can see that the batting layers do not go all the way to the edge of the fabric. This makes the potholder easier to turn.

   

Lay the pockets on the FRONT of the potholder with the folded edges of the pockets toward the center of the potholder. The pockets will not touch at the center of the potholder. See that little piece blue of fabric on the right? It's about 1 1/5" x 2" and is cut from the backing fabric. I folded it in half lengthwise and pinned it over the space where the pockets almost meet. See it pinned on the right side? The folded edge is toward the INSIDE of the potholder. This will encase the raw edges on the sides of the potholder. Pin through all layers.

I do not hang my potholders but you could insert a loop between these layers to add a loop.

   

Stitch all around the potholder about 1/4" from the edge. If you do it right you will not sew through batting. Clip the corners and turn the pockets to the back.

 

After the potholder is turned, top stitch about 1/4" from the edge all the way around. This is how I would use the potholder on the rare occasion that I use it. 

If there's anything about this tutorial that doesn't make sense please let me know.

 

Handwork Thursday?

I know, I usually do the handwork post on Wednesday but I'm just happy to have somethingto post! The process of unwinding my back continues. This past weekend was better but Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were worse. Last night I spent 2 hours rolling around on a golf ball and using the shiatsu massager to work out the knots  in my back and I was much better today.

Over the past 2 weeks this is just about all I have accomplished so I am thrilled to finally share Capetown Sundown. I did not do such a great job on this one but it will look just fine hanging on the tree in the mix of all of the other ornaments. This is ornament #109. How do I know that? Because I keep a spreadsheet of course!

If that's not compulsive enough for you, I present Exhibit B: the ornament storage closet. Believe it! One entire closet devoted to the ornaments. Isn't it just the coolest? It is to me. One friend says she's sending a photo to the FBI for profiling. The truth is that the ornaments store safest hanging so when we moved here I had this extra closet in a hallway that I didn't need. 120 cup hooks later and I had this custom storage closet. The boxes on top are the three new display tress that I bought this year.

I know. You want to be me.

Now I will move back to the stupid cat cross stitch. I've actually been missing it lately. I'm glad to have the ornaments to switch back to when I get bored with the cat again. Meanwhile, I'll leave you with a few more ornaments from the closet.

The red one is Grand Tier, the white/brown one is Nutmeg, the black one is White Knight (it was supposed to be on a white ball but I picked black) and the gold one is Dresden.

It's good to be back! Maybe I can dye this weekend.

Handwork Wednesday

Yea, I know I should be posting some profound New Year post but, aside from tracking my projects during a calendar year, New year analytics just aren't my thing. It's just a Wednesday with some cool fireworks on TV. Chris is going to a party while I stay home and continue to nurse my back. I am doing much better but I am incredibly sore and still mostly just laying around. My big accomplishment today was making some cupcakes with my new Bosch compact mixer, Many thanks to Judy for turning me on to that brand of mixer. I had been looking for a replacement for my very old Oster Kitchen center for years and this Bosch is just the ticket!

  There is basically NOTHING creative going on here. I REALLY want to sew but that's not happening yet. I hoped maybe tomorrow but I don't think so now. I am going to continue to baby my back so I can finally get it back to normal. So all I've done is work a little on my Cracker Box ornaments. First, I finished Cleopatra. This one was a UFO for at least 2 years so I am glad to have it finally finished. It's very sparkly with about 12 incues of Swarovski crystals.

The next one up is Capetown Sundown. I don't really get the name but that's OK, it's still pretty. The ball is pale pink and the trims and beads are silver and bright green. Here's a photo of the current state and a photo of some of the elements used on the ornament. The green loopy ribbon is placed over that wide silver ribbon around the center of the ball and then 4 different bead combos are pinned in an arrangement around the ball. I'm working on the top triangle shapes now. I will finish this ornament and the go back to the cross stitch for a while.

  

I am starting to put the ornaments away for the year. Here are a few more to share from the collections.

Be My Valentine

 

Victorian Winter

 

Clouds Across the Moon

Handwork Wednesday

I know it's Christmas Eve and I should probably be doing something else, but I don't have anything else that I have to do! We are going to my friend's for dinner tonight so I have a totally free day until 5pm. Today I decided to plug in an audiobook and work on my Cracker Box ornament. The one I am working on now is called Cleopatra - every design has a very creative name.

The kits come in a bag like this one on the left. The instructions are photocopied typed pages and all of the beads, pins and sequins are all combined in one bag.

Here's my set up for working on these. I use a lap tray table (it was a wedding gift so it's probably some sort of antique collectible by now). I use an old lunch container to separate my pins, beads and ribbons and I have a coffee mug to hold the ball when I am working on one side. The most important tools are a nail punch (because there are about 5 million pins in every ball) and a narrow tape measure. I got this one at a fabric store years ago and haven't seen then since. If you find a narrow one though, they are much better than the normal ones. I also use pliers, tweezers (with a curved tip), glue syringe and other sewing supplies.

  Here are the instructions for Cleopatra. The only way to work these kits is to read and work one step at a time. Reading ahead will make you insane. (Working on the ornaments can make you insane too.) The instructions are are verbiage - no pictures except for an illustration. That's it! I keep the photo from the catalog near by for reference.

Some would consider this "fiddly". OK, that's an understatement. In the photo on the right I am gluing a string of 5 Swarovski crystals to each side of the gold triangles. You can see the line of glue on the triangle to the left of the outlined one. The 5 crystal strand will be placed right next to the gold triangle. Then I will come back and add one more just at the tip of each triangle.

I finished this side of the ornament just before I started this post. As soon as the glue is totally dried I will start the other side. I might finish it today.

Not to worry, I have 5 more kits waiting to be tackled!

When my nephew was visiting last Saturday I told him that I was going to will the entire "granny ornament" collection to him. He was overcome with emotion that I would be so generous. He hugged me and said he would treasure them forever.

No, that didn't really happen. He looked horrified and said he hoped that I lived for a very long time. (Assuming that at some point they would decompose and not become his problem.)

Merry Christmas!

More coasters!

 I finally have something else to post! I finished this set of coasters this evening. They are for a friend at work but she will not get them until we go back to work on January 5th. She understands tardiness now because she has a new baby....a new baby with colic at that! I made 6 coasters and a small bowl and used almost all of 2 fat quarters. Only those few little bits in the front of the photo are left.

I included this photo on the right because Terri was kind enough to help me find just the right cording to use. This clothesline came from Family Dollar and is 100% cotton. It's firm and easy to sew through. Look! I also emptied 4 spools of thread with the 2 sets of coasters and 1 large bowl that I've made so far.  I've learned a few things too.

Batik fabric probably works better than regular quilting cotton of the sight of frayed edges bothers you. The last set that I did in batik fabric has cleaner edges.

I was very unhappy with my endings until I had a brainstorm today. At the end of the piece you are supposed to taper the clothesline so that there is a gradual tapering to the end. Today I decided to try to apply Fray Check to last 2 inches of the clothesline. I let it dry for a few seconds and then cut the clothesline on a long taper. The Fray Check helped the clothesline stay together and now my edges taper much nicer.

I can't wait to get started on another wrapped project!

Tomorrow we will have dinner with Anne and her family, have a Christmas open house at another friend's and then go to see my niece Friday.....and after that? 8 days of sewing and dyeing!

One more Christmas gift done (stash report and list too!)

I haven't reported for two weeks. As my Dad would say my back and neck were "stove up" and I jsut didn't get much done. Terri got me interested in making some sets of coasters for gifts. It's taken me all week but I finally got one set done. This one is for one of my SILs (no, Carol, you get somethign else!). JJ doesn't read the blog so I can post it.

This is a fun project and uses quite a bot of fabric. I've got a larger bowl in process. It will probably take all week to finish!

Between this set and the bowl, I've cut about a yard of fabric so I'll go ahead and count that as out. 

• This week IN: 1
• This week OUT: 14.5
• YTD IN: 171.5 yards
• YTD out: 258 yards
• NET OUT: 86.5 yards (Goal 100 yards)

Here's my December list status. There hasn't been much progress! 

• Gift box for Anne's birthday gift
• Tie dye 5 shirts for gifts - 3 done
• DSM quilting samples
• Gift boxes or bags for Christmas gifts
• Finish log cabin blocks
• Work on that stupid cat - I'm going to make Christmas ornaments instead this month!

Some more ornaments

I got my second ornament tree up Friday night. The two trees do not hold all of the ornaments so I've ordered a third! The sun was shining in and reflecting off the sequins/rhinestones so I took a few more photos:

Blue Satin Sashes

 

Trellis and Love Letter

 

Illusion and First Frost

 

Chateau

 

Key Lime Pie, Cracked Ice and Pretty Petals

 

Cinderella's Coach with over 9 feet of Swarovski crystals.

My ornaments

  I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. If not for the Field Trip posts I'd have a whole lot of nothing to post! I'm having some back issues (thanks to my job) and I'm spending more time on ice packs than in the sewing room. I have been slowly working on the coasters and will post them if I ever get them done! Work was a tad bit better this week but I think my back and neck has gotten accustomed to being in full tension mode and doesn't know much else! I am so grateful for my massage therapist right now that I would pay her ANYTHING to work on my neck and back.

Enough whining.

I did have something good happen today - my ornament display trees FINALLY arrived! I ordered then from Fine Home Displays. I'm telling you this as a warning. It would be difficult to find a more disorganized company. It's a long story but I ordered these trees at the beginning of November and just got them today after numerous emails and completely wrong information. I wouldn't order from them again.

On the other hand, the makers of these ornament kits,  The Cracker Box,  produces the best and most highly addictive crafting crack available anywhere. I found these in some random catalog in 1992 and ordered 1 just to try them out. After that I ordered 5 - 10 at a time! I haven't worked on these in a few years mostly because I haven't displayed them. I have been trying to get these trees for 2 years. I'm really happy to finally see them again!

This is only 1 tree and less than half of the ornaments. I'll put up the second tree tomorrow - or later tonight. They are very difficult to photograph. It's impossible to capture the real sparkle of hundreds of Swarovski crystals, glass beads and sequins. But here are a few of my favorites:

  They all have great names, this one is Cherries in the Snow

For my UK friends, House of Lords

 

Left to right: Newport, Madame Butterfly and Angel Wings

 I think I will have to use my handwork time for the rest of the year to get my ornament kits back out again....

That darned rug is done!

Tonight I finished my locker hooked rug. I'm happy with it and I think it looks good in my mosaic tiled bathroom. I believe I'm finally done decorating the tiniest room in my house! So would I make another? Maybe. I liked that I picked a very simple pattern so that I could work on this as a TV project but it wasn't a particularly exciting project!

I suppose I'd do another if I had a place that really needed this style of rug but I'm not planning one anytime soon. It was good for one thing - using up lots of ugly fabrics! I will need this 4 - 5 yards of fabric for my stash report this weekend!

For something much more interesting please check out Summerset's post on her Midnight Garden outfit. She completed it and all of the accessories this weekend. I am so excited that I will get to see this outfit at the Mid-Atlantic in Hampton, VA in February. She is one of the most talented people I have ever met and she generously shares her knowledge on her blog every day. If you don't read it you need to start!

This morning we awoke to this sunrise out our bedroom window. All in all, a perfect day (except for the work part in the middle).

Christmas and Kumihimo

I took a break from the sewing room today for Christmas with my family. We had a great time seeing everyone although my niece had a cold and didn't feel up to any festivities. There are a couple of sewing-related gifts to report. First, my Mom got me the Myrna Longarm Ruler Organizer. We saw this at Houston and I almost bought it there and have been wanting it ever since! After I finish this post I'll be setting it up with all of my templates and rulers.

The second gift is really one that Chris received. It's the Coleman Hands-Free Utility Light. He really should put this thing away somewhere because I got very attached to it on he ride home! I was able to use it in the car and start the pink and green braid that you see in the photo. I started the other braid last night and finished it on the ride to Mom's house.

This Kumihimo disk is lots of fun and you quickly get in the rhythm of the braiding steps. These braids are all the standard round braid. Next I want to try a couple of other braid methods. What fun! Why didn't someone tell me about these earlier?

Tomorrow it's back to real work........

The end of the Christmas boxes

Thanks to Kate I got the last of my Christmas packaging done today! (We are not celebrating Christmas with my family until tomorrow so I am not late.) Kate posted this link to the pattern for a small gift box. These are perfect for my last packages. I had a half-yard piece of the metallic fabric and half yard of a red poly/cotton that I was able to use for the lining. I used left over bits to make the gift tags. I made 8 of them!

The Pink and gray thing is a pencil case for my SIL, the artist. Her gift wouldn't fit in the small boxes so I made this instead. The outside is a piece of corduroy that I dyed and printed several years ago. This is another of those fabrics that I was saving. I think it makes a cute pencil case and I still have a good chunk of it left. The hanger is made from various pink and gray yarns braided on my new Kumihimo Disk.

Now I will rest for a day.

Can you take one more box today?

I promise, I am ALMOST done with the boxes. This one is for my friend Denise. She lives in California and I have not mailed her Christmas gift to her yet because I didn't have the box for the gift made! I talked to her today and she wanted me to open my gift, which she sent on time. I told her we will open them together on the phone when hers arrives. At least I now know it will go in the mail on the 24th.

This one sort of fits in the stash control category too. This is a fabric that I bought several years ago at the International Quilt Festival in Houston. I've been "saving it for the right project". I think that has become a very bad habit so I've been trying to breal it. I cut the fabric so that the pattern matches around the box. The box is about 11" x 8.5" and 2.5" tall and the lid is attached in the back. I added 3 rock beads (from an old necklace) to the front of the lid. The inside is a commercial fabric that looks hand dyed.

More info on locker rug hooking

I was really surprised at the interest in the Locker Hooking post yesterday so I thought I'd add a little step-by-step information to answer some of the questions. I'm not going to show the steps to start the rug but if you decided to get into this craft, The Happy Rug Hooker series of books by Cindy Murray are the ones that I have learned from. Each of her books has the same basic set of instructions but different individual rug hooking patterns.

I decided that I didn't want to follow a pattern because I wanted it to be mindless. So I an simply working around from the outside in. I started with 3 rows of a brown print batik for the hem followed by 7 rows of blue, 5 brown, 7 blue, 5 brown, etc.

These photos will show the basic steps of hooking the center of the rug. Click on any photo for a larger view. This is the hook. It's basically a large crochet hook on one end with a large eye on the other. The string is threaded through the eye.

The strips of fabric are cut about 1 1/4" wide. The book instructions have a cool way to tie the ends together but I didn't like the lumps of the knots on the back of my rug so I overlap the ends about 1/4" and hand stitch them together.  The fabric is folded together in half as you work the loops.

To start, put the crochet hook end of the tool through the next hole in the canvas and lay the folded strip over the hook and then pull the loop to the front.

 

Continue like this loading several loops on the tool.

make sure the string is still threaded in the end of the tool and pull the tool and string through all loops. It's the string that keeps the loops in place.

Here's what the rug looks like from the back.

As you get to the end of the string just tie the next string on with an overhand knot, pull the knot tight and cut the tails about 1/2", When you pull the string through the next set of loops the knot will be hidden under the loops. Sometimes it takes some effort to work the knot through all of the loops.

And that's all there is to it! There is a finishing step and other instructions in the book. You can also do this technique with yarns, other types of fabrics (wouldn't old plaid shirts bee really neat?) and even batting strips (sturdy cotton batting like Warm and Natural). Hope that answers any questions.

WIP Wednesday - rug hooking

I mentioned in an early October post that I bought a book and supplies for Locker Hooking. I even started the project! I decided to make a rug for my newly tiled bathroom that is tiled floor to ceiling in a gradient of brown and blue glass mosaic tiles. I was going to follow a pattern in the book but it started to seem too much like cross stitch. I wanted this project to be easy and mindless.

I cut lots of brown and blue strips from my scrap bins and decided to do alternating bands of blues and browns. You can tell that I am using a wide variety of values in the colors. The first few rows seemed to take forever but now that I am about 9 rows in it's going pretty quickly. This is a great project for using up a LOT of scrap fabric! It's not a particularly exciting project but it is what I am doing this Wednesday. I hadn't done a WIP post in so long that I wanted to do one tonight.

So this is my WIP as I watch the premiere of Project Runway. I love this show!

A color matching tip

Mom reminded me to post about a tip that we picked up in the Jean Wells Keenan class at Houston. One of our classmates brought this one to us. It's a tip to help isolate and match colors in small quantities in photos or fabric (or whatever). All it takes is an index card with a 1" (more or less) square cut into the card along with a very small hole at least an inch and a half away. In this example I have placed the hole in the card over a small patch of an orange daylily. With that color isolated I can then place fabric or color chips under the larger opening until I find the matching color. I thought this was just brilliant!

Mixed Media Class - lesson 3 another vase

Yesterday I picked up some pre-dyed silk hankies. My Mom picked the color to match her bedroom. Here's the result. I split one hankie into 4 layers and this vase is made from two layers. It's about 5" tall.

The weekend is here!

The weekend is here and it's all creating all weekend! Things got off to a good start last night. I finished all of the blocks for the Friendship Star QOV while my Mom quilted her Quilt For an Hour quilt. (She will kill me when she sees that I posted a picture, I had to sneak to take it).

The photo was actually this morning while she was on her last row of quilting. While she did that I worked on some mixed media surfaces - this stuff is so addicting! Two of them are collages for photo book covers for my niece and nephew - made from their graduation announcements and programs. The other two are painted paper towels for Joggles Mixed Media Class. These are for lesson 4. I admit I though painting a paper towel was kind of lame - now that I've done it, I GET it!

All of these photos are of the surfaces still wet. This afternoon I'll start putting the QOV top together and Mom will start her second quilt. Then we will go meet some friends at our favorite LQS. Not a bad day, huh?

Mixed Media Leftovers

What do I do with my mixed media leftovers? Why, make a tissue box cover!  I had a big piece of my mixed media sheet left over from the box that I made yesterday so I had to do something productive with it.

More Sunprinting Testing

Today was a beautiful hot sunny day so I decided to do more sunprinting testing. A week or so ago I did some testing with Dye-na-flo paint. Since then I ordered some Setacolor Soliel. I wanted to test red and blue, heat setting vs not heat setting and 2 types of heat setting. Here are the results.

Mixed Media Class - Lesson 1 book

I finally finished the first lesson of the Mixed Media class at joggles. This is a sketchbook made from a surface of torn pattern pages ant then painted with some Radiant Rain. After cutting the mixed media page apart and positioning it on the felt, it is covered with tulle and then zig zag topstitched around all of the shapes. The thread is a Superior Metallic. I enjoyed this one!

Next up is the box with drawers. I just painted organza for that project and will get started once it's dry.

Sun Printing Test

Can you tolerate one more post from me today? You may remember that I made this charity quilt from some commercial sun printed fabrics and I was very unhappy with the performance of the fabric. The first time that I washed the fabric it faded like crazy. Recently I tried some sun printing for a postcard project. The fabric would not be washed so I didn't worry about colorfastness. I decided that I wanted to do a test to see what would happen with the sun printing that I an doing with Dye-Na-Flo paints. Here are the results

Mixed Media Class - Lesson 1 pages

I started the Joggles Mixed Media class this week. It is being taught by Sue Bleiweiss.  In the first lesson we are making three different papers and two projects. I don't have my projects done yet but I did finish the papers. These are great fun to make. I did have one little problem - I'm allergic to one of the products. I think it's the gel medium but might be the paints. Going forward I'll be wearing gloves! Here are the first papers:

Clay's Birthday

After I finished the Summer postcards yesterday morning I spent the afternoon playing with two other postcard designs. I'll report on those later - when they are done. But I also got this quick postcard and music pillowcase made for my cousin's son, Clay. We don't know where the music gene originated in our family but that generation seems to have a lot of music talent. Clay plays drums in his high school band. I used the leftover gray/red/black fabrics from my nephew's quilt because Clay's room is primarily red and black. I really like doing something quick occasionally!

I also signed up for the Mixed Media class and ordered my supplies - what fun!

Every little scrap

I got a little side tracked off of the list today and yesterday! I did finish getting my Snails Trail class stuff together and that leaves the Indygo Junction Jacket and the Carol Taylor class project. I've decided to skip both of those for now. The jacket is for autumn and I'm not very interested in the class project - so I'm movin' on!

I have 3 sets of fabric postcards to make this week so I looked at this

and decided that it would be the base of my cards.

Pillowcases

I wasn't in the mood to quilt last night so I decided to make my nephew a couple of pillowcases to match his quilt. I have LOTS of fabric left over! I also needed one to go with the Hour A Day QOV quilt. It only took about an hour to make all three.

There are several sets of instructions around the web but here's how I make them.

A simple pillow

Remember this list from Wednesday? Here's my first bit of progress.

• finish the binding and label on the baby snails trail.
• make my class notes and the class samples for the Snails Trail class at Quilting Adventures.
• finish my nephews graduation quilt
• make the pillow for my boss
• My Indygo Junction jacket
• My class project from one of the Carol Taylor classes
• I also have to finish the Hour A Day quilt that's currently on the longarm for quilting

My boss is a big sports fan - he loves all sports - but he's first and foremost a St. Louis Cardinals fan. I bought the T-shirt when the Cardinals won the World Series last year. I'm just getting around to completing this for him. This isn't a photo of 2 pillows - it's 2 sides of the same pillow. I fuse a knit stabilizer to the T-shirts to make them more table and I used blue Ultrasuede to make the corded piping. This is a really quick project and guys LOVE them - I can't believe I took almost 5 months to get this done for him!

WIP Wednesday

I'm feeling better today and the conference sessions today were actually interesting and valuable. Tonight there is fund-raising show featuring Dennis Miller. Should be fun!

You might think that because I'm out of town that I don't have a WIP report. One of the side benefits of cleaning out the sewing room was getting my WIP projects in order. So to try to get things a little under control, I've identified these projects that must be completed before I start another new one.  I am glad that Judy has decided to postpone starting another Hour A Day project for a couple of months! This last one has been fun and they are a great way to use stash and make a new charity quilt.

If I finish everything on this list by the end of May, my reward will be taking Sue's Mixed Media class.

Should I take more classes?

I still feel handicapped without a camera! Wednesday can't get here quick enough. Today I got Barbara's second female QOV loaded and started. This is a really pretty quilt and I am doing a couple of different (but speedy) techniques on it. I also got the backing made for my Quilt For An Hour QOV quilt and a birthday postcard made for my 13 year old nephew. I never get quite as much done on Sunday as I want. Those darned chores always get in the way!

This evening I was reading the Joggles newsletter. The new summer classes are posted. Do you think I would be crazy to take 2 classes at the same time? I did that with the silk fusion and tea dyeing and got OBSESSED. But I really like both of these: Mixed Media Surfaces with Sue Bleiweiss and Beginner Photoshop Elements. I NEED the Photoshop class but just take a look at all of the really cool projects in the Mixed media class! Can I do both? Hmmmmm

I'm also flattered that Lisa selected me as one of her inspiring blogs. It's her blog that inspires me! I'm supposed to select 5 blogs that are most inspiring to me. I've decided not to do that - as you can tell, I have a long list of blogs that I read regularly and they all inspire me in some way. I wouldn't want to single out a few and risk offending someone. I can just tell you that if it's on my blog list, it's one that I read regularly!

A week from today I have to go to New Orleans for a business conference. I'm not particularly looking forward to it. I have a feeling that I'm going to have plenty of trouble with my allergies there. But if anyone can recommend any fiber, fabric or bead store that I need to visit please let me know! I will pick up a Saints T-shirt since I selected them as my NFL team last year. It's was a long analysis process but I wanted to have a team so that I could participate in the football season with my Mom and brothers (Vikings, Panthers, Redskins and Cowboys).   In the end I picked the Saints so now I need a shirt and I'll be ready for Autumn!

Arc-i-Textures class

Today was the second Carol Taylor class called Arc-i-Textures. It was a great class and I am happy to report that my project is DONE!

Egads! Another UFO!

Thanks for all of the nice comments on the new blog format and my red specs. I hadn't even made the connection that I had changed glasses. I have a serious Jones for eyeglasses and have about 6 pair - these are the oldest but still my favorites!

Today was class day. The bad thing about taking classes is that you generally leave the class with yet another unfinished project. A few years ago I decided that I would not necessarily do class projects. I would allow myself to just make samples. The project from today's class  with Carol Taylor was a big wall hanging. I knew that I did not want another wall hanging but thought I might be able to translate the components into a padded case from my new travel laptop. So the good news is that I still think that the project is good so although it's a new UFO, it's one that I'm excited about. I want to get it done to use to carry my PC to MQX in 2 weeks. Here's the progress so far:

Am I obsessed with tissue boxes?

After finishing the quilting on the snails trail today I wanted to do a quick little project. First I did some major straightening in the sewing room. I had a pile of scraps from all of the recent piecing projects so I cut them into strips and squares and put them all away. Then I decided to cover one more tissue box. Understand that with allergies, I have tissue boxes cluttering the entire house. They all really do need to look better since they are permanent fixtures. After this one I still have one to do for my office, one for the half bath and one for my sewing room. The office one will be made of silk fusion. By the way, this one that I made for the car isn't working. The velcro doesn't stick to the carpet well enough. Even industrial strength velcro will not work. Anyone have another idea of something that will stick well, but temporarily, to car carpeting?

Here's the newest tissue box cover. I used some of that fancy ribbon that I bought a couple of weeks ago. I think it turned out pretty cute! Looks better than a plain ugly box.

Weekend Report

Things didn't work out so well this weekend from a productivity standpoint. It all started well with a great Sewing Guild meeting Saturday. Audrey did bring her SWAP garments and they were awesome! She's inspired our guild to do a mini-SWAP for November. We also have picked up a few new members in the past two months. I came home to a mailbox of goodies from joggles so I could get back to my Silk Fusion class. First though I made 5 more of the baby snails trails blocks (only 5 left) but then got a migraine. My migraines are either hormones or allergies or both and I don't know where this one came from. But than goodness for Imitrex. I was better in the evening and able to make two more fusion sheets - no photos yet but I'll have some later in the week.

Silk Fusion Tissue Boxes

How nice it was to have the energy and desire to spend yesterday in my sewing room! I did some quilt piecing in the morning and will write about that later. Yesterday evening I went back to Silk Fusion class to work on my 3rd lesson - making a box. Since I spent the week hugging tissue boxes I decided that I wanted my tissue boxes prettier - so my boxes are tissue boxes! I made two - one for my car and one for the large tissue boxes that I use in the house. Let' start with the car box...

Directions follow..

Silk Fusion Projects

I woke up yesterday morning with a horrid cold that seems to be going around the world right now. It's sure going through my office. But after a long nap yesterday I was able to finish two of my silk fusion projects. The photos aren't great - I just didn't have the energy today to continue retaking them - I think you'll get the idea. Both of these projects are from my Silk Fusion class at Joggles.com. You can read my previous posts about these projects here and here.

Tea Dyeing is done!

Boy, this was fun! You can read my previous posts here, here, and here.  Today I got the last of the 17 yards in mordant, rinsed and dried. I actually only dyed 16 yards so that I would have an original for comparison. Unfortunately the photo just does not do justice to the results.

The 3 pieces to the left of the blue are actually light sage greens, there are 2 light yellows in addition to the one bright yellow and there are 3 really good pinks. The original muslin is the background fabric. Even though you can't see all of the colors you can see the variety of color depth that can be achieved with tea dyeing. I tried many times to get the photo right but I just could not get anything close to accurate representation of color. The whole project was a big surprise to me and I really enjoyed it! Now they go in the fabric cabinet while I ponder an appropriate project (or projects) for them.

WIP - Evidence of Insanity

It's Wednesday and I should be working on the "water" themed postcards that are supposed to be in the mail FRIDAY! Sorry ladies, they will be a day or so late. Why? Because I am in the middle of a (hopefully) brief obsession with tea dyeing. Suzanne asked in the last post why I used coffee to dye the blocks. Well, it's because I had that whole jar of instant coffee left from the sample I made for my Quilt University class and I didn't want to just throw it out. I wanted them "tanned" and the coffee gave a good tan in the sample. That's about as far as the analysis went!

More Tea Dyeing

The primary reason that I am taking the tea dyeing class is that I wanted to tea dye some really ugly blocks and my original attempts have failed. After my sample dyeing this weekend I was ready to dye the blocks. I decided to use coffee instead of teas on these but I did get the effect that I wanted. The coffee smell was so strong that it almost made me sick! In the end, it was worth it.

Postcards and weekend roundup

What an incredibly productive weekend!  All the tea dyeing and silk fusion yesterday kicked things off well. Today I made my postcards for the "from the kitchen" swap on Artisans Square and I coffee dyed a set of scrap blocks that I made ages ago and hate.  They are all drying on the kitchen counter now.  I can't share the winter postcard until it makes it to some of the recipients so for now I will share these great cards that I received this week....

Tea Dyeing

Second project of the day.....tea stain dyeing from my Quilt University class.  if you have ever considered doing any tea dyeing you should consider this class - it's excellent!  Here are some of my samples from the day....

WIP -> A little late!

We lost power yesterday morning so I didn't get a chance to post my weekly WIP.  Here's a quick round-up of projects underway:

1 - Here are my first two sheets of silk fusion from the Joggles.com Silk Fusion class.  I just pressed them this morning.  I'm looking forward to using the dark blue one in a postcard swap this weekend.

I learned a couple of lessons for the next round - 1) you really do have to wait until the paper is COMPLETELY dry before removing the netting and 2) I should hang them to dry.  I laid mine on a table and the lighter one has a dark water mark at the bottom of the piece.

Kim's quilt is done and more trash-to-treasure fabric

First off, last night (Friday) I finished quilting Kim's quilt!  It's a queen sized quilt done in pretty autumn (manly) colors and is for her brother.  Details about the quilting are here.  This is a really crummy photo and really doesn't show the great colors in the quilt - it's just my proof that the project is done!

In other happenings.....

Samples for Saturday Guild

First, thanks very much for all of the comments on Anne's Snails Trail quilt.  Anne loved it so it must be OK!  I got a couple of comments about my samples for my Guild meeting this Saturday so here they are!  This all started with this scarf

I made this just after I got my longarm.  Marilyn Badger  teaches this technique to new longarmers and it's a great way to get comfortable with the longarm.  Tension and stitch quality do not matter - all that matters is that you do a lot of stitching!  I volunteered to do a program on this technique months ago - as usual, I waited until the last weeks to get it ready.

Here are the samples for the meeting tomorrow...

WIP Wednesday

Once again I am posting my WIP as a montage photo.  It seems to reflect best when I am in a quandary about what I am doing or feeling a little disorganized.  Today I am behind on preparing materials for my ASG guild meeting Saturday.  I've known for months that I was doing the program this month and just haven't been able to get motivated.  I am going to work on it tonight as soon as I am done with this post.  I really want to be quilting Kim's quilt but will not let myself do it until I have everything ready for the Saturday meeting.  Here's a roundup of the current activities....