More Birthday!!!

OMG! More birthday gifts arrived. It is almost a month after my birthday and the party keeps going on.

This wonderfully decorated box filled with delightful gifts arrived last week.

First, everything was wrapped really nicely in fabric (of course!). Look at how everything goes together in a light green and turquoise kind of color scheme. Great, right?

The card is a piece watercolored by AO. I don’t want her to spend time watercoloring. I want her to sew, but she does a really good job on the cards, so it is hard to get upset. 😉

The little parcels were so hard to unwrap because I just loved the way they looked together.

The bowl cozy will definitely be useful. I already wore the socks and they are nice and thick. I am already using the little triangle pouch for lipsticks and small cosmetics in my handbag. It is super useful.

My dad got me a gift card and the small scissors I bought to replace the Tula snips** (they didn’t stay sharp and I need to get them sharpened). I had a hard time deciding what to buy. Amazon has everything except Sew Sweetness patterns, which is what I really wanted. These scissors are awesome! The tips are super sharp, so they are great for clipping curves and trimming just a thread or two. They are also lightweight and open and close easily, which means they don’t hurt my hands.

This is the first pair of Kai scissors I have gotten. While I haven’t used them a lot, I already really like them.

On Saturday, I went out to lunch with Sue and Carrie. It was my birthday lunch and came with gifts. They are really super generous and I don’t know what I did to deserve their kindness.

Carrie has recently started bag making and has, even more recently, taken my gift bag making to heart. She used an Asian fabric to make me a gift bag that has a coordinated channel in it.

This is a similar design to Jeni Baker’s Lined Drawstring Bags. Carrie is the YouTube Queen, so I think she found this pattern in a video. It is great. I really like the coordinating channel.

In the gift bag were a couple of lovely gifts. One is a Creative Grids Fussy Cut ruler**. This is one ruler I don’t have and it will be useful. The good thing about it is that it has the squares of different sizes radiating out from the middle. This means I can put the very middle on a motif and know exactly how it will be placed.

Along with the ruler was a ruler stand. I have looked at these for years and never taken the plunge. I need to do some tidying before I can set it up.

The “Best Day Ever” ribbon and the beautiful glass hearts are Valentine’s Day gifts. Yes, I received a Valentine’s Day gift as well! So sweet.

Sue gave me some books. Yes there is a bit of quiltmaking in there, but mostly it is a relaxing gifts. I can sit and read the book or look through the Quilt Art calendar while eating the candy. Wonderful!

I was glad I made the Hemingway pouches, because those ended up being the party favors I gave to Sue and Carrie.

After lunch, we wandered around Los Altos. Needles Studio was having a sale. I bought some bag hardware on sale for $2 or less each. I couldn’t resist that red-violet fabric. I bought the double fold elastic at The Granary before I went to lunch. I need it to work on the Bluestem pouches.

I also received a gift from Gerre at Sew Day. She added to my set of dish towels with a few more with different embroidered motifs. I am such a lucky person to have such great friends.

**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.

ERGH! Oliso

I am super unhappy with my Oliso right at the moment.

It blurped black gunk on to my brand new ironing board cover. 🙁

I spent a few days religiously using a pressing cloth and trying to get all the gunk out of the iron. The gunk spewing seems to have stopped, but I am still irritated. I am really glad it didn’t blurp all over any piecing.

The iron also has some weird stuff on the bottom and no, I wasn’t using any fusible. I really like Iron Off** and use it immediately if I get anything on my iron. I don’t know where this came from. It appeared after the black gunk, so I am sure they are related.

Now I am using my backup iron while I work through the steps that Oliso has given me.

Oliso says clean it with white vinegar. I can’t do that because I am allergic to it. I have asked a friend to do it for me, but that requires some coordination. I might be done with Oliso irons. I think this is the 3rd one I have had. I really like not standing it up on the end, but I seem to have a lot of trouble with them.

Finished: Enigma #4

I finished the Enigma #4 and also gave it to my friend. She was so touched; it made me want to cry. I don’t think of giving bags to people as anything special. In my small quiltmaking/bagmaking world, everyone gives bags like they are napkins or something equally as mundane. I am always brought up short when I give a bag to someone outside of that world and see how amazed they are.

This one came out really well. I am still impressed by the matching stripe I was able to find. I cannot remember when I bought it or where, but it has been hanging around for awhile. It just goes so perfectly with the pink and green outer fabric. I used up all of the fabrics I used. All had chunks taken out of them when I started and were really just scraps when I finished.

Engima #4 - top view — Engima #4 – top view

Of course, I am still swooning over the diagonal zipper. Of course, I didn’t take a photo of the side where you can see in this version. You can see the diagonal zipper and how it works in the picture of Mom’s Enigma.

I am really pleased, also, with how well the handbag zipper color goes with the exterior fabric of the bag.

I am Miss Self Admiration Society today, aren’t I?

Pink Enigma - open flat — Pink Enigma – open flat

This one also lays flat. I still really like the way this design opens flat for accessing everything inside.

This piece really came together well in terms of fabric. I am already thinking about the next one I want to make.

Hemingway Finished

This was a relatively easy project. As mentioned the other day, I didn’t use the exact dimensions, but it didn’t matter. You can make this pouch any size.

For me, it seemed best to make two at a time since you only use one side of a zipper. I didn’t want to have a random piece of zipper hanging around, so I made two.

I am going to try making one with some of the pre-quilted foam I got last year. I might make a bag for my lightbox.

Quilts in Jackson

Traveling is a good time to get inspiration. Last weekend we went to Jackson for the Native Sons event, Discovery of Gold. I enjoy visiting these small towns in the boonies of California. I always find something interesting.

I thought the tile at one closed storefront would make an interesting row quilt – or the start of a row quilt. Look at the different elements between the ‘blocks’. I wonder if they relate to the shop’s original owner or wares?

'Checkerboard' pillow — ‘Checkerboard’ pillow

This trip, I spent a lot of time on my own because DH had a lot of meetings crammed into one day. Jackson has quite a few ‘antique’ shops. Some are more curated than others. I wanted to visit a quilt shop, but the closest one was 40 minutes away in Placerville and I wasn’t up for the drive. It was fun to wander around Jackson. I found a few gifts, especially a teapot I have been looking for for years.

'Checkerboard' pillow detail — ‘Checkerboard’ pillow detail

As I wandered around, my thoughts around Women’s Work and its value (or lack of monetary value) were rekindled. The cushion above had a very depressing price tag on it. I blame Walmart and the Dollar Store, fast fashion and always wanting a deal. $9.95! I couldn’t really take it in, though this kind of thing is why I don’t have a quilt business.

Really, I kept seeing a lot of quilts and quilt related items. I also saw a lot of crochet, but I can’t take photos of everything.

One thing I noticed was a lot of quilts. Not art quilts or high quality quilts, but a noticeable number of utilitarian quilts. After seeing the first few, I started photographing them and thinking about Women’s Work again. I’ll try to stay off of my soapbox, but the prices and the cavalier way in which most of them were displayed makes me wonder again about the value of women’s work. I also can’t help wondering if my work will end up in antique-thrift-junk shops. If the YM doesn’t want my quilts, I hope my nieces and nephews will divvy them up.

Someone clearly sews in one of the shops as there were a number of sewn items for sale, including bowl cozies ($8). You’d have to have a well oiled production line going to make it worth selling these for $8. It is, however, a great way to justify making stuff. I am not sure I would be satisfied making hundreds of bowl cozies, but to each his/her own.

I enjoyed the simplicity of many of the quilt designs I saw. One of my favorites was a yellow pinwheel quilt. I made a basket quilt with a yellow background once, called Cheerful Baskets, so I have a fondness for certain tints of yellow. The simplicity of this quilt really grabbed me. I think those blocks are about 5 inches, but possibly four inches since they are a 4 patch. The sashing gives the pinwheels space to breathe. The eye can see each pinwheel clearly.

I saw some cushions made with a crazy quilt design that were in bad condition, but still pretty. I wonder if they could have been cut from a crazy quilt?

Someone had the clever idea to reupholster a chair with a Dresden Plate. I am not a fan of that type of oak furniture, but I think the seat looks cool.

I saw this not in an antique-junk-thrift shop, but a higher end store that takes some stuff from antique-junk-thrift shops and upcycles it. There was only one of these chairs, but it might make a nice start to a collection of them in different woods and styles. The Dresden Plate could unify them.

There was a sweet child looking quilt that reminded me of the Laura Ashley quilt I made for a friend a million years ago when there was a Laura Ashley store in downtown San Francisco. I had just started quiltmaking then and found an early charm pack there. Charm packs as a concept didn’t exist as they do now, so it was really novel to find a pack of pre-cut squares.

Squares with embroidery quilt - detail — Squares with embroidery quilt – detail

The quilt isn’t exactly like mine, but it does remind me of the one I made.

The embroidery is some kind of vine or edge stitch. I like it. It adds interest to the simple design of the quilt, as do the flowers in the fabric. They looked like they were painted on, but I think it was just the printing process of the fabric used.

That violet (or lavender) with the yellow is a good combination.

There was also, what I think was, a yo-yo quilt. It looked different than other yo-yo quilts I have seen. It could be that the gathered side was face down in the display and I couldn’t see them. It is possible that people don’t know that yo-yos are mostly displayed/used with the gathered side up. On the other hand, this could be a completely different type of quilt or a yo-yo variation.

Welsh-style whole cloth quilt in Jackson

I also saw, what looked like, a Welsh-style quilt. Of course, it could be a regular whole cloth quilt using a color similar to those used in Welsh whole cloth quilts. I couldn’t see much more than the picture shows, though I did take another photo from farther away that shows a little more of the design. The vines and leaves are really nice.

It is clear that this quilt has been washed, if not used, but it looked to be in good condition.

I also saw a Basket quilt top. Again, this quilt has lavender. I wonder if that was a popular color in a certain era? 1930s? I know that a lot of 1930s reproduction fabric lines include a lavender colorway. One of the nice things about this design is how some of the baskets fade into the background. It could be from fading or it could have been designed that way. No way to tell.

I really like basket block quilts and have only made one. So many designs so little time!

QST quilt in Jackson - detail — QST quilt in Jackson – detail

This Quarter Square Triangle quilt is sewn together in a interesting manner. I am not sure if the quilt was pieced and then embellished with a blanket-type stitch or if it was sewn together with the blanket-type stitch. I can see both types of stitching on the detail photo. The scraps used in this quilt are quite bright and cheerful. It might be a newer quilt without fading or it is older and well taken care of.

Applique' quilt in Jackson — Applique’ quilt in Jackson

Finally, this is what is going to happen to all of my fabric when I die.

I don’t know that there are definitely 6 yards in there as I didn’t open the package. I do know that there were multiple similar packets of fabric. The fabric isn’t to my taste, but if you want some of it go to Jackson and visit Antiques On Main,1 Main St, Jackson, CA 95642. There are multiple vendors with a lot of different stuff. The one in the front on the right side of the aisle is where the fabric was.

One lesson? Label your quilts. Even stitch lettering with your name and the year are better than ‘artist unknown’.

Mom’s Enigma

I briefly talked about Mom’s Enigma bag in the post I did about all the gifts I have made for her. It was so brief that you probably didn’t notice.

This is the third Enigma Bag I have made and I am especially pleased with how good the zipper looks with this fabric. You can see the other Enigmas I have made by looking at the Minikins page.

As you know, the Enigma is part of Minikins Season 4 from Sara Lawson at Sew Sweetness*. It came out in November or December – I can’t remember – late last year in any case. I am pleased that I have made 6 projects from this group. Yes, four of them are the same pattern, but still a good showing.

This is the bag that is great for handwork, especially in the car or on a plane, because of the open flat, completely enclosed design. There is a small pocket in the middle. It is a floating pocket, so your items fit underneath it. I want to try making it in vinyl.

As I mentioned, I am happy with the zipper. I used zipper tape either from Sew Sweetness or Sew Hungry Hippie. The rainbow look is a favorite, but I also like how the zipper tape blends with the fabric color.

Paint Tube Enigma for Mom - end — Paint Tube Enigma for Mom – end

I am not that fond of these giant zipper pulls. They are easy to grip, so Mom won’t have a problem opening and closing the bag, but they do clunk together in an unattractive way. I have some other options coming.

You can also see that the construction of this bag using a similar accordion construction technique to the Sew Together Bag. If you have made an STB, then you can make this bag, no problem.

Mom's Enigma - side view — Mom’s Enigma – side view

One of the reasons I have made 4 of these is because of the diagonal zipper. I really like that look.

Mom seemed to like, though she is making noises about having too many bags. I still have a lot of fabric for gifts for her, so I’ll have to think about that.

*No affiliation. Just a happy customer.

Selecting Sauterne

I received Sauterne with a heavy heart. Not for the message, which I always anticipate, but for the color. Another color I almost never use and never buy. Amazingly, I found a Philip Jacobs print with that color used for some flowers. It was almost perfect.

This print was the third one I found. The speckle gold is a good type to use for this project, but definitely the wrong color.

In the middle is a Heather Bailey print. Again, those tiny leaves right under the postcard are the perfect color, but so small. I didn’t think it was right.

Finally, I found a 10×10 square (I wonder where that came from?) of an Alison Glass print that actually was the perfect color and also the perfect type of print – a tone-on-tone.

I received another postcard today, so back to the fabric closet for more hunting and gathering.

Hemingway Start

Am I starting everything?

Yes.

I am also finishing some things, but you’ll have to wait for that news. I need to take photos.

The Hemingway pouch is a quilted pouch by Center Street Quilts. She has some very appealing videos on IG. She released this pattern recently and I have to admit I was taken in by the angled zipper. I also like this feature on the Enigma bag, so I think it is a ‘thing’ for me right now.

As you can see, I am making this bag with vinyl, because I wanted to finish it fast. I decided to use the vinyl that Carrie gave me. The roll is not as tall as the Sew Hungry Hippie glitter vinyl, so I didn’t use the directions in the pattern exactly, but it is working out.

I just have to put some binding on it and it should be done.

One thing I worry about is the triangle that gets cut off. I thought the zipper was sewed to both sides of the vinyl, but I was wrong. We’ll see if I can think of something to make with a random triangular piece of vinyl.

New Bluestem

I started a new pouch for the Sew Sweetness contest. It is the Bluestem pouch and is also part of Minikins Season 4.

I used one of the fun rainbow zippers I bought from Sew Hungry Hippie. I am not a huge fan of the pulls as they are so large, but we will see. At least they are pretty!

Even More Pantone

During my birthday extravaganza weekend, Friend Julie and I exchanged more Pantone blocks.

I think my doodles are giving us both some ideas of which blocks to make.

Various & Sundry 2024 #1

Admin

I updated the gifts post as I received something recently.

I also updated the Color Strip & Chunk donation top page. I have made 16 of these tops!

Tools, Books, Fabric, Notions & Supplies

It is so much easier to open a zipper on one of my bags when I attach a zipper pull. I have been trying to find nice zipper pulls in packages of several. I found some on Amazon**, but wonder if you have ever bought them? These look easy to use and have a nice design.

I heard about Felt Right Tiles, which some quiltmakers are raving about. I almost went ahead and bought a set to replace the ‘new’ design wall. I am not happy with the current large design wall, because my fabric pieces don’t stick to it. I am glad I read more about the Felt Right tiles before I took the plunge. One of the FAQs on their site says “Will quilting fabric designs stick to Felt Right tiles without pins?
Some quilters choose to apply batting or flannel to the tiles before placing pieces of fabric. Without batting, you will need to use pins or thumbtacks to hang fabric.” Having to add felt or batting kind of defeats the purpose for me, though they would be snug against the wall, which would be convenient. I’ll keep looking.

Projects, Classes, Patterns & Tutorials

The guild had a pincushion swap for the holiday party. This set my mind to thinking about pincushions, which I looked at on Instagram and Pinterest for a few days. Carrie shared a pincushion image with me, which sent me off to the blog post about it. It is from Anna Graham’s (Noodle-Head) book, Handmade Style**. I am also sharing the tutorial for a Wagon Wheel pincushion, another one from from Noodle-Head. I like round pincushions.

I am working my way through various Quiltfolk issues. One for Illinois has Mary Fons’ Little Black Dress Quilt on the front. I might want to make this quilt. It looks interesting, so I went hunting. I found a picture of it straight on. I also found that you can buy the pattern from Quilting Daily.

Jane Sassaman has a virtual class coming up in January and February. I want to take it, but the time is inconvenient, so I have to think about it.

K Azcona Designs has some interesting shaped bag patterns such as Y-fronts, stars, ice cream cones and hearts.

Quilter’s Color Mixer is a live, virtual event with ten expert quilting instructors happening on February 3rd, 2024. Join this live event for a multiple classes where you’ll learn about color theory, the history of color, creating custom color palettes for your quilts, stash-busting techniques, ombré designs, designing with prints, and so much more! Come for the mini masterclasses and stay for the giveaways, a virtual swag bag, and an opportunity to connect with makers worldwide! Lynn Koolish’s session is all about how to transform your stash with paints & dyes while learning about color mixing. Save $20 off your ticket with Lynn’s code MIX24LYNN. The cost when I clicked on the link was $59.99.

Julie has a short tutorial on using fusible batting.

Media, Books and Articles

The San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles is looking for volunteers! In 2024 The Museum will be launching a new community program; our very own Social Needlework Circle. We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to offer support during our drop-in hours. We are excited to grow together and welcome you to our fiber community. If you’re interested in joining our team, please fill out their form.

I recommend the Sewcial Sunday video from Sew Sweetness, if you are interested in waxed canvas. Sara interviews a friend who is an expert in using waxed canvas.

Events, Shops, Exhibits and Shows

Jonathan Shannon’s quilts are at the San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles through April 7. He had at least one quilt at an EBHQ show where I also displayed a quilt. At the beginning of my quiltmaking adventure, his quilts were VERY controversial because of the themes of some of his quilts. Seeing his quilts inspired me to make some quilts commenting on political situations. Seeing what he experienced gave me the courage to express bottled up feelings about situations where I was powerless. I am thrilled that the museum has 20 of his quilts. The link above shows several that I remember seeing in person.

I stumbled across the site, Abandoned America, on Atlas Obscura. It has a lot of interesting photos, though I am not 100% in love with the old, decrepit, and broken places. There is a kind of beauty in the photos. Also, it dovetails with a book I read last year, They Disappeared**, which features a lot of abandoned buildings and urban explorers. It is a good book with a lot of layers, a murder mystery, of course.

Other Artists

I have a soft spot in my heart for felt food. I have no idea why. I just think it is wonderful and a great toy for kids. You can imagine how thrilled I was to Lucy Sparrow’s work discussed in a local paper. I went looking at some of the links and saw this amazing spread for the Queen’s Jubilee. This UK artist’s website is full of wonderful images, too. I saw in one blog post that she sews on a Janome!

Julie wrote a post about the Hackney Bag I made her.

This is how creativity and working on some projects is for me. I didn’t make the difficult bags and quilts I make now when I started out. Even now, when I know a lot more, I go through this process.

Thanks to @mounika.studio for a great drawing.

26 Projects 2024 #1

Finished 2024 Quilt Projects

None so far.

Finished (for me!) Donation Quilts

As you know, I don’t quilt much. I really enjoy the collaborative effort of making a top and allowing someone else to quilt it. Thus, the quilts below are mostly tops, but I will include a finished quilt once someone else finishes it for the group.

Grey Strip donation top - finished — Grey Strip donation top – finished

Black Strip #2 donation top – January 2024
Grey Strip donation top – January 2024

59% of my fabric this month has gone to community quilt and block projects. I am pretty excited about that!

Finished Bags and Small Projects

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

2-in-1 Case #4
Bluestem pouch
Enigma #4

Ready for Quilting / In the Quilting Process

Metro Twist - blocks sewn — Metro Twist – blocks sewn

Cha Cha Cha Table Runner
Metro Twist
Scrappy Celebration
Who Am I?

In the Finishing Process

Nothing at the moment

Still UFOs

I still have UFOs. Who doesn’t, after all? A project in the ‘UFO’ category means I am stalled, it hasn’t been worked on in awhile or it is waiting its turn to be worked on. The list is a lot shorter and the projects are newer, for the most part.

I am annoyed that some of these are still WIPs. I have to give myself credit for completing some of them last year.

La Passacaglia – I am working on the border, but need to work more and harder.
Retreat Organizer – another project from the Crafty Gemini Organizer Club, also on my list. I have started it, but stopped when I started thinking about whether to embellishing the straps.
Rose Petrillo bag – I found the pieces for this bag cut out, but not sewn.
Superbloom tote using Hindsight fabric – not started. I did pull the fabric, supplies and found a photo I plan to use as inspiration that others posted, so I am one step closer.

Handbag Sampler – this is still the forgotten project. I found one block in the not-too-distant past, but otherwise I don’t actually know exactly where the blocks are hiding. I crawled up in the far reaches of my fabric closet to see if I could find them and they weren’t where I thought. I am sort of mystified as to where they could be. I haven’t even found a picture of all the blocks. WTH?
Self Portrait: started in 2006 at a class at Quilting Adventures in Richmond, Virginia. After a brief burst of inspiration, I am stalled on this again. As one of my oldest (I am pretty sure) UFOs, 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.
Serendipity Lady – I am still planning to take this piece to be framed. It might need a bit of quilting first.
Fabric of the Year 2020
Fabric of the Year 2021 – I may combine 2020 and 2021 into a COVID edition.
Fabric of the Year 2022 – yes, I added this one to the list, but this is the last one I plan to do.

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