Wheelchair bags

This weekend has not turned out as planned. Instead I have been fighting a huge sinus infection and have had little motivation to get off the couch unless its to get rid of all the fluids I have been pushing. One thing I have done, a bit at a time, is that I have figured out how to make wheelchair bags, just in time for our Bee meeting tomorrow night. We will be donating them to the local VA hospital when the Quilt Guild donates wheelchair quilts to it this fall.

Wheelchair bags hang from the handles of a standard wheelchair so that medical staff have a place to put medical charts and patients have a place to stash small tiems like books, magazines and such. I tried a lot of configurations and here is a picture of all the samples I tried out:

Most of them were from stash mid-weight upholstery fabrics while the lime green one is out of straight quilting cottons. Tomorrow night we will probably be using quilting cottons because we have so many yards of it that have been donated to the Bee.

And here are the instructions I think will work the best:

Wheelchair Bags

Finished Size: 18” wide by 15” deep

Cuts:

Using Quilting Cottons:
4 pieces approximately 19” x 16” – for the body – 2 for the exterior, 2 for the interior
2 pieces approximately 13” by 5” – for the straps
2 pieces approximately 8” by 19” – for lined exterior pocket – optional

Trim (optional) – 2 pieces about 19” long

Sewing – ½” seam allowances

Pocket – Place the pocket pieces right sides together, sew along the top edge, turn right sides out and press. Add trim, if wanted, to the top, sewn edge of the pocket.

Place pocket on the bottom edge of one of the exterior fabrics. Raw edges matching, sub-divide the pocket into two or more pockets by sewing through the pocket and the exterior from the top of the pocket to the bottom, raw, edge.

Make a stack of fabric for sewing the bottom of the bag as follows:

Exterior fabric face up
Exterior fabric with pocket face down
Interior fabric face up
Interior fabric face down

Sew along the bottom edges making sure to catch all pieces and the pocket bottom edge.

Separate the exterior from the interior so that you have one long piece with exteriors fabrics, right sides together to one side of the interior fabrics, right sides together.

Sew two long seams from the interior to the exterior making sure to catch the edges of the pocket in the seams.

Fold the interior into the exterior and give it a good press.

Straps – make the straps by folding the long edges to the middle twice, and sewing several times along the length of the strap. Press well in half for a total length of six inches plus seam allowances.

Press the top edges of the bag into between the interior and exterior approximately ½ inch. Slip the straps into the far edges of the bag and pin carefully. Sew the top edge closed near the pressed edge. Sew around the bag two or three times again to make sure everything is secure. Add Trim to the pocket side of the bag if desired.

Give it a good press, add a label and know that you have done a good job making life easier for those confined to a wheelchair. I believe these can also be used as walker bags but I have not tested them for this use.

I certainly got in my practice time this weekend, not quilting, but sewing practice. I hope you and I will also find time to practice this coming week. Have a good one.

Oh, and if you are the incomparable Ms. M., know that you will pay, someday, for this sinus infection ... though how it got from your son, to you, then to me is a little mind boggling. Be prepared!

Socks 4 & 5

I'm really beginning to think I could keep making socks forever.


For one thing, the available yarns are fabulous. The colors and fabrications are as varied as a menu at Denny's. In addition, sock yarn is priced from well under $10.00 to well over $50.00. I look for the less expensive yarns in the sale bin and have not been disappointed.


Sock 1 (never to see the light of day so don't try looking for it) and Socks 2 & 3 were made out of a varigated cotton blend. Socks 4 & 5 were made out of an acrylic blend that looks like fine merino wool. I have a few more balls of yarn to knit up that range from fine wool blends to mystery fibers as I lost the labels.


Anyway, socks 4 & 5 are completed and have gone home to Paul. I used the same pattern as for 2 & 3 and I think I almost have it memoriazed. I think I will knit at least one more pair in that pattern until I try something a little more complex like a cable or lace pattern.


Here's a crappy picture, taken with my DSi of 4 & 5 on Paul's girlfriend's feet.

Note the remians of one of Alex's toys next to her left foot.

One benefit of a crappy picture is that you can't see the big mistake I made on one of them... it's all a blur :-).

Have a great weekend!

BTW - here is the pattern I have been using. I got it off someone else's blog but for the life of me I can't find it again. If this is your pattern or if you know who it belongs to, please let me know so that I can give credit where credit is due.

100 Gram Socks
100 gm sock yarn –This pattern works for any sock yarn with a 28-30 stitch gauge1 set of 2.5mm/US 1 double-pointed needles

Gauge:32 stitches, unstretched, across 4 inches/10cm in K3 P1 rib with 2.5mm/US 1 needles.

Cuff:Cast 60 stitches onto a single needle. Distribute stitches evenly across 3 needles. Join, being careful not to twist.

Work 15 cm/6 inches of K3 P1 ribbing, as follows:
Round 1: *K3, p1; repeat from * to end of round. Repeat this for every round.

Turn Heel:This portion is worked in stockinette stitch.

Knit first 27 stitches. Put remaining 33 stitches onto a holder. Starting with a purl row, work 21 rows of stocking stitch, slipping the first stitch of every row. The right side is facing for next row.

RS: Knit 18 stitches, SKP, turn
WS: Slip 1, purl 9 stitches, p2tog, turn
RS: Slip 1, knit 9 stitches, SKP, turn

Repeat last two rows until all stitches have been worked. Ensure right side is facing for next row. 11 stitches remain on the needle.

Re-establish Round and Create Gusset:

Knit all heel stitches.

Using that same needle, pick up and knit 15 stitches along selvedge edge at side of heel, using slipped stitches as a guide.

With a new needle, work in pattern across the 33 stitches of instep – those stitches that you’d set aside on the stitch holder.

Using another new needle, pick up and knit 15 stitches along selvedge edge at other side of heel, using slipped stitches as a guide. Work 6 stitches from the first needle.

The beginning of the round is now at the centre of the heel. There should be 20 stitches on the first needle, the 33 stitches of the instep on the second, and 21 on the third. Rearrange the stitches if you need to.


Decrease Gusset:Work a round even – keeping the instep stitches in pattern and the balance in stockinette stitch– twisting all picked-up stitches.

Work a decrease round as follows:

Needle 1: Knit to last three stitches, k2tog, k1.
Needle 2: Work all stitches in pattern.
Needle 3: K1, ssk, knit to end.

Work an even round, keeping continuity of pattern.

Repeating these last two rounds until Needles 1 has 13 stitches and Needle 3 has 14. 60 stitches total on your needles.

Work until foot measures 5 cm/2 inches less than desired length.

Shape Toe: From here on in, you’ll work entirely in stockinette stitch.

Rearrange the stitches so that you’ve got 15 each on Needles 1 and 3, and 30 on Needle 2.

Work a decrease round, as follows:

Needle 1: Knit to last three stitches, k2tog, k1.
Needle 2: K1, SSK, knit to last three stitches, k2tog, k1.
Needle 3: K1, SSK, knit to end.

Work 3 rounds even.

Work a decrease round followed by 2 even rounds, twice. [6 rounds total]

Work a decrease round followed by 1 even round, three times. [6 rounds total]

Work 7 more decrease rounds. 8 stitches remain.

To finish, either graft together final stitches or cut yarn, draw through the final stitches and tighten. Weave in ends.

How do you get to...

the International Quilt Frestival winners circle?

Practice, practice, practice.

But how do you practice for an award winning quilt?

There are two basic ways to practice.

One is to make individual samples of the techniques you want to practice. Some people put these into portfolios documenting the things learned by doing the samples. You can end up with a bunch of bits as reference materials, all of which can end up on the floor of the closet waiting for inspiration to strike. I ended up with a lot samples from various people as items for the KAQG Fish Pond. Did the techniques shown in the samples ever end up in quilts? I hope they did but I'll never know.

The other way to pratice is to make up quilts that you can actually use while experimenting with different techniques. You can end up with a bunch of ugly, poorly contstructed quilts or a bunch of wonderful technique quilts. The former make great doggy and/or people napping quilts while the latter are perfect for judging at local quilt shows.

So far, I have tended to practice while making whole quilts that end up as napping quilts. I just can't see spending time on something I can't use when completed. Even if the technique is sloppy I can usually salvage a utility quilt out of it. I do have a problem finishing up a whole quilt when I find, half way through, that I hate the technique. In that case I feel no sorrow in tossing what I have already done into the scrap pile or trying to salvage a smaller quilt out of it.

Every time I sit down to sew I try to make it a practice session. Are matching points my conern or will I finally get a wrinkle free binding applied? What ever I want to practice, I am always learning something.

If some day I feel that I have practiced enough to make a prize winning quilt for the International Quilt Festival that would be fabulous.

Even if that day never comes, I will continue to practice knowing that I can never have too many quilts to nap under AND if I can nap under them with another warm body that I love.. be it puppies or people, then all the practice makes it worthwhile.

I hope that rest of your week includes some practice.

Sweet Tea and Lemonade

That's the name of a Charlotte Angotti kit I picked up a few years ago. I bought it intending to make it into a full size bed quilt for my bed as the background almost matched the color of my walls. It did not turn out that way as there are a couple of home truths I forgot in my ambitous planning. For instance, if you buy a twin size quilt kit, first offerd many years ago, you will be unable to find enough matching current fabrics to stretch the twin to a queen size quilt. Another truth is that you should really, really like the blocks you will be making to do a queen size quilt. I could not find enough curent fabrics to stretch it to queen size and, after only six blocks, I hated making the blocks.

It is now hanging on my bedroom wall where every day it reminds me of these home truths. Here is how it came out:

Why only the top half? Well, there is a huge wrinkle on the top of the quilt from my quilting. The weird thing is that most wrinkles from quilting come on the back of the quilt. Trust me to find a new way to wreck an otherwise acceptable quilt. Here is the bottom half:

See that wrinkle? It makes the whole quilt hang a little crookedly but, be assured, that the rod is hanging straight as Paul did it. Here is the whole picture I see every day:

One thing I do notice now that it is done is that lower left hand basket does not stand out from the back ground as I thought it would.

Lessons learned:

• current fabrics do not match older fabrics
• you must like making the blocks before making tons of them
• you can wrinkle the top of a quilt when quilting
• value really does count when using pastels

I hope your weekend is going well. Personally I am working on a project that may never make it into this blog and trying to complete all the finishing touches for a sweater I started last fall but completed knitting just this morning. Now that it is regularly in the nineties here my attempts at gardening have been curtailed until I get used to the new norm. Have a great weekend!

An Ode to Bug Spray

An Ode to Bug Spray

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

I love my can of bug spray,

It stops those nasty bugs,

It makes our walks most droll and gay,

Unless its those tricky bugs who find the one square inch on the back of your neck that is unprotected and you end up scratching and looking like a mad woman all day.

So it doesn't scan - shoot me... please!

Laughable Feathers

I love the quilting pattern called feathers. They are so delicate and fill the spaces on qults quite beautifully. A teacher came through here a while ago and spent two days teaching others how to machine quilt feather designs. Here is a link to some beautiful examples.

As you can see the designs are versatile and look great on plain fabrics where the designs really show thorugh.

I decided to practice some free form feathers on a quilt I made a couple of weeks ago. This was a Charlotte Angotti kit I had hanging out here for a few years with a couple of blocks completed and nothing else done.

Don't my feathers look great!

What? You say you can't see the feathers? How about this shot?

Be glad that the densely patterned and pieced quilt top does not allow the feathers to show because most of them were awful. I did get a lot of practiceand feel confident I can actually quilt feathers the next time the spirit moves me.

Lesson learned: If you want to practice a particular quilting design on a finished quilt top, try it out on a heavily pattern fabric area or heavily pieced area until you are confident you can do the quilting pattern. You'll get lots of practice, a quilt top will get quilted and no-one will laugh at your feathers.

What to do with....

Doll size quilts obtained thorugh on-line swaps?

That has been a problem for me for quite some time. These wonderful little pieces of art really deserve to be seen. I was displaying one or two at a time on a table top but that left the majority lanquishing in a drawer until I remembered to switch them out.

I think I came up with a solution for about six of them...

Paul hung two light weight curtain rods above my cutting/ironing table so I can see these every time I use the table and, maybe, get some inspiration for a new project.

The rest do not have rod pockets, just corner pockets and those I intend to hang on the opposite wall... but that will wait for another day.

Schlepp Bag Redux

A couple of months ago I worked with a bunch of fellow quilters on a Saturday making Schlepp Bags and the 22 square bag. (if you don't remember, here is the post.) I love this bag and I am now working on making several for the Knitting Clib kids to carry their bigger projects and to take home supplies for the summer. One of the participants has taken the Schlepp Bag concept to a whole new level. Not only has she make one for herself, she also made one for her sister, one for her sister's daughter-in-law and for her sister's two year-old grand-daughter.

Are they not wonderful!

Thanks to the incredble Miss Joyce for sharing this picture with me ... I think I created a monster!

The other bag we worked on, made out of 22 squares of fabric, has become a bit of a celebrity as well. Not through any help from me, one of the Houston quilt guilds is offering a class on it later this summer. I heard about it at an Idea Saturday session at Sunfower Quilts last weekend and was a little shocked when one of the attendees presented her bag without attribution to the original magazine article or to anyone who had popularised it locally. I guess I should not be surprised, maybe she didn't know the origin of the bag, but I do fault the teacher for not giving credit where credit is due. Judy, even if others don't know it, I credit you with bringing us this wonderful bag from the Australian Patchwork magazine.

Now to get ready for the long Memorial Day Weekend. I am planning on piecing a quilt top that I purchased at the American Sewing Guild garage sale back in February and making knitting bags for the kids. I might just finish the yard work I have been doing for the past fews weeks and, if I can find where Alex hid the camera, I will post pictures of the results of all my hard work.

Have a great weekend!

Don't...

Eat crackers in bed.

Chocolate chip cookies are not good either.

And definitely cutting your toe nails in bed is a no-no.

Today I added another thing to that list... don't lie down on your bed after applying six bags of mulch to the garden.

Enough said?

Women on a Mission

Last year I heard about a project by two members of the Houston Chapter of the American Sewing Guild. These two women were making knit caps for local cancer patients. They packaged them three to a bag with a decorative pin. Together, with a little help from the Kingwood neighborhood group, they made well over a hundred of these caps last spring for which the patients were very grafeul.

In order to continue their great work, I was given almost one hundred and fifty (150!) yards of various knits to make up caps this year. These knits were bought at clearance tables, found in stashes and generally were provided without huge cash expenditures. Over the past couple of months about six of us, primarily members of the Kingwood Area Quilt Guild, were able to make over 200 caps. We have already given out about sixty of them and I am busily packaging up the rest to give out over the next few months.

This is a great but simple project you can either use your serger or sewing machine to make them up. These caps can make a real impact on the lives of those who are losing, or have lost, their hair due to chemotherapy. The pattern we have been using is from Nancy's Notions Creative Kindness line and can be accessed for free here.

If you take on this project there are a couple of things we have learned. T-shirt quality double stretch cottons knits are really the best. Many polyester based knits either stretch only a little or way too much. Thermal cottons also work well but seem to easily stretch out of shape. Velour however is positively fabulous to work with and feels good on a naked head. We worked with a huge variety of knits but cut them all to the same size and ended up with about six different sizes from teeny tiny to extra, extra large. A variety of sizes is a good thing but I wish our results had not been so unplanned.

Anyway, I hope this project is something we can take on every year as the need will never really diminsh. I already have a lot of knits left over from this year's sewing frenzy to give us a good start. Once I get all the ones we have made distributed I will start bugging/begging for more knits for next next year as well as finding a source for decorative pins. JoAnn's and Tuesday Morning both had huge amounts of pretty pins for about a dollar each earlier this year but I think we have cleared out all of the ones in Houston so I will be on the hunt for other sources. Fortunately one of our workers is a great shopper and I hope she can point us to more sources.

I find this project so typical of women when faced with a medical crisis. We can go through all the emotional stuff that goes with a potentially life threatening illness but then we sit down and try to make the journey more pleasant.

Women on this mission included Janetta, Lish, Marjory, Fonda, Margo, Mary Jane and me and many, many others who either directly or indirectly contributed pins, fabric and zip lock bags. I especially want to thank the Houston Chapter of the American Sewing Guild for contributing many, many yards of fabric from their storage locker to give this project a big boost.

I am now off to hunker down and hope that the big storms headed this way leave the power on long enough for me to get a quilt quilted.