Aurifil done

Yes, it is possible to finish a spool of Aurifil thread. I did it! I love Aurifil because of the high thread quality and the amount that can fit on a bobbin.

I first bought a bag of spools in a Kathy Sandbach machine quilting class in about 2001. I still have some of those spools, but not the grey. I have never had a problem with the thread except having a lot of colors that I don’t use.

We have an independent art store in the City called Flax. It is art and inspiration nirvana. I didn’t mean to go there, but I ended up there on Friday.

I went to an appointment and then out to lunch. My last stop before home was the shoe store, which is in a completely different neighborhood. In looking for the shortcut street, I overshot and ended up in the no left turn land of Market Street, heading downtown. I wasn’t lost; I knew exactly where I was. I was just not where I wanted/needed to be to get to the shoe store. I tried to recalculate and readjust and each time I did I ended up where I didn’t want to go. Suddenly, like a beacon of light and hope there was Flax on the correct side of the street with a parking place conveniently located. How could I not stop?

It has been a few years since I have been there as it is off my beaten path. Amy of the Creative Mom podcast (have to get that woman out of my mind!!!) mentioned her trip there recently and it stuck in my mind.

It is wonderful. Big and open with helpful, CHEERFUL workers and lots of art supplies. I decided while I was there that I would get a Pitt pen (again, Amy mentioned it) and do some Christmas shopping.

Christmas, you ask? Yes, never hurts to start early and I want to spread out the financial pain.

I bought a Pitt pen, I bought some of the Miguelrius journals in a color I hadn’t seen (can’t ever have too many journals! Especially now since I am writing a lot), bought a book, gel/scrapbook pens and a couple of other things for gifts. They also have stationery that I used to buy by the pound as a teenager. It is thick and heavy and you can buy it by the sheet as well. I bought a couple of sheets, a folded card and an envelope so I can write a nice long letter.

Colorful Stationery

They also have a line of organizational boxes and files called Semikolon, which have dot designs. Have to have some of those once the financial situation eases.

They also have a ton of gorgeous ribbon. For embellishing art quilts, the prices were quite reasonable. It is high end ribbon, so they start at a ~$1.50/yard, but you don’t need much, right?

It was refreshing and I know I have to take TFQ and Julie there next time they come for a visit.

An Aside

I tried out the Pitt pen on the Tree prompt response, which I will post later. It is a little thn for my tastes, but like the waterproof quality. I will have to investigate and see if they have thicker ones. I liked the line and color black better than the Sharpie fine linr I have been using since the plane ink explosion incident.

I spent a GREAT hour or so with my SIL at Quilting Adventures in Richmond, VA (www.quiltingadventures.com) on Sunday. Since I was there last time Joyce has moved the shop next door to a much bigger space and it is gorgeous. It has the feel of a cool, calm space.

One thing that is great about QA is that Joyce only sells products that she loves. One of them is a new batting made from soda bottles. It is a light green color from the bottles that are green (like Sprite). It feels soft with just a tiny bit of stiffness. The packaging tells the purchaser how many soda bottles were kept out of landfills per the size of the batting. I'll let you know the name and manufacturer soon.

I am taking a class with Gabrielle Swain tomorrow. I hadn’t ever really heard of her until Friend Julie took a 6 month long one-on-one class with her. I decided to take the class because Julie really got her creativity juiced. She did a lot of work during the first few months of the year.

Lo and behold, I am completely prepared for the class. I have all the stuff sorted, piled up and ready to go. I am thrilled. No running around like a chicken with its head cut off at the last second. I’ll even bring the bags down to the car tonight so I just have to walk out with my handbag tomorrow morning.

While I was getting ready, obviously, I had to look at the supply list. One thing I realized was that teachers don’t always explain why they want you to bring something to class. It would be very helpful if the teacher put the name of the class along with a brief description of the class at the top of the page. This should be followed up with the normal supplies such as pencil, notebook, basic sewing kit, scissors, etc.

While ‘normal’ is relative, I think that there are some standard supplies. It would be great to explain anything beyond the standards. I realize that teachers are busy and that they have a lot to prepare. However, a little explanation can make the students feel more secure in the supplies they choose and help the students bring better supplies.

Ms. Swain’s supply list was relatively straightforward. I often wait until the last minute to get the supplies together, thus I am really resentful when there is something strange and unexplained on the list. Of course, my procrastination is not the fault of the teacher. I have a lot of supplies. I even have a lot of strange rulers and materials, so it doesn’t seem to much to ask for someone to explain why they need a certain brand of this or that.

I really am not complaining about Ms. Swain’s supply list. Reading over her supply list just made me think about supply lists in general. The only thing on it that I couldn’t supply out of what I have at home was hand-dyed fabric. I am not a hand-dyed fabric person; I just don’t have very much of it. If she had explained why she wanted hand-dyed fabric, I might have gone out and bought some. Instead, I chose some lovely batiks that I think will make great leaves.

Stay tuned!

How to Make a Halloween Costume

Supplies and Tools

• Picture of child’s dream costume
• Felt (of appropriate color(s)
• Sewing machine
• Scissors
• Shoelaces
• Timtex
• Liquid Paper (correction fluid)
• Aleen’s Craft Glue

The Halloween costume, except for some decoration, which are drying, is finished. The Darling Child is happy and I didn’t have to buy anything except 2 yards of black felt. I like using felt for Halloween costumes, because the raw edges don’t ravel. You can also just cut it off, glue things to it and cut strange shapes out of it with no problem. The costumes are a bit fragile and don’t usually last long. You can see the cloak that I made by looking at this picture from Wikipedia.

I didn’t have any white paint, so I used Liquid Paper to create the whorls on the red emblem the Darling Child needed.

I only had enough red to make five of the emblems, so we had to place them carefully for maximum effect.

It is kind of fun to make the Halloween costumes – to make a child’s Halloween dream come true. It is also fun to kind of figure out how to make something work with what you have on hand. I always buy enough felt to get through the main part of the project, but inevitably, I don’t think farther than that. One costume I made needed a fat tail that stood up. I used a paint stirrer to keep it stiff enough. That was before I knew about Timtex.

In a effort to update the Catholic Church and make it more appealing to a younger audience, I think that requirements for sainthood should be eased. Sending virtually unsolicited fabric to people really should count towards the sainthood list of requirements.

A nice box arrived on my doorstep on Thursday (accompanied by my taxes, which was not so nice) literally stuffed ot the gils with fabric and little prezzies. St. JCN had gathered together my post-Birthday box and it finally arrived. The fabrics above were in it.

I needed a little infusion of new dots for the Pineapple and St. JCN supplied that for me. I am also ready to do the Chocolate Box with the addition of the Denyse Schmidt pinks.

I washed them yesterday (along with some stragglers that had been laying around) This morning I am pressing them and cutting pieces for the Cross Block quilt. Since I am there, why not?

In my post of October 31, I mentioned the things I was thinking about. One was ‘editing’, a new term used by designers which seems to mean tossing old junk. JCN helped me go through my fabric and junk fabric that I will never use.

Lesson 1: use your precious fabric (or embellishments or paints or supplies) or they may not be so precious to you after awhile.

We took three grocery bags full of fabric to the Children’s Quilt Project drop off place at New Pieces. My fabric closet and studio feel lighter. I don’t feel as oppressed by my stuff.

Lesson 2: choose carefully what you bring into your life.

I have also decided that people like to give me things. Because I have a well developed sense of guilt and cannot give things away? Perhaps? No more. Out went the lacy edging that had been gathering spiderwebs in the corner for 8.5 years.

Lesson 3: save money. Only buy what you love.

Lesson 4: save heartache later. Only take what you love from other people.

As we are getting ready to do some work on our house, I am ‘editing’ more of my space. I meant to clean out my closet over the break, but didn’t seem to get to it. I am off on Wednesday and may try to do it then. I feel that even doing small chunks makes progress. Perhaps I can get the shoes and purses done. We will see. I am ok with doing one drawer or one corner.

Lesson 5: ‘edit’ in small chunks.