Work in Progress -- Block Book 2

Following along with Barbara Brackman's Austen Family Album  is working well for me...  One block a week is not alot to do, and in fact yesterday (Sunday) I was wondering what the block would be for this week!  Anticipation!  It has been awhile since I actually was excited about a project and that feeling of sweet anticipation was very welcome to my psyche!

This week the block is Sister's Choice.  I totally enjoyed Barbara's write up about Cassandra Austen, Jane's older sister.  It makes one wish for such a companion in life, but alas my wish was not granted so I have to imagine what it would have been like!  But, I do have a really wonderful sister-in-law, who lives too far away that I don't get to see as often as I wish...

For me I found this block interesting in that it actually lends itself to being a 10" finished size, but to be consistent Barbara published instructions to make it a 12" block.  Yes, it is easier to make it 10 inches, because the pieces are a more common cut but I went with the 12" block which made me take care with the cutting and the sewing of the triangles and I am quite happy to say that the effort turned out exactly right.

Out of my scrap crate came some bali batiks that have been sitting around for a few years, I had a couple of other batiks, but they were unrelated colours so the three I chose are as close to coordinated as I was able to come...

This is a great block to play with colours, so many variations and colour placement!

Now, during the week, I had some thoughts about how to finish these blocks so started with of course the first one.

I have about 4 meters of unbleached cotton (muslin) on a shelf and decided that this would be a good neutral to use with all the blocks for this 'book'...

Because I suspect all the blocks themselves will be 12" finished, I will even be able to cut ahead!  So, each "page" is going to be 15" x 12", that extra 3 inches allows for a description or information strip beside each block.

So, along with the block itself, I will cut a 3.5 inch x 12.5 inch strip to sew along one side of the block, and a 15.5 inch x 12.5 inch backing piece, both from the unbleached muslin.

Then a layer of batting, to create the "Sandwich".  Now one of the other things about doing these blocks in "Book" form, I am thinking that pieces of batting does not need to be consistent with each 'page'.  I have a rubbermaid tub that is pretty much full of batting scraps, some are 80/20 Hobbs cotton, there are a variety of polyester batting and even a few bits of fusible batting.  I think one advantage to using different battings is that it will give a different look and feel to each block depending on the quilting done.

The side Panel on the face of the page allows room to write down information on the block, and because the backing is also plain muslin any further notes can be written on the back, too.   Will just have to see how that goes.

I do not as yet have a plan for attaching the pages together, there are a few options, including putting metal "ring" holes, or even regular sewn button holes and slipping a ribbon through the pages to hold them together, or to sew the "hinge" side of each block, one to the next...   Again, will see how it goes.
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Lately I have been trying to be nice, even when I don't have to!  To some people that comes naturally, but I have been around sarcasm and thoughtless words for a good portion of my life so it takes a concerted effort to be pleasant, sometimes...
This morning there was a knock on my door, an unexpected knock, and in today's world, there is always that suspicion that uninvited people at the door may not be such a good thing.   Well, I decided to answer the door -- which meant me coming down the stairs and first putting the dog behind me.   I opened the door to an older man, carrying pamphlets -- perhaps you know what they were?  Well, I do not have the same beliefs as he does, but I decided there was no need to tell him to go away and stay away with mean or harsh words.  I nicely said, that it would probably be best if he kept his pamphlet to share with someone who might keep it and read it and when he said to me to have a nice day, I returned the nicety by wishing him a pleasant walk around the neighbourhood and this warm and sunny spring day....

And what is more happy in spring than a dog running in the park?

Jumping off a cliff...

Did you ever ask your Mother if you could do something - way back when you were about 14 years old?  And what did she say after you told her all your friends were going?   Well, my Mother said "if all your friends jump off a cliff would you follow along?"

I bet you answered, No! As did I.

But even though our rational mind tells us not to JUMP along with everybody else, we seem to keep doing it again and again!   We often think we are so smart that of course we wouldn't do such a dumb thing as to follow along because everybody else seems to be doing it.   Well, I suspect Advertisers of any and all products counts on you to follow, just because your friends are doing it!

They even tell us that "all your friends" are buying this, or that celebrities are leading the way in convincing us that this product or idea or fad is wonderful simply because others think it is...

I fall for this gimmick of "BUY THIS" so often that it has started to make me feel quite uncomfortable!  Big things and small things....

Lately I have REALLY been listening to the claims made in TV advertisements... One I noticed is a flagrant copy of another...  There has been an ad -- well actually it is usually a Paid half hour advertisement -- Cindy Crawford's skin creams -- you know the one where the great French doctor has discovered a rare extract from a even more rare melon...  Really how rare could this melon be if they sell this skin cream all over the world?  Do you think that if you ordered this stuff that sometime they might say, we are short of the rare melon extract so we are unable to fill your order?    Well now, we know very well, that is not going to happen!  In fact this idea of a famous doctor and a rare natural ingredient has obviously gone over so well, that now there is another cosmetic product advertisement that claims it contains an extremely rare "stem cell" extract from a sought after unusual apple that is only found in Switzerland by another brilliant doctor!   I am sure that these cosmetic skin and face creams are fine and excellent quality products, but why must they tell us that some ingredient is rare or exotic or unusual....  I suspect that sometime soon, we will be buying something that contains the unnatural red dust of Mars with no real reason except that it is rare and from Mars and some celebrity says it is a miracle!

Influence.   It is so easy to wind its way into the simplest things of our life.

The strangest thing set me off on these thoughts....

I am, as usual watching a show (Doc Zone on CBC) on TV while working on a crochet project.  I actually have about 3 crochet projects on the go, and could easily be working on one of them, but no....  A few days ago I got an email -- yes I subscribe to emails that actually want me to buy stuff, I tell myself it is a way to keep up with new things...  I was fooling myself!   So in this email, the company sent me an email "update" of a kit for a scarf and something about it caught my eye...  It was for a Boteh Scarf and had a really enticing photo....  Something about it tho made me hesitate.  Well, I always hesitate when buying crafty stuff, cause I often can live without it, whereas buying a loaf of bread or a jug of milk never causes me to question what or why I am buying it...

I really liked this scarf!  And it looked like it would be an interesting challenge and something a bit different....  But still, I spent another day thinking about it....  THEN like the proverbial light bulb, I realized I already had this pattern in one of their crochet magazines -- I just had to find it...  After leafing through a dozen or so issues I FOUND IT!   OKAY! no need to buy that pattern... but you know what gets me about it?  NEW.  Yes a NEW KIT is what they are selling, but hey? the pattern is in a magazine from WHAT? SEVEN YEARS AGO!!  Now to sell as an individual pattern along with an expensive yarn and call it a KIT is an excellent marketing ploy...  

For a change tho, I didn't jump off that cliff simply because someone implied that everybody was doing it and it was something new and fun to do!

I think, after alot of years of believing what "they" tell me, I am learning to stop and think about the claims being made about how I would really be missing out if I didn't follow everyone else over the cliff!  Even if maybe there really weren't so many others jumping....

Oh Boy! Now what have I done?  Becoming more thoughtful about the claims of product or idea sellers...  

PS.  The yarn in the kit is a 'sock yarn' so that too was easily on hand in a basket of yarn I had on the shelf and therefore I did not have to take another penny (oh yeah, we don't use pennies in Canada anymore) out of my pocket to satisfy my urge to try out this unusual scarf pattern...

I am developing new eyes to look at some of the 'claims' made on consumer products...

Work in Progress - Block Book

I did mention in a previous post that I will be following Barbara Brackman's Austen Family Album Quilt .  This is a 36 week project to create a sampler type of quilt based on names of quilt blocks or ideas from Jane Austen's lifetime.  Read Barbara's blog on this project and I am sure you will see how each block she presents to us along the way will tie into Jane's time...

Now, even tho I am somewhat of a fan of Pride and Predjudice, and Sense and Sensibility I must admit I was introduced to those stories not so long ago by great productions of those stories along with Emma as MOVIES...  I have not ever actually read any of the Jane Austen books except for Northanger Abbey, which I think must be her least known novel.

Really, the idea of the blocks that Barbara Brackman plans to tie into Jane's life seemed to me a great way of learning some details of Jane's life and to work on a favourite pastime, all at the same time...

I am not planning to make a quilt of these blocks, nor do I plan to use retro or vintage fabrics or fabrics that will co ordinate all the blocks into one large quilt. Barbara does speak of the kind of fabrics that would be appropriate for the TIME of this quilt in the first post she did to announce this project.

I am thinking of creating a BOOK of Blocks.   I do have in mind a method to create each page of the book, using the blocks.  I have not as yet confirmed exactly how I plan to do this BOOK, but as I progress with the blocks, I plan to do a tutorial of how I put the pages together -- each page I am hoping will be a small finished quilt with top, batting, backing and binding...

In the meantime  I dug into my "milk" carton where I keep scrap and leftover fabrics from previous projects...

The first block, posted on Barbara's site is called BRIGHT STAR and she explains how this block references Jane Austen -- Barbara says that this block was published in the Chicago Tribune in 1934.  When you read about Jane Austen for yourself, the Bright Star block seems quite appropriate to start this project.

A few tips if you make this block:

Barbara does not supply sewing details other than the pieces and size and shape of pieces to cut and sew...

If you want to make this block, because it is entirely made up of 1/2 square triangles, careful and accurate piecing is imperative!

I use a method of sewing triangles together that you can easily learn from this tutorial at Connecting Threads .  The tutorial shows two methods of sewing 1/2 square triangles and the writer says that the second method is their favorite.  Mine Too!

Another 'trick' to remember when sewing the sections of this block is that the squared side of the larger triangle should line up with the squared edge of the strip of pieced triangles -- you will find that once sewn, the long edge will then line up nicely even tho it looks like it is too big...

When you get the square pieced, it is a good idea to "square up" before sewing the 4 sections together.  Ideally use a 6.5 inch square ruler if you have one, as this section should measure 6.5 inches on every side.  Place the diagonal line of the ruler exactly along the longest diagonal seam, hold it still and with your rotary cutter trim the bits that fall outside the edge of the ruler...  Perfection!

Voila!  Bright Star!

And, Well, Spring has arrived here on the West Coast! 

My first year on the West Coast was 1986 and the blooms on the ornamental cherry trees was something that my eyes have adored every single spring since then!

Linking up today with The Needle and Thread Network

Works in Progress, end of March part one....

I have been busy this month, with so many different things!  I never really stop sewing or quilting so today's update is a bit eclectic...

Amigurumi... I don't even know how to pronounce it!  Many Many years ago, I made two crocheted teddy bears for my sons, they were a couple of the first such projects in crochet that I completed -- that was like 35 years ago...  I have not made any such thing since then.  Afghans, Scarfs, Mitts, even a sweater or two and shawls or ponchos, Til now...  I have been seeing so many creative creatures on various blogs, that I am impelled to make one!  I decided, even though I am a well experience crocheter, perhaps starting with something easy would be a good idea...

After much searching and checking out tutorials, I came upon this link http://baghisblog.blogspot.ca/2010/08/free-amigurumi-pattern-moko-cat.html
as a starting point...

Now, I am not sure if it is because I just need to put my own 'touches' onto anything that I do or if I just HAVE to do it my way, but I am making changes along the way.... Besides, I have about 40 skeins of "Rug Yarn" each skein is I think 15 yards, so not alot of each skein!  Rug Yarn is almost as fine as Sock Yarn, but without the nylon and is definitely a rougher wool, but if I recall I did get the skeins at a second hand shop for about 2 bucks!

So if you take a look at the link above, you will see that I am making a 'ginger' tabby cat, somewhat different that the original pattern and I have already shortened the arm length that is called for in the free pattern--it just seems weird to have arms longer than a body--imho-- anyway...

More on "MOKO" as this amigurumi cat progresses...

Another very long term project I have is the sprouting, planting, and carefully watching it grow, of a grocery store Avocado seed!

I am not sure what exactly possessed me to begin this but it has been immensely satisfying.  I suspect it is the satisfaction that many gardeners experience with many plants that are a challenge!  I definately am not a gardener, tho I plant geraniums and tomatoes and a few herbs on my backyard patio each year...

And my last Work in Progress for March is an experiment!  Now, you know, this has been a long hard cold winter in many parts of both Canada and the USA...  One of the things that has always affected me is dry skin.  Dry skin from head to toe and of course it is always worse in winter.  When I was a kid, my mom would try everything to help me because sometimes it was so bad the skin on my hands would split and leave awfully tender open wounds... She would have me use Vaseline, sometimes I could just slip and slide where ever i wanted to go!  She would put mayonaise in my hair because my hair was like a horse's tail, thick and brittle and strawlike!  Nothing seemed to work, even into adulthood i had problems with dry skin, hair, nails, feet, everything!  One very helpful cure was to move from Winnipeg, Manitoba to where I am now, near Vancouver, BC on the west coast of Canada...  but still winters test my skin for dry  patches...

Praise to the internet and random searching for a new "organic" skin cream!  In the past year or so I have been getting a 'reaction' to a few different face creams that I have bought that even say hypoallergenic!  I put on the product and my eyes and nose start watering -- no actual skin reaction or blotches or pimples, more like whatever evaporates off the skin cream affects my air intake.... weird.

So in an effort to find something that doesn't cause that type of reaction, I landed upon the idea of Coconut Oil!

I am sure there are other brands and other sizes, but this is my first jar -- a pint (US measure) that I bought at Winco Foods in Bellingham, WA for 6.49.  When it comes to a DEAL, this is it!  Where can you buy a good quality face or skin cream for that price?   This is GREAT!  Anyway, I have been using this on my skin for a month now and am very impressed and pleased with the results... My hands are definately loosing some of the wrinkledy feel, every toe and my heels on my feet are softened.  And no more watery eyes or nose when I use it on my face!  My new face cream!  And you can even cook with this stuff!  I suspect more people cook with it than use it on their skin tho...  but I am a convert to coconut oil on the skin!

What a varied mish mash of updates and works in progress!  What little projects do you have that surprise or satisfy you?

In a day or two, a few more updates...

I am beginning to think that most everything we do is a Work in Progress!

Work Today

That title might be a bit deceptive...  I don't actually go anywhere to work, but like more and more people I do like to think that I 'work' from home -- but not much...

I sort of follow the motto  "I'd rather be poor than work!"  which is close, but not exactly true.  I don't think I would purposely let myself fall into homelessness if a job would save me or even to social services support...

I am lucky, I have a husband who will work and work hard unlike me, who lets him!

Anyway, back to actually working...

I have spent a good part of the day today, adding to my Etsy shop.  Thing slow greatly in my shop after Christmas and I admit, I have been letting it slide.  I have not renewed or updated anything for about a month.

Most of my "products" are Vintage sewing related goods.  Buttons at the top of the list and you can see my banner at the top of my blog proudly proclaims that!

So I have added Buttons today, some pretty image buttons that would be SO cute on a little girl's Easter dress, hmmmm?

Or maybe a conglomerate of odd metallic buttons, maybe for jewelry making...

and even, dozens of what looks to me like school uniform buttons -- would you believe I have 200 of them!

Tomorrow, too, I shall be doing some more updating of my little store...  If you are interested, check out the link to my shop on the left hand side of this page...

Thanks!

The Pressing Conundrum

Now, that my sewing station has been moved and downsized, I had to find a small useful corner in which to press the seam allowances when piecing fabric...

And of course pressing the fabric itself before cutting it...

My 'studio' had a dresser that I had originally covered the top with batting layers and terry cloth along with that heat resistant batt that is used for pot holders and similar...

But my much reduced sewing area did not have that big dresser with its top area for pressing fabric -- so...

I went out and bought a 'table top ironing board'...  Ho HUM...  Made in China...  The only useful part of this unit was the metal frame.

The cotton cover was pretty much see through -- it could not last long or withstand the use I planned for it...  Under the see through cotton cover was a 1/8" thick or should it be called thin piece of a sort of plastic foam--it certainly would flatten into a piece as thin as typing paper the first time that any heat was applied...

This unit cost $17 bucks!  And of course it needed work to make it useful.

Not alot of work...

I took the thermal batt that I had previously used on my dresser top, and layed it on the cutting table...

I had some fusible quilt batt, quite firm -- It was in my scrap bin but enough to just fit the size of the ironing frame...  I layed it down on my cutting table on top of the themal batt.

Then, the ironing frame layed down so that the top covered the two layers of batting... 

Simple now, simply cut around the metal ironing frame, flip the whole thing over and replace the thin cotton cover on top... 

I plan to go with a better quality cotton top, but haven't decided which fabric in my stash that I want to look at every time I iron something, so that part is for another day!

Well, now back to sewing together my Many Trips Quilt, which is still "in progress" -- I will have progress on it to show, next week, I think...

Spring! is here!  Hope your part of the country is noticing it; if not today, very soon you will be sitting on a blanket or quilt with your fingers buried in the cool beach sand!!!

Linking up with Off the Wall Fridays -- Nina Marie Creations -- click on the "button" on the left side of my page to take a look at her own comments today and to explore the many links she is sending you to!

A Quilt Block Book

I have had a bit of a different idea for quite sometime and an opportunity to put this idea into effect seems to have presented itself...

Barbara Brackman, will be starting a series of 36 blocks in April. These blocks will have a connection with the time and stories of Jane Austen, so I was thinking that I would like to follow along and make each of the blocks that she presents on one of her blogs at http://austenfamilyalbumquilt.blogspot.ca/


Now the difference for me, is that I do not plan to create a quilt from the blocks.  I am thinking I will create a quilt block book.  I plan to make each block, as she posts them, put a border, and a binding and quilt each one, so that each block is a small finished quilt of its own.  Then I would like to sew the blocks together in pages to make a book of quilt blocks...

Thats the plan.

In the mean time, Barbara has a post where she discusses choice of fabrics and common fabric in Jane Austen's time that might be useful in thinking about the whole project.

I have too many scraps tho...  So I don't think that I will adhere to any particular colour or time constraints.  Each block that I create in this series will likely be a choice of fabrics from my stash that suits me in the moment...

Let's see how this pans out, eh?

Mind you, I have a few fabrics, that just might be a 'common' theme through the blocks in this Quilt Along --  I am definately not going with Jane Austen era fabrics and prints...   I really like that red/gold/brown and have had it for quite awhile on my "use for the next quilt" pile, so there it is again!   

Perhaps you might have the inclination to follow along with this project?  It begins April 6 and spans 36 weeks...

After a LONG Break -- Work in Progress...

Definately a stack of new projects and projects that were put aside that are now being worked on!

Now because of much furniture moving and stash reductions, I have done very little in the way of sewing, but this past weekend I have picked up a couple of project that have been sitting on the 'TO DO" shelf...

First up and first in line is the continuation of the MANY TRIPS AROUND THE WORLD "kick" that so many Modern Quilt Blogs were doing last year...  I did one small one and donated it to my guild's charitable quilts program, but still had and have many 3.5 inch squares cut from fabric scraps so picking up the idea of SPRING I am working on these 25 patch blocks... so far there are 17 blocks made, I am hoping to make 30 so that the complete quilt will measure about 75 x 90, without borders... Maybe I will do a border, maybe not...

 



Another project, that really is not my own, was given to me by a friend who is unable to complete it -- so I am tasked with the challenge of finding a solution and a setting for these applique blocks...  The applique is done with a small zig zag and the pieces were fused to the background fabric...  This is NOT my favourite method....  I am thinking that I might make these into a long narrow wall hanging, rather than a more conventional table topper or baby quilt...  Any ideas?  I am still mostly just 'THINKIN' on what and how to put these together!

 

 

 



 

Another project that really is just about done, is what I am thinking of as a cat nap mat...

Just scraps done in random strips, framed with more scraps to make a "placemat" size mat -  it is backed with a scrap bit of flannel that was just the right size.  It is destined for someone elses place tho, so I really don't know how they might choose to use it!  Only the binding is left to do on this project...

 

 

 And those Works in Progress should keep me well occupied for a while!  Here's hoping that they progress to the point of FINISH!

Friday Finish...

I have had an ongoing project for the past few weeks and during that time because it involved moving my sewing stuff, I could not do any sewing...  So there is no new projects to show... YET.

I, with the assistance, meaning muscle, from my hubby and favourite son, have been moving things and ROOM purposes around.  It is one thing to move the furniture in a room, but quite another to change a room's purpose!  For 10 years I have used an upstairs bedroom as my sewing studio and totally loved it!  But as times change so do needs and my focus on sewing has changed to such a point that I felt that I no longer needed a room dedicated to sewing. 

My 'stash' is much reduced and I am feeling somewhat of a relief that there is not so many pending or possible projects that 'might have been'.  For the longest time, the inclination was to purchase a meter or two for SOMEDAY and SOMETHING, but like someone said awhile back, "there is more fabric there than I can use in a lifetime!" and just that fact began to weigh on my mind!  I have kept in my stash, only that which I expect to use within a reasonable amount of time -- as it was I had dated fabrics that would have never been used unless I waited another 20 or 30 years and made a VINTAGE quilt...

I wanted a room to myself...  A place where I can do "peaceful' things, a quiet room, a personal room.  Maybe it is age that makes me crave alone time...  Maybe it is just me.   So the whole project involved THREE ROOMS.   The shared bedroom, the living room, and the former sewing room.

 

My OWN ROOM...  It is still in need of sprucing up, some pretty frilly curtains and some paint, lavender I am thinking...  I have a recliner to sit or nap in, my lap top computer to read blogs, a stereo to listen to Harry Connick, Jr on, and even a small collection of yarn to keep my hands busy when I am in the mood to just daydream...

The LIVING ROOM has become the all purpose room, it includes a TV along with a comfy recliner for tv watching -- no couch, tho -- sewing machine and cutting table along with some fabric on bookshelves in baskets, it includes the treadmill - for walking on rainy days; the computer and household accounting/record keeping, photo organizing centre. 

 

And plans to repaint -- I do love that spring green, but it has been this colour for about 6 years now and time for a change...

Maybe the Living Room could be called the Family Room, tho there are only three of us (all adults) in this townhouse. so family room, too. is a misnomer because we all do not gather at the same time in that room...

And now, because I have my own sanctuary, the BEDROOM has become somewhat more masculine, you do not see the thrown about clothes or the crusty socks in this photo, but that is what he seems to be happy with, his own stereo too -- he seems stuck on the "golden oldies" of the 60's and 70's -- a tv that he leaves on whether he is asleep or even gone to work, and of course the dog and both cats who he happily shares the bed with...

 

Still, tho, the room is crowded with quilts, which makes the masculinity of the room not so obvious!  The only change he wants is a bedside lamp instead of the tall lamp you see, so next time we are out and about perhaps a small lamp will present itself???

 

I cannot show you the before photos, I did not think to take them, but suffice to say, the whole project involved moving three recliners, a couple of shelving units and all the stuff on them, a dresser or two, contents of closets, stereos and all that goes with them... Oh and all the sewing stuff! (there were quite a number of boxes and bags taken to either recycling or donated to thrift shops)

 

Now, we are settled into our change and it appears to be making everyone happy!  When you move house, you tend to get rid of what you don't want to move, but we haven't moved in 10 years, so it was definately time to do a complete house run through and clear out the things that no longer had a use! 

 

So even though this house is not arranged in a way that most homes are expected to be, I think it suits us and especially me, quite fine!

A Dog Sweater, Finished

I recently started back to knitting.  Well, to be honest I never really was a knitter, even though my grandmother taught me to knit sometime before I was 10 years old.

My Gramma was born in England, near London Bridge actually and she taught me what is now called the English Method...  At age 10, it seems my mind absorbed things it is only now realizing that it learned so long ago!  Good thing too, because if I had to learn how to knit now, I'm not so sure that I could!

 

So I have been practicing my stitch tension by making a few cotton dish/face cloths...

I had promised a niece of mine that I would make a doggie sweater for her 'not-for-profit' dog rescue that she is the organizer for in Manitoba.  Her group does not actually rescue dogs to be re-homed.  Her group raises funds and goes into small northern communities and provides veterinary care to dogs that would otherwise never be seen by a vet.  Mainly they spay and neuter any of the dogs in the community many that are feral (and then release them) or if residents request that their owned dogs receive the service.

So I finished up my first completed sweater, tho it has a couple of "oops" in it, it looks like it is supposed to!   This sweater is made with Red Heart Supersaver -- this is a great yarn for trying out one's skills, because it is not so expensive to waste on a novice project.   I quite like how it turned out...

In fact, I so enjoyed the process that I have started a second dog sweater!  The first one, in the photo above is a middle size for a dog such as a American Cocker or perhaps a Havanese or a Shih tzu.  My second project is for a smaller breed, like a Pomeranian or a Chihuahua.  I am getting a bit fancy in that I am giving this sweater stripes, turquoise and bright red!

So, hopefully these sweaters can be sold at her next fundraiser for a good price and perhaps help out some outside dogs that would perhaps have a bit better life.

I haven't committed to further items for this organization, but hey! perhaps my crafty streak can be more effective.   I don't know about you, but after awhile of making and giving, crochet or quilted items I have got the distinct feeling that some times people don't really look forward to these kind of 'gifts'...

If a person were to buy what I make then you know they want and need it...

******************

And unusual - Archie, my Siamese rarely poses for a picture, but today the sun was streaming in the kitchen window and he was enjoying the warmth of it on his back so I took the opportunity to catch him, catchin' a few rays...

The Absolutely Most Common Quilting Dilemna

Scraps, yes scraps are our most common quilting dilemma!  I don't want to call it a Problem because, really, How can fabric be a problem?

I am talking about a couple of solutions to this actually great and wonderful dilemma!  Having scraps means you have already been sewing for awhile.  So you are a very rich and somewhat experienced quilter!  How wonderful!

For the past few years I have been working at organizing and re-organizing and sorting and arranging and sifting through all my piles of fabric....

A couple of years ago -- the summer of 2012 to be exact-- I spent the summer with my sewing machine and cutting table set up out on my backyard deck and made a dozen scrap quilts that I donated to a charitable quilt distribution program run by my local quilt guild in the fall of 2012.  Click on the tab above if you want to see the quilts that I made - Super Summer Snippy Challenge)

But.  That project did not make a very big dent in what I had on hand!  It did help my community and kept me busy and engaged for 4 months, which was a very good thing.

My next step was to resolve not to buy ANY new fabric -- and I haven't!  That means tho I have had very little new INSPIRATION for quite a while.  Then my Janome 6600 developed a problem and until just this week, I have not been able to afford the repair...  I don't think that not buying fabric has been very successful...  The main reason is because I am not INSPIRED to work with just what I have!  I think a injection of a new fabric in combination with my stash fabrics would have kept me inspired and producing quilts or other sewn items.  So ultimately, even tho the stash has not increased, it also has not decreased...

Well, now, my Janome is at the sewing machine repair guy, and I figure I have a week or so to do something with this wonderful conundrum of too much
fabric...

I came across a suggestion, just this morning, so I am thinking, that since my husband doesn't have to go to work today, I will use him as a assistant organizer -- he did spend most of his working years as a warehouse worker guy doing everything from organizing cleaning supplies to shipping and receiving hazardous waste materials, and sorting and moving a warehouse from an old building to a new built facility -- so he should be a good helper, you think?  His "life's work" has been as an ORGANIZER!

(the first step is to iron all your scraps so you can cut them into the appropriate sizes but there is always something or someone who insists on interfering in the process!)

So, basically the idea is not necessarily to actually use up the scrap stash right away, but it is to stack and organize what I have into 'categories' or potential shapes and begin cutting the scraps into squares, rectangles, strips or maybe even into triangles and then to put like shapes and sizes into boxes or containers or baskets -- which I already have an abundance of!  (I also have a tendancy to SAVE shoe boxes and now I know why!)

Check out this post from  Martingale Publishers - Organizing quilt scraps blog pages (written almost 1 year ago)  so this will be my current WORK IN PROGRESS...  I suspect I will be at it for quite awhile, but I hope that my stash will become more compact and manageable.

I do suspect that much of what I create in quilts will be SCRAPPY!  I think tho, that with alot of scraps I will be able to allow myself to buy an occassional fabric to FEATURE in a project, perhaps as background or sashings or borders....  I'm already thinking about what would go with what!!

Here's hoping that Third (system) time is the CHARM!

Now, you must realize that I have not done all of this in one day, in fact, I have for years kept a box of 2.5 inch squares cuz they are just so darn handy!  The hexagon box is also a work in progress that I have been hand sewing hexagons together and adding cut hexies as I need them...

 I am planning to increase the selection of sizes - one of those boxes contains 6 inch by 10 inch cut pieces because a few years back I made a "Broken Crayons" Quilt (http://www.abbotsfordquilters.org/broken_crayons_instructions.pdf) I wrote these instructions for my guild newsletter but got the original idea from another guild website and re did the instructions to make them a bit easier to understand.  ** the instructions are free to use but if you reprint, it would be nice if you could link back to my instructions -- but I'm not going to sue you if you don't**

So, I think this is a reasonable start, with even a growing collection of selvedges that I am sure I will find a use for -- as you see, I made a cover for a journal with a previous bunch of selvedges...

Little Granny Lost...

On Monday of this week, I decided to go for a wander around my local Value Village store.  I don't seem to be 'hunting for treasures' as often as I used to -- perhaps because I already have too many 'treasures' and am more often looking for ways to get rid of them!

Well, I came across a couple of things but the one that really fired my imagination was a small bag or granny squares.  They looked to have been made quite a long time ago as the colours were a kind of 'muddy' selection.  Turned out there were 36 squares in the bag, but two were really not well made and were unraveling, so I chucked them in the waste basket.   I kept pawing through the remaining squares, piling and re-piling them and finally decided there was no single favourites.   The pile of granny squares sat on my little chair-side table while I thought about what I could use them for.

Even tho I had made myself a new "purse" just before Christmas, I was again thinking perhaps a crochet "project bag" might be in order...

So I began.  I decided to just pick up the little granny squares without too much decision making and using a favourite joining method I started.

The joining yarn, a bright red -- really was the only yarn I had in the same 'weight' as the grannies had been created in, so I settled for red -- but then I really like RED!  So that was okay...

I have been noticing quite a few granny square projects on Pinterest, so I suspect that is why I bought that little bag of squares at Value Village, plus, they were only $1.99!   Some of the granny square projects, especially the ones that were made into bags, were made wider, but I just wanted something to carry one small project in, and maybe my wallet, so I decided a classic simple rectangle shape... BUT, it did take a bit of figuring on how to connect the squares to make a bag without having to cut off any square...  It was an interesting puzzle getting the squares to conveniently fit together!  16 squares only!  And just the right size!

A year or so ago I saw a crochet 'braid' in a book or magazine and since it has stuck in my mind I decided to use it as the handles for the bag.  Have you tried this one before?  It is much like a knitted "I-cord".  Chain 6 and join to form a circle.  Then single crochet in each chain but do not join with a slip stitch, just keep going round and round and round, making sure to maintain that 6 stitches around.  Make the 'braid' as long as you need.  I really like this and have even used it as an edge on crochet hats and a few other things as a detail edge.  It is simple and quick and is easy to attach, longways or just at each end to make the handles for the bag.

The granny squares all connected and looking like a very bright little bag -- it has the 'feel' and 'look' of a time gone by -- it very much reminds me of a "Hippie" style from the late 1960's or early 1970's -- Very Vintage -- Ah Well, that is my Vintage too, so we should work well together!

Well, then.  Keeping with that 'Summer of Love" idea I thought I would check through my fabric stash, as I was sure I had a couple of fat quarters of cotton sheet fabric from that era...

I put the lining together, simply by tracing around the crochet bag shape, which when the seams were sewn allowed the lining fabric to fit perfectly inside the crocheted bag.  I did put a pocket into the lining -- just in case I wanted to carry a small item or two, like a pen or a crochet hook, that is always hard to find when it is just plopped into the bottom of a bag...

And there.  My 'Summer of Love' Project bag!

And.

I have enough granny squares still to make another one!  But do I need two such bags?  I don't think alot of other people really would want to be seen carrying something so "old fashion" but like the poem by Jenny Joseph says 

"When I am an old woman I shall wear purple. With a red hat that doesn't go, and doesn't suit me, And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves." 

Enjoy your Sunday!