Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
My mom is clearing out her house and coming across various textiles. One thing she offered me was a cocktail apron made by my great grandmother.
I had no idea she had so many strange things from the past.
This is a very interesting piece, but I am happy with a photo of it. It will never leave my linen closet so I don’t want the actual thing.
It looks like the crochet equivalent of a Bonnie Hunter quilt. Bonnie likes a lot of piecing and this apron looks like a lot of complex crocheting.
I am making excellent progress on White Strips #3. Since I couldn’t get it done for the meeting, I want to get it done for the Retreat. I only had snatches of time between work and taking care of my mom. Even small bits of time make progress.
After sewing the cornerstones and sashing together then sewing to the blocks, I was able to assemble the top. Chunking really makes the whole process go fast.
Now I plan to put some small borders on. It is already, without the borders 43 in. x 47 in. I like my donation quilts on the larger side. I also need to make the back.
The other day I had a sew day with Tim and Cyndi. Cyndi was cleaning out projects while we worked on our own projects. She came up with some pieces from classes she didn’t think she would use, but she wasn’t sure wanted to toss.
I told her she should add some borders and hand it in as a donation quilt. The next thing I knew, she and Tim were cutting up shards and sewing them back together. The quilt looks great! And there is a project weight off Cyndi’s shoulders.
One thing that reminds me that more brains are better than one is this piece.
I probably would have just sewed that blue solid on to make the quilt top big enough. Cyndi wanted a bit of improv piecing in there, so Tim added it. See above.
It really makes the quilt look like the design was thought through. I am really pleased these pieces will end up with someone who needs a quilt.
After posting about SueG’s Classmate Tote, I wanted to review all the gifts I have made for her. I finally found a previous post.
As usual, I always think I have made more gifts than I actually have. Still, I am pleased with what I have made for Sue.
Quilter’s Hollow had been on my mind after my friend, Cyndi, mentioned she had stopped there. Last Friday I had to take my mom to a doctor appointment near her house. We spent some time at her house, which was depressing. We also went to the doctor appointment, which took forever. I insisted that we visit Quilter’s Hollow, a quilt store in Stockton, as a reward.
I think I have been to this store before, but I couldn’t find a review. I always thought my mom didn’t like this shop so I never pushed to go. Friday, however, I needed a fabric fix, so I forced her to go with me. I said she could stay in the car.
I liked the shop. They had A LOT of fabric, which is just what I needed. The shop also had a lot of different kinds of fabric. They also had a full selection of Kaffe fabrics including LOTS of Philip Jacobs prints. I saw lots of Tula, some from previous years, but not super old (no more of that fun octopus print I used in the City Sampler). I also saw Tilde, some novelty prints like Disney Princesses and plenty of solids. I bought some Art Gallery Nature Elements that I had never seen in a quilt shop – only online – before. I gobbled a few of them up, especially yardage in colors I had never seen.
The first thing I checked out was the notions area. It is huge! Lots of things related to embroidery. I had had a discussion with my mom a few days before about Jelly Roll rugs. I noticed that they had the rolls of batting used to make the jelly roll rugs. They didn’t have replacements for Sewline pencils, which I needed.
The shop had a lot of thread! It was amazing. I know a lot of it was for embroidery, but it was still great to see. It’s so hard to find a variety of thread you can see in once place.
As mentioned, I was excited to see all of the Kaffe fabrics. It was a really good selection. I saw the iris design by Philip Jacobs in a shop once before and used it for my aunt’s bag, but I haven’t seen other colorways before. This shop had the colorway with the light background. I now have plenty of iris fabric to make bags for my aunt. I also saw a lot KFC fabric that I hadn’t seen before.
I really couldn’t take in all the different fabrics were there. I really just let yardage catch my eye and bought some of them.
It turns out my mom likes the shop. She said she might have been mad about something related to the shop when she talked to me about it before. I’ll probably be visiting again!
I took a little time to look at their online shop. Holy Smokes!! They have a LOT of fabric on their online store. I am not sure if this is in addition to what’s in the shop or all the fabrics in the shop. Their online store is well worth a look, if you are never in Stockton.
Quilter’s Hollow
8855 Thornton Rd, Ste D, Stockton, CA 95209
Phone: 1 209 477 5253
Hours:
Thu 10 AM–4 PM
Fri 10 AM–4 PM
Sat 10 AM–4 PM
Sun Closed
Mon 10 AM–4 PM
Tue 10 AM–4 PM
An iron is critical, so a few months ago when my Oliso stopped working, I had to do something.
I have a backup iron, but it isn’t stellar. Getting water into is a pain, it doesn’t get hot enough, etc., etc. Still, it is fine for when I need to sew and my ‘good’ iron isn’t working.
I did some informal research. I found that a lot of people don’t put water in their irons, but just use a mister. I knew that wasn’t going to work for me (old habits die hard), so I looked at information from people who used water in their irons,
I still have a Reliable** on my list. Mary really recommends it. However, I wasn’t ready to spend $199 on an iron at this time. Eventually, I decided to go with a Tefal**. One comment I got on it was that the commenter still had the same one she had for 15 years and she put water in it.
I like this iron. It glides very smoothly. It heats up quickly, has good steam and isn’t difficult to put water in.
One thing that really bugs me about irons is that you have to hold the iron at an odd angle to pour water into it. My backup iron is really bad with this ‘feature’. The Oliso was great. The Tefal is in the middle. If I am careful, I don’t have to hold the iron at all to add water.
So here we are. I have had this iron for about a month. Let’s see how fast I destroy it! 😉
**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
The other day I mentioned Lee Ann’s Classmate Tote. I wanted to share SueG’s bag with you. It is the other one I made.
As you can see, I made it from the same fabric (Carrie Bloomston) with which I have been making her other gifts. I really hope she likes it as I still have enough to make some other gifts. This does mean that she and Carrie have a couple of bags that are different from each other. I have tried to make them the same bags, but Carrie is not on the board, so she didn’t get one of these. Christmas? We’ll see.
One of the things *I* like about this fabric is the color wheels. I know I have mentioned it before. It is very handy to have a color wheel with you. I didn’t manage to get one of them on the front, but I was able to get one on the back – a whole color wheel. I am thrilled.
This is a very active print, so I wanted the accent fabric to work with the activity. I chose the black and white stripes. They do add a lot of movement, but I don’t think they compete with the Carrie Bloomston fabric.
It is great to use a whole piece of fabric for the exterior, but I wonder, given the design, if I could add another slip pocket on the outside? Considering how the bag closes, it might not work, or I would have to have a pocket that closes. Something to think about.
As with Lee Ann’s the inside is very useful. I, again, chose the white version of the Carrie Bloomston fabric and was able to fit most of 3 color wheels inside. It is a bit over the top and I probably should have chosen a less active print. Still, it would be useful for a travel kit.
I showed photos to someone who said it looked like a jewelry organizer.
One thing I did differently from the pattern is use some double fold elastic for the pens and pen-like tools holder. The pattern calls for making a pocket (see example) using fabric folded and sewn. I didn’t like the thickness and I thought something like a simple strip would be more useful. The blue strip replaces the pocket. As you can see, I varied the size between the stitch lines so even a small rotary cutter could fit. I triple stitched so it would be tight and wouldn’t pull off with heavy use. Fingers crossed it works.
The closure is a part of the pattern I am not 100% happy with. I thought about what I could use to replace it, but didn’t think of anything, so I went with the directions in the pattern. I don’t know if I’ll make this again, but I’ll have to think about a different closure if I do.
I did fussy cut a bit to get the color wheel, as mentioned above, but also make sure something interesting was on the bottom so it looked good like I have shown in the photo above.
Carrie did a great job wrapping, as usual. She is amazingly gifted at wrapping. I am always so impressed with what she comes up with.
I finally finished this Superbloom. The Hindsight Superbloom was a high. This one felt like a slog. I don’t know why except that everything that could go wrong did go wrong. This is completely my fault, because I have been somewhat distracted by life. It was still frustrating.
The outside looks fine and I am pleased by that.
My aunt loves irises and I found some iris fabric that I knew I had to use for her. The the fabric looks fine , but the lining is too saggy for my tastes, despite my use of a 5/8 inch seam allowance. I know the Muggles won’t know, but you’d think by now I could manage a non-saggy lining. 🙁
Normally, I would use a white or very light fabric for the interior, but that iris fabric is so perfect for my aunt. I could have used it for the outside, but I really wanted to use the canvas I bought at Bolt for her for the outside.
I had to buy that ochre fabric after the fact for the zipper panel as I thought the iris fabric would look too chaotic. The ochre fabric is a weird color, but goes with the background of the iris print. Also, it was wonderfully soft.
I think it goes very well with the purple zipper. I don’t think it should, but it does.
I did use some dots on white for the inside pockets as I thought they would be too dark if I used the iris fabric. I also think I want to make a pouch or a smaller bag with what’s left of the iris fabric.
I still like the design of this bag. The side pockets are especially cool. I haven’t ever used this bag as I don’t have one of my own, but maybe I need to try it out.
Once I got close to finishing this tote, I stopped working on the SMAP version. I needed to send this one off to my aunt and I wanted to get it done. now that it is finished. I can get back to that bag.
Selecting fabric is a very personal choice. I have a group of fabrics for my sampler class with Frances and I needed to choose some background-esque fabric to go with the Four Patches for my Double Four patch block. These are large blocks and I don’t normally work in this size, so I found it challenging.
I fell back on Lorraine Torrence‘s old adage: Make Visual Decisions Visually. That is the best advice I have EVER gotten in quiltmaking. Go take a class from Lorraine and buy her books. She is awesome.
I liked the bold graphic-ness of this print, but thought it might be too large.
I thought for sure this would work, but the cherries felt too scattered. They need to be hemmed in a little.
Something in the color was off with this print. The aqua in the Bliss print is more green while the small flowered print is more on the turquoise side.
This is the same print as the first one, but the flowers are smaller. I like the way you can see more of the flowers. Success!
I chose the last print and above is how the finished block looks.
The other day I mentioned giving the Classmate Totes to the officers. I wanted to share the overall look of the bag with you.
The Chrysanthemum print by Philip Jacobs is one that Cyndi gave me after she visited an estate sale where she found fabulous fabric on offer. This is a colorway I don’t often buy. As I said the other day, I wasn’t sure whether Lee Ann would like it, but these colors spoke to me when I thought of her. I’ll have to see about finding some more of this fabric for her next bag so she has a matching set.
The outside is one continuous piece and I think the fabric is shown very well.
As you know, these colors are a little difficult for me to work with. Not as difficult as brown, but still hard. I am glad this is a Phillip Jacobs fabric as it has rich layers of color. It also makes me think of Fall, autumn colors and Thanksgiving.
Since I don’t have a lot of these autumn colors, or don’t think about combining them, I was also pleased that the yellow I chose for the folds and the binding. The color fit with the Phillip Jacobs print very well.
For the inside, I used a poppy print I bought in Sacramento in 2017, and also some Tula as I didn’t have enough of either.
Normally, I would have used the same yellow for the folds on the inside, but, again, I didn’t have enough fabric. There is a little bit of “making it all work” going on.
I have plenty of zippers, but I didn’t have all the same colored zippers, so I chose a couple of different hues in the orange/sunshine yellow range.
There are 5 pockets you can see in the picture. Under two of the pockets, slip pockets provide additional flat storage. I think a 6 inch ruler might fit in the middle area.
Carrie did a great job wrapping, as usual. She is amazingly gifted at wrapping. I am always so impressed with what she comes up with.
I made a little more progress on the White Strip #2 donation top. I have most of the top sashings sewn. I have started to sew the blocks to the sashing, as I show in my chunking tutorial.
I started working on it a little more diligently after I put my aunt’s Superbloom together. That project isn’t finished, but I only had a few minutes and needed a break. I think I’ll be able to take the quilt to Sew Day and hand it in.
It’s officer gift time for the guild again. Since I organize the gifts, I get to decide what bag we will make. The Classmate Tote** is the bag of the year for the officers.
This is a small project bag the officers can use for a small flat project, like English Paper Piecing, or that they can use for tools and supplies. I wanted to make this pattern again after making one for Gerre and one for Lindsay. I also thought it wasn’t too big, but had a useful design.
I initially started writing this post back in December after I spent some time one day cutting for both bags. I know several officers read this blog, so I decided not write about the process as I didn’t want their surprise to be spoiled.
We gave them the bags yesterday. We delayed the thank you gifts until all of the officers were at the meeting.
Mary C and I made two bags each for the officers. I’ll have to recruit more people next year as I struggled to get mine done.
I wasn’t sure what fabric to use for Lee Ann’s bag. I wasn’t originally scheduled to make it, but picked it up when another member couldn’t do it. This Philip Jacobs fabric spoke to me and I really hope she liked it.
For Sue, I used the fabric I have been using for bags for her and Carrie for the past year or two.
I am pleased with how they both came out.
Mary, as usual, did a great job on her bags.
**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
Today is the guild meeting and I thought I *might* have this top done and ready to turn in. No such luck.
I did stop making new blocks and focused on sewing this top together. I could do both new blocks and the top, but leaders and enders is easier for me if I focus on one project as the leaders and enders piece at a time. Also, I have enough blocks for this quilt and don’t need any more.
As I mentioned in the previous post, I am using the back of a fabric as the sashing. I haven’t turned over all the cut sashing yet, so the pieces near the top are still on the right side. I think it looks good.
As per my ‘chunking tutorial,’ I started at the bottom by sewing a block to a piece of sashing. I quickly realized I had forgotten to cut cornerstones. I am backfilling those as it becomes necessary.
I go to a hairdresser near Castro and 18th in San Francisco. Each time I go, I visit a hardware/variety shop (do you remember TG&Y?) called Cliff’s Variety. It is great place to get stocking stuffers. They have some fabric and craft supplies. I also get postcards there when I am running low on SF postcards. They have a nice toy department and wonderful housewares. It is the kind of place you can find that weird thing you need.
Their strength is creativity and creative problem solving. I have seen the most wonderful window displays and endcaps in their stores. I have brought them a number of things to help me repair. The most notable was the YM’s bassoon case (rented from his school). The handle broke off and I didn’t want to spend the money on a new case. Three awesome guys at Cliff’s worked out a way to fix the handle and didn’t even charge us for their time.
Monday I saw the display of lunch boxes and bags above. It reminded me of selecting a lunchbox at the beginning of each school year. I was also reminded that I had seen a similar day after last month’s cut. Aren’t they fun?
I am making good progress on the Superblooms, but not enough. I really want these to be finished today, so I can take my aunt’s to the post office and mail it. I also want to show at least one of them at the meeting on Saturday. I don’t know if either will happen.
As you can see, I have made good progress. The exteriors are finished and the handles on my aunt’s are sewn on.
For my aunt’s Superbloom, I used cotton webbing for the handles that Cyndi made me take from the free table one time. It is wider than called for, but I think looks good with the exterior fabric.
The SMAP version is less far along. I had to rip the handles out twice. Hopefully, third time is a charm.
I’ll be working on the lining next and that is always the last step. I have a couple of interior zipper pockets for each bag to make and then lining assembly.
Almost there!