And Another TWO Hit the Dust...

This past weekend I got to finish TWO UFOs that had been hanging over my head for way too long.  


One comes from this past August fall when I attended an ASG neighborhood group swap.  Everyone brought stuff that they no longer had a use for and we all got to take as much as we want from what was available.  I wrote about it here.


One of the excellent bits I picked up was the remains of a curtain made from squares of African fabric.  There was a note attached that said it had been purchased at the 1998 Quilt Festival and that it had not been pre-washed.  The usable portion was about 34" wide and 40" long. which is just about the right size for a wheel chair lap quilt.


Saturday the transformation occurred.  


Very simple quilting with a solid black for the backing and binding.  It is a little small for some of the older chairs but it should work well with the more modern chairs.  I even have an unsuspecting victim.. err recipient to use it.

The other is a more recent quilt.  The pattern is from a kit I won, also back in August, that I put together over the past holiday period.  It was also used as a sample for a recent Saturday Strippers gathering.


I realized that a simple little wheel chair lap quilt was not enough of a gift for a recently wheel chair confined husband of a friend.  Although I had planned some fancy quilting I went with a very simple design (stitch in the ditch) and a machine applied binding because I know it will get a lot of washing and simple would be easier to repair, if needed.


Here's how it turned out:

The colors did not photograph well... instead of something that looks red, white and  blue the colors are more rust, cream and black.. I guess this means I need to work on my camera skills!


As it may be a while before I make it over to the nursing home, I will be sticking these in the mail tomorrow and hope that my friend's husband can make good use of both.  If not, I hope that someone else can use them both.  I know that my father loved having a home made quilt on his bed as he loved the texture of the fabrics, seams and quilting and a lap quilt for his wheel chair covered any embarrassing clothing malfunctions.


In any case I hope they both get used which is all a quilt maker wants for their quilts.

Cold Weather Sewing

The past couple of weeks have had many days of brutal cold for us in the south of Texas.  Down below freezing on many nights in a row and some friends have had to contend with frozen pipes.


My own home is well insulated but with a large expanse of windows in the living room and floors that are mostly tile things get very cold downstairs.


I found myself running out of clean hand knit wool socks and having to resort to my old ski socks in order to  keep my feet warm.


The dogs have loved it all as they have slept with me on many nights.  They are a little ticked at me as I have had to wash the bed sheets frequently to keep down on the amount of dog fur that has rubbed off of them.


Keeping warm feels like a full time job some days.  My feet have done well but other parts of my body have not faired so well.


My hands, in particular, have not been happy.  Not so much my fingers, but my wrists and hands have been very achy.  Not sure if its the cold or the RA but it really puts a damper on things when your hands just want to be in a pair of fluffy mittens.  


Another part of body has not been happy either.  Essentially my upper torso... shoulders, back and chest have been very stiff and cold.


I knew I needed a solution that did not include more bulky sweaters or hiding under the covers all day.


Solution #1 - Polartec vest:

Yes, its not pretty but it is nice and warm.  Made from a kit I bought years ago at an ASG conference, this simple vest is like shearling on the inside and like velour on the outside.  Its a little big but it works at keeping the problem areas warm.  The pattern is from Kwik Sew but any basic vest pattern would have worked.  


Solution #2 - Polartec gauntlets:

Made from scraps left over from the vest making.  Essentially a tube with a slit for my thumb.  In use on both hands as I type and boy do they feel warm!


Now that there is a warming trend this weekend I may not have much time left to use my new cold weather accessories but I am very happy to know that I will have them for next year.


I hope your weekend is going well and that you have not forgotten to get your loved ones something for St. Valentine's day.  The dogs are getting bully sticks and Paul is  getting his bank statements balanced.


No-one ever said I was a romantic!


PS - read about the story behind Polartec here and here.  I am so happy that the company still exists and continues to make fabulous fabrics.  This is NOT your average fabric store fleece and their newest products are very intriguing.  Next year I might look into their battery operated heated vest...but that might just be going a little overboard for a southerner like me.

The Quilt Artist

The Fantasy


The morning sun streams through the east facing windows of the Artist's palatial bedroom.  As the sun strikes her smooth brow she awakens and stretches her well-toned body under her pristine 10,000 thread count, hand-made sheets.  


Her lover has left a beautiful tray of assorted pastries and Blue Mountain coffee on the hand carved side table.  The table, made from reclaimed wood gathered from a centuries old farm house in France, sits in the sunlight shaded by lace curtains woven from recycled silk by cloistered nuns in Rome.


All is right with the world as the Artist sits to break her fast and glances at the dozen art magazines from all over the world that makes up her morning reading.


Suddenly she tenses as she reads about Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine's latest challenge.  The challenge is to take a half yard of fabric, transform it by your preferred method and send eight nine inch squares of it to the magazine Arts for a fabric swap/exchange.


"Yes" she declares aloud, startling her pack of rescued, pure bred, dogs and cats from their  postprandial slumber, "This is just the thing for me."


She dresses in a white smock, made from an Irish Linen table cloth that her great-great-great grandmother hemstitched, and rushes to her secluded studio back in the woods of her mountainside retreat.


Using her portfolio of Japanese wood block prints as inspiration, she selects a piece of fabric sent to her by the Sultan last year and, as her assistant prepares it for dying, the Artist gathers her dyes from Bali, silk screens from Tibet, inks from Ireland and brushes from her badger farm in Montana.


She is now ready to create her masterpiece.


Skipping the next seven days of creative chaos, including three crying jags, 75 yards of fabric sent to the recyclers and the demise of one great dying table from the weight of her frustration, the Artist produces this:

  
The Reality


The Artist awakes to the yapping of three small dogs wanting to get outside to chase the squirrels.  While eating her Cherrios over the kitchen sink, she sees that Cloth, Paper, Scissors Arts has another challenge.


"Yes" she declares aloud, startling her pack of snarling mutts competing for her leftover milk, "This is just the thing for me." 


Using her 1949 tourist guide to Japanese wood block prints as inspiration, she gathers her materials consisting of fabric from the sale table at WalMart, leftover dyes from a friend's class three years ago, silk screens from a door prize package and inks from a calligraphy class when she was in high school.


After eight hours of washing, drying, ironing, wetting, dying, ironing, stenciling, ironing and ruining the top of the plastic table she uses for dying outdoors, she produces this:

  I would love to resemble the fantasy but, alas, my life is the reality.


Have a good week!  

Houston Art Asylum Road Trip

A few days ago I decided that I needed some retail therapy.


I was feeling crabby with the beginnings of a cold and I had not hit any of my favorite places to shop in a long, long time.


I figured that I could do Sew Crafty Houston, Yarns 2 Ewe and Time Treasured Quilts in an extended afternoon.


I mentioned to my buddy, Janetta, that I needed to shop and we tentatively planned on heading out this morning after Knitting Friday today.


With no plans, three of us headed out this morning for the three places I had planned on visiting plus the addition of Houston Art Asylum.


I AM SO GLAD WE WENT TO THE ART ASYLUM FIRST!


The attendant said that they opened a couple of years ago with mostly purchased stock.  Today it is almost a going concern with huge amounts of donated material.


I could have spent the whole day there just rummaging around in the fabric, yarn, books, doll parts, tools parts, knick knacks and about a zillion other things.


Here are just some of the pictures I wanted to take of what they had...there would have been more but my battery died.

 What would you do with these horns?

 I need a trophy!!

$3.00 a yard for standard fabric, $6.00 for upholstery fabrics!!!

No funky smells, no stains, no mold, no mildew... all of this stuff is in mint condition with the exception of normal wear and tear...which only makes some pieces more interesting!


What did I get?


Nothing.


WHAT!?!


Yup, I bought nothing.  With about 60 boxes and bins of donations for the Kingwood Area Quilt Guild garage sale I couldn't bring myself to buy any of the fabric, yarn, beads, buttons or other funky stuff offered.


BUT, I will be back after the show in mid-April, when I get my house back - watch out...I could go a little crazy.


If you have a couple of hours some day go to the Houston Art Asylum.  I don;t see how you could be disappointed and, with great eating nearby you could make it the focus of an afternoon in the City.


The other places, well that's a tale for another day.


Have a great weekend!  

2011 Challenges

Boy, that sounds ominous!


This is not that kind of post ... you know the kind where people talk about about deep personal issues and try to solve the world's problems.


I am way too shallow for that kind of blogging today.


What I really want to talk about is the little challenge I have taken on this year.


Every year I join a group that is set up to present a crafty challenge for just one year.


Last year it was socks (I'm still working on that!), the year before handbags, the year before... well you get the idea.


This year I've joined a group at The Quilt Room in Huffman that is based on fat quarters.


Every month each of us will be given a fat quarter of fabric and a challenge on how to use that fat quarter.  The first month you pay $5.00, and if you present a project the next month, you get the next fat quarter free.  The only restriction is that you can not use more than three yards of other fabrics to make your submission.


BTW, a fat quarter of fabric approximately 18" by half the width of the fabric.  In general, for quilting cottons, a fat quarter is cut 18" x 22".  A normal quarter yard is cut 9" x by the full width of the fabric... in this example it would be 9" x 44".


I was truly intrigued as I have an embarrassing number of fat quarters and I am always looking for more ways to use them.


About fifteen of us gathered last Saturday morning and this is the fabric we were given:

In case the colors don't come through, it is basically grey dots with a slight lavender cast to it.  When I saw it I thought elegant, simple and classic.


Then I heard that the challenge was to use hot colors to make something with this lovely fat quarter.


After I mulled it over I began by selecting a variegated pink thread and quilting the fat quarter with swirly circles.  


Great!  Now I had a fat quarter, fully quilted but no idea what to do with it.


Instead of tearing out all that quilting I went back to the Gilbert Nuniz class I took at Quilt Festival on drafting handbag patterns and this what I came up with:

Another zipper pouch!

I added the flower and buttons after I had sewn it up because I realized it needed a little something.


Note to self:  make embellishment decisions before sewing the project.


The hot pink fabric I found for the flower turned into the lining and zipper fob.

I will use this pouch to carry my stuff for this monthly challenge this year and next year I will re-purpose it for something else.


As long as it holds up I will have a great remembrance of the Year of the Fat Quarter.  


Wish me luck with the coming challenges. 

Donations

I think I have mentioned before that I have collecting donations for the local quilt guild garage sale in April.


I have been getting lots (and lots and lots) of stuff to sell for the benefit of the guild.


I have also been collecting knitting supplies for the middle school knitting group that I work with as well as sewing supplies for the kids I have been working with at Workshop Houston.


Sometimes things don't work out as the givers intended.


For instance:

• heavy macramé cording for the knitting kids is now in the garage sale,
• nasty smelling fabric has ended up in the trash,
• magazines for the quilt guild with key articles or patterns missing have ended up in the recycling bin,
• tiny scraps of fabric for the quilt guild have ended up in the dog bed stuffing donation bag and
• one yard cuts of upholstery fabric for the quilt guild have been given to a group that makes wheel chair bags for a local charity hospital.

Sometimes though the donations are amazing.


For instance:

• a beautiful  piece of Hawaiian style appliqué given to the garage sale is now being hand quilted for the quilt auction,
• yards and yards of colorful linen blend fabric destined for the garage sale are going to the fashionistas in the third ward, 
• about 50 pairs of knitting needles, some still in their packages, were given to the knitting kids,
• wonderful, high quality yarn, including some wonderful silk and wool blends was given to the knitting kids, and
• the sewing kids are getting a whole set of pressing aids (tailor's ham, sleeve roll, sleeve board, clapper and a tailor board) and a huge cutting mat, all brand new.

I will take almost anything and find another use for cast-off arts and crafts supplies.


The tough part is not trying to find homes for all the donations but the unknown stories behind the donations.


The other day I got a wonderful pieced quilt top with Raggetty Ann and Andy fabrics.  It was incomplete but came with extra fabric for binding the finished quilt.  Who made this top and then abandoned the project?  Is there some child out there missing a quilt from Grandma?  Is the intended recipient now in college and therefore past the joy of Raggetty Ann and Andy?  Did the maker piece it for a charity project and is now too embarrassed to turn it in after many years?


Or how about the bags of fabric I found on my door step the other day.  They were filled with old dry cleaner bags of exquisite fabrics.  In many cases the fabrics were matched with coordinating fabrics, notions and patterns.  In one bag was enough fabric, with patterns and trimmings, for a whole wedding night peignoir set.  Did the wedding not happen and if it didn't, what happened?  Did the maker decide that bright coral was just not her color anymore?  Did the maker decide that sexy lingerie was just not her thing after the divorce?


Or how about the CD of relaxation music that showed up a while ago.  It had never been opened.  Was it a freebie from somewhere?  Was part of a gift package of spa products and the CD was unwanted?  Is there a stressed out someone out there trying to relax and who can't find her CD?


I'll never know.


I will, however, keep collecting and redistributing donations until people stop giving them to me.... with or without the stories behind them.

Happy Finds

The worst thing about doing a complete clear out of the sewing and craft supplies is that you sometimes come across things that you thought you had already used or discarded.


The other is that you find things that you had looked for in the past and had given up on ever finding.


A couple of days ago both of these things happened for me for a fortuitous marriage of two accidental finds.


The first was a piece of brown cotton/linen blend fabric from Japan.  I thought I had used it all up in various projects but I found about two more yards of it.

The other was a copy of Threads Magazine from the summer of 2008 (no. 137).

What if I used the brown fabric with the Five Rectangle Jacket pattern?

An hour or so later this is what I came up with:

Yes, it is a lot like a bog coat.


Yes, it is shapeless.


Yes, the fabric should have been reversible.


BUT it fits well, is the perfect weight for spring and summer here, begs for some additional embellishment (big button?  silk screened circles? paint stick highlights?) and it made me use the mitering skills I had learned from Linda Lee, of the Sewing Workshop, many years ago.


I like it and think I will get a lot of use out of it.  I may try it again with a wonderful linen that just reappeared but maybe a little longer to cover my flat butt.


I hope I find some more accidental pairings while I s-l-o-w-l-y get things sorted out in my sewing space. 

Thank You, Moda Bakeshop!

Moda Fabrics, a division of United Notions in Dallas, offers wonderful fabrics and home dec. items for quilters world wide.


A few years ago they began to offer for sale fabric lines that were pre-cut into popular sizes.  They started with 2 1/2 inch strips of coordinating fabrics and called them Jelly Rolls.


Jelly Rolls.. like the little cakes.


They have since gone onto to creating other pre-cut sets called layer cakes, desert rolls, honey buns, charms and turnovers.


To support quilters everywhere who hate love good looking quilts with the minimum of fuss Moda has created a blog called the Bakeshop where many quilts, and other projects, are posted using the pre-cut packs.


I love the Bakeshop and have just finished my third quilt using their recipes(cute, right?).


Here's the latest one I just finished the other day:

Now that it's all quilted up and bound I really like it and will add it to my rotation of quilts that the dogs and I use for afternoon naps.


Thank You Moda!!!!


Now, to find some more quick, fun quilt patterns to use up some of my fabulous stash!


I hope you have great plans for the weekend.


I do not but..... I will feel very smug if I can keep myself from the biggest local end-of-year sale of quilting fabrics.  Painted Pony 'n' Quilts is having their annual sale and this will be the first year in many that I have not made it down there.  


I will be strong in the possibility of $2.00 a yard bolts of fabric just an hour down the road.


I will be strong!!!!


I will be strong!!


I will be strong...


Oh rats.... 9:00 am tomorrow morning is not too early for bargain shopping... right?

And now a word from Kelis....

I seem to have a bad reputation out there for my explorer tendencies.


Yes, Alice makes sure I get healthy meals and, not so healthy snacks, for my sustenance; provides a huge, quilt covered bed for sleeping; a really comfortable lap to snuggle on and takes me on many walks to exercise my nose.


Yes, she does all these things to ensure my health and happiness.


Yes, I love living with my sister, the pompous Kimora and that stupid boy Alex.....


but it's not enough!!!


Once in a while a Girl just needs to break out of the mold.


I am not just a 8.9 lb. beauteous Dachshund.


No, I am an explorer who goes boldly to seek out new worlds and new civilizations.


To go where no Dachshund has gone before!


So what's the big deal with me tunneling under the fence to Joe's backyard so I can visit the bayou behind the house or the swimming pool two houses down?


And anyway....just because I have mud on my nose does not mean I am the guilty party!


SO THERE!

 Thank you for your kind attention.


Now back to our regular blog posts.

Bonus Gifting

When I give someone a gift I like to make it a little special.


You know what I mean....If you give someone an electronic device, you include a case or some free downloads, or if a quilt then some matching pillow cases.


I try but I am not always successful.


This year it took me until December 30 to get into the bonus gift groove for this year.


The occasion was the December meeting of the Knitters North Of Town (KNOT) chapter of the Knit At Night Guild (KANG). 


Normally we don't have a meeting in December but this year the timing was perfect for a gathering after the business of Christmas.   The meeting included some snacks (YUM!), some door prizes, plans for 2011 and a skein exchange.


The skein exchange rules were for each of us to wrap a skein of yarn from our stash and randomly select one from the packages that others had brought.  We held onto our presents and opened them all at once.


I chose some funky sock yarn as my gift and just as I about about to shove it into another little gift bag I realized that I had the perfect fabric to make a gift bag.


Gift bag?


Heck, I had enough to make a little knitting bag plus a little zipper case and a lavender sachet.


Here is how it all came out:

and check out this fabric:

Now here is the weird thing.... my buddy Janetta picked my bag as her gift!


She had overheard me saying to someone at the yarn store that I had made a knitting bag for the gift exchange so she had a clue what she was looking for in the pile of gifts.


I, on the other hand, ended up with some funky cotton yarn that had been married to some silky ribbon.... both in pale blue.  I think I will be re-gifting it to someone who makes wonderful crochet things.  I know she could put this to good use!


I must admit I have spent most of the day thinking about my new year's resolutions for 2011 and I have come down to a simple declaration.  


It is to MAKE SOMETHING! 


Anything, anytime, as often as I can, with as much joy as I can muster in as tidy a sewing area as I can create.


I like that... I think it needs a banner in bold letters, red glittery letters, with curlicues and beads and........ 


Tomorrow, for sure.. until then, sleep tight.