Lost and Found (twice)

My finished list for 2010 needs updating. Last night the second pincushion cut out back in May (!) finally came together. It was in a small zip-loc bag in the bottom of a quilt/knitting bag and had gone awol for a bit. The top and bottom stars had been finished back in June, and sometime mid-December when the bag was emptied out it resurfaced. My shoulder needed a break from knitting so I went back to handstitching.

The original idea was to alternate the prints on the bottom and top so each diamond was more distinct, but I liked keeping the aqua and purple flower print pieces together, since this was such a small scrap anyway (probably from my sister?). I stuffed it last night with loosely spun wool (some of my early spinning) and some leftover plastic pellets to give it some weight. I like the wool stuffing better than the polyester used on the first pincushion finished back in May. The pincushion was missing this morning, and I thought our chocolate lab Max had purloined it, but there was no trail of pellets to be found. Apparently Murphy the cat needed a quick game of hockey, as it turned up under a bookcase.

Two aqua fabric covered buttons (commercial, with a plastic shaft) came to the top of the button box today to finish it off. Now off to find the other fabrics set aside for the next pincushion.

Finished object and report

The last pictures of the repurposed fabric weren't very attractive, but the bags finished up very nicely. I like the weight of the double layer, as it feels more substantial than even a lined bag. We ended up stuffing 42 bags with cosmetics and other sundries at the American Sewing Guild meeting earlier this month for the local domestic violence housing program. There is enough of the sturdy plaid lining for quite a few more bags, and they'll be ready for next year's donations.

When you make multiples of a project, there is always a learning curve, as something you may be willing to do once (i.e. zig-zag the edges and fold them over and re-stitch), is quickly replaced with serging the edges in one pass (and also containing fraying edges.) The notes are updated for the next time this project is worked on. I'll cut the outside and lining pieces the same size, pin together, serge the edges together then do the quilting.

Repurposing Fabric, Part 1

More "gifted" fabric has arrived, and has been sorted, assigned, gifted or tossed. In progress are cosmetic bags for my American Sewing Guild's December charity project. I started with a simple pattern from Better Homes and Garden that uses two rectangles for easy zipper sewing. The pieces are being layered with a pants-weight plaid fabric that has lines for easy quilting. By itself, I didn't find this fabric attractive, but it's working out great as a lining.

The lining is cut to the finished size, and the outside fabric 1" larger. The thin lines make a good scale grid for quilting. On my test sample, after folding the outside fabric in and zig-zag stitching, I realized that I'll need to trim the folded edge to about 1/4" all around before folding, so the finished edges will be hidden in the seams (except along the zipper edge.) Taking good notes on projects helps me step right back in after taking a break from them.

Some of the donated fabric was in strips about 6" wide, and I needed larger pieces, so they were seamed. My hat basket of ribbon pieces had this fun polka-dot ribbon that covers the seam. It was added after quilting the layers.

Five bags with this floral bag are in progress.

Vrooom....gag, cough!

That's the sound of the vacuum pulling in 11 1/4 yards of fabric!

I was at a crossroads about my Christmas stockings for Toy Rescue Mission - the finished stockings are ready to pack and mail off, and my local quilting group had expressed interest in helping me make more, as per my last post. As my Christmas fabric supply had been radically reduced, it was coming to

1. repurposing fabric from a project box


2. asking for donations


3. buying fabric

My family's schedule was causing some conflict with the upcoming November retreat, and I was considering calling it good for this year, and starting a new cycle after the holidays. And then Wednesday brought one of my regular and kindest quilt customers, who had seen some of my stockings in progress and shopped her stash for donations - one 3 2/3 yard piece of adorable snowmen and 7 1/2 yards of Christmas sayings! She qualified that I could use it any way I choose, and I have to admit the snowmen have a vintage look that is just adorable.

Both fabrics are directional, so I'll pre-cut pieces to stack and cut 6-8 layers at once. I've also decided that I'll make a small adjustment to the stocking template. It flares slightly at the top, which can be challenging if the facing isn't flared the opposite direction when it's attached. This is one of those small things that you can put up with if you're only making a few, but becomes a pain when you're working in larger quantities. Some of the more experiences sewists in the group would have figured this out earlier, I'm sure! At any rate, simplifying the pattern will make it easier for all of us. If I get them cut out earlier, the "kits" will be passed out early with simple instructions. The facing can be inside or outside, fancy or plain, and they need a sturdy hanging loop.

Project Vacuum

Have you ever finished a project that you are so glad to be done with, only to have a new project fall in your lap? It feels like a vacuum to me—something new gets sucked right in. I had to set aside almost all fiber crafts for a few weeks while working diligently to clean out two storage units that belonged to my late brother, a big big project. I almost forgot what it was like to have some free time, but took advantage of having last weekend to myself and got several things finished.

The charity Christmas stockings are finished—all 100 of them. I didn’t start out to make 100, just as many as I could. Some are strip pieced, some are one fabric in front and another on the back, some the same fabric front and back. I brought the last 12 of them to a quilt meeting on Tuesday, which turned out to be newsletter folding night. After the newsletters were finished, I pulled out the stockings to turn and finger press them. Within five minutes, the stockings were literally flying through the air as everyone wanted to help turn them. And now they want to help make more of them during our November meeting. Yippee! This is a good thing, and I need to write up dimensions so anyone interested can check their stash beforehand and pack the fabric. With the nice plastic template that DH made me, I can cut up to 8 layers at a time.

The second mystery quilt top (blue/lime) is done too, and the backing is pieced. Unless I’m donating just a top to charity, quilts are always three projects – piecing, quilting, and binding. I’m still hand-finishing the binding on the red/cream version of the mystery quilt. I chose a different setting for the blue/lime version, and will post pictures of the two together soon.

Finally the replacement barbeque cover is finished…and then I washed the panels for the room divider screen that my neighbor gifted me—only to have them shrink 6” in length! Currently the panels are swaying from the top brace. Yesterday’s endurance shopping bus trip to Portland yielded some pretty blue fabric that happened to be 60” wide, so all three new panels can be cut from 2 yards, purchased for $12.80.

A Good Listen

Anyone who is a fan of Sue Hausmann should check out this great interview by Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood of CraftSanity Podcast (#118.) Sue hosted America Sews for 15 years, and though it's no longer filming, the project archive is still up at Husqvarna Viking website.

I was lucky enough to take a short seminar from Sue at Sewing Expo a few years ago, and her love of teaching really comes across. There was always something to learn from her shows, even if the end product wasn't something I would want, the techniques demonstrated could be applied to other projects.

Goodbyes

My college-age son left for an adventure yesterday - a year abroad. I didn't schedule any work this week, as he is a last-minute kinda guy. He called this morning to tell us that he'd arrived safely at his destination (as did his checked luggage.) I've also been dealing with my younger brother's belongings, as he died unexpectedly last month. My busy work has been mending and working on charity projects.

Quilting detail on Storybook Quilt - Butterflies. Finished and bound this week.

The Christmas stockings for Toy Rescue Mission are coming along nicely. The eight smaller ones (using the extra backings cut out last year) are finished.

The 23 other scrappy-pieced stockings are sewn and ready for finish work (turning, tying off serged ends, pressing, adding hanging loops.) The top edges will be turned to the inside, and have a hemmed edge.

Another 25 made from a Christmas postcard print are also sewn and ready for turning. They have a cuff sewn from white felt (with sparkles!) that flips to the outside, with an exposed seam on just the felt. I have a meeting tomorrow for charity work and will bring them along for finishing.

Since these stockings will probably become an annual project for me, I've kept better notes on how they were constructed. I answered a sewing blogger's question last month about what to do with "ugly" fabrics, and forgot all about how useful it can be for testing!

This is a sample of the cuff turned inside - much easier assembly if sewn to each side first, then the side seams. My first attempts had a cuff sewn as a tube, and they were clumsy.

The single fabric stockings with felt cuff were definitely the easiest. The larger size that TRM prefers is also easier to work with too. The Christmas fabric stash is largely depleted, though there is a box of Christmas print scraps for a simple strip quilt that will probably yield leftover. There will likely be other fabric gifted to me to build up the supply as well.

Bits and Pieces

Lots of small projects have been finished in the last month, and of course several new projects started.

I made a batik top from some grey and blue batik fabric that a quilter gave me, and a pair of matching pants (cut out months ago) from a lavender/blue cotton. The pants were a test of a pattern that I hadn’t used before, a multi-sized ( ) pattern. I always have to adjust the rise as I am short-waisted, and since the pants have slant pockets and an elastic waist band with drawstring, it makes the pocket openings a bit small. They actually fit pretty well, and I have some gabardine fabric in house to make a fall version of them. Of course, having lost 20 pounds since I cut out the first pair, I will need to revisit the size.

Two kitty beds were made from a recycled sheepskin car seat cover and a recycled homemade corduroy bench seat cover. Murphy LOVES them, so they were worth the effort. The corduroy had been purchased by my mother many many years ago at a yard sale. I made the seat cover twelve years ago for our van. It helped when the van was sold that the seats were nice and clean, even though we have dogs. All of the usable parts were salvaged, and the rest tossed.

I spun a small sampler of superwash sock yarn that came as a gift with a larger order. It's a pretty teal blue, and I think it wants to be plied with some of the shiny rayon thread that isn't strong enough for machine quilting. It will add just a bit of shine plus strength to the wool single.

At a sewing retreat two weeks ago I started working on Christmas stockings for Toy Rescue Mission of Tacoma. I made stockings for them last year, and had a few extra backings leftover. I contacted them about the size, and they do want them as wide as possible, so I drew a new template and my husband kindly cut out an acrylic template for me. For the pieced fronts, muslin was used as a foundation. I started with some fussy-cut birds that had been cut too small for their project, and some small animal caricatures gifted to me. The leftover bits from the bird project, plus other gold, green and red fabrics were added. I have some cream fabric with gold stars to cut the backings for the larger stockings (23 of them). I also cut out about 30 stockings from a print with postcards of Santa – 2 large pieces of the same print given to me by different people, they will be sewn up without additional embellishment.

Binding has been finished on the 4-patch charity and started on the red/cream Christmas quilt that will be a gift. I started some baby washcloths from cotton chenille when I needed a decompress project. We’ve had a lot of the crazy to deal with including several life-changing things happening at the same time. Simple projects bring a sense of calm.

Keeping notes on finished projects

I’ve gotten much better at writing out ideas when inspired to make something—especially when I’m designing it from scratch or altering a pattern. Too many times I’ve looked at a bundle of fabric in a box and wondered what the original idea was.

Now I’ve come up against a finished project that needs to be re-made: a barbeque cover from Sunbrella fabric. The first one was finished about 4 years ago, and has lived outside ever since, though under a metal-roofed awning. Last month a small tear became a large tear, and I promised DH that I would look into making a new one. First I looked at finished BBQ covers online and at a store (in a sealed box of course), and decided that even the more expensive versions (~$40) wouldn’t last very long.

It’s a rather strange shape, but I didn’t keep any notes on the dimensions of the first homemade cover. We measured the cover and I made some yardage diagrams. I planned on doubling the center panel that drapes over the top for the new one, as that’s where most of the wear happened on the first cover. Then sticker shock set in when even after adjusting the finished size to make the best use of 60” wide fabric, we would still need 5 yards at $20/yd. I don’t remember the first cover costing over $50 total, so either I purchased a color on sale (it is grey, a weird color for our house and deck) or the price of this fabric has really gone up. DH checked at local stores to see if he liked any of the ready-made options better, and didn’t, so it’s back to trying to locate a decent price on Sunbrella fabric.

Working the Stash

I'm very drawn to printed panels, although they can sometimes be a challenge to work with. Often the "blocks" are not square and not all the same size. At a rather frantic sample sale I picked up this book panel, not realizing somehow that it was a book and not a quilt panel.

Some time ago it had been measured, and diagrams drawn and the purple sashing cut, then it sat in a box. When I pulled it out a few days ago, I checked the blocks and adjusted the size down a bit when cutting them out. The large block in the center was supposed to be the center of the book, and it didn't make sense to cut it in two, so the sashings on each side were cut just a bit wider to adjust the total width.

After the top and bottom rows were assembled with the vertical sashing, I ended up trimming the bottom edge another 1/4" to removed the printed sewing instructions (in black) that would not have been hidden by the seams. The pictures are very sweet and it will be a nice charity quilt, finishing about 47" x 56".

It wasn't until the bag was finished that the fabric reminded me of fireworks, appropriate for a July 4th project. My friend Patty loves red, and this batik fabric had been given to me in two long strips. I used the full width of one piece for the bottom section, and split the other lengthwise to made the top section and handles. The outside pocket just visible with the top of a blue notepad peeking out is a hanging pocket made with the lining and a small strip of the red batik as a facing at the top so the lining doesn't peek out. The lining is white with random small red dots.

A Few Photos

Tan spinning - fiber from a charity auction, wool. This was my largest spinning project to date, 3 skeins of triple-ply finishing about sport or DK weight. Fluffed up nicely when washed.





























Purple baskets quilt, stash fabrics which limited layout options. About 50" x 50".





















Mystery quilt - red/cream version. Both fabrics are a snowflake print, and the backing is a Christmas toile of red on cream, all from stash. 70 x 55", one Christmas present almost done!

Kitties

My latest quilt idea is to take the kitty designs on two Japanese fabrics and make appliqué kitties. I've thought about this idea for a while, and finally started the process. First I scanned the fabric, enlarged the images and traced the kitties. Then I re-scanned the tracings and enlarged them. It took a fair amount of editing to clean up the edges and alignment of the individual pieces to be able to make appliqué shapes from them.

I pulled one of the images in EQ6, and traced it as a rough appliqué to start playing with quilt layouts. There are several on the worktable, and so far my favorite has a simple windmill block called Twin Sister as an alternate block, which can be colored so the appliqué block appears to interweave with the alternate blocks.

I had all kinds of ideas about using fabrics from my stash for the appliqués. However, once I started pulling fabrics out, it was obvious that it would be too busy, since the kitties already have collars, bells, face details etc., so I started looking for plain fabrics or those with subtle prints. There is enough of the dark navy kitty print to use for sashing or borders, and those kitties are cream or white, with bright accents. The background for the blocks will probably be a chambray blue, with white and cream kitties. The kitty details won't get lost on these plainer fabrics.

The purple baskets quilt is quilted - just needs some thread clean-up, trimming and binding. It was a useful exercise, the resulting quilt is cute. If I decide to use the rest of the foundations and make the large quilt version that puts four basket blocks together to make large "flowers", I'll make the handles with bias strips turned under, rather than fabric tubes that feel too lumpy.

Large knitting finish - the Storm Water Shawl for my sister. Though I had read rave reviews of Seasilk yarn, it did not charm me. It does not have much stretch, the white lint balls all over it were not appealing, and there isn't much shine for the amount of silk. It really feels more like cotton string. The pattern does show up nicely. We celebrated her birthday yesterday, and she loved the shawl and the shawl pin that was a useful complement.

Two small knitting finishes - two charity hats from yarn leftovers, and a third is already on the needles. It's the easiest pattern, great for TV watching, and my sticky Swallow Casein dpns work great as the yarn doesn't slip off them. The pattern is the Simple Rolled Brim Cap from www.chemocaps.com.

New sweater started - Radiate Inside Out, my version of the Knitty.com cardigan with stockinette and purl lines (indented) rather than the reverse stockinette and raised knitted lines. I'm knitting it with my acrylic KnitPicks circular tips with Reynold's Gypsy cotton yarn--these tips are about as sticky as my dpns, but a slightly sharper tip. It is a bit odd to be able to see through your needles though, and as the yarn is a very loose twist I have to make sure it's not being split. The yarn is denim blue, and I'm hoping it lasts to give me at least 3/4 sleeves.

Garden Sewing

Warmer weather has been drawing me outside to the garden. I did a bit of sewing for the garden - two smaller pieces of crop cover cloth to wrap around the base of the bean trellis (to keep cats and birds out). It didn't look very interesting when photographed, so here's a project from several years ago: a screen for the rain barrel.

Packcloth fabric scraps, screen door mesh, and a bit of string to draw the circular shape. Velcro flaps hold the packcloth around the overflow pipes. The birds scavenge through the bits of

debris.

Blog crawling has brought me a new handwork obsession in the form of 6-pointed star pincushions. There weren't any instructions or links to a source pattern, but eventually I recognized that it was just diamonds. I found an acrylic template the size needed, and very quickly had little stacks of precious fabrics to make half a dozen. One set was cut out to act as a test, and the results made me very happy. I pieced the top and bottom stars by machine, and did the sides by hand.

Pincushion #2 is going to have two or three fabrics on the top star. I'm going to untwist some of my first spinning attempts and use wool roving to stuff it. This will be a fun way to use small scraps.

A Push In The Right Direction

I finally had a free weekend at the same time as a local day sewing retreat, and finally took advantage of it. It's not as much work to pack when you're only going for one day, and are close enough to home to retrieve forgotten items. But what to bring? The first idea was to bring several new projects to cut out, but decided to work on something already in progress instead. I tracked down my project list, crossed off a few finished things, and pulled out the box with the Ocean Waves swap blocks from a couple of years back.

No notes in the box on the status...hmm....pulled out and counted the finished blocks - 21. The quilt as designed is supposed to have 36 main blocks and 52 border blocks. Measured the backing fabric, and realized that the top could be larger if there is enough background fabric for the blocks. The background fabric for the original 36 blocks plus the border blocks had been cut out long ago, and the extra was still in the box. There were only enough Thangles foundations for four more blocks (each block has 10 half-square triangles), and realized that is probably why I had stopped.

At the retreat I cut out all the dark fabrics for the remaining blocks, and completed 4 Ocean Wave blocks and 4 partial blocks, using all the foundations. I also stitched up the remaining border blocks, which didn't need foundations. Then I made a list of what pieces and how many of each would be needed to add another row - 6 ocean wave blocks and 4 more 5" border blocks. After measuring carefully, there was enough fabric, so I cut the background pieces for another row of blocks. I ran out of time before cutting the necessary dark pieces for the blocks.

I really miss having a fabric/quilt store close by, as sadly the six in my area have closed. The closest store is 20-30 minutes away, depending on construction detours and trains. The Thangles site has a list of stores that carry them, and a quilt store about 40 minutes south caught my eye, as we were heading that direction to search for outdoor furniture, so we stopped by, and I was ready to roll again. I finished the partially finished blocks at home that afternoon, and cut the remaining dark pieces for the blocks and border .

I'm so glad that I revisited this project. It was a good project for a retreat, as the sub-pieces of each block needed pressing, so I had to walk frequently to the ironing board, and didn't get tense from sitting too long. The foundations give me precise half-square triangles, and are fun to sew. Now that all the pieces are ready to sew, I can keep my momentum going by doing a block or two in a short amount of time.

Retreat Report

My American Sewing Guild retreat was three weeks ago: three days of sewing, with someone else doing the cooking, no housework and no dogs to walk. A bit overwhelming when trying to decide what to pack. At past retreats, I've been productive, but didn't feel at all creative. I also need to pace myself and not do the same motions for too long, so I either kept projects small or worked on them in segments.

There were a variety of projects:

Assembly of the purple baskets quilt. The pieced blocks were sewn to the setting blocks, but my printout of the border blocks template didn't include the finished size (and they are an odd size), so their trimming and assembly still needs to be done. This is the only project worked on and still unfinished since the retreat.

Slow, boring careful piecing on the two mystery quilts. I'm making two versions of the same quilt, and got through most of the piecing and ironing. The last pieces were done at home. Here they are waiting to be pressed and clipped apart - always remind me of flags at this stage.

A shoebox of fabrics for a charity quilt. At some point I had cut out squares to make a Disappearing 9-Patch quilt, but when assembling them at the retreat, I was short two pieces. 11 blocks were completed at the retreat, and the final block, top assembly and border added the following weekend.

Fabrics & pattern for little knot bags for knitting projects - two knot bags were finished, and one given away at the retreat.

A reversible shopping tote - one finished, with modifications including inside pockets cut from the fabric left between the handles, and boxed bottom corners.

The roosters wallhanging that has been a PIM (project in mind) for over a year. The piecing and appliqué were done at the retreat, and the quilting and binding the following weekend.

The two apron projects stayed in their bags, but I am pleased with what did get accomplished. I felt both productive and creative, and had fun too.

Perspective

Fabric can look so cute when shown in a small swatch on a monitor, especially when on sale, and described with a favorite color (purple) for the print. No mention was made of the yellow uneven blotches in the background. It looks pre-stained.

Sometimes when working on a quilt project, especially a “use only stash” project, my focus gets fuzzy. The end result needs to be more than just using up fabric in the stash, but creating a pleasing result by meeting the challenge of using only stash fabric in a creative way. The purple baskets quilt in progress needed some light to medium fabrics for setting the on-point blocks, and I was trying to convince myself that the blotchy bargain fabric would work well. It was actually too busy for the scrappy pieced baskets, and after considering it for over two weeks, I brought some of the blocks with the fabric in questions, along with a soft solid lavender alternate, to my quilt group for feedback.

The original pattern shows the crib-sized quilt with strong, dark colors for the setting triangles, which looked jarring against the light background of the featured blocks, and I brought the pattern along to explain my dilemma. It was fun to hear the responses - 7 opinions for the soft solid, one vote for the blotchy print. Everyone agreed that the blotchy print would be fine for the backing.

I knew that the soft lavender solid looked better, but didn't listen to or didn't trust my inner artist voice. It was a relief to hear most of the input from other quilters agreed with my instinct. Some projects just go together without any pauses, and this one needed a push. I'll hopefully post the finished top by the end of the weekend.

Pattern by Request

This little quilt was a UFO for way too long. It was quilted, trimmed, and sat waiting for binding. It was photographed in various stages by several customers who saw it and liked the pattern. The fabric was purchased online, and it was not a brand-name fabric. The quality is OK, not as nice as Moda for example.

It’s a super easy pattern – it was made from pre-cut strips that were cut 2 ½” wide (sorry I don’t remember how many strips.) You can make this with any size strips – they don’t have to be the same width, but the effect will be a bit different if they vary. Stay tuned for future stash-busting versions!

• Sew strips of one each light and dark together (or light and medium, or medium and dark).
• Press towards the darkest fabric.
• Use a triangle ruler and cut triangles – mark the size with masking tape at the base so they are a consistent size, making sure the triangle is level at the bottom edge. If you like you can move the ruler up so the ¼” tip is cut off—I just put my point at the top of the strip set. You will alternate cutting one with a dark base, light top and the next light base, dark top.
• Use two dark base and two light base triangles for each square. The seams will end up going alternate directions where the strip sets come together.

My blocks finished at just over 7”, and the quilt is about 64 x 56”. If you used three strips per block, you’d get larger blocks. I had very little fabric leftover, though a couple of the blocks are different color combinations.

The Lists

My husband was horrified when I told him that my Unfinished Project List (sewing only) had 58 items on it. He relaxed a bit when I further explained that some of these projects are just ideas – PIM or Projects in Mind. This is the smallest category – 7 items.

The PIG category – Projects In a Grocery sack (usually plastic shoeboxes or Ziploc bags) are projects a bit further along but not yet started. These are usually a bundle or scraps of fabrics with a pattern or notes on what they will become. This is the largest group - 35 items.

The actual UFO or Unfinished Object category includes projects either started (or repurposed), set aside for thought, or just waiting for motivation and decisions to finish. There are 16 items on the list, and one more quilt binding in progress on a quilt that hadn’t made it to the list.

Ravelry is where my knitting projects are listed. There are only three current projects, and a few that are designated as “hibernating”. That’s a good description for projects that I’m not actively working on or even thinking about. My queue of patterns that I would like to make recently got a clean-up, and a few projects to be started in the near future moved to the top. They also have a favorites list, where patterns for future reference are listed.

The lists are helpful to keep track of things and also to prioritize them. My sewing list also has a location for the projects—the only downside to my nice cabinets is that they tend to hide things. With the sewing project list sitting on the table top, there is a visual reminder of what is there before I try to start something new.

Of course there are projects that never make it to the list, as every project that I start doesn’t get added, and many times are finished in a short duration. Projects with deadlines naturally move up in priority, and so I’m trying to group certain projects to have a finish date, such as making charity quilt tops to be done and delivered before the next Project Linus work party at a local store.