Status Update

So Jake's quilt is quilted and the binding is partially on (this has become my new project to work on while George is in the bathtub.  Don't worry, I'm not a neglectful mother, the bathroom is very small).  I also basted the spiderweb quilt after struggling for what seemed like weeks over what to do about the backing.  It feels good to have that all sandwiched and folded up out of the way.  Quilting will start eventually, but i feel like a huge weight is off the design wall/sewing room floor now that both of those projects are at a more advanced stage before school starts (tomorrow!).  But now that I'm "done" with those two (well, not done, but you know what I mean) my fingers have been itching to piece something.  and I really didn't want to start any new quilts, heck, I'm taking a full course load this semester!  But that's just how my creative mind works.. so 2 nights ago I was pouring over pineapple photos and block patterns on the internet, and last night it was bear's paw.. I felt up for some intricate piecing.  Still not wanting to tackle a full sized quilt, this afternoon I found myself making a mug rug.  And then tonight I made another. 

Cute.  Satisfying. 
Now let's see if I can focus on school for a little while..

Three out of four ain't bad!

She called me up out of the blue last week and asked me for 3 colors. 

"blue, green & brown, that was easy"

not so easy actually as we proceded to have a discussion of exactly which green and what type of blue, as only quilt friends are clearly able to do over the phone.

It was a well-timed phone call actually, George was asleep and I was finishing stitching the binding down on my latest wall hanging, made spur of the moment and over 2 days.  Inspired by the generocity of a friend that is often too good to me. 

So I asked what her 3 colors would be. 

"Lime green, magenta, orange & royal purple"

Totally glad she gave me 4 because I hadn't used lime green at all..

And unlike her thoughtfulness, I hadn't thought to call ahead and ask what colors she wanted.. but that really wasn't something to get worried about.  It's easy to make something she likes when I'm sewing from her scraps already..

 The star centers, most of the background (except for the purple above), the sashing and all but one of the star points came from the accumulated scrap stash of 3 or 4 huge envelopes she has been sending me since this time last year.  The binding was left over from this quilt, with a bit of green thrown in.  The backing (and i had to really dig in the stash for a magenta backing) is from waaaaay back in ATL in '02, from Joann's, I think.  The quilting is my first attempt at freemotion meanders and while I'm not proud to show it off, I am proud to have overcome my fear of freemotion and actually try it.  I hope my novice stitches don't stand out too bad among the other beauties on her Mini Quilt wall..
(btw, we need a pic of that mini quilt wall.)

Hex Crazy

It's been years now that hexagons have been all the rage in quilt-blogland.  There seem to be hundreds of tutorials, flickr groups, quilt-alongs.  People are fussy cutting their fabric into swiss cheese!  And all the while I was patiently stitching diamond to diamond, wondering what all the fuss was about.
Until this spring, when i decided to give it a try...
And you know what? I don't like it. 

They go together quickly and in a short amount of time you can have a fairly large section pieced, but I don't like the actual piecing them together.. my diamonds always came together into little units of 3, 5, 8, or 12, and then fit together like puzzle pieces.  This hex business is just -add one, -add one, -add one...
I know it would be different if I were using paper templates that bend, or if I chose some type of pretty pattern, but you know me-- Scrappy, Using what I have -- and so this is how I feel.

I piece 6 petals onto a center hexagon before popping out the center one and folding to stitch the petals together.  This is necessary because the Quilt Patis templates don't bend like paper and awkwardly holding the 2 petals and doing a less-than-perfect stab stitch got old back with this project (when i used to join 3 diamonds to make a hexagon).  I love English paper piecing for its simple rhythmic motions and its ability to relax and calm me.  I don't have much patience for awkward routines and so I try to adjust where I can to eliminate them.  I think when I tire of diamonds I should buy some paper templates and make something like this one Bonnie is working on.  Until then, I don't think I'll be calling myself a hex fan.  If this project gets done it will sit to remind me of my short ride on the bandwagon and then how I jumped off, content to let the insanity go on without me.  I'm not sure I want to party with all those hex crazy people anyway..

Birthday!

Not much sewing around here lately-- with the exception of George's halloween costume which he wore for his BIRTHDAY PARTY!

He was a scarecrow, easy-peasy except for the hat which I ended up making out of craft foam and stitching by hand. He wouldn't keep it on -- not even for a picture..

My sister has been here for the past week and there is NO WAY I could have pulled off the party without her. It's great to spend time together and the extra hands/eyes are a Godsend!

We went all out for the desserts-- cupcakes (idea came from a family magazine I read in the Dr's office waiting room last month, snapped pics of the recipe with my camera phone, but I don't know which magazine it was, sorry!), an eclair cake, and a birthday cake:

George enjoyed it all, and so did the rest of us.And thank you for the many peaceful wishes.. My mother has been in the hospital for the last 2 weeks and it got quite scary there for a few days. She is doing better day by day though, came off the ventalator yesterday and may move out of the ICU this week. She has a long-term illness which I'm not quite ready to answer questions about yet, but thank you, thank you for your prayers and good thoughts.

Pulling in all together

Isn't it cool when you cross things off your "to do" list faster than you thought you would? I have been pretty productive in the last two weeks-- a mega-trip to the post office including 2 quilts to 2 long armers (ok, well I just sent new backing fabric to shannon, she already had the top), phone calls and apointments are all taken care of, textbooks are purchased, school stuff is in order, and..I finished these two pillows for my cousin's dorm room:


Foundation pieced, no quilting, but very cute with lots of sentimental fabrics, like the green raccoons that my grandmother (?) made into dresses for her 6 daughters, and the green giraffes that became pants for our cousin in high school. If she ever asks, I can tell her the story of all these fabrics.. that's just the kind of quilter I am. :)

Well, this post has been sitting in my drafts pile for too long, I could say more but time to post is limited. I start classes again tonight, wish me luck!

Boxy

I love when people post links to tutorials that are really easy to make and AWESOME. Thank you, thank you, AfricanKelli. I would love to make all the things you made this summer, but for right now I'm happy that I found a simple pattern and the time to actually MAKE it. yay!

The original tutorial is here, at Indie House, a quilting blog I was previously unfamiliar with. Kelli used canvas instead of separate lining and interfacing and I agree, this does make for a nice sturdy, boxy-box. It's also very cool that I found a yard and a half of canvas in my stash (while filling my Iraqi love boxes), and now I have a use for it. I also have 20+ vintage zippers which, though a little creaky, work great for this project.

I adjusted the pattern a bit-- using 10" x 5" rectangles and adding pull tabs to each end for easier opening/closing. Now it fits pens :)

I read in the comments of the original tute that some people are finding ways to cover the raw edges on the inside of the pouch, which i think I'll have to play around with because the canvas frays pretty quickly.

The pink tree fabric is the one I got on Friday at PurlPatchwork. It's so nice to actually use a new fabric right away instead of letting it sit in my stash for months til it's not "new" anymore.

I bought a piece of furniture for the sewing room at an estate sale on Saturday, it's an old shelf, pretty big, and now I'm in the process of sorting my stash onto it. Once it looks pretty enough to photograph I'll show you...

I'm learning

that you can not be "rushed" and "creative" at the same time.

For the last 3 days I've been taken stolen moments (while he's asleep) to cut 3.5" squares for a pillow I want to make for my cousin's dorm room. I have a general idea of what I want it to look like, but yesterday I laid out my squares and thought, wtf? The fabrics are not going together the way I had hoped at all. So now (that george is napping again) i was debating between trying to figure it out or blogging about it. Blogging won out.

One option was to alternate lights and darks, but i have a lot of mediums in there too.

Or, I could alternate with a plain fabric.

I briefly toyed with the idea of sashing it all in a solid, but threw that idea out the window because I barely have time to get the squares cut and pieced, I can't possibly double my seams and cutting by adding 1" sashing..

agh, i don't know. It will come together, but when?

Quick Crafts for Sanity

There's a flickr group called "quick crafts for sanity" and these two definitely need to be included..

first I made a spring/summer "Hootie Hider" which I use every day. I took my store-bought one and just copied it to the best of my ability, using a strip of template plastic along the center of the top so it would stand out and George and I can make eye-contact. I completely forgot I had the fabric and now I'm really glad I used it on something useful.

(*edit* I had full intention of sharing a pic of this wonderfully useful item, but when I went about my day, it occured to me that taking a picture of myself using it would be nearly impossible.. it's not that I'm against showing breast-feeding photos online, just that I'm always the one taking the pictures.. so if I'm nursing, I can't also be across the room taking a picture of myself. Sure, I could set up the camera's timer, but with a hungry 17 lb baby in one hand and the hootie hider in the other, the logistics of getting the camera set up at the right angle and pressing the right button are just... well, if I ever get it to work, I'll post then, ok?)

The next project is a terrycloth bib-- I got one as a present and didn't use it for the first 6 months because it was big-- a bit too long for just a dribble bib, but now that we're eating solids (and making messes) a longer one comes in handy. I got tired of washing the one bib every night and between meals, so I went through the linen closet for an old-but-still-in-good-shape towel, traced the store-bought bib, added bias tape from my scrap bucket and Voila! Cute, practical, and very home made.

So I'm preserving sanity and using what I have all at the same time. And this weekend we get to go to Smith and show them off, yay!

Pink Flamingos for Poppy

Finally I finished something crafty in February! Yay, I made it in time for the Challenge!
Ok, so it wasn't a WISP (though the tumbler pouch looks more like a pouch than it did last month-- still not finished, it needs a zipper), I actually made it this morning during two of George's naps. It's a birthday present for a sweet 5 year old we met yesterday. Now, to get it in the mail on time...

tiny tumbler

Digging through my pile of UFOs, I pulled up this little bundle, which I think I'll work on for my next project in the challenge.

what's inside? This is a pouch I started in 2004, just like this one. the tumblers are pieced all by hand, with sewing lines traced on the back. I used to do all my quilting like this, tiny patches, tiny stitches. Today though, when I started to sew the first two rows together, I felt like I was all thumbs. It took a while to remember how to stitch like this again, checking the front and back to be sure I was sewing on the lines. I guess if I could just do it all in one sitting it'd come back to me pretty naturally, but with interruptions...let's see how long it takes me.
Today I put George in the sling and started really unpacking the sewing room while he slept. I packed up most of the fabric in April, when we started house hunting, but a lot of boxes & tubs had been packed and stored since before our last move in '05, and some things were tucked away since Atlanta ('02-'04) or Japan ('01-'02). Going through boxes and piles of things made me chuckle more than a few times. I was laughing at myself, my habits, what kind of things were important to me over the last 10 years... I think some of the things I found deserve blog posts all their own. If time allows, I might write them.

Creative Recycling

When I packed up my sewing room back in April I left out 3 projects to work on over the summer—Travel Quilt #2, Theresa’s Garden, and a pile of fabric for a baby quilt. I also packed up all of my Quilts Japan magazine collection and most of my other quilt books.

Lately I feel that by limiting the amount of projects I have to work on this summer, I’m limiting my creativity. All the sudden I have tons of great ideas for smaller projects or ways to finish up UFOs, but I can’t get to them without ripping the tape off the boxes in the basement. So I’m torn between wanting to be good and finish these 3 (now 4 with the surprise addition of a second baby quilt) or just giving in to my passions and unpacking my stash. AHHHGH!

It crossed my mind that I should just start reading a book. If I fell into a good novel, I could go between reading and stitching and keep a happy balance. Strangely, there’s nothing I really want to read right now either (should I mention that my stack of “I’m dying to read these” books got packed away already by a good intentioned husband?).
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I woke up this morning (having written the above post yesterday) and said to hell with it. I want to make something fun. So I did, I tore into the packed boxes to find some heavy fusible interfacing and cording, and this wicked cute print of fish that I got in Japan last year:

I took these unflattering pants:

(you don't know how embarrassed I am that I just posted that picture...)

And turned them into this nifty cute bag:

I left the cargo pockets on the fabric and centered them on either side of the bag. The handle is made from fabric from the cuffs. Good refashioning, don't you say? Have you refashioned anything lately?

A MorsBag and other cool sacks for snacks

Did I mention that Amanda is a raw foodist?
So when she goes places, she usually has to bring food with her in case people (like my carnivorous husband) do not know what to do with her ideas about food. I do my best to support her though, and when she comes to visit I try to give her lots of options of things to eat. I'm not as cool as her boyfriend who makes faux carrot cake and raviolli, but I think we did ok.
I thought she needed a pouch to carry food as she travels, and then I thought it would be a good idea to also try out the Morsbag pattern that I've had on my list of things to make.

Yesterday we attacked the morsbag pattern in a happy orange print & nice hand-dyed yellow:

This morning we whipped up a big snack bag for her & a smaller one for me.

Overall I like the Morsbag pattern but if I do more I'll definitely use thicker (non-quilting) material. I like a squared off bottom too. It was my first time doing French seams though, and I like them a lot, but need more practice to avoid all the little edge threads poking through. After lunch I have to take Amanda to the bus terminal, but it was so nice having her here, especially since she was in such a crafty mood. I had wanted to make kinchaku pouches for a while but was so focused on stitching little diamond stars.. glad I took a break from them for the weekend.

Creative Recycling

This is all that's left of 15+ of my favorite T-shirts.
My T-shirt quilt is still in the same un-finished state that it was in this post, (I hope to attend to it at our guild retreat next month), but what do you do with all the parts of the t-shirt that aren't good enough to go into the quilt?
Crochet them into a rug, of course. I followed a link from someone's blog a few months back about crocheting old clothing into rugs and had the brilliant idea to try it. Of course now I can't find the link or the blog I read it in, but hey, it was a really good idea!!
First you cut up your t-shirt into a continuous 1" wide strip, then roll it into a ball so it's easy to work with. (the light green one above used to be an ultra-comfy Comme Ca du Mode long sleeved pajama tee that I got at a thrift shop in Hokkaido.. the red one below had the sad fate of being worn by my sister when she decided to dye her hair..)
Then crochet away! I started with back and forth rows to make a long rectangle, then went around a bit and added longer stitches in places to make it more oval. The hook is a size Q. My cousin Amanda came to visit this weekend and took over the stitching, bringing it to it's current size and shape. It would be nice if it were 3-6 rows bigger, but we ran out of t-shirts. I started the project with her in mind so she will take it back for her dorm room, adding to it if she wants to, and I will have the satisfaction of knowing that my beloved t-shirts have found a new functional purpose.

quilting on the go

I've been doing really well with this sewing every day thing.. yesterday i finished up the quilting on the wall hanging made by our students-- yes folks, I talked them into letting me quilt at work. Sneaky, eh?
I've got to sew a bit more tonight before bed-- I'll be without my machine for 10 days while we're in Chicago and I think I've become a little attached to her. Hopefully I can finish all my Christmas presents by hand over the weekend.
Speaking of stitching by hand, here is a post I had submitted to Whip Up for their "Public Crafting" topic in November, but sadly they weren't interested in using it. I'll be using this little kit tomorrow and all throughout my winter vacation though, so if you happen to see me stitching away at an airport or somewhere else in the Chicagoland area, please stop by and say hello.



Building a tool kit for public patchwork
Crocheting and knitting in public seem relatively easy; all you need are some needles and yarn. But what about patchwork? Can you quilt in public? On airplanes, in doctors’ offices, while riding the train, with a well built tool kit, you can sew just about anywhere.
I have been crafting in public for as long as I can remember. In grade school I had my floss box for friendship bracelets, in college we strung beads. Now I quilt. There are many steps to the quilt making process but not all can be done on the go. Don’t try to drag your iron out into the yard or bring that rotary cutter through airport security. You need to have projects at the portable stage, either piecing or quilting, and the project needs to be simple or repetitive enough that it can be picked up and put down again between bus stops. The other thing you need is a good tool kit.

I use two types- one for quilting and the other for piecing. The smaller kit becomes part of the bigger kit, so I’ll list its contents first:
-pin cushion, 20 straight pins, 3-5 needles, depending on what the project calls for.
-thimble.
-Clover thread cutter. Very convenient. I wear mine on an adjustable leather cord around my neck and have never had any trouble taking it on an airplane, domestic or international.
-thread. I keep my main thread on the elastic band in the sewing kit, and wind bobbins with the additional colors I’ll need. Then I tuck them into the pocket with a little of the thread tail hanging out and I’m good to go.
This small sewing kit is great for Hawaiian appliqué blocks that are already basted and require only one color of thread. It’s also nice to have for small quilting projects, wall hangings or zakka-type items. Almost all the necessary items fit inside the kit, with the zipper closing it into a pouch to hold any extras.

For piecing you’ll need something a little more secure to hold all the little patches. Start with a nice sturdy box that will stay closed, no matter how it gets tossed around inside your bag. Then you’ll need:
-zip top baggies, snack size. Great for holding/organizing pattern templates and cut patches.
-a small ruler.
-a bigger spool of thread.
-and extra items such as a pen and chapstick, note card with pattern details/measurements, etc.
When I’m piecing in public, the box makes a nice work space on my lap and gives me a place to store my tools and stray threads. When I’ve got to get up and go, it closes and latches securely and I can slip it into my bag. Even if the contents get jumbled around a bit inside the box, it’s easier to sort them out than if I were searching the bottom of my purse for my thimble.
Although putting together a quilt tool kit does take some prep work, once it’s done you can quilt just about anywhere. I’ve done Hawaiian appliqué on the beach in Crete, pieced stars in the airport in Tokyo, quilted placemats during a road trip to Savannah, and I even use it in my living room while watching TV. When company comes, just snap the box shut and slip it into a drawer. I know it will be ready when I need it again, wherever I end up going.

December 13

I'm sick. it's no fun. I stayed home from work today to get some rest. I thought I might write some Christmas cards, but after a few of them the cold meds kicked in and I got really drowsy. I crawled into bed and stayed there til Costas called to tell me they were shutting down the University due to the weather. I looked outside and everything was covered with snow. Glad I didn't go out today~ the porch probably has more than twice as much snow on it now, and I took the pic only 6 hours ago.
After my nap I had a little energy so I threw my neck warmer in the microwave and started baking cookies. I made the neck warmer for Costas, but it's just a prototype and it's a little floppy. I made another with more filler to be worn like a scarf and he likes that one better. They are so easy to make and convenient to have, I've made a bunch in the past week. I want to give them as Christmas presents, but they're heavy. Must see if it's possible to make the pouches and fill them once we get to Chicago..

Anyway, the cookie recipes came from here and here. I sort of combined things and picked the parts I liked from each recipe. I ran out of pecans half way through so I used chopped walnuts on the last two dozen, but they came out great. Best part-- Costas loves them.I felt kind of guilty about staying home from work, but then I try to stand up or move quickly and realize that I'm still sick. I should be able to make it through tomorrow with some cold meds though, I would hate to put off all my work til the last week. Just 5 more workdays til Christmas vacation...

November 18

Another day happily spent at home.
I cleaned the house and sewed a lot.
I pieced the backing for the crosses quilt and basted more little diamonds. Did some laundry, washed the floors. C wanted to plan our Thanksgiving menu but he spent most of the day on the phone. While I was waiting I browsed flickr. In the quick crafts for sanity pool I found these nifty little bowls so I followed the link over to the tutorial and gave it a shot.
It was a little confusing in the beginning, but I persisted. Then I got here and thought, what is this thing?
In less than an hour, maybe 45 minutes? Definitely quick, but I don't recommend it as a way to stay sane. It was almost more trouble than it was worth. It's a thread catcher, btw, which I noticed I really need to use. While vacuuming I had to turn the machine over and snip threads out of the spinning brush...

It got a little hairy there for a while, something went wrong with the seams on the inside corners. But instead of stopping to investigate or rip out stitches, I forged ahead and with the help of some heavy duty hand quilting thread, I ended up with this:

Sorry for the bad photos, it's wintertime. The dark fabric is actually deep brown, and the other is kind of turquoise.
After that little refresher project, I was ready to start on my next Christmas present. I am having so much fun playing with these fabrics. Such a warm color palette is new for me. I can't wait to see what else happens in this one.

Amy's visit

Amy and I have been friends for ages, since way back when we used to run all over Kyoto, write stupid essays in Japanese, and complain about our O-kas. She has always been a huge supporter of my creative efforts. When she told me she was taking a class at City Quilter and wanted to come over and sew together, I decided to make her a little sewing kit. We all know that having cute things makes working on any task more enjoyable, deshou?

It is similar to the other sewing kits I've made but I changed the size so it would hold a pair of crane scissors and (shock) I finished it in just under 10 hours. The front is machine pieced and hand quilted, the inside is a mix between machine and hand work. The best parts about making it were:
+the front plum blossom fabric is one that I've been coveting in my stash, not knowing how to use. I'm so glad she picked it.
+everything came from my stash, even the zippers.
+after having sorted my scraps a few weeks ago, I knew exactly where to find that bit of brown bias tape for the edges.
+Amy likes it!
It was a quick visit but we were able to catch up on a lot of things. I only barely scratched the surface on all the quilting things I wanted to tell her, but there's time. Already she has identified an interest in Denyse Schmidt and the first block she drafted showed a lot of original style. Ah. I just have this wealth of knowledge (read: internet links, blogs, etc) that she needs to look at, but I don't want to overwhelm her. Hopefully the hobby will stick and we'll have a chance to sew together again soon. At any rate, I hope she has patience for all the links I'm about to start sending her...