2024 Studio Post #42 - Christmas! Stockings, Pillowcases, "Swag bags"

I have been sewing a LOT this past week! I made a few more Christmas stockings, but I made so many mistakes that I now have a quick "cheat sheet" of how to put it together the way I want with three layers, no visible seams (also no quilting), a cuff, and a hanging loop. I am DONE making stockings for at least ten months! (That's my sincere hope.)

I made four pillowcases - one for each of my grandsons and one each for me and Louie. I am using them as wrapping paper this year. (stamps for me, sailboats for Louie, Star Wars for Joshua, and dinosaurs for Benjamin)

The pillowcase looks a bit funny because I took the photo with his gift inside it.

I also decided to use up some more of the Christmas fabric I got from Bob Degen more than a few years ago. His wife Ann had owned a quilt shop, but when dementia stole her away from him, he wanted to donate fabric. Louise and I went to his house and visited and went home with lots of fabric. I keep meaning to contact him to thank him and let him know I think of him and his wife when I sew!

I made "swag bags" for people to take home their stocking stuffers. Bags can be so handy! I typically tell them the bag is part of their gift, but if they're going to throw it away, please give it back to me so I can launder and re-use it. I'm not sure about the ribbon I used for the handles . . . it seems too papery? Anyhow, I'm using up what I have!

2024 Studio Posts #41 & #42 - Seriously!

 Even though I've had TIME to do things, I think I'm trying to do more things than are manageable!

On 12/8/24, if I had blogged, it would have been about finishing the Christmas stockings I was making for local teens who attend the Treehouse programs. Here are the last two I got sewn (and stuffed and donated):

I've now made LOTS of stockings. The big size is great for some purposes, but this size works better for this project. I wasn't able to find my old templates and directions, so I "re-did" them this year. I try to hang onto things so that I don't have to re-learn them.

Last week, I worked on repairing cloth shopping bags for my sister Louise. I gave her the birthday gift of acts of service. She gave me a box of bags that needed repair. It was a fun challenge! (Though some of the bags should probably have been tossed out. . . )

The ecru bag was FLAT, so I asked her if I could give it a bottom. I love that I've learned how to do this! I turned it inside out, cut little notches in the corners, and serged it.

The blue bag's handles were in really bad shape, so I cut them off and put on the black straps.  

 

There were other bags where I added a piece of horse blanket fabric and zig zagged the edges. There were holes / tears / weak spots. It was like a treasure hunt to find and fix the problems!

 

I also whipped together three little "treasure" bags for my grandson Joshua. He likes to collect things (acorns, pine cones, etc.) and play different make believe games. I made these bags for him and put treats in them for one of his stocking stuffers. Here's the cutest of them:

 

Last of all, I made him a Star Wars pillowcase with a black cuff that has space-themed fabric. I may just wrap his actual present in it!

 

Last week, I volunteered at his school, making pillowcases with different students as part of their Service Club.

 

Whew! Now it's Monday morning and I'm late getting out the door.
 

Old Music

My sister asked me for help "rehoming" the albums she had inherited from our uncle. They were taking up space and collecting dust. Initially, I thought about trying to make money off them for her . . . Ha!

I started by looking up and calling record stores in the Twin Cities. After all, vinyl has made a resurgence in popularity lately! Here are the ones I called:

• Mill City Sound (Hopkins)
• SolSta Records (St. Louis Park)
• Know Name Records (Richfield)
• South Metro Music (Burnsville)
• Roadrunner Records (Minneapolis)

At least the guy at Roadrunner was willing to take a look at them! I drove over and he came out to my car. The basic response I got from these places was that the albums from the 1930s and 1940s were just too old. There's no market for them. One guy even said that he doesn't bother with anything older than Motown or the Beatles.

Then I tried the V/A. They don't have room to store albums and don't even have any turntables any more.

The Librarian from the University of Minnesota Music School library got back to me after a few days (I had left a voice mail) saying that they didn't accept donations and didn't have room to store records.

I haven't heard back from the Minneapolis Central librarian who handles special collections including records. I also haven't heard back from Allison Herrara of NPR Classical music.

I finally posted on Facebook and got lots of suggestions!

• Half Price Books
• Goodwill
• Electric Fetus
• nursing homes
• Ultimate Collectibles (Hopkins)
• Restored Thrift Store (Lakeville)
• Joe Lauro's (www.old78s.com/index.php)
• DJ Records USA (https://djrecordsusa.com/)

The last one emailed a response to my inquiry, but he didn't want any of the albums.

 

In between my initial attempts and posting on FB, I brought the bags and boxes into the house and made a spreadsheet with the Title, Artist, Label, and any other info that I thought might be helpful. I shared the list with people who expressed interest. There were 393 records! One friend picked about a dozen that interested her and I delivered them to her at church the next Sunday. 

 

Finally, my knight in shining armor appeared! Minneapolis Vintage Music is open Wed-Sat 11am- 6pm. The owner, Scott, specializes in 78s, but he was willing to take ALL the records! We had a lovely chat and I am so appreciative of his willingness to help rehome these records!

1820 East 38th Street in Minneapolis (Cedar & 38th). 612.729.8929. 

Vintage Music Company FAQs (I've learned so much on this journey!)

 

I am  so glad to be done with this project! On to another.

Studio Post #40 - Not Much

 Besides hosting Thanksgiving last week, I wasn't feeling very dynamic. I didn't do much of anything. Today (Wednesday 12/4) I started to repair some cloth shopping bags my sister wants to use. I completely understand the sentiment - repair things rather than just tossing them out. It's how we were raised.

But sometimes cloth bags are made of really thin cheap fabric. And sometimes your time is more valuable than the object you're spending time repairing. But my birthday gift to her was a gift of service and this is one of the things she's asked me to do. So I'll repair a bunch of bags!

No photos. I'm already three days past my self-imposed "Sunday blog deadline," and I just started these buggers!

Studio Post #39 - More Stockings and a Purse

I'm blogging this on Tuesday because I've been sick with some crud that I cannot shake! Last week, I attended a day and a half of a three day retreat. I was not very energetic or ambitious, but I got some stuff done.

Goal one was to make more Christmas stockings for our church project of blessing local teens. Here are some of the ones I got done at the retreat. The fleece stockings are so easy! (Plus, I'm trying to use up my fleece.)

Goal two was to make a replacement for my "sub bag" that I've worn out. It's a handy place to hold pens, post-its, bandaids, lip balm, etc. while I'm teaching. My original one was wearing out (and it's already been patched up, plus I've replaced the strap twice). The first one I didn't box the bottom corners (giving it less capacity) and I haven't added the strap yet. The blue one is functional. I'm not super thrilled with how it turned out, but it will work!

My original goal was to work on the wedding quilt for Morgan and Angela (married in 2016!) but I felt crummy enough (and made enough silly mistakes) that I'm glad I just left it in my car.

I'm so thankful that I rarely get ill. It is unusual for me to be dragging like this.

Studio Post #38 - Christmas stockings

I don't have photos to post. The stockings I made are at church for a missions activity. I may update this entry later.

I made some out of fleece and hope to make more this week. I'm going to an MQ in-town retreat this week (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) so I anticipate a better post next Sunday!

Studio Post #37 - Minor Repair and Medora Progress

This past week, I expected to spend more time in my studio . . . but that didn't pan out.

I did put a pocket patch on a pair of old jeans. Because I like to tuck my cell phone in my back left pocket, that's where I get the most wear and tear (until it won't even hold my phone any more!). This isn't pretty, but neither are the jeans. I can use the pocket again! 

 

There was also a pretty good sized hole in the right knee, so I put a piece of fleece on the inside. That feels good on my knee and my youngest grandson can still "pick" at the loose fabric on the outside.

 

Yes, I used red thread. I just didn't care about color coordinating it. The patch below looks a bit weird because I pulled out a scrap of fleece that "matched" the shape of the damage to the denim. I just sewed around it!

 

I also pressed and cut some pieces for the Medora quilt I'm working on. No photos until I've made more progress. Some of the cutting is putzy and I refuse to get a special ruler to do it (though I could probably put out a call to borrow one). I won the pattern a few months ago and thought I'd give it a try. I'm making the crib size quilt to see if I like it enough to make a larger one.

At our MQ monthly meeting yesterday, I connected with my friend Rose. We have a strategy for Teresa's brother's quilt and dates in January for me to go to her house to long arm it. That's progress!