Month: July 2020

Blue Strips #2 Continues Slowly

Blue Strips #2 is progressing, though slowly as I have reached critical mass of projects/steps in projects.

The blocks are done. I sewed the blocks into rows with small pieces of sashing making up the columns.I chose the size of the horizontal sashing based on the amount of fabric I had. Now, it is hard to tell where the blocks are and where the divider/sashing is. It is an interesting look. Different. I don’t dislike it.

Blue Strips #2 - adding sashing
Blue Strips #2 – adding sashing

Now, I am adding sashing. I was thrilled when the first piece of sashing fit perfectly!!!

The vertical sashing is larger, because I cut it first and I liked the width. I didn’t think about ratios to the size of the blocks this time. I wanted something light and green. I think I am still go for that calm feeling.

Ripping Column 2- Blue Strips #2
Ripping Column 2- Blue Strips #2

 There is a big space in my photo, because the second piece of sashing did not fit perfectly and I have to rip.

I am using red thread because I am also working on sewing down the bias strips and I want to work on both projects at the same time.

Bias Tape Applique’

Bias Applique'
Bias Applique’

I said yesterday that I was enjoying the bias tape applique’.  You can see from the photo that the curve is smooth and flat.

I am trying out how tight I can make the curves and still keep them smooth. While machine applique’ is generally a hassle, it is much better with the bias tape, because the edges are not raw. I don’t like to leave my edges raw. I usually cover them with satin stitching and that takes time. I don’t like it, though I like the look because I have to reset my machine. With the bias tape, I can use a straight stitch and follow the applique’ with my regular leaders and enders.

Black & White Quilt Progresses

I spent some time on Sunday working on the Black & White with Red quilt. I wasn’t sure what I would do, but I just started sewing rectangles together first.

Testing Bias Tape
Testing Bias Tape

Per my rule, Make Visual Decisions Visually, I pinned up some of the bias tape to see what the piece would look like with the bias tape applied.

I am not happy with the look of the bias as applied in the photo, but I do think putting a larger piece over the whole top is a good idea. I don’t want it to look like a giant *enis so I have to make sure about that.

When I pinned that long piece of bias tape on the top, I hadn’t done any sewing. Now I have sewed shorter pieces of bias tape to smaller sections and now I am much more confident and have a better idea of how the bias tape works.

Black & White quilt with some red
Black & White quilt with some red

I am really liking the bias tape. It is amazing how the curves work! I am getting much better at sewing them down flat and I am testing how tight I can make the curves. I think I have to do something else with curves. First I have to find my bias tape makers

Gift Face Masks

I had some large-ish ‘scraps’ recently, so made a couple of masks for the YM. Since I was mailing him a package I also made one for his girlfriend. She is S-i-Ping 4 hours away from the YM, but I know that that they are trying to see each other as often as possible.

Black Circle Mask
Black Circle Mask

By ‘large-ish scraps’ I mean pieces too large for my scrap bin, but too small for filing in the bins I use for my larger pieces of yardage. For me, it is better to cut them up either for future projects or into usable sized patches. Some of the pieces were large enough that I had enough for masks. I want the YM to have enough for at least two weeks, so he can have a fresh one every day, so cutting mask pieces has been on my mind.

Green Vine Mask front
Green Vine Mask front

Of course, I didn’t have any dark green scraps, so I had to delve into yardage to find the YMG’s favorite color. I have very little dark green, but I found this Jinny Beyer print that I bought pre-blogging and decided it would work. I hope the horizontal vines don’t come across as having a passive-aggressive meaning…or something.

Black Circle Mask Elastic
Black Circle Mask Elastic

This is the same video pattern I have been using. I described some issues I was having in the last Face Mask post. I worked on redoing the way I insert elastic on these. I sewed similar rectangles on the ends, but inserted the elastic so that the ends are covered by folding the ends in. I might have made the elastic a little small, but we will see. I don’t try on masks I am sending to other people, so I don’t know if the edges will flap out like my previous batch. I know it is a small thing easily covered by hair, but the detail bugs me.

Blue Strips #2 Donation Top Sashing

Blue Strips #2 top with some Sashing
Blue Strips #2 top with some Sashing

I cut up the fabric I found the other day into sashing strips and had been waiting for some miracle to sew them together. I found another piece of a similar colored batik and was able to move forward yesterday. I sewed sashing pieces to the tops of all of the blocks and am now sewing the blocks together into rows. I am not adding corner stones so I am not chunking.

Various & Sundry 2020 #9

I updated the Color Strip Donation Quilts page.

Fabric, Supplies, Notions & Tools

Carrie Bloomston has a new fabric line for Windham. The prints have similar themes to previous lines, so the fabrics will go together. I like the woven design in Midnight. I also like the triangular collage motifs.

Modern Handmade has remade their subscription box program to go with their new virtual sewing studio. this means that after two boxes, I am out of luck. Well, I tried to subscribe. A friend, Jeff Rutherford, asked me if I knew of any other modern subscription boxes, so I went looking. You can actually find quilt subscription boxes by searching Google. Below is a list of a few I found plus approximate prices.  Hello Subscriptions seems to have a list. Please note that I have not tried these out, so check out the links yourself. YMMV:

I think the Modern Handmade box that I talked about, and to which I briefly subscribed, was unique. In looking at the boxes above, I didn’t see anything like it.

I never heard of Bloomerie Fabrics, but I like their website.

Road Home Quilting has a nice selection of products at her Society6 store. She also has fabrics at Spoonflower.

I forgot about QuiltHome. I think this shop is run by a librarian. They have a great selection of fabric.

Exhibitions, Lectures & Collections

At the Smithsonian, “the National Quilt Collection, part of the Division of Home and Community Life’s Textile Collection at the National Museum of American History, had its beginnings in the 1890s.” This article discusses the collection’s beginnings, the nature of the collection and, by extension, quilts in general. There are a few embedded videos. “The Division of Home and Community Life continues its long term mission to maintain and develop research-based collections that document and preserve American stories through family, community, biographical/individual oral histories and other materials. ”

Have you seen Amy Butler’s Blossom? It is available online for free and the photos are gorgeous.

“The Frick Collection, in New York, has distinguished itself with “Cocktails With a Curator” and “Travels With a Curator,” online programs so engaging and informative that many of us hope they will continue after the galleries reopen. (All episodes of both series are available on the Frick’s website and YouTube channel. Episodes of “Cocktails” have their premieres at 5 p.m. on Fridays; new episodes of “Travels” become available to museum members at 5 p.m. on Wednesdays, and to the general public after the initial showing.)” (from a Wall Street Journal article*)

The Sisters Quilt Show will be online this year.

Quilt artist Chawne Kimber will be giving a Zoom lecture entitled, ‘When the Cotton is High: Social Justice and Textiles’ on Saturday July 25, 11-12:30 Pacific Time. Suggested fee is $25. Net proceeds will be divided between Black Lives Matter, the Social Justice Sewing Academy and Third Street Alliance (a shelter in Easton PA). For more details go to tatter.org (Thanks to Patti!)

Join the Mancusos for Online Quilt Festival (#OLQF) August 12-15, 2020 on Quiltfest.com.

Visit the Louvre from your living room.

I originally saw the notice for the Rosie Lee Tompkins exhibit at the Berkeley Art Museum in the Wall Street Journal. I read the very extensive article and think I understand her work a little better. By the end of the article, I wanted to be inside her mind. “Rosie Lee Tompkins (1936–2006) is widely considered one of the most brilliant and inventive quiltmakers of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Her reputation has grown to the point where her work is no longer considered solely within the context of quilting, but celebrated among the great American artistic achievements of our time.” The catalog for the exhibit is not (no longer??) available, but I signed up for a notification when it is available again.

Projects, Patterns & Tutorials

I have tried a number of different ways to keep my sewing machine foot pedal in its place. I saw a project that might do the trick.

Modern Handmade has a new program, which replaces their subscription box program, called Modern Quilter’s Studio. You can join at one of three levels. The 3rd level includes a subscription box. This program also includes video instructions (perhaps, classes), a private Facebook group and blocks of the month.

The Social Justice Sewing Academy has a free block of the month program.

Kitty Pearl of Road Home Quilting talks about the Quilting Hub, a listing of online classes that launched on July 1. They have lists of shops and publish the Quilter’s Travel Companion**.

Need to install a magnetic snap. Find a tutorial on So Sew Easy. See all of her tutorials (very interesting selection) on one tutorials page.

Color Girl Quilts has a series of sampler block tutorials. Sharon also has videos to go along with the tutorials.

Need a Summer QAL? In French? Just for you: Quilting Patchwork Applique’ Summer QAL. It’s also in English. 😉

Face Masks

  • Breathable mask video
  • Face Mask with a visor tutorial (2-fer!)
  • No Sew Face Mask using an upcycled t-shirt tutorial

Companies are also starting to sell masks as part of their fashion lines:

  • James Perse masks and bandana type face coverings
  • Karla Colletto masks ($26-30)
  • Mask article* including Mask Club
  • MaskClub has licensing deals with Hello Kitty and NASA and Batman, among others

 

Other Artists

Carol Lyles Shaw now has online classes.

My mom updated her blog!!! I am so excited. Go take a look and leave a comment. You can follow by email, too!

Inspiration

Bode has a lot of great ideas for freshening up your wardrobe. The prices are ridiculous, though, so I thought makers could get inspiration and do the work themselves.

Other

For some work related issue, i went on to the James Perse site. I noted the face masks for sale above, but I also looked at their tote bag selection. The cost for a basic canvas tote bag with NO pockets, key clip or anything is $250! Granted the Loma slouchy canvas tote has great shape, but $250 ($350 for the large!)! Celine has a grocery tote for $1250! It is a nice tote, but $1250! You are all undervaluing your bags! I suppose people are paying for the name. Still, I need bags with pockets, even a basic bag needs at least one pocket.

In reading the NYT, I read about Tissuni. Tissuni is a collective of seamstresses from the various fashion houses. They got together during the quarantine in Paris and made masks for free for essential workers. Now they are working their amazing sewing skills for more simple designs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

*Check your local public library for access if you don’t have a subscription

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item 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.

Black & Red Quilt

Black Rectangles on design wall
Black Rectangles on design wall

This quilt does not yet have a name. Black & Red Quilt doesn’t seem useful or interesting, somehow.

This photo also does not seem interesting. Trust me, the piece looks a lot better on my design wall. Clearly, I need better lighting for photographing monochromatic quilts.

The shifts in fabric/tones & shades are subtle. This is more like a pushed neutral background than anything. There won’t be much of a foreground, however, as my idea is to use the 3,000 yards of bias tape I made in the January Challenge for the Mighty Lucky Quilting Club. My original idea was to applique a small strip to each rectangle at a different angle, then sew the rectangles together. The other night as I was going to sleep, I thought about sewing the bias tape to the quilt as one long piece in large arcs or swirls. I am eager to sew the rectangles together, but the new idea would mean maneuvering the large top around my sewing table rather than the smaller rectangles. I’ll get the red bias tape out and see what I think.

Face Mask Details

I said in a previous face mask post that I needed to fix some details in the DIY Cloth Face Mask pattern.

Chrysanthemum Face Mask -closed gusset raw edges
Chrysanthemum Face Mask -closed gusset raw edges

First, the gussets needed to have, for certain, the raw edges covered. After adding the nose pieces, I did one fold and sewed the raw edge closed.

This adds an extra layer of fabric, which is a challenge later, but with the covering of the longer main mask panel (you can see it sticking out past the 12 on my mat), I think it will keep the raw edges from unraveling.

I could have sewed the raw edges closed before adding the nose piece, but I didn’t. Feel free to do it that way.

Chrysanthemum Face Mask Elastic
Chrysanthemum Face Mask Elastic

In my post the other day, I mentioned using elastic. My elastic goes all the way around the back of my head as opposed to just over the ears as the video shows. With glasses and headphones, I have too much stuff on my ears already to add a mask to the poor overburdened body part.

I am not sure this is the best way to add elastic across the back. The folded over edges stick out a little so the look isn’t sleek.

Once the raw edges of the gussets were secured, I fold over  the edges of the main mask panel and tucked the elastic inside. Then I sewed in a rectangle, going over the stitching closest to the middle of the mask twice.

Chrysanthemum Face Mask -changes
Chrysanthemum Face Mask -changes

I add the nose piece to the pattern by aligning the middle of the nose piece with the mark on the fabric, then surrounding the nose piece with pins, so I know where it is. I sew around it, removing the pins as I go and being careful not to sew over them or the nose piece.

The top arrow shows where the  nose piece is.

The bottom arrow shows the two strands of elastic. I measured them at 10 inches for my head. Of course, you can adjust them to your needs.

I don’t know when I will have the opportunity to wear this mask out. When I do, I will report back.

 

Face Mask Saga Continues

The guild had Virtual Sew  Day on Saturday. There were 9-10 people at any one time, which seemed  like a good number. After I put some rectangles on the design wall (empty after taking FOTY 2018 to the longarmer), I worked on masks.

I am still using the DIY Cloth Face Mask video pattern and I am getting more familiar and more confident with it. After wearing the mask I made with this pattern and a cord lock for several hours on Friday, I decided to make another mask using this pattern with elastic instead of a cord lock.

This pattern works very well with my glasses. I added a nose piece, thanks to Friend Julie and her husband for keeping me supplied! With the nose piece well adjusted, I get very little, if any fogging. Allergies are torturing me, though, so I sneezed a few times while wearing the mask which reminded me why I need multiple masks.

Also, the cord lock and cording works well if I am wearing a ponytail. I can hook the top cord over my ponytail and then tighten the cord lock behind my neck. Getting the mask tight helps with preventing fogging. The problem is that I was wearing my hair down and by the time I got home I think large chucks of hair were embedded in the cord lock. 🙁

Chrysanthemum Face Mask
Chrysanthemum Face Mask

My new mask, which is the exact same pattern as the red dot mask, has elastic instead of a cord lock. It fits well and the nose piece fits tightly around my nose. The real test will be when I wear it out.

The elastic is slightly better for this test on the couch, but I can tell any kind of mask wearing is better with my hair up. I think a hairdresser/stylist who designs a hair cut for mask wearing will be a genius.

DH has his collection and didn’t want anymore for the moment. I will make him one to wear with his tuxedo, assuming we ever get to dress up again, but I am going to wait until I get the pattern exactly right.

Four Masks - early July
Four Masks – early July

I made four masks. I experimented with fussy cutting and was pretty successful on the mask main panel. I wasn’t as successful with  the gussets, but I can do better next time.

One is for the YM, because it makes me feel better to make him masks. The other two are gifts as well.

Blue Strip #2 Donation Blocks

Blue Color Strip #2 Donation Blocks
Blue Color Strip #2 Donation Blocks

By piecing FOTY 2018 together I was able to get the blocks for my next blue color strip donation quilt finished.

I know I have used a large portion of blue scraps, but I still have a full blue scrap drawer.  A lot of them are small or not strips, so I will be making a blue improv version next, though I still have to sash this one. I used yellow for the last one, which was unique. I am thinking about white, but that might be too conventional or too boring. I haven’t started cutting sashing, because I don’t know what to use.

Happy Independence Day

Happy 4th!
Happy 4th!

For those of you who celebrate, Happy Independence Day! For those of you who do not celebrate, have a great day.

My wish, again, for this 4th is that we practice kindness, civility and work together to make a better future for our children. I think, especially, in this pandemic time that we help others in the ways that we can.

 

 

**Yes, I used this same image last year and think it is even more appropriate this year.

FOTY 2018 Finished Top

FOTY 2018 Finished Top
FOTY 2018 Finished Top

Work is closed for summer break this week. As a result, I worked like a demon all week and was able to finish the FOTY 2018 top and back. I didn’t need to finish it. Since I was taking quilts to Colleen today, I decided taking four quilts is better than taking three.

The quilt wasn’t difficult to piece since all the squares are 2.5 inches. The difficult part was keeping the pieces in order as I sewed. After I got pairs sewed together, I started using the opposite side of the quilt as leaders/enders and that made the process go faster.  I also had a lot of time Wednesday to sew.

This isn’t exactly the way I imagined it to come out. I kind of wanted it to be more like Ellsworth Kelly’s piece. I think to achieve that, I needed more black.

Add the black has kind of reinvigorated my interest in this series. I might continue after FOTY 2019. Stay tuned.

26 Projects 2020 #6

I have bought more fabric, so I have lost ground on using 100 yards of fabric. I have used 38 yards net (76 total) so far this year. My numbers are going down, because I need to stop buying fabric!

In looking at some of the projects, especially the gifts, it seems like such a long time ago that I made them. I guess this is what people are calling ‘pandemic time’ when March had 5,8270 days, April had 8,322, May had 6,987 and June had 7,962.

Finished 2020 Quilt Projects

Despite adding quilt projects that have not yet been quilted to my fabric usage tally, I am not adding them to this section. This section will continue to be for completely finished quilts. I still only have two completely finished for the year, but now have 3 projects ready to go to the longarmer. This was my goal and I think any more will be gravy. Very exciting!

  • Cool Windmill – finished March 2020 – I gave this quilt to its new owner and she was thrilled.
  • Warm Windmill– finished March 2020

Finished 2020 Non-Quilt Projects

This category covers bags, toys, aprons and knitting as well as other non-quilt projects.

I feel like I have made more, but I can’t find any others.

Doing Good

In Process
The ‘In Process’ is used to denote projects on which I am actively working or are on the design wall waiting for me to stitch. I try not to put away projects, because that will ensure I never work on them.

FOTY 2018 – I started piecing the squares together.

Small Projects to Make or in Process

Most of my progress involves thinking or just cutting.

  • One Hour Basket for organizing my decks of cards – Creative Strength, mindfulness, etc.
  • One Hour Basket for my stuff that tends to accumulate on the dining room table
  • One Hour Basket for DH’s stuff that tends to accumulate on the dining room table
  • Retreat Organizer – another project from the Crafty Gemini Organizer Club, also on my list, but not yet started
  • Ultimate Project Organizer – another project from the Crafty Gemini Organizer Club, also on my list, but not yet started
  • Officer gifts for January 2021 – have the pattern and the supplies. Need to start so these are ready and I am not scrambling at the last minute
  • Ultimate Carry All Bag – Bag-a-Long for BAM – I have the inisde pockets made and am struggling with the front pocket.

Handwork

I decided that some of my projects are in a different class because they are hand piecing or embroidery or beading. They take longer. Thus I created a new category and have moved some projects here.

Ready for Quilting

In the Quilting Process

In the Finishing Process

nothing now

Still WIPs
I still have WIPs. Who doesn’t, after all? A project in the ‘UFO’ category means I am stalled. A nicer way of saying UFO is a WIP. The list is a lot shorter and the projects are newer, for the most part.

  1. FOTY 2019 – this is now on the list since 2019 is over and I have the squares, theoretically, ready to sew.
  2. Handbag Sampler – this is still the forgotten project. It should be on the UFO list. Too bad I don’t have one. The blocks were teaching samples when I taught a sampler class the time before I started writing the quilt class sampler tutorials. I found one block recently, but otherwise I actually don’t know exactly where the blocks are hiding. I have an idea and still have to crawl up in the far reaches of my fabric closet soon and see if I can find them. I haven’t even found a picture of all the blocks. Sad.
  3. Lobster – I think I might make this into a tablerunner for the buffet. I think that will be a good and fun use of the piece even if the colors aren’t quite right for the dining room.
  4. Pies and Points from 2016 Victoria Findlay Wolfe class. The last time I worked on it was when Julie and I had a playdate in April 2018. I brought this piece with me so I could cut more elements (Julie has a Sizzix). I lost my excitement about this piece shortly thereafter and still have to get it back. Thus, I had to move this to the WIPs area.
  5. Pointillist Palette #4: Fourth is a series of 6 quilts; needs tiny square patches sewn together. No progress.
  6. Self Portrait: started in 2006 at a class at Quilting Adventures in Richmond, Virginia. I am still stalled on this again. As one of my oldest (I am pretty sure) UFO, I put it on my blog and out into the Twitterverse and Diane suggested that I not consider this as a self portrait. I think that strategy is a great idea. I am now trying to think of a new persona for her.
  7. Serendipity Lady – I am still planning to take this piece to be framed.
  8. Black and Red quilt – This project is creeping into my mind, so it might be up for work soon. The project originally came about because of two other projects. I made a whole bunch of bias tape as part of my failed attempt at doing the Mighty Lucky Club a few years ago. Another part of the inspiration came from my class with Tina of Little Blue Cottage fame. This was going to be for a nephew, but I think it will be for one of my SILs and BILs. I have rectangles cut and some bias tape ready. My next step is to sew the bias tape to the rectangles like pickup sticks. I don’t have any photos of this, so you’ll have to use your imagination.
  9. Who Am I? – This piece is off my design. I have lost momentum, but I think that just has to do with the amount of satin stitching I am facing.

Gift Bags Again

It is in July that new Christmas fabrics are generally released. This is a good time to talk about gift bags again.

December Gift Bags
December Gift Bags

I have been thinking a lot about recycling, especially when we were home for -what seemed like- months during S-i-P. I heard a story on NPR last December a few days before Christmas. The announcer talked about how to tell whether gift wrap is recyclable and gave options for other materials to use. Also, ribbon, bows and glitter are generally not recyclable. He did not talk much about fabric gift bags. I heard this story and, as I had just been wrapping gifts in gift bags, I realized that I wanted to make another play to get people to use fabric.

Gift Bags stored and ready for use
Gift Bags stored and ready for use

It doesn’t matter what holidays you celebrate, there is fabric that can be used for every type of event. We use fabric gift bags for birthdays, housewarmings – everything. My SIL and I have made enough so that the extended family use them during Christmas as well.

As I have said before, this was not originally my idea. My SIL started it and I joined in, thinking it was an excellent opportunity to use some great fabric I wouldn’t normally buy or use. It was a lot easier to make bags for the whole family when two of us were sewing. My niece now makes bags which her Mom (not a sewist) uses to wrap her beautiful handmade cards.

One of the reasons I like gift bags is I can buy fun and novelty fabrics for which I usually wouldn’t have a use.

Benefits:

  • reusable
  • good way to use fabric you might not use for quilts
  • opportunity to buy holiday fabric without committing to making a holiday (or birthday) quilt
  • quick way to wrap
  • no need to rush out to buy gift wrap
  • no tape or scissors needed
  • small children can help wrap, or wrap their own gifts
  • Fabric costs can be amortized over the years of the gift bag use
  • bags are made quickly
  • good opportunity to try out decorative stitches
  • Can quickly make a gift bag for an oddly shaped gift. I once wrapped a weed whacker in a gift bag!
  • Odd sized bags can be up and used for different sized gifts
  • I reuse ribbon I get from other places for the ties
  • Easy to open and close the gift bag up again if the gift tag falls off
  • you can use fabric you already own, orphan blocks, vintage sheets
  • Embellishment possibilities are endless, if you want to take the time. Gift bags are a great way to try out different techniques, stitches and embellishments

Drawbacks:

  • takes time to develop a stockpile
  • reusable gift bags have to be stored
  • fabric costs are not insignificant
  • You don’t get beautiful mounds of boxed gifts under your tree

You have plenty of time to start stockpiling gift bags. You can use leaders and enders to make them, which means that your regular sewing isn’t interrupted much .

Resources: