Studio Post #36 - Gift Bag and a Repair

I knew it was going to be a busy week, so I did a few small things and took a photo. I'm blogging a day early and hope to do more sewing in the week ahead! It helps to have a more orderly studio.

 

The washcloth had a seam coming loose, so I sewed it down and tossed it in the wash.

I wanted to give my daughter-in-law a birthday gift so I sewed a bag to put it in. I like how it turned out.

 

I don't buy wrapping paper any more. I like using fabric! If my family members want to keep the bags, they can. If they don't, I get them back and wash them to re-use.

2024 Studio Post #35 - Crazy Quilt Curve

 So I've joined the Scott County Crazy Quilters this year. They meet three times in the spring and three times in the second half of the year - August, September, and October. I'm still mostly doing it "on my own" by trying to copy from my books. (So far, my main book is Creative Stitching, second edition, by Sue Spargo.) But it's nice to have their encouragement, experience, and example as I stitch. The meeting last week means it will be six months before I meet with them again. I plan to bring my "bin" of crazy quilt stuff up to the lake so I can stitch when I'm up there. 

Last week, I added all the green parts.

 

The heart is a velvet-feeling fabric and the stitch around it is called a "closed fly stitch." I used a super thin ribbon as thread.

 

The fuzzy green thread at top right is not done yet. I ran out of time!

 

I took pictures of a finished quilt another person brought. Looking at it gave me ideas. But I've decided I don't want to post those pictures here.

 

I also did a big sort and organize in my studio. There's a lot more to do, but at least it's less cluttered. And I realized that I have a LOT of fabric!!! I need to stop grabbing things off the "free" table and / or sew a lot more!  

I think I added the word "curve" to my title because I'm in a definite learning curve with this!

2024 Studio Post #34 - Another 5 in 1 . . .

This is so sad. This entry represents September 22 - October 20 in terms of five weeks of sewing. Clearly, I've not been a great time manager. For the first four of those weeks, I would have had very little to share. I mostly used my studio as a dumping ground for various things. I also made the studio into my youngest grandson's bedroom for one night.

 

I worked on a few small things:

• finding some trim for my Crazy quilt block
• ripping out and resewing the "hem" of the toilet paper storage cover for Strawberry Lake. (I had only folded it over once and it was raveling a bit after laundering. Now it has a double fold hem.)
• I sewed a replacement mat for my grandson's swing (that will have a separate entry)
  
• gathering up supplies to bring to the In Town Retreat

 

I had so much fun in January that I signed up for the October 17-19 In Town Retreat. Once again, I stayed at my friend's house and had such a good time!

I had inherited a child size fleece mitten (and I still have lots of fleece from my mother-in-law!) so I planned to make a mate for the mitten. I didn't care that it wouldn't match - I would have a pair for my grandson to use if he didn't have his with or they got all wet. But when I finished it, I realized that I had accidentally made a second left hand mitten. I set it aside and worked on something else. Later, I decided to just make two right hand mittens and be done with it! I carefully made two more mittens but when I turned them right side out, I had two more left hand mittens! I was both frustrated AND mad at myself.

 

I realized my mistake and drew a little picture of what I should have cut and sewn. I packed it away for another day. And then my compulsion to FINISH had me pulling it out and making FOUR right hand mittens (referring to my drawing) so now I have four pairs of little mittens for the grands. (Plus a slightly larger pair at the left.) Sigh. It was a learning experience. The directions I followed included a cuff, but I just made basic mittens. I also made my own template because I didn't want to give my email to get the free pattern. I have too much junk coming into my mailbox already!

Another project I worked on was the Medora challenge crib quilt. I cut out most of the pieces, but didn't have my own rulers there and decided to hold off on it. The design has an odd angle and I'm not going to get the fancy ruler, so I'll need to measure really carefully before I cut out the shapes. I don't use patterns often and I'm trying to be more careful. (I won this pattern at the August or September meeting.) I feel good about where I'm at and may bring it with me to the November retreat.

 

 

The most important project I worked on was the wedding quilt for my oldest and his wife. They got married in 2016 . . . and I bought the fabric with my daughter-in-law in 2017. I had planned to do a disappearing nine patch and had 5" squares on my design wall for a long, long time. But I'm glad I didn't move forward with that. I think a log cabin block with lights on one side and darks on the other will work better. I did some cutting and sewing and look forward to doing more with that. I have two more light fabrics and one more dark fabric to add. I made almost fifty of these blocks so far, but I need to trim about twenty to size. Again, I'm trying to be more precise!

I am encouraged that I'm finally moving forward with this. I don't usually spend lots of money buying fabric, so I think I've been a bit scared about messing this up.

This is what I had decided for the nine patch . . . and it just doesn't work.

I finally finished all the stitching on my 2024 Challenge - Morning Glories - wall hanging. I had it in the show, but didn't feel finished with it. It's packed away for spring now. (Pics below.)

 

I had a few other small things with me. I did some journaling in my quilt "scrap" book. I grabbed some fabric off the "free" table while telling myself, "You don't need more stuff!" But five yards of music themed fabric?! How could I pass that up?

Vincent Van Gogh

I had seen a few clips involving Van Gogh on YouTube and was curious about the show. There are several movies about Vincent Van Gogh and I selected Loving Vincent from the library. What a trip! 

 

The entire movie is drawn / painted based on Van Gogh's artistic style. It reminded me of the immersion experience that Ann and I went to. At times, it was visually challenging, but I loved at the end when they showed pictures of the actors that the characters were based on. 

 

I really loved how we got to "see" Van Gogh from different people's perspectives. (Also fascinating that the story is told from the POV of the postmaster's son.) Van Gogh died at age 37 and his younger brother died within the same year at age 33 from syphilis. Theo's son was named for his artist uncle and lived until 1978. Vincent Van Gogh (the nephew) preserved his uncle's legacy. I am curious to read the correspondence that survived these men. They wrote a lot of letters!

After watching this, I got two books on Vincent and his art (which I haven't looked at yet). I also requested the Dr. Who DVD from the library that holds the video clips that sparked this for me! (It's Vincent and the Doctor - Season 5, Episode 10.) That actor brought tears to my eyes!

I also wanted to note that I've always pronounced the name "Van Go" (as do most Americans!) but on The Great British Baking Show and in the Dr. Who clip, Europeans always say, "Van Goff." I'm guessing they're correct . . .

2024 Studio Post #33 - a Placemat and Pockets in my Nightgown

What an interesting week! I was able to spend a few days up at the lake with my sister Ann. I brought a number of different projects (sewing and otherwise). My first priority was to add pockets to my white nightgown (originally a robe, but I use it as a nightgown). 

I like pockets! I like having my phone with me (partially because I use a step tracker app) and pockets save my hands from having to grab and hold. They aren't super pretty, but they're very functional. When I got home, I serged the seams so they won't fray. 

This photo looks weird because the nightgown is inside out (to show the pockets) and the way it's draped makes it look wider than tall!

I also made a label for my bed quilt. I decided to name it "Refracting Rainbows." I haven't stitched the label in yet, but I may do it today.

I also repaired my "sub purse." The strap was really frayed. I wear it every time I substitute teach. It has gum, pens, bandaids, etc. It's just handy! I have the fabric set aside to sew a new one, but I haven't gotten around to that yet.

Before I went up to the lake, I had started on a strawberry-themed placemat. Some of our placemats at the lake are looking a bit rough. I quilted and bound it yesterday. I'm not super happy with how it turned out but I'm also unsure how to make others that are better. I'm still learning!

The placemat is actually rectangular, but the angle is due to trying to keep my hands from making shadows on it . . . it's still kind of wonky.

My Brain

I wanted to find my map of Florida so I went through my maps box. I couldn't find Florida, so I laid out all my maps on the guest room bed. I didn't have Florida! (I found it later in my file folder for the trip we're planning to Florida . . . )

As I looked at all these maps, I wondered why I hadn't just stored them in alpha order. Then I remembered. Some maps have two completely different states on them. How does one alphabetize "Colorado Wyoming" or any North / South states?

 

I thought about making folders for the regions of the United States (West, Southwest, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast), Canada, and other locations (county, Caribbean, etc.). And where do Alaska and Hawaii belong?! Then I realized that investing time in this level of organization is completely unnecessary! I just stacked them up and put them back in my map box.

 

My brain sometimes frustrates me. I want things to be organized and orderly. I chose the word "Simplify" for the 2024-25 school year. I'm tired of making things more difficult than they need to be. I really like having paper maps sometimes. But I don't use them often. I almost always have technology at my fingertips. It's okay to just chuck these in a box and access them when I want / need to.

 

Forgetting that I had already taken the Florida map out and put it with my trip planning info . . . that's a separate brain issue!

2024 Studio Blog #32 - Medora Pattern

 At last Saturday's MQ meeting, I won a pattern! The 2025 show will feature "Medora" quilts. The pattern designer (Jill Blair of Materiella) was at the meeting and shared some of her quilts. Then she gave away twenty copies of the pattern. I'm not much of a pattern person, but I could also stand to follow directions and be more careful!

Since I can be a bit wild with my ideas and sewing, I decided to start by making a crib quilt. It's small and do-able. So when I got home from the meeting, I picked out some fabrics. That's it. That's as far as I got. But I love feeling excited and inspired!

If I like the design and the process, I may make a larger Medora quilt. It would be so nice to have a quilt in the 2025 show. And I'd love to build up a stash of baby quilts to give as gifts when someone's expecting.