Commentary about works in progress, design & creativity
The good thing about machine embroidery is that it can happen while the maker is piecing since the machine works independently. Still, SIL is making crazy good progress. After a few napkins last week, she gave me a bunch this week.
This group of motifs is fun. The pie and the corn, along with the pumpkin, which you saw last week, are two of my favorites. I took a close up of the pumpkin, so you could see what a nice design it is.
SIL is embroidering napkins for the napkin project at a furious pace. I need to get busy on the tablerunners. September will be here before we know it and October and November will be hard on its heels.
SIL has finished some more napkins.
Two motifs included in this most recent batch came out very well. I really like the tree and I, especially, like the pumpkin.
I think they are coming out very well and I will be happy to put them on my table at Thanksgiving.
I am making progress on the dolls I talked about that I was making from a panel.
This doll is Little Red Riding Hood. She doesn’t really look like Red riding Hood to me as I always thought of Red as more of a little girl. This doll looks like an adult to me. What do you think?
I got the stuffing from my youngest SIL who happened to have some laying around. I was pleased that she was willing to offload it on me.
I haven’t stuffed very many toys — or anything, really. I worked really hard to make the doll stiff and full feeling. Not sure if it is too full.
The legs and arms are really skinny and I hope they are sturdy enough.
I finished the dog (probably really The Wolf), the quilt and the cape. I am now working on the skirt. I finished it and then I decided it didn’t fit well and I took it part to remake.
I also started the mermaid, which came on another panel. Mom is going to put elastic on the tail for me.
The other day Julie and I went to The Granary and saw a doll made from a panel. Unfortunately, they didn’t have anymore of the panels, so we went on our merry way with our day.
A few days later, I was at Always Quilting and I saw the panel plus one other. I was kind of thrilled to see them. I am not exactly sure why, but I have been wanting to make dolls/doll clothes on and off for quite a while.
The one we saw made was a mermaid, which was very cute. I decided to buy them and make them for my little niece.
The panels have a lot of pieces including a quilt for each one. I plan to make the dolls and the fin for the mermaid as well as the skirt for the Red. Then I will see what happens.
Perhaps this will quench my thirst for making dolls.
A photo like this makes me want to send these nephews more gifts. 😉 I don’t even care if the photo was staged! It makes my heart warm to know that they were willing to stage it. They seem to like the Star Wars pillowcases.
Yay!
A few weeks ago I wrote about Thanksgiving napkins that SIL and I** were in the process of making. We have finished some of them.
There is some trial and error in the process, but SIL is working hard to minimize the loss of any napkins. So far so good.
Progress is good.
The process is
I did the washing and ironing. As I do with all of my fabric, I washed these napkins in hot water. Hot water is the worst than can be done to them, I think, in terms of washing. I ironed them with Mary Ellen’s Best Press, mostly. I used some Flatter, but I really don’t like the smell of the one I bought.
SIL had a few embroidery designs in her library that were suitable. I went looking at a couple of sites she suggested and bought a few. We plan to reuse the designs. I don’t want or need 30 different designs. using different threads and stitching them out on different colored napkins makes the designs different enough.
We do all the napkins we are doing to do with one design before we switch to the next design.
We had to simplify some of the thread choices, because SIL has a machine that can accommodate 6 thread colors. It is easier not to have to deal with thread changes in the middle of stitching out a design. I kind of wish she had bought the 10 needle machine, but I wasn’t laying out the cash. 😉 Also, I wouldn’t be doing this at all if she hadn’t brought her machine to live around the corner from me. I had planned to make napkins the normal way I make them, which is odious at the best of times. It would have been a ton of work as well as a ton of money for Thanksgiving appropriate fabric. If my math is right (1/2 yard of fabric for each napkin), I would have needed 15 yards of fabric. I love buying fabric, but this is much easier and much more cost effective.
SIL had some tension issues at the beginning. After much fiddling, she resolved them, but thinks the machine may need a spa day.
So far, we have about 6 done. Fortunately, once the machine is set up, it stitches the designs out without someone standing over it pressing a foot pedal. It is still a lot of work and I am trying to help as much as I can.
**Nota bene: Most of my part is making color choices and buying stuff. I also wash and iron the napkins as needed. She is operating her massive embroidery machine.
I ironed some fabric last week and came across three fabrics that were intended for pillowcases. Feeling the need for some finishes, I sewed them up over the weekend and will send them off to three of the nephews. The YM made it clear he was not particularly interested in these fabrics.
As usual the cuff fabrics were the most difficult to find. I have been working hard to cut pieces out of new fabrics in such a way that I will have a 12″ x WOF or so piece available should I want to use any fabric. I was fortunate to find two different check fabrics that go together, but are different enough to allow the boys to have their own.
The fabric in which the YM is really not interested is the Angry Birds Star Wars fabric. Even when I asked him if his new roommate would like it, I received an unequivocal no.
This is a clear indication of my sometimes uncoolness as a mom. 😉
I have 3 young nephews, though young is relative as the youngest is about to be 10 and the two others are 12. They are the youngest of all the cousins and I can still indulge in a little bit of silliness with them.
I know at least two of them will enjoy receiving mail, so I will get those off to them soon.
As a bonus, I got to mark 3 more yards off fabric used on my list.
I am on the fence about putting this down as a project, so I’ll have to call it a sort-of project. I have to do some work, but a lot of the actual sewing is done.
The family splits up the holidays because there are a lot of us and it is hard work to feed 24+ people. Thanksgiving is our holiday. I have been wanting Thanksgiving napkins for awhile, but the thought of making napkins is daunting and it has been daunting. Of course, I could have hemmed some fabric quickly and been done with it, but if I was going to make napkins I wanted to make them nice. Such a project would also involve buying a lot of autumn colored fabric. Not my favorite colors.
When I saw napkins at Cost Plus World Market in the right colors and sizes for a great price, I was thrilled. I texted SIL with an idea and went back later and bought them. SIL has a 6 needle embroidery machine and is willing to do some embroidery on the napkins to make them festive. She has several embroidery designs and I will buy a few for her as well.
After we gather the designs and the supplies (I’ll have to buy some stabilizer, though I have a bit from my old embroidery days), then we’ll have to plan the project out. We have several months before Thanksgiving, so the sort of project is doable.
Now back to the tablerunners!
I made these napkins yesterday. I had cut them out a few weeks ago. I took the opportunity to test the 9k by sewing them.
I bought the Philip Jacobs fabric for a dress. Aren’t those flowers gorgeous? Unfortunately, upon closer inspection I thought the melons and pineapples were inappropriate, especially if placement of those motifs ended up in an unfortunate position…. This is a good use of the fabric.
I am pleased with how they came out and by the way the 9k sews.
We skipped last year, but are back in the saddle this year with more pillows.
I have to admit that SIL2 did most of the work. I did a little cutting, supplied some fabric, then, was out of time. I had so much to do to get ready for Grand Parlor. I couldn’t get this done. SIL2 stepped in and did the rest. The pillow above looks REALLY elegant. The gold fabric isn’t too showy. It will go well in a really decorated living room.
This year we decided to put years on them so they would be more special — limited editions. We used leftover fabric from the shirts we made for DH and BIL3.
As in previous years, these pillows will be raffled off to raise money to support kids needing surgery for craniofacial anomalies. You can make a donation to the Cleft Palate Foundation directly (tax deductible) without being at Grand Parlor. Sorry, no pillows for a straight donation.
As I mentioned back in August, I want table runners for Thanksgiving. I don’t have many Thanksgiving decorations and I can’t bring myself to make napkins yet. I want napkins, but I can’t deal with all that brown and years of decorative stitching required right at the moment.
I bought two Thanksgiving fabric panels at Forget Me Knots in Bandon, Oregon. Friday, I put the table runners together.
How it happened was that I was going through the fabric on my ironing board, cutting the pieces I needed for various projects and putting yardage away. My goal was to allow DH a brief window to iron. When I got to the table runner panels, I decided putting them away would be silly and I just did what I needed to do to move those projects along.
The small contemporary table runner was easy. It just required cutting apart from the rest of the piece. I didn’t add any piecing to it. Just basted and it is ready to quilt.
I pieced two sections of the traditional panel together. I think some of the pieces and parts of the panels were supposed to be coasters, but I think these sections (right) are too big to be coasters, but there are too small to be placemats, so I don’t know what their original purpose was. I like the leaves. The green is a little odd.
The traditional panel also had a square leaf wreath, which I will use it as a table mat on the coffee table.
Finally, my favorite is the one to which I added the most piecing. I am not sure that pumpkin orange fabric was exactly right, but it is close enough and doesn’t match. It will add interest.
I plan to quilt these at the CQFA Retreat.
I have a couple of Sew Together Bags (SBT) on my list of Projects To Do. I have mentioned before that I find the prep of bags to be daunting. Unlike quilts, you can’t really cut as you go. It is a little frustrating to do that, if nothing else. Still cutting out bunches of pieces is no picnic either. I did a lot of cutting on my trip to Reno and that helped me, not only move forward on projects (even though I can’t show them just yet), but also be inspired to make other projects of the same kind. At the moment, I am just being inspired. I have not yet cut out other projects since I have a couple from that mass prepping session to sew.
A few of us on Facebook have, coincidentally, SBTs on our list of to dos and we have been sharing tips and tricks. It is very helpful. One helpful tip was that there was a sew-a-long done by The Quilt Barn a few years ago and it still posted. I had some problems seeing it on my mobile device, but no problem from my computer. It really helps on the first zipper step, which is all the farther I have gotten on the sewing part of the project. Still, it is nice to see the other ladies finish and post their SBTs as well as the progress they are making.
I was concerned about the extra fabric I bought for Christmas pillowcases. I decided to make two pillowcases for two additional gifts. Can’t tell you for whom they are intended, but I’ll tell you later.
The cuff colors were hard, again, and not an exact match to the colors in the main fabric, but they mimic the hues in the fabric.
I worry about the solids being too much, but I made a decision and I am sticking to it. The colors for Christmas are definitely unconventional, but I think they work and don’t scream Christmas.
Meet Henry IV.
Yes, I have made another softie owl and also called him Henry. It could be confusing, but think of those Tudor Kings. There were bunches of them. Wait until I make a Henry VIII. I’ll have to put something on him to reference the old king.
There is something about these owls that makes me think of them as Henry. There is also something about these owls that I really like.
I had worked on the mosaic pieced brown for awhile and finally had a large enough piece to make another softie. On my Playday (what I am now calling the day I sewed the Carpenter’s Wheel) I also worked on Henry IV. It was just a whim and it panned out.
I am not done putting blue on the inside of the wings. Not sure why I like that so much, but it seems right.
This time I had real problems following the directions. I am not sure why, but my Henry is together and sits up very well. I stuffed him with schnibbles again except for the weight that keeps him up.
This will also go to a friend after I am finished having him decorate my sewing table.
Posts about the Henrys:
Henry I
Henry II
Hhhmmm – no Henry 3. I guess I’ll have to make one later. Oooops! I should have checked before I named Henry IV. Oh well.
This third tally runs hard on the heels of my last Christmas Pillowcase update. I won’t keep you guessing, if you didn’t read that post. I finished the task I set out for myself. I am finished with the Christmas pillowcases.
Here is the grand total of what I have finished:
TOTAL NEEDED: 3
Again, I AM DONE except for the mailing.