Holiday Wrap Up

As 2015 winds down, I am thinking of what I've accomplished and which goals I have for next year. This month I finished Addison's A quilt. This was a start from June of 2014. The client had a change of mind, and this quilt got relegated to the UFO box. I knew from the start that it would be a gift for my granddaughter. The backing is soft pink pin-wale corduroy with little embroidered flowers.

I quilted this in an all over scroll. I bound it with bias binding in hot pink, aqua, and white. This photo is the only one I have of the quilt. (I lost some photos in their transfer to my laptop.) My granddaughter loves the quilt, She wrapped it around herself as soon as she opened the package for her 6th birthday.

I did catch a few of my holiday gifts on the camera,

Nautical theme potholders for my sister's boat.

Mail Sack cross body purse by Pink Chalk Studio

One of my new year's resolutions is to spiff up my blog, the photos and the layout. For now, this will do.

Meet My New Brother

After my last blog post and a facebook rant about a recalcitrant sewing machine, I got a new one. The old one is at the shop for the third time, for a new thread uptake lever. Meanwhile, meet my new Brother, a Brother Nouvelle 1500s. It is a speedy, hardworking quilting machine that sews up to 1500 stitches per minute. The link just previous has all of the particulars, needless to say it is bona fide.

Bee and dragonfly stickers and a new pair of quilting gloves.

This machine has rocketed me into the fourth dimension of quilting. I have done free motion quilting before, but the speed and ease are charming. (Charm: that ability to make others feel good about themselves.)  It came with a carry case and the cat accessory.

Earl in his natural habitat.

I recently bound and attached a sleeve to this little cutie for one of my fabric enablers, Sonja the Moda rep. It was quilted by my sister, Pam, who did a wondrous job. It is from a kit by Laundry Basket Quilts. The finished size is 14"x18."

At first it reminded me of an entomologist case. 

Each butterfly is unique.

My goal for  this month for  ALYOF is to finish quilting Addy;s  A quilt. It is nearly finished, thanks to my new brother, but I have to unstitch a pucker in the back. Photo to follow. 

On the Fritz

Nothing like the last day of the month to hasten a blog post, whether or not I met my goal for the month. I did not finish my September goal of completing Amber's baby quilt, but it is NOT my fault. My sewing machine is on the fritz again, and I am taking it to Boise to get to the bottom of this.

Meanwhile, here are a few photos of the almost completed baby quilt and big sister dolly quilt, with some of the fabrics I auditioned in the last post.The inner purple borders are folded and dimensional.

Sweet and simple.

Dolly's quilt is 16" sq.

The back of each is soft flannel.

My favorite fabric enabler, Pam, sent me some super duper Kaffe Fassett fabric for my birthday last summer. I finally got around to setting the colors, along with some Moda fabric from a local shop. As I admired the colors of the fabrics hanging on the clothes line, I realized how well they work together. The coral and tangerine don't quite match the Kaffe colors, but all the better. The colors are pushed and really glow. The lime green really makes the aqua and turquoise ZING.

My solar dryer.

Mmmm baby, I love colors.

Today's harvest included chokecherry bark for cough drops. I also gathered hawthorne berries for heart tincture, and elderberries for Wild Elderberry Chutney. Spoiler alert!! Holiday gifts!!

My Busy Happy Life

I am always busy at the end of summer, garden produce on overdrive, quilt club starts up again, weather changes and it's time to pull out warmer clothes, fall birthdays coming up, literal and figurative harvesting and storage. I have to keep reminding myself that I have time for all that needs to get done. Enjoy myself, it's later than I think.

I am almost finished with the last bumper pad that I mentioned in the August post. I have one more to sew. Here's a sneak peak, they all have jungle babies on side A as well as some fun zebra stripes, and side B is coordinating with the changing pad and crib skirt.

Prairie Points coordinate with the quilt (see June's post.)

And, my next goal, patiently waiting it's turn, is a little baby quilt for Amber's soon to be born Kinsley. Amber asked for purple, grey, and aqua. I have some left over grey and lavender squares, and will put these pieces together into something modern and sweet.

I think the batiks may pull it together. 

I am settling in to my work schedule, and have found my energy groove. It means letting go  of some other activities, and remembering where I get my strength. Being outdoors and either gardening or harvesting wild plants is my solace. I have harvested hawthorne berries and chokecherries on our road and veggies in the garden. AND, sewing is my solace. I got my beloved Viking machine back and it works great! Yay! I am making time to sew every day.

And, the other fun event in my busy happy life is participating in Stash Bee. This month is my month to post a tutorial and get blocks from the other busy bees. I chose this wonky churn dash:

I have already received 4 blocks in the mail, and they are adorable. How fun!! Dreaming of sashing, maybe in yellow piano keys... I love the impracticality of a red and white quilt in my home with black fur babies.

A couple of eternal optimists. 

Tutorials for Everything

In Boise the annual event to not miss is Deli Days. It is THE Idaho Jewish Cultural Festival. For over two decades the fundraiser has grown and grown. Parishioners make the most delicious ethnic food, office deliveries happen, and at the synagogue klesmer music plays and people enjoy the lovely summer weather while eating outdoors.

I was contacted to make something for the fundraiser. Specifically, for a basket of kid's goodies to be raffled off for the kid's library at the synagogue. I had a lot of fun looking at internet tutorials for sewn  kid's gift ideas. I found a super idea here, for a utility belt. It is actually an over the shoulder sash, with a pocket, D rings, clips, and fun devices to stimulate the imagination.  I used cotton duck cloth, from a pair of shorts I found at a thrift shop.  Here it is:

The fun starts here. Little flashlight in the pocket.

Pocket with snap for (included) metal tape measure, and a loop for a tool.

Back. Large elastic band,  flashing red light, and grommets.

Top of the front.

I had a lot of fun making this project, and want to make another one for my 8 yr. old grandson. I am thinking about something similar for myself, more like a tool belt, to wear when I am gardening or harvesting in the forest.  There are tutorials for everything out there!

Last week I finished a baby quilt for Ainsley's friend, Brandee. She is a special woman who is having a baby in September. Her nursery theme is baby jungle animals. I was given some jungle fabric and found another tutorial at the Moda Bakeshop website for a pattern called Jungle Path. It was easy and fun to follow the directions.

Scrappy Wonderfulness.

Two jungles here, and a wild binding.

I love the Jane Sassaman fabric with the elephant family.

The amazing, totally unexpected thing happened. I wouldn't let myself start a new project until I finished this quilt. That is a new feeling, a psychic change. I give the credit to the past 2 ½ yrs of being part of ALYOF. This adorable little baby quilt is going to be in the Council, ID quilt show (June 17-July 6) before it goes to Brandee and Nick and baby Kelton.

And, speaking of ALYOF, my goal for this group for June is to finish yet another UFO, my sunny-day-baby-quilt-. It is featured in my etsy shop. I have it basted and expect to finish it in about 8 hours. Then, I will be ready to sew yoga skirts for Ainsley and her two girls for the wedding.  The fabric is from Imaginegnats, rayon challis and cotton voile. Dreamy. The skirts will be all white, swishy and pretty.

What favored tutorials have you used recently?

Creative Self: 1, Inner Critic: 0

Last post I wrote about a bridal shower surprise. My middle daughter Ainsley is getting married, and her friends had a fun party game at the shower. Everyone gave a pair of panties, anonymously. Ainsley had to name who they were from. I was sure she'd guess the red satin panties with ruffles on the butt were from me, because they were home sewn. But, she didn't!! I was surprised. I used Simplicity-3737 and a UFO from 10 years ago.

ruffles on the bottom!!

I used red satin and red cotton knit for the crotch. They went together very easily, and turned out adorable. I want to make panties for all of my gals now.. flannel, knit, even feed sacks. So fun.

Ta-Daah!!

Ainsley's pal, Brandee, is having a baby in a few months. She wants a jungle theme, so here is the quilt top I made. I used Jungle-path-baby-quilt pattern from the Moda Bake Shop Web link.

43" x 43"

Each center square is a jungle animal. I love the dots!

I went through my usual creative process:

1. This is awesome.
2. This is tricky.
3. This is shit.
4. I am shit.
5. This might be ok.
6. This is awesome.

Fortunately, I know myself well enough to push through the middle and get to the awesome end. I wanted some lively darks to give the quilt movement, and then doubted the overall scrappiness. And, the sashing is totally scrappy with some grey that ran out, then pale blue that also ran out, and pale khaki pants weight, of which there was barely enough! I think the overall effect works. Stay tuned for the quilted finish, coming soon.

The Artist Will Prevail

Now I see why her mom cried over this lone star quilt top. It lies flat but the bias is taunting me. The artist will prevail where the perfectionist tailor was stymied. It is gorgeous and I know she will love it! Here it is, ready for pattern pieces of the corners. I had to add the olive-brown edging to help it play nicely with the ecru corners. It will be 3-dimensional to the rest of the top. 

I will have to hand shimmy the diamonds to work this star into submission.Completing this top was my February goal, and since I didn't get it done, it is my March goal for ALYOF . I drew the pattern pieces, so cutting and sewing them will be next. 

In other blog news, I made blocks for Stash Bee's block exchange for January and February. The bar is set very high for quality, fabric selection, and fun. The tutorials are easy to follow, and so far I have wanted to make myself quilts with these designs. 

January's Hunter's Star 16 ½" sq.

February's String 9 " sq.

I pulled out a very old UFO from a class I took over 20 yrs ago in Seattle, "Special Effects, Iridescence/Opalescence" on color theory. I put together the pieces and here it is. The upper left corner is iridescent, the rest is opalescent. I thought it looked like an eye. I added a border that makes me think of hawk feathers, and named this, "Eye of the Raptor."I am not sure the hot pink will work. I may need to make it paler. I might try covering it with some tulle. Stay tuned.

Don't Sugar Me

Another word for doldrums

 noun

A feeling or spell of dismally low spirits:

blues, dejection, depression, despondence, despondency, dolefulness, downheartedness,  dumps,dysphoria, funk, gloom, glumness, heavy-heartedness, melancholy, mope (used in plural),mournfulness, sadness, unhappiness.

Why am I blue? Just avoiding sugar, and missing that dysfunctional relationship. I love sugar, but it gives me a quick thrill and then leaves me in the lurch. I am not answering that call this evening, so don't even leave a message, Sugar. Don't sugar me! Here are the lyrics to the song, by Walt Kelly:

Oh, I may be your cup of tea,
But, baby, don’t you ‘Sugar’ me!
Don’t stir me, boy, nor try to spoon,
Don’t sugar me, cause us is throon!

I won’t sip a lip with you, less
You want a granulated lump or two,
Just roll them eyes right out that door,
Them saucer eyes ain’t square no more.

All them things, them diamond rings,
Them stuff you promised me,
Were figments, Newton, sure as shootin’,
Shootin’ sure as A, B, see

The teapot pouts that the kettle’s blue,
It don’t work out that spar is true,
Just boil away, boy, don’t sit and brew,
Don’t sugar me, cause us is through!

 Don't worry, I am having a low spot, but it is transient and most of my day today has been great. I slept well last night, slept in till almost 8 am...a luxury of retirement. I got up and made a pot of espresso, got a fire going in the wood stove, heated some breakfast, and came up to my loft. I did my 3 pages of morning writing, which is my key to creativity. I wrote under the glow of my full spectrum light.

 My task for today was to work on my fabric inventory. Before we build storage in the loft for my fabric and supplies, I need to measure the dimensions of my stuff, and that means it is time to reduce the amount. I am following a plan laid out in Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space, by Lois Hallock. My goal is to have a lovely studio, rather than an attic full of stuff, which is the case now.  It was painful to imagine purging some of my wonderful but ridiculously excessive fabric hoard. However, once I started, it turned into relaxing therapy. I have gone through a large plastic tote of brown fabric and a medium size tote of yellow fabric, and have folded, condensed, sorted, and purged. Anything smaller than an 1/8th of a yard is either going in the trash, or donated to a thrift store as a "scrap bag." I have reduced my amount by 1/3 so far. Wow! At this rate, the 12 more totes will be reduced to 8, and that is a big deal for this hoarder. 

Here are a few before and after photos, but be warned, it isn't pretty.

One of my activities is a monthly goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes. This is my third year with ALYOF, and it has changed my sewing life. This month I set the goal to finish 4 quilted bags I started last summer, and to embellish them. I did it. I used favored buttons on the front flaps, and it was a nice touch. 

Super cheerful. Just writing about this, and seeing the photos has brightened my evening glums. I am cheered by the finish, and dreaming about my next month's goal. I am also cheered by the contentment of dinner finished and put away, dishes done, coffee pot ready to start in the morning, and the end of my day... my favorite way to end the day, snuggled in bed with the cat, dog, Mr. Thimblepie, and my latest book. Life is good, and I am ready to go to bed. Good night!