Keepin’ busy. How about you?

February 6, 201231 Comments

I have been working feverishly on regaining my sewing skills and over the course of an entire year I have, I think, regained much of what I need to get my Etsy store going. I have made simple curtains, a dust ruffle, and a hand tied quilt for the guest room… to which I just put the binding on this past week.

This is the first full-sized quilt I have ever made. I totally cheated and hand tied it to a wonderfully warm and fuzzy blanket. I made the binding from leftover blocks I sewed together and stripped. I owe deepest apologies to my friends Tim and Pam for not having the binding on by the time they arrived… I could hardly stand the fuzz as I worked, I simply can’t imagine sleeping with it. Sorry!

I made my first apron, using my own pattern. It is machine sewn with a hand quilted pocket and embroidery to dress it up. It is very fifties in style, but the embroidery is a thirties effect.

No, it is not uneven, I hung it crooked! I will have to be more careful when I’m photographing my items for sale…

For Bob I made two pairs of pajama bottoms from flannel I found at Sir’s in Fayetteville, TN. The deal with Sir’s is this… if you find it and you like it grab what you need, plus a little extra for later, or it will simply have vanished the next time you go back.

Such was the case here. Not wanting to wear Hello Kitty, or anything juvenile or pink, we bought what was left of the blue plaid and I had to get creative with the length. Using the selvages I cut a cuff, and applied it with a bit of black piping I made. If there had been enough material I would have been able to match the plaids and put the cuff on the bias. But then if that were the case I wouldn’t have had to add the cuffs now would I? 😉 He is comfortable and warm so that’s what counts, yes?

And now we come to the portion of today’s post that I am totally in love with… these newly quilted half-square triangles that I made last week. I am using scrappy looking finds from, you guessed it, Sir’s.

Balkan Puzzle

Chunky Chevron

I was so exited to get these completed, and I really think my work was good, so imagine how disappointed I was when I put the 12 and 1/2 square rule down on top only to find that they were a bit smallish. My only explanation for it is that my 1/4 inch quilting foot is off. So, I will forge ahead and remember to not work so tightly along the foot’s edge.

In the meantime, I am debating whether or not to make pillows or incorporate these into an apron. What do you think? Other ideas?

I almost forgot! I made myself a clock too! Many years ago my friend Andrea was hosting some exchange students from Japan. I guess in Japan it is simply unacceptable to go visiting with empty hands. Hence I was the recipient of a lovely silk kerchief. I am allergic to silk… so the kerchief sat in a my drawer for almost 20 years. A travesty I say! So, I carefully quilted it on the machine with lovely metallic gold thread, and set it into an embroidery hoop. I then backed the piece with heavy cardboard and inserted clock works into its face. I have seen many of these on the different quilting sites, but none done in lovely whole cloth silk!

Now I can enjoy my lovely gift and know what time it is as well.

~*~

OK, BACK TO WORK!

Where there is a will there is a way

January 16, 2012January 16, 201214 Comments

Having recently discovered how much I love quilting, and especially needle turned applique, I was dismayed at the difficulty I was having with finger strength, dexterity, and painful joints.

So I went to the internet looking for a better solution to grasp the needle and to keep my fingers from being stabbed countless times per session in the studio. The logical solution, or so it seemed to me, was to find some non-latex finger cots to give me a better grasp of the needle, and thus avoid the strain on my index finger and thumb.

FOUND…

😦

Sadly I could not afford to buy the box of 500 Nitrile finger cots at a cost of about $57.00. Yes, you read that correctly. Not to be deterred I reasoned that I could get the same traction from a finger off of a Nitrile glove. So it was off the hardware store for Nitrile gloves, in the paint department, at a cost of $4.99 for a package of 25.

Do the math! 5 X 25 = 125 finger cots!

I snipped and…

Voila!

Well, OK they are Smurf Blue but what do I care?

I also ordered special longer, coated, quilting needles, and a good leather thimble for my pushing finger.

I’m good to go!

Now if I could just quit stabbing the thumb on my left hand! Guess I will have to spring for another thimble and quit using my thumbnail for a needle stop.

😉

~*~

First day

January 1, 201210 Comments

OK, were done with that one and it’s on to this year, 2012, and what a start!

Teacup version:

Polly ate something she shouldn’t have and she’s sick.
It is 57 and sunny for the moment, will reach 61 for a high with rain again later. It was already raining like heck this morning when I went out to do my rounds. Oh yes, and the (scary) wind turned my umbrella over when I set it down to water the chickens, and promptly filled it with water. Tonight will be 20 degrees and colder still tomorrow. Well really we are just being plunged into the deep freeze for the whole week.
Took advantage of the sunshine and mucked out the chicken house before the rain leaks under and tonight’s freeze makes that job impossible. (I’m brilliant that way sometimes.)
Read everyone’s New Year’s resolutions. . .

Which brings me to mine. I’m not going there. I just have to agree with DJ Lutz at Almost Out of Ink, when he penned this as his one and only resolution,

“I will simply resolve to try to be a better person each day. And if I can do something to make the world a better place, either through my writing or (gasp) by personal interaction, all the better.”

As regards myself, I will only add this to his statement,

I need to get my spiritual life back on track.

NO, not to worry. It’s not that I have given up my faith, nothing of the sort! I’ve just been lazy about it, and that bothers me.

Something I will do this year that is not really a resolution because I will do them regardless are:

Get my ETSY store up and running. Now that all the home repairs are completed and I have a studio to work in. * This makes me happy!
Continue my research for my book.

Why make it hard? Why set myself up for failure? This is simply the easiest and wisest choice.

*NOTE: It is said that if you want to love your work, then work at something you love. Now I won’t go into a whole treatise on the subject as this fellow already did that job HERE, and its translatable into fourteen languages. Why would I try to reinvent the wheel? What I will say is this: I love being a sewist/quilter/writer. Better, it seems to come easily to me. I could use more practice in design to get a handle on mixing patterns but that will come with practical experience and maybe a class or two. The book could take longer.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Learning a New Craft: needle turned applique

December 29, 2011August 16, 20148 Comments

This week I have begun to teach myself how to do needle turned applique. If you have never heard of this before here is a nice calming video from Deb at Connecting Threads to help you learn.